Page 14 of The Catch

Dylan grabbed his wristwatch off of the bathroom counter, having finally settled on an outfit, and came to sit in the chair across from Josh. “This doesn’t really feel like a Josh thing to do,” he said.

“What’s that?”

“Chasing a girl. It was always the other way around in college.” Dylan transformed his voice into a feminine lilt and pursed his lips into one of those duck faces girls make. “Who’s your friendJosh?” he sang. “The one who barely looked in my direction all night. I think I’mmadlyin love with him.”

“You’re just jealous.”

“Damn right, I’m jealous. I’m out here working for it, man.”

Josh laughed. Dylan was always working for it, and to his chagrin, Josh’s lack of effort tended to attract the opposite sex just as easily. A girl he’d dated in college once told him he was classically handsome with the kind of bone structure that women were programmed to seek out in a mate. She was an anthropology major, and he’d frankly found the comment creepy as hell, but he couldn’t deny he gave Dylan and his meticulously groomed good looks and smooth talking a run for his money just by standing there. It was fine by him, though, because unlike Dylan, he’d never been one for the thrill of the chase. Seemed to him, having to chase someone’s affection from the get-go only meant that you needed them more than they needed you. That was a feeling he knew all too well.

Cat, though. There was something about her that he couldn’t leave alone. She’d seemed hesitant today, standoffish even, and that would normally be enough to make him cut his losses, but the wall she had up was full of little cracks where they kept connecting—moments where she looked at him like she felt the same undeniable pull between them. Like last night on the dancefloor, when she’d let her head rest on his shoulder with a vulnerability that was at complete odds with her previous toughness. Or earlier, when they were walking along the sandbar, and she’d watched him, studied everything he did, openly checked him out. Those sunglasses weren’t keeping her secrets like she thought they were.

He might not have noticed it, the way she was struggling with herself, if he hadn’t seen her ready to skewer that guy Dani had them caught up with, or how she so quickly dismissed Dylan’s well-rehearsed charm. She’d hinted at something in the water too.Someone promised her something, she’d said. That could mean a million things, but he got the feeling it was bigger than she let on, and that it was directly related to her skittishness around him.

She hadn’t dismissed him, though, and it was enough to make him want to prove to her he was worth her time. He’d been shaken the minute he saw her, with her dark hair and eyes that he wanted to swim in, and when she’d said they lived an hour apart, it was like the universe was finally settling its tab with him. Maybe he was chasing this girl, but he wanted her, even if it meant breaking some of his own rules.

“I’ve just never seen you make the effort,” Dylan continued. “Definitely not since Sarah. I was beginning to wonder if you still had a pulse.”

Josh pictured Cat’s face blushing pink and smiling at him, her legs wrapped around him in the ocean, and he felt his blood quicken. “I guess things change.”

“You look like you need a drink, sweetheart.”

Cat felt a warm body press against her back and her teeth ground together. She and Emma had been standing near the stage, listening to a band warm up for maybe ten minutes while they waited for Dani and Sonya to get back from the bar, and this was the third guy who’d found it appropriate to touch her. The big rock on Emma’s left hand was like a forcefield that they all bounced off of, landing in front of Cat instead.

She turned over her shoulder to see a fairly handsome face looking down at her. Straight teeth, tan complexion.Not wearing a tank top.This place was a little classier than the club the night before, but that just meant the bad lines came in more expensive packages.

“My friend is getting me one, actually,” she said, waving him off.

“Male or female?”

“What?”

“Your friend? Is it a boyfriend?”

She thought of the guy from the night before, finally getting the hint after Josh’s pretend boyfriend act. “Yup,” she said. “Boyfriend. We’re practically married. I should probably go find him.”

She tugged Emma’s arm through a set of doors to an outdoor deck. The music was much softer outside, the metallic notes of an island melody dancing with the flickering light of the tall torches in each corner of the space. The back of the club ran along the shoreline, and below them, there was a large swath of beach roped off with a few picnic tables set around in various spots. High-top tables dotted the balcony where tiny white lights were strung in rows above them.

“He was cute,” Emma said, looking back over her shoulder at Mr. Perfect Teeth.

“He’ll find someone else to spend his money on.” Cat’s eyes did another involuntary sweep of the faces around them. She’d been doing it all night as if Josh might appear if she thought about him one more time. Like some really hot Beetlejuice.

Emma polished off her drink and set the glass on an empty table, giving Cat a smile that could only be described as a mixture of pity and thinning patience. “Okay, listen,” she said. “I know everyone was joking around down at the beach, but I think you should give this Josh guy a chance.”

Cat blinked. Did Emma acquire mind-reading powers? She actually wouldn’t be surprised. “What brought that on?” she asked innocently.

“You’re looking for him.”

“I most certainly am not,” she lied. “And I spent the whole day on a jet ski with him. I’d say I’m giving him a chance.”

“So why didn’t you agree to see him tonight?”

Emma’s tone was conversational, but Cat knew when Emma gulped the last of her wine, she was about to get a famous Emma Dawson couch session. Sure, Emma had her masters in psychology and worked as a family therapist, but didn’t her actual patients give her enough work? Did she really need to psych-judge her friends in her free time?

“Emma. Don’t.”

“I know you, Cat. You’re trying to find something wrong with him.”

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