Page 42 of Tourist Trap

It’s where my parents met, where they got married long ago, and where I go in the summer to avoid the chaos.

When I pull up, I find the normal cars lining up the narrow road, and a sense of peace washes over me.

Except…when I see a bright fucking yellow Beetle parked in my spot.

Of course.

I contemplate double parking her and going in to argue with her, but the last thing I need is the grapevine in this town to go wild about me storming into the Seabreeze arguing with the new girl in town. Instead, I pull back out of the parking lot, cursing and grumbling under my breath before parking on the street.

It’s not until I’m closer to the bar that I realize there’snoisecoming from inside, which is strange because it’s Thursday, and the only times the Seabreeze gets rowdy in the summer are on bingo nights and the monthly trivia night.

But when I open the door, loud music comes blaring in, confusing me.

Until I see it.

Long blonde hair pulled into a ponytail, a tight white tank top, and long tanned legs in a pair of shorts that should be fucking illegal.

I walk further in, sure my eyes are deceiving me, when Grant catches my eye.

“Miles!” he says, smiling wide and tipping his head to the center of the room. “Just in time!”

But my eyes stay locked on Claire as she’s swung around the room by Benny, who is probably much too old to be moving like that. When her eyes catch on me, her steps slow, then stop before she leans in to say something to Benny with wide eyes. His head tips back with a laugh before he pushes her in my direction.

“Hey, there,” she says with a wide smile. I try to fight the way it warms me over, momentarily forgetting that I’m supposed to be annoyed with her.

“Your car’s in my spot.”

She looks from me to the car she can probably see through the window, then tosses her hair over her shoulder before tipping her head to the side. She uses a hand to fan herself, and I notice then the way her cheeks are flushed, the way her chest is rising with labored breaths from her dancing.

Cut it out, I tell my rampaging mind.

“It doesn’t have your name on it,” she says simply, a smile playing on her lips like she knows it’s going to annoy me.

My jaw goes tight, and I wonder what the enamel of my teeth will look like by the end of the summer.

“I don’t have to. It’smyspot.”

“How is anyone supposed to just know that?” She puts her hands on her hips, shifting her weight to one leg and cocking out her knee.

“The people who come here are regulars. Regulars know the rules.”

“Rule is being incredibly generous,” June says, overhearing our conversation.

I glare at my best friend’s sister, and she puts her hands up in surrender but doesn’t hide her laugh.

“Why do you get to park there? What makes you so much more special than any other customer here?”

I cross my arms on my chest and look down my nose at her.

“I won the fishing contest last year. It gets you a parking spot for a year,” I say, though I suddenly feel ridiculous saying it out loud, sounding like a childish excuse.

Her eyes go comically wide.

“Wow, so fancy,” she says in a way that clearly shows she isn’t impressed at all.

“It’s the rules, Claire. You win the contest, you get the spot. And it’s my spot. I got it because I won the contest, but I had to park halfway down the road because you’re in myspot.”

Her lips roll into themselves, trying not to laugh, and her eyes go wide as if pretending like she’s taking in what I’m saying, but she really just looks like she’s humoring a child.

---