Page 16 of Return Policy

“Will do.” I hang up and head inside, settling back into the booth. I take a sip of my water, hoping it might wash down some of the shame I feel about staying here when I know Mom needs me back home. Even if she won’t admit it.

“You in, E?” Theo asks, pulling me out of my head.

“In for what?”

“Tits, tequila, and twerking.” He waggles his eyebrows, and my lips curl upwards as I fight a smile at the one person who never fails to suck me into a good time.

“I’ll skip the twerking, but tequila and tits?” I shoot finger guns at him,Rick and Mortystyle. “You son of a bitch, I’m in.”

* * *

We’re in the corner of a bayside college bar that smells like stale beer, weed, and sweat. Theo, Noah, Desmond, and a few other guys from the team are standing around, shooting the shit.

Most of the guys are twenty-one, but since I’m not, I ordered a whiskey ginger with the fake Theo got me. I should’ve chosen any other liquor though because now all I can think about isher. I’m in a bar full of beautiful, tipsy girls who’ve been throwing themselves at us all night, and all I can think of are forest green eyes and a sassy smile.

“Hey, Elijah,” Andi says, walking up next to me.

“Hi, Andi.” I smirk down at her.Maybe she’s the perfect distraction to get that bewildering blonde out of my head.

“Hi,Andi,” the boys all coo.

“Hey,boys.” Andi flashes them her signature smile and turns back to me. “Let’s dance.”

“Andi,” I groan, my head falling back.

“Come on, you need to have somefun.” She cocks a brow at me. “Actualfun.”

“Fine.” I huff a breath and force a smile, nudging her towards the dance floor. I’m not a dancer, only if I’m really drunk, but I’ll do just about anything if Andi can help me forget Sophia for one damn night. Although she’s already tried and failed.

Can someone please explain to me how a total stranger can have you obsessing about them for months? Because I don’t get it. All Sophia did was kiss me on the cheek, and you’d think she stole my precious virginity, I’m so damn hooked.

Andi grinds her plump ass against me as we dance squished between fifty other sweaty college kids. Her hips are gyrating to the beat, which is usually the part where I’d get hard, she’d notice, and ask if I want to get out of here—no such luck. Andi turns around and throws her arms around my neck.

“You’re so tense today,” she says, trailing her fingertips along the side of it.

My eyes wander the room, trying to figure out if I somehow have whiskey dick at the ripe old age of twenty. They snag at the far corner of the bar on a familiar-looking girl with purple hair. My eyes scan frantically to see if… Yep. There she is.

Theresheis.

The golden thread I’ve been pulling on all summer—each tug leading me toward my complete unraveling.

She’s just as breathtaking as I remember. Andi sways to the music, but my body is frozen. Afraid if I blink, Sophia will vanish into thin air. She says something in her friend’s ear, and then they both split, the friend heading toward the bathroom hallway and Sophia weaving through the crowded dance floor.

“Be right back,” I tell Andi, removing myself abruptly from her grasp.

“Um, okay?” She laughs after me.

I make my way through the bar, almost knocking over an entire group of guys on the way out.

“Hey!” one shouts as I push past him.

“Sorry,” I grumble.

I don’t see her anywhere, and I’m frantic.Why am I like this?I glance at the exit and see a flicker of blonde hair just before the door closes. I rush toward it and throw it open, practically busting it off its hinges.

“Dude,” some guy says as I exit the bar.

“Sorry,” I mumble again.

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