Page 35 of Tourist Trap

Finally, he steps back and moves to the table to clean it off. A part of me fills with disappointment that this morning is over already, wishing I could call out of work, but also…this was good.

This was perfect.

I move over to the table to help clean up, but he looks at me and shakes his head.

“No, I’ve got this. Go get ready for your day.”

“I can’t do that,” I say with a laugh.

“I insist. It’ll make us even for my being a dick.”

I want to argue, to tell him that we already agreed the slate was clean, but his face looks so sincere, I can’t do anything but nod.

“Okay.”

“Don’t forget Margo,” he says, tipping his chin toward my water bottle.

I let out a laugh and shake my head, grabbing her and making my way toward the door. I do feel guilty, but that alarm is still going off, and I barely gave myself enough time to get ready and be out the door when I set it.

Still, I pause at the door, watching him fold the blankets and stack plates.

“Hey, Miles?” I say quietly. His head turns my way curiously.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. This was…amazing.”

He shakes his head and blushes, busying himself with clearing things.

“Oh, yeah. It was…it was nothing. It was on the list, you know?”

I smile. “I don’t think that’s why you did it,” I say, but don’t push it more than that. I lean in the doorway before I ask, “Did you have fun this morning?”

With that, he stands up straight, arms crossed on his chest as he takes me in. Now it’s my turn to be nervous and fidget with my water bottle.

“What?”

“Did you have fun this morning? That was the point, after all.” It’s silly, but my belly flutters with my question. More so when he stares at me for long moments before a small smile pops on his face as if he can’t help it.

“I’m finding I seem to always have fun when you’re around, Claire.”

THIRTEEN

CLAIRE

Memorial Day weekend flies by in a chaotic haze of sunscreen and sand.

Because it’s the first real weekend of the season, the beach was packed, and since it’s my first full weekend working with the full crew, I made sure I was at the beach before anyone else and left only once Helen did.

But it doesn’t even feel like work.

I laughed with the other lifeguards, and I argued with tourists a handful of times, but really, how much can it feel like work when my breaks are spent on the sand and I can have ice cream and boardwalk fries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if I so choose?

That being said, I was excited for my day off today, and it was the perfect opportunity to make a little bit of chaos.

The front door slams shut at six p.m. on the dot, when I can typically expect Miles home, and I smile, waiting.

The last week has been…good.

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