She leans closer, resting a hand on my knee. “There’s got to be a lot of hot guys at your school, right?”
My eyes flash to Miles, where he’s boring a hole in the side of my head waiting for my answer. I swallow once. Blink twice. Then I turn back to Lexi.
“Yeah, you’re right. There is.” The vindictive side of me hopes my answer travels through the wind that’s whipping in his direction.
“I knew it!” she squeals. “Living in such a small town doesn’t provide a lot of options in that department. Luckily, the hottest guy in the whole school was single and somehow had an interest in me.” She giggles again and looks over at Miles, who stops my heart with the cock of his sideways smile I missed so much. The one he used to reserve for me.
Dammit, Lexi.
The wave of jealousy is enough to make me want to barrel over the side of this boat mid-movement. It might be a gentler death sentence than the one I’m living right now.
“Yeah, you’re lucky,” I say, not caring if it travels downwind.
I ask a stupid question next; one I don’t care to know the answer to. “I take it you go to school with Miles?”
“Yeah, we’ve lived in the same town for years. My dad’s a farmer, and my parents homeschooled my little brother and me so we could help during the on-season. It wasn’t until they were successful enough to hire a helping hand that they agreed to let me finish out my high school years at public school. Miles and I had homeroom together. We’ve lived our whole lives in the same tiny town, and we didn’t meet until now. Isn’t that crazy?”
“So crazy,” I deadpan.
“I come up on the weekends, but my parents agreed to let Ruby and me stay at the Morgans’ cabin for boating Tuesday. I’m so jealous you get to spend all summer on the water. It’s so beautiful here!” She sweeps her eyes across the skyline in front of us.
Lexi? Jealous of me?I’d trade her spots. That grand city of Boise she was talking about earlier… take me back there. Maybe Cozy and I were meant to do our bucket lists together this summer.
After Reed finishes his turn wakeboarding, his brothers do a round, and I volunteer to hold the flag again. No one ever brings up tubing, which I’m thankful for. I’m better off not having to relive any more of the past when I was the only girl in their lives.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
NOW
Ifeel like a ship anchor at the bottom of the ocean as my morning alarm sounds from my phone on the bedside table. Insomnia hit again. I dozed off around two a.m., and now the three hours of sleep beat at my temples like a percussion instrument. I need a dose of caffeine in the form of a polar plunge.
I slip off my striped sleep set and replace it with a ribbed one-piece swimsuit, cut-off denim shorts, and running shoes. I reach in my closet and grab the popstar icon–covered beach towel. Then I slide down the banister and slip into the bathroom to brush my teeth.
The engine sputters when I turn the key, and I cringe. My parents’ REM cycles must hit dead status around 4:40.
Ten minutes later, I’m pulling into a parking lot after traversing down the dirt road through Bloomington Canyon. An old Ranger pickup with an exaggerated bumper is the lone car there. I pull up next to it, peek out the window, and see Miles leaning against the driver’s side door. A pair of swim trunks plaster his legs and a towel drapes between his folded arms. Hisface splits into a rare grin at the sight of me until I step out of the front seat in my swimsuit and his smile humbles.
“You waited for me.”
“I thought we could walk together,” he says, pushing off the side of the car.
“We’re not running?”
“Not today.”
I wave one foot around. “And to think, I wore these beauties for you.”
“I mean, if you really want to?—”
“Nope! You already agreed we weren’t.”
We both chuckle.
Where the end of the parking lot and the start of the trailhead converge, there’s a large rustic sign that pays homage to the vegetation and wildlife that can be spotted on the trail. It feels like a scavenger hunt when I see a patch of purple wildflowers a few feet ahead depicted on the sign. We climb the initial slope until it tapers off into stretches of rolling land. It’s quiet and peaceful, and I’m enjoying just taking it all in.
“I know why I come here, but what brought you to this place the first time you found it?” I ask.
“You first,” he says.
