“Sure,” I said. “I can say hi.”
She turned without another word and started up the sand toward the fire. I fell into step beside her and tried not to notice the way she moved. I failed completely. She was barefoot as usual, walking across the sand with no trouble. I couldn’t help but check out her toned ass. We were far enough from the group that the music and laughter gave us a small pocket of privacy.
“You look good,” I said, clearly asking for her to throw sand in my eyes.
“Thanks,” she replied without looking at me.
She had never been the type to deflect a compliment with false modesty. She accepted it, owned it, and moved on. I’d always liked that about her.
“How’ve you been?” I asked.
She kept walking, eyes forward. “Better than ever,” she said. “Right up until last night, when a little birdie decided to drop your last name into casual dinner conversation and make all kinds of claims about you showing up for the summer.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “Did you really think I’d stay away forever?”
She stopped walking and turned to face me. Damn. How the hell had I managed to stay away for so long? She was easily the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on. I was surrounded by beautiful women on the daily, but none of them compared to her effortless beauty. It was just so damn natural.
“Yes,” she said.
Just the one word.
I held her gaze. I hadn’t expected that. I’d expected there to be some kind of explanation. She sounded angry. That’s the part I didn’t get. We both knew what we had been. What it actually was. I hadn’t made promises I didn’t keep. I hadn’t painted a picture I didn’t deliver. We were two people who burned bright every summer and then went back to our real lives when the season ended. That was the understanding. That was always the understanding. I hadn’t promised her a future and she didn’t seem interested in having one with me.
At least, that was what I’d told myself. Standing here now, with her looking at me like she was trying to decide if she wanted to jab her fingers in my eyes or her knee in my balls made me think I might have misjudged the situation.
“Things ended the way they ended,” I said calmly. “I didn’t pretend it was something it wasn’t. I was never dishonest with you about my life.”
“No,” she agreed. “You weren’t.”
“I got busy. The company needed me. I made choices.”
“You made choices,” she repeated, like she was trying to understand the words. She nodded slowly, not agreeing exactly, just acknowledging. “And now you’re here.”
“And now I’m here.”
She stared at me, sizing me up and passing judgment. Summer was never one to be open with her feelings. Back then, I didn’t need her to tell me what she was thinking. We just kind of moved in the same direction. There were never any declarations of love or promises about anything. Hell, we barely made dinner plans. We just were.
But something told me that’s not the way she saw things. I fucked up but I didn’t know how. I wanted to make it right, though. I didn’t come back expecting to pick up where we left off.I really thought she would have been gone. Now that I was back and she was still around, I didn’t want to be enemies. Was there a chance we could be friends?
“Why?” she asked.
I blinked. “What?”
“Why are you here? And don’t tell me it’s for the tan. Or the margaritas from the Shack. You didn’t fly out here for that.”
“No,” I admitted. “I didn’t.”
I reached for the shirt tucked into my waistband and pulled it on. I wasn’t ashamed of my body, but her gaze was making me feel very naked. Normally, that’d be fine, but Summer had a way of getting right to the heart of anything. I didn’t want to reveal too much.
I opened my mouth to tell her. The cruise port. The vision I’d been carrying around. I wanted to tell her about my big plans for the business I’d been dreaming about for years. Combining my love for the beach with the stuff I’m good at—making money.
“Colt!”
I looked up at the sound of my name. It was strange to be recognized out here. I hadn’t been around in so long, but clearly, some things never changed, including the locals.
Capri was crossing the sand toward us with a White Claw in each hand. She was smiling and looked genuinely happy to see me, which was more than I’d expected given the circumstances. She always had been the more forgiving of the two of them.
“Hey, Capri,” I said.