Page 28 of Love At The Shore
Lucas scrubbed his hand over his mouth to disguise his smirk and also to prevent himself from issuing another ill-conceived invitation. Like maybe even a date.
“Maybe.” Jenna attempted a nonchalant shrug. Her constant state of anxiety was beginning to fascinate him for some strange reason. He wondered what it would take to make her throw her head back and laugh out loud.
He couldn’t picture it, but he knew without a doubt it would be a breathtaking sight.
Nick and Ally sighed audibly. “Maybe?”
“Good. I’ll see you later, then.” Lucas turned his attention back to digging. He knew better than to press his luck. “Maybe.”
Jenna’smaybehad been mom code forno, absolutely not. Unfortunately, Ally and Nick hadn’t caught on.
They were relentless. The bonfire was all they talked about over dinner, and the more they pressed, the more Jenna began to realize that she didn’t have a legitimate reason for turning down Lucas’s invitation.
Not a reason she felt comfortable sharing with Nick and Ally, anyway.
She was still reeling from the strange pang she’d felt earlier at the pool as she’d watched Lucas laughing and joking around with the camp counselor. The sight had caught her completely off guard—so off guard that she hadn’t bothered to wonder why Lucas was at the pool in the first place. She’d been far too busy trying to figure out why the idea that he and Kayla might be a couple bothered her.
Because it did. It bothered her a lot. If she didn’t know better, she might even believe she was jealous.
Nope.She rummaged through one of the kitchen cabinets while Ally and Nick cleared the table.Definitely not jealous.
The very idea was absurd. Why should she care if Lucas and Kayla were a couple?
Werethey a couple?
It didn’t matter. She wasn’t interested in Lucas, and just to prove it to herself, she was going to relent and take Ally and Nick to his bonfire.
Aha!She finally located the bag of jumbo marshmallows she’d brought to the beach in anticipation of s’mores. It was tucked behind the pancake mix and Ally’s big container of chocolate chips.
Jenna plucked the bag from the cabinet and held it up in the air. “Okay, who’s ready for a bonfire?”
“You mean we’re really going?” In his excitement, Nick nearly dropped the stack of plates he was carrying to the sink.
“Sure,” Jenna said, trying her best to sound nonchalant. “Why not?”
Ally and Nick exchanged a meaningful glance.
Great. They definitely thought she didn’t like him, even after she’d done her best to convince Ally otherwise when she’d made her “criminal” comment on the beach the other day. Going to the bonfire was definitely the right call.
“Why don’t you two grab your sweatshirts while I finish cleaning up and then we’ll head down?” Jenna rinsed the plates and stacked them in the dishwasher while the kids raced upstairs to get ready.
A cool breeze had blown in with the tide and the moon glittered high in the sky, reigning over the shore, making the night seem as dark and smooth as velvet. The kids were snug in their sweatshirts. Jenna threw on a cardigan, but a shiver still coursed through her as they made their way over the dune. The beach seemed like such a different place at night. Quiet. Intimate.
Lucas’s bonfire was a shimmer of orange on the horizon, and as they drew closer, Jenna heard the soft strum of music. It wasn’t until she and the kids had reached the circle of beach chairs around the fire pit that she realized Lucas was the source of the soothing melody.
He smiled at her from across the flames as he strummed an acoustic guitar. Tank sat at Lucas’s feet with his head cocked at a jaunty angle, one ear up and one ear down. They couldn’t have looked more darling together if they’d tried.
Jenna glanced around. A teenager with red hair parted into two braids sat immediately to his left, and on Lucas’s other side, a guy wearing a tank top sipped a bottle of beer. There were easily two dozen people around the fire, some on blankets, others standing and swaying to the music.
Standing there in her jeans and her mom-cardigan, Jenna suddenly felt a hundred years old. What was she doing there?
Proving you don’t care who Lucas McKinnon dates, remember?
“I don’t think we have enough marshmallows for everyone,” Ally said, glancing down at the plastic bag in her hands.
“I actually don’t think there’s enough room for us, sweetie,” Jenna said, wanting nothing more than to bolt back to the beach house.
“Sure there is,” Nick countered, waving at Lucas.
