“Don’t be.” She flicked her hand, sending droplets flying. “He was a jerk. I was the idiot who took too long to notice.”
Nate’s face softened. “Still. That sucks.”
“Yeah,” she said. “But I’m calling it a growth experience. Or emotional exfoliation.”
They slid beneath a bridge, tires hissing overhead. Nate frowned, eyes sharpening. “Wait. Rewind. What did you mean by ‘no one looks like that’?”
“Oh my God.” She groaned and thumped his tube with her foot. He yelped, twirling wildly, arms flailing as he tried to regain balance without tipping into the water.
Allegra laughed so hard she clutched her sides.
***
They lay side by side on the grassy bank, towels spread beneath them, the Rhône murmuring just a few feet away. Somewhere upriver, someone whooped; closer in, a cyclist rang a bell, the sound thinning and vanishing into the afternoon.
Allegra stared up at the sky, one arm stretched above her face, damp hair plastered to her neck, bikini already heating like asolar panel. “Aiee,” she said, pressing the back of her hand to her forehead. “I feel like I might evaporate.”
Nate chuckled, hands folded on his chest. “Should I be concerned?”
“Only if I start snoring. Which is imminent.”
He turned his head toward her. “What happened to the early night?”
“I intended one.”
“And?”
“And then a bar appeared. Full of people. And music from my formative years.”
Nate snorted. “So, no.”
“So judgy,” she said, waggling a finger. “Guess we can’t all be perfect, can we?” She bit her lip, bracing for the snide remark. Instead, silence. Not awkward—worse. Loaded. She swallowed. New topic. “Your turn. You said something yesterday about wanting a career change.”
“Did I?”
“Yes.” She rolled onto her side, propping herself on one elbow. Suddenly, they were close enough that she could hear the faint rattle of his breath. “So, what’s the plan?”
That’s the thing,” he said, running a hand through his hair and leaving it sticking up at a ridiculous angle. Her fingers twitched, itching to smooth it down. “I don’t really have one. Except, well, one of my brothers, Jason, runs a tech startup. TriaPulse.”
“Wow. Roles of the tongue.”
“Yeah, apparently all the cool names were taken,” Nate said with a smirk. “It’s AI for emergency rooms. Helps doctors diagnose faster. Or something like that. He’s been hounding me to join him.”
“So?”
“I keep saying maybe.”
“Ah, keeping the door open?”
“Or stalling indefinitely,” he admitted. “What if I hate it? What if I’m shit at… whatever you do at an AI startup?”
Allegra shifted, her knee brushing his. Pure accident, but a shiver ran up her thigh anyway. She tucked her legs tighter beneath her and cleared her throat. “I guess sometimes not choosing is the choice. Especially with family, right?”
Nate’s gaze lingered, then he propped his chin on his fist. “That sounds personal.”
Her smile stayed easy, but her thumb traced a restless circle against her palm. “My parents are very… deliberate.”
“Deliberate?”
