Page 16 of Those Summer Nights (Sweet Cravings 2)

"You guys can serve first," my lifeguard said.

"You really shouldn't be cocky right now.” I served the ball. It bounced low and went perfectly between them so that neither of them went for it.

"Shit, nice serve!" my partner said.

"Eh, it wasn't my best." I served again. This time my lifeguard made contact with the ball but missed the table by about a foot.

After my five serves, we were up five to zero. I grabbed the ball that my lifeguard's partner had just flubbed and tossed it hard at my lifeguard. He caught it.

They only had three points when I slammed the winning shot.

"Dude, that was awesome!" My partner high-fived me.

"Should we switch up the teams?" my lifeguard's partner asked. It looked like he wanted nothing to do with my lifeguard anymore either. “It’s only fair that we each get a turn with the stalker.”

Seriously? I felt a lump forming in my throat that I couldn’t swallow down. "Actually, I have to get going. Thanks for letting me play with you guys. It was lots of fun." It felt good to win. But I was losing my composure. I put the paddle down and walked away from the table toward the front of the restaurant.

"Hey!" I heard my lifeguard yell af

ter me.

I kept walking. I was supposed to stay single this summer. It was good that he had invited me here as a joke. I never thought I'd need a reminder that all men were assholes, but here it was. My eyes were starting to burn. I should have never come with him. I wasn't ready for anything like this. I just needed to be alone.

"Jellyfish Girl!"

I stopped in the middle of the boardwalk and turned around. "That's not my name. Or Stalker. Not that you care." People were staring at me. This was so mortifying.

“I’m sorry, I…”

"Please just leave me alone." I needed to get away from all the prying eyes. And most of all I needed to get away from him. I walked across the boardwalk and onto the beach. The sand was cold at night. I slid off my flip flops, picked them up, and ran as fast as I could down to the water.

Chapter 5

Friday

My alarm went off and I groaned. It couldn’t possibly be time to wake up. I touched my forehead where I had a pounding headache. People who just got hit by a ton of bricks in the face shouldn’t have to wake up in the morning. It was only fair. But the beeping was relentless despite how unfair it was.

I reached out to silence my phone. When the alarm stopped, I was about to let go of my phone when everything came back to me in a rush.

No. No, no, no. I pulled my phone close to my face and checked my most recent calls. No! There it was. At 10:30 last night I had made one outgoing call. To fucking Aiden.

My headache suddenly got worse. I remembered everything from last night. Drinking too much. My lifeguard making fun of me to his friends. Me stupidly thinking it was a date. Crying on the beach, the feelings mashing together with when Aiden broke up with me. And then…I called Aiden because drunk crying me apparently wanted my life to be worse at 10:30 last night.

I would have thrown my phone across the room, but my screen was already cracked. I was lucky it even worked. Instead, I slammed it against my pillow and tried not to start crying all over again. Why of all people did I call the devil himself? Being embarrassed and drunk shouldn’t have made me need to hear his voice. But it was hard being so close to him for years and then getting cut out of his life. I was used to going to him when I was upset. It was a normal reaction, even if it was an accident. I never needed to hear his stupid voice again. Ever.

I closed my eyes and pulled the covers over my head. Luckily Aiden hadn't answered. But I remembered leaving a long, awkward message. I’d asked him why he called things off. I’d told him I was across the country and no matter how far away I was, it still hurt. I was pathetic. It would have been better if I’d stayed at the bar and gotten made fun of to my face for the rest of the evening. At least then I wouldn’t have called my ex in a fit of despair.

My alarm started going off again. I’d hit the snooze button by mistake. Because there was no way in hell I was going to work today. Elephants were stampeding in my head and my soul hurt. I turned off the annoying beeping again.

“What are you doing?” Kristen asked with a yawn. “You’re going to be late for work.”

“I’m not going.” At first I thought she didn’t hear me because I was hiding underneath my blankets.

“You have to go to work.”

“No.” I felt the bed sag beside me.

“Did something happen last night?” she asked.

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