I stood there for a moment at the top of the path and told myself to stop scanning for her. She said she’d be here. She’d be here. And then I thought about Cody’s warning it could be a setup.
Summer would not set me up.
“Anderson.”
Bodhi materialized out of the dark to my left, two bottles in hand. He was wearing a hoodie and board shorts, his curls loose and wild. He looked me over, then extended one of the bottles toward me. I was so glad I had kept it simple with the khaki shorts and a tee. Overdressing was a real thing.
I took the beer. “Thanks for the invite.”
“Don’t mention it.” He tipped his own bottle toward the fire. He glanced at me sideways. “The video helped.”
“That was the idea.”
He nodded slowly, looking out at the water. I was waiting for him to say something about Summer. I was ready for it. Had a whole response prepared that conveyed absolutely nothing about the fact that I was completely and utterly gone for the woman.
He didn’t say anything about Summer. He just said, “Come on,” and led me toward the fire.
The reception was better than I deserved. A few people I recognized from the protest. One I had spotted with a tomato that eventually ended up on my shirt. There were handshakes. A few cautious nods. One guy named Tyler who ran a paddleboardrental outfit gave me a knuckle bump. That was about the equivalent of a warm hug.
I found myself standing between Bodhi and Tyler, half-listening to a debate about wave conditions, when I noticed the young woman standing just outside the inner ring of the fire’s warmth. She was in her early twenties. Dark hair pulled back, a flannel shirt tied at the waist. Pretty in a quiet way. She had a drink in her hand that she wasn’t touching, and every thirty seconds or so her eyes would drift to me and then look away quickly when I looked in her direction.
I filed it away without making much of it. Maybe she’d been at the protest. Or she didn’t like me. Didn’t trust me. I couldn’t blame her. There were probably a dozen people here tonight doing the same thing with more subtlety. I looked back at the fire and took a drink of my beer.
And then Summer was there.
She came down the path with Capri beside her, both of them laughing at something before they’d even reached the sand. She was wearing a light-colored dress I hadn’t seen before, something that moved when she walked. Her hair was loose with those beautiful beachy waves swishing around her shoulders. She had sandals on that she stopped to take off the moment her feet hit the sand, dangling them from two fingers as she kept walking.
I was staring and I didn’t bother trying to hide it. I didn’t care who knew I wanted her. She was mine and I just needed everyone here, including her, to accept it.
She spotted me before Capri did. A smile broke across her face. She said something to Capri without looking away from me and then changed direction. Summer Banks walking across a beach toward me in the firelight was a core memory I would take to the grave with me.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi.”
She tilted her head toward the cooler. “I need a drink.”
I got her one. She took it and stepped in beside me, close enough that her shoulder pressed against my arm. She stayed there. I wasn’t sure if she’d be hesitant to hang out with me. I sure as hell didn’t expect her to stick by me like she had already accepted she was mine.
Bodhi glanced over. I watched him clock the two of us standing together and I waited for him to have an opinion. I was more than happy to show him his opinion was wrong. He raised his bottle slightly, more at her than me, and turned back to his conversation. I exhaled, glad I wasn’t going to have to resort to a fistfight.
The fire popped and sent up a spray of sparks. The conversation around us rose and fell. The music had shifted to a Kenny Chesney song. I listened to surfing stories. Close encounters with sharks. I listened but only half-paid attention. I was focused on her.
Summer leaned into me. I put my arm around her, hoping she wouldn’t shrug it off. She just leaned into me. Damn, she fit so perfectly against my body.
I couldn’t stop looking at her. Every time I thought I had it under control she’d tilt her head or push her hair back from her face or catch my eye and smile. I had it bad and I didn’t care even a little.
“New dress?” I asked her.
“Yep. Did a little shopping today.”
“I like it.” I leaned close to her ear. “But I’d like it better on my floor.”
She burst into laughter. “That is so cliche.”
“But true.”
“How’s the knees?”