“Whoopsie! I don’t know what happened there.”
I try to open my eyes, but my lashes are weighed down with grit, and rubbing them only makes them worse.
“Here, let me help you.”
“No way!”
Too late. She throws water in my face—once, twice, and then with a happy sigh, she empties the whole bottle over my head. I mop myself dry with my T-shirt, gnawing at the inside of my cheek, taking in her smug smile.
She curls a lip. “Truce?”
“Truce,” I sigh, holding up my hands.
She’s not buying it. She walks backward, eyeing me up.
“Well, this sucks.” I nod at the empty water bottle. “I was thirsty.”
She points at the water, smiling. “Want me to go fill it up?”
I spot a beach bar farther along the strand and start striding toward it.
“Wait here a second, I’ll go buy more.”
“Get me a straw!”
I jog over to the hut and wait my turn, plucking up a straw from the glass jar and considering chewing on it, just to gross her out.
Leaning against the counter, I can’t help but wink at the girl behind the bar.Old dog, new tricks…
“What can I get you?”
“Just a water to go, please.”
She crouches down to the fridge. “You on vacation?”
“Yeah, I’m here for winter break.”
“Thought as much. I would’ve noticed you around.”
She juts a hip out, biting her lip playfully. She hands me the bottle, but when I reach for it, she doesn’t seem to want to let go. I would usually enjoy seeing where the conversation leads, but Lois is waiting for me.
I slide a five over the counter. “Keep the change.”
“There’s a beach party tomorrow night, you know. Everybody goes.” She smiles at me. “You could come along.”
“I’ll think about it.”
I head back over to where I left Lois, but there’s no sign of her.If she’s planning another ambush, this time she’s definitely getting dunked.
The beach is teeming with people, and I scour the crowds, craning for a glimpse of her, until I spot her chatting with a blonde and redhead by a hut. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but I don’t need to—I can tell from here that Lois is struggling. Something isn’t right. Her eyes are narrowing as she nods along with the redhead, and though the sun is blinding, I know her well enough by now.
“Super Lane to the rescue,” I mutter to myself.
I sprint across the beach. Lois is panicking, I can see her searching for a way out. Suddenly, she glances up and over at the bar and catches sight of me, relief spreading across her face, followed by a shadow, and though alarm bells should be ringing, I don’t have time to stop and think. As soon as I catch up with her, she launches straight into a performance, letting out a yelp, thanking me for the drink in a high-pitched squeal. And before I know what’s hit me, she’s standing on her tiptoes, kissing me right on the lips.
22LOIS
I just fucked up. Big, big-time. Lane is looking at me like I’m crazy, and the two brats who’ve been annoying the shit out of me for the past five minutes look devastated. I acted on pure instinct, and if it weren’t for the salt I can taste on my lips right now, I’d swear I’d imagined the whole thing.
