“Don’t worry,” I say, eager to turn the conversation very much away from Myles Ford. “There’ll be plenty of other cute guys there. Some of them might even be shirtless.”
Felicity claps her hands. “God, why couldn’t I have grown up in a beach town?” We step onto the back porch and make our way down the steps, and she gestures with open arms. “I mean, look at this? You, like, live here and see this every day?”
It’s a perfect day for Summerfest. The sun shines bright, and only a few white clouds wisp across the bright blue sky. A light sea breeze brings the perfect relief from the heat, and I take a deep breath of sea air before I respond. “Yep.”
“Does it ever get old? Or stop being so awesome?”
“Never,” I say. “Do you miss it, Kat?”
Without a pause she says, “Yeah. I do.”
Huh. Another surprise.
It takes us twenty minutes to get to the pier. Mostly I listen to Kat and Felicity talk about people I don’t know, so I’m relieved when the tents, food trucks, and crowds come into view. The adults working at Pearl’s offered to take the shifts today so we teenagers could enjoy the festivities, and besides, it will probably be super slow. All the locals and tourists will be out here instead.
Which means Shelby will be here (I’ll text her soon to see where she’s at—I’ve decided I need a buffer), and so will Ned. Gregory said he and his mom were gonna check it out too, and Ruby and Julian never miss it.
Mom will already be in place at her stand and has probably sold three pieces by now, and Dad will come when he gets off.
Just like at the party on Kat’s last night in town, people keep coming up to say hi and hug her. Most happily announce that they had no idea she’d be here today (even I’m a little surprised she actually made it), some ask if she’s back for good (no), and all are super curious about her bougie friend. Felicity doesn’t seem to mind the attention one bit.
We buy mocktails and listen to the bands for a little while, then head to the food trucks to find something to eat. Shelby’s meeting me in the arts and crafts area in half an hour, and Kat wants to take Felicity to the dunk tank to see if they can sink the fireman who’s on the stand until three.
We get in line and start chatting, but Kat suddenly focuses somewhere over my shoulder at the same time her jaw drops.
“Who isthat?” she asks.
I turn, eyes scanning the crowd for someone worth that level of fawning. But the only person I recognize is Gregory, and he’s headed right for us.
24PLAYLIST:on repeat
“YOU MEAN GREGORY?” Iask.
“Tall, dark hair, superhot?”
Felicity must see him now too, because she adds, “Yeah, in like a punk rock, bad boy sort of way?”
I scrunch my nose as I turn to regard Gregory again, who’s now almost within hearing distance. Obviously I know that Gregory is good-looking, but are we going as far as “superhot bad boy”? He’s wearing a fitted black shirt today, but that’s about as far as I can get with that description.
His gaze takes in my current company as he approaches, eyes widening the tiniest bit with recognition when he sees Kat. He sidles right up next to me and throws an arm around my shoulder, pulling me up against his side. “Amelia. Just the person I was hoping to find.”
He’s all cool. Casual. It’s hard to believe this is the same guy who, not long ago, told me not to touch him while he cried on the beach.
I side-eye him, wondering what he’s up to. “Gregory.”
“Well, this worked out perfectly. I’m starving, and you saved me a place in line.”
I make a point of eyeing the many people behind us. “You can’t be a line jumper.”
“Sure, I can.”
“That’s rude.”
He shrugs. “No one cares.”
“Yeah, Amelia, no one cares,” Kat says. She’s looking at me like,Why haven’t I heard about this new development in your life?
She and Felicity are basically salivating. Gregory knows they’re checking him out, and he flashes an obnoxiously wide grin. “Why don’t you introduce me to your friends?”
