Page 4 of Tourist Trap

Claire gives me a confused look, her cheeks still flushed from dancing in the warm bar. “What?”

“Dancing on top of a bar? You could’ve broken your neck.” The thoughts of her getting hurt makes my hand clench and my gut twist, and I have to remind myself the only reason I’m worried about her safety is because she’s Paul’s, and I’ve spent my entire life protecting Paul.

She’s just an extension of that.

“I wouldn’t havebroken my neck. God. You’re so dramatic.”

“The only reason you didn’t is because Icaughtyou,” I argue.

She rolls her eyes at that, crossing her arms on her chest and facing me. “I only fell because youstartledme.”

She crosses her arms on her full chest and I try to focus on the irritation brewing in my bones and not the low cut of her top or my unsettling urge to move the hair that the ocean breeze is blowing around from her face so I could see her better.

It’s always been this way with Claire, ever since I first met her when she was far, far too young for me when she came to visit June that first summer. She was nineteen to my twenty-five and just as wild as she is now.

“You were in a busy nightclub. You were bound to be startled at some point.”

She shrugs and smiles. “Well, then, I guess I’m lucky you were there to catch me, right?”

I glare, and she smiles sweetly back before I shake my head, deciding it’s not worth the effort. “Where’s Paul?” I ask. From the corner of my eye, June’s shoulders shake as she lets out a snort, then whispers to Grant, but I can’t focus on themandClaire before me.

“Paul?” she asks, looking confused.

“Paul. My brother. Your boyfriend? Where is he?” She tips her head to the side and gives me a strange, quizzical look I don’t understand. Am I in a fucking twilight zone?

“Well, I’m assuming back in California, but who knows, maybe he already ran out of money and had to move somewhere else.”

My brows furrow, and then I watch as slowly a smile spreads across her lips, understanding hitting her.

“Oh, you don’t know, do you?” She tips her head a bit, hair tumbling to the side as she puts her hands on her full hips, looking at me in what seems to be a new light.

“Don’t know what?”

“We broke up. Six months ago or so?” She looks to June who nods, confirming the timeline.

“You broke up?” I ask, fervently ignoring the unsettling way my body and mind are reacting to this new information. “What happened?”

I shouldn’t ask because I shouldn’t care, but here I am.

Asking.

Caring.

“Let’s see, I gave him an ultimatum to treat me halfway decent or I would leave and, well, you know Paul. He seemed to think that was the most outlandish request, so I left.”

This is news to me, but suddenly, his new need for money makes sense.

Fuck.

This new reality tumbles over me.

Claire Donovan is single.

And in my hometown.

I need to get her home and myself away from her as soon as possible.

“Come on. Where are you staying? With June? Let’s get you home,” I say, looking to Grant, who is clearly saying the same to his sister and Lainey.

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