Page 35 of Those Summer Nights (Sweet Cravings 2)

“Oh. Huh.”

“What, is that bad?” I couldn’t exactly extract plans from him when he was running away from me.

“No, it’s…” her voice trailed off. “Didn’t you say he has the weekends off too? I figured you’d have plans again today. But he’s probably just doing that whole guy thing.” She rolled her eyes. “I hate when guys act like there’s a two-day rule. When two people like each other that only have one summer…they should be hanging out at every opportunity.”

She was right. June would be over before I even knew it. We only had two months in the same state.

“Screw the two-day rule. Text him something sexy and go out to dinner. I can manage on my own for a couple of nights in a row.”

“I don’t have his number.”

“Oh. Huh.”

“Would you stop saying that?” I laughed and threw the pillow back at her. “I only just learned his name, and I had to force it out of him.” Actually I had to steal his wallet and get him practically naked, but Kristen didn’t need to know the specifics. “I’ll definitely get his number on Tuesday.”

“Well, in the meantime…” she turned my laptop back toward her. “We should stalk him on Facebook.”

“How about you stalk him and I make pancakes?”

“Even better.” She started typing as I climbed out of bed.

When I was little, my dad used to make pancakes every Sunday morning. It was one of the only good memories I had of him. I pulled out the flour. I wondered if he was making pancakes for his new family now. The thought made my stomach twist into knots. I needed to call him if I was transferring schools. Before he got a chance to send a check to the wrong place.

I cracked an egg in the mixing bowl. My dad probably wouldn’t even ask why I was transferring. He’d just try to get off the phone as quickly as possible. I started to beat the batter a little harder than I should have been. I hoped to God that J.J. was nothing like my father. Or Aiden. Or anyone who found joy in making my heart hurt.

Chapter 10

Tuesday

My lifeguard was looking at the ocean and I was staring at him. It was almost time for his shift to end. I needed to talk to him. If I had his number, I absolutely would have called him before today. The more time that passed, the more I was worried about why he had kissed me and run off. I had hoped he'd show up for ice cream on Monday, but he didn't even walk by the shop. And now he was ignoring me. Or maybe he was just focusing on doing his job. I was probably just reading into everything too much. After all, there was a two-day rule for a reason.

If Kristen hadn’t been able to find him on Facebook, I probably would have felt calmer. But she had found him. And his page was just like he was in person…surrounded by tons of random girls. It seemed like every picture of him had another beautiful girl with her arms wrapped around him. It made me wonder who he was spending time with on Sunday. And Monday. And this morning.

He stood up and blew his whistle, signaling for everyone to come in from the water. Instead of walking over to me, he pushed his lookout post to dryer sand.

So that was it? It felt like he had sucker punched me in the gut. Was he really just going to ignore me now? I looked out at the water. I had told him about how much it had hurt me that Aiden had done that to me. One kiss was different than two and a half years. But it stung. It was like he was ghosting me because he knew how much it would bother me. I wrapped my arms around my legs and put my chin on my knee. Why does it hurt this much?

"I've been thinking."

I looked up and saw my lifeguard standing next to my towel. Oh, thank God. I was just overthinking everything. He wasn’t ignoring me at all. He was just working. I smiled up at him. "I was beginning to think that you were never going to speak to me again."

He didn't laugh. He didn’t even give me one of his signature smiles. "Can I sit down?" he asked.

I nodded. He sat down on my towel beside me. The relief I felt a moment ago was gone. J.J. seemed…off. The distance between us on the towel was even more than between friends. The pain in my stomach came back in a rush.

"I'm sorry about the other night."

"I'm not." I wanted to reach out and grab his hand. Instead I balled mine into a fist.

He sighed. "We can't do this."

"This?" I swallowed hard.

"Us."

I had thought about nothing but us for the last two days. And I had come to the complete opposite conclusion. "I think that you're exactly what I need right now." He made me feel alive again. I didn't want to give him up. We were both here for two more months. Why was he doing this?

"I'm not what you need. You told me you wanted this summer to find yourself. So that's what you need to do." He scratched the back of his neck. "I think we should probably just be friends, Mila."

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