Page 68 of Hotter in the Hamptons

She hoped this could turn out to be true.

***

Lola woke up to the sound of a toddler screaming. She groaned and reached for Aly, but the bed was empty.

She looked at her phone. It was a little after nine. She texted her:I’ll give you a million dollars if you bring me coffee.

There was a buzzing sound. Aly’s phone was still on the nightstand.

Lola sighed heavily and prepared herself to go downstairs. Lying in bed, she went back over everything that had happened yesterday—theawful things Colette said in the kitchen; what Aly had confessed to her about her past; how nice Lauren was to her; how much she liked talking to Jess; how special it felt, even though she wasn’t part of this group, to observe their bond.

As though watching a tape, she rewound to the part where Aly told her about her ex, the one she’d left Colette for.

Aly hadn’t been on Lola’s radar when this relationship took place, so Lola didn’t have a mental image of the couple.

She googledAly Ray Carter and model girlfriend.

The search results were flooded with Getty and BFA images, articles, and social media posts. The model ex-girlfriend, Raina, was a light-skinned Black woman with long, shiny curls and a septum piercing. She was very tall and reed thin, which told Lola she wasn’t just a model but arunwaymodel. Clothes simply hung off her in a way that Lola envied. She dug deeper into the search results: Aly and Raina photographed leaving fashion shows, at parties, on red carpets. Aly and Raina linked together at restaurant openings and literary events. Lola zoomed in, trying to figure out if Aly looked happier with Raina than she did with her.

Aly wasn’t smiling in any of the photos. Whether that was because she was too cool or because she was unhappy, Lola could only guess.

She clicked further into Raina. She’d married her agent, a guy who looked twenty years older than her.Gross, Lola thought. Their kids were cute, though. Raina seemed to have left fashion altogether to be a trad wife. Her entire Instagram was her making elaborate meals from scratch wearing puff-sleeve dresses. Lola wondered if this was the life Justin had imagined for the two of them. Despite how pretty Raina was, she wasn’t making it look appealing. So many fucking mason jars.

She was going to make herself crazy doing this, and finally thepromise of coffee proved too powerful. She cleared her search history and forced herself to get out of bed.

Everyone was sitting around the kitchen table, nearly empty plates revealing the remnants of blueberry pancakes. Clancy was in a high chair, the floor around him covered in crumbs. Lola felt intimidated by the intimacy of the scene. Five friends who had known each other forever, enjoying each other’s company first thing in the morning. She didn’t belong here. She was intruding. She fought the urge to flee.

Aly saw Lola in the doorway and jumped to her feet.

“She wakes,” Aly announced, bringing her coffee and ushering her to a seat.

“Lola, we were just making a plan for the day,” Laurie said. “What do you feel like doing?”

“Me?” Lola asked, trying to caffeinate as quickly as possible. “Oh, no. It’s whatever you guys want. I’m onyourvacation.”

“No, no,” Lauren said. “We can find something everyone wants to do.”

“We could go on that nature walk,” Laurie said.

“I didn’t bring sneakers,” Colette said.

Colette looked like she didn’townsneakers.

“What about beach volleyball?” Jess said. “There’s a net a little ways down.”

“I hate volleyball,” Aly groaned.

Lola sat up straighter. “Actually, I played in high school.”

“Aly can watch Clancy while we play,” Laurie said. “How long does everyone need to get ready? Five minutes? Three?”

There was some laughter. “Let’s meet in the driveway in an hour,” Aly said, nodding toward Lola. “Some of us are still waking up.”

“I mean, it’s a clothing optional beach.” Laurie shrugged. “How much time do you need to get naked?”

***

The beach was already filling up with couples and groups of friends rolling out towels and blankets and picnics as their crew headed to the net. It appeared to be a younger, more diverse crowd than the beaches of East Hampton, and Lola appreciated it. In the Hamptons, everyone was thin and white; all the women had the same long, balayaged hair. Things were much more interesting out here. No two bodies looked alike; there were curves and cellulite and muscles, top surgery scars and tattoos and all kinds of piercings. Skin of every color. People had hair that was long, buzzed, cut into mullets. She tried not to look at all the bare breasts that shone in the sun. She didn’t want to be a creep.

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