Page 14 of Those Summer Nights (Sweet Cravings 2)

“Ah, I’m sorry. I should have checked my phone.”

“You think?” She adjusted her super short miniskirt and somehow made it even more inappropriate. “I’m not too late, am I? Which one is he?”

“Would you lower your voice?” I grabbed her arm and pulled her down onto the stool beside mine.

“I ran all over the boardwalk in heels, Mila. If you don’t tell me who he is I’m going to kill you.”

Apparently I was going to be murdered tonight. Just not by my lifeguard. “I didn’t tell you to wear high heels. I just walked off the beach and came here. How was I supposed to know you were going to dress up?”

“Yeah…well…I wanted to look good. So which one is he?” She started moving her head around like a wild banshee.

“The one playing pool.” I gestured to the pool table, hoping she’d stop being so obvious.

“Oh. I think he’s seeing someone…”

I glanced back at the game. Ben and Jillian were making out again. “Not that guy. The other one.”

“Well, now I get it. He’s totally stalkable.”

“I’m not stalking him.” Why did everyone keep saying that?

“You kind of are. But he’s super cute, I totally get it. So which other lifeguards are single?”

I shrugged. The only person I had talked to was my lifeguard. And the girl that was clearly desperate for his attention. Not me. The blonde lifeguard that was currently leaning so far over to make a shot that I could see her bathing suit bottom beneath her jean skirt. Give me a break.

“I thought you’d at least scope the place out for me. Just like I scoped out the place and I have bad news…you have competition.” She nodded to my lifeguard’s teammate.

“I think they’re just friends,” I said. “He did ask me here after all.”

“So you’re definitely on a date?”

Yes? No? “I don’t know.”

“People on dates don’t usually ditch said date to hang out with another woman.”

Fair point. But she didn’t see how my lifeguard hesitated. And tried to include me. And how he held my hand. I watched his teammate laugh and flirtatiously touch his arm. He proceeded to laugh at whatever she whispered into his ear. Maybe Kristen was right. This certainly didn’t feel like a date. Which was a good thing, because I didn’t want to date anyone this summer. So why did my stomach suddenly hurt? And why did I suddenly want to bitch slap that bitch?

“Go be more assertive,” Kristen said. “You can’t let her walk all over you just because she’s taller, blonder, and tanner than you.”

I felt myself shrinking into my stool. Was that supposed to be an ego boost?

“Speaking of gorgeous people, I think I just found something I like.” She was staring at some guy across the bar. “I’ll catch up with you later.” She squeezed my arm without really even looking at me and walked away.

Bye, Kristen? I watched her walk over to the guy and start talking to him. They immediately started laughing and he stepped closer to her. She made it look so easy. I had never been good at stuff like that. Aiden had been my only serious boyfriend ever, and my dating skills felt like they’d been stomped on and thrown to sea.

I heard someone cheering and looked back at the pool table. Apparently they’d won the game. My lifeguard high-fived the girl one last time and then walked back over to me.

"You two make a good team,” I said. Better to push them together than pretend I ever had a chance. It was for the best anyway.

"Me and Abby? No." He laughed. "She kind of sucks at pool. I thought she was going to make me lose."

Maybe he didn't realize that she liked him. "I don't know. She definitely likes you."

He shrugged his shoulders. "We're just friends.”

Huh. I hadn’t expected that. My ego started to re-inflate.

“Did you want to play something?" he asked.

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