Page 78 of Tourist Trap

I let out a laugh and pull her into me, although she tries to step away. I press my lips to hers, and her body eases, her arms moving around my neck as she deepens it.

When I pull away, I press my forehead to hers,. “I won’t because it wouldn’t be good for you.”

“We could bring a towel,” she whispers.

“That won’t stop the sand.”

She bites her lip, and I see it then, her stubbornness easing in. “What if we were up high?”

“Claire—”

“There’s no sand on the lifeguard chair.”

I let out a loud laugh and shake my head. “I feel like you could lose your job for that.”

“It would be nighttime,obviously. And honestly, you’ve met Helen. She’d probably go on some kind of rampage about sexual freedom and tell me new positions to try.”

I grimace, knowing she’s probably right. “Even more reason not to do it.”

“God, you’re so boring,” she says, and I smile.

“One of us has to be,” I say, spotting my truck in the distance.

“I like that,” she whispers, her stubbornness seemingly to have been forgotten.

“What?”

“You being the serious one who uses logic, me being the chaos gremlin I am.” I smile, using a hand to push her hair back.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. We’re a good match.”

TWENTY-SEVEN

CLAIRE

“So,” Miles starts, seemingly nervous even though he’s literally been inside me more times than I can count in the past week. It’s like we’re both making up for years of lost time, and if I’m being honest, that debt is still not paid. My body craves his every waking moment. “One car?”

I stare at him for a silent moment before I burst into laughter. He stares at me, unentertained, while I continue laughing before I finally settle down.

Today is the annual summer celebration, but my first time attending. According to Miles, the crew has done this for as long as he can remember, with everyone meeting up at the bay beach behind the Seabreeze and enjoying a delayed celebration, since almost every local in Seaside Point works on the actual fourth.

It’s also our first outing as a couple.

“Yeah, Miles. One car should do the trick,” I say with a smile, pressing a kiss to his lips before we make our way to his truck.

“Finally,” Deck says, the first to spot us when we walk to the cove hand in hand, a sigh of relief leaving his lips. I look up at Miles, whose brows are furrowed in confusion, then start laughing again, loud.

“What did I miss?” he asks me low, and I smile, shifting to my tiptoes and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

That makes Deck hoot louder, and Lainey and June join in too. Grant just shakes his head with a smile. I look over to where Miles’s mom is sitting at a picnic table with Helen, both of whom give me a thumbs up. Benny sits in a lawn chair, so tan by now I worry his skin might crack, a faded trucker hat on and that ever-present pipe between his teeth.

“It happened,” Lainey says, cheering.

Although they know since I’ve texted both of them a million details, I’ve been so busy with work, so I haven’t actually seen them since Miles and I got together. When I look at Miles, he somehow looks even more nervous and anxious. It takes everything in me not to laugh at him again. The poor man is so confused.

“You guys finally got together!” Lainey adds, and it clicks for him, a deep blush burning over his cheeks.

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