Page 60 of Those Summer Nights (Sweet Cravings 2)

“Actually, he kinda is. He’s the reason my girl is always sad. So tonight we’re going to flip the script on him. Do you see him anywhere?” She started scanning the crowd. “I’m going to go look. I’ll be right back.” She disappeared into the crowd.

Instead of looking for J.J., I stared down at the sand. This was a bad idea. A really bad idea. I already felt guilty for trying to force Reggie and Kristen together. But using Reggie to make J.J. jealous? This was a mess. And even if I did do it…J.J. wasn’t going to change his mind about me. We were destined to be friend-zoned forever.

"Mila!" someone shouted.

Speak of the devil. I looked up at my lifeguard. He was holding two shot glasses and smiling as he wove through the crowd. He sat down next to me in the sand.

"I was hoping you'd show up. Here," he said as he handed me one of the shots and tapped his cup against mine. He downed his shot.

He hoped I’d show up? If he hoped I’d come, why hadn’t he asked me himself? "Hi, J.J." I tried not to wince at the burn in my throat as I drank my shot.

"I came by the ice cream shop yesterday but your friend said you had left early because you weren't feeling well. I guess you're doing better now?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm feeling better now. Are you here with someone?" Pushing him away always felt like the easiest solution.

"All my friends are over there. Come hang out with us."

I didn’t want to hang out with him and all his friends. That always just ended up with him flirting with some other girl. Kristen’s voice was in the back of my head, urging me to go forward with the plan. And then I saw her in this distance walking back toward us. She had both her thumbs up, thinking I was already partaking in it. I took a deep breath. What was the worst that could happen? "I'll ask Reggie what he wants to do when he gets back."

"Reggie?"

"Your friend from touch football. He’ll be back in a second, he was getting us drinks."

"Wait, are you here with Reggie?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't have known about the party if he hadn't told me about it. That would have sucked to miss out on all this fun." This was literally torture.

"I was going to invite you, but you were avoiding me again. Every time I stopped by Sweet Cravings you either sent me away or were missing.”

"I wasn't avoiding you. Besides, I didn't want to interfere with any of your plans with that blonde girl you've been hanging out with. Actually, she's looking for you right now." I gestured to her. She was staring at us.

He looked over at her. "We’re just friends.”

“Oh…like us?”

“No, not like…what, are you here with Reggie because you're mad at me?" He started laughing. "Come on, let's go dance. Stop being weird."

"Hey, J.J." Reggie was holding three cups and looking down at us. He looked kind of pissed.

How much of that conversation did he hear?

"Hey, man." J.J. stood up. "The rest of us are over there." He pointed to a group of people nearby. "Come on."

I looked up at Reggie. "I don't mind staying here, if you want."

"Nah, let's go over." He handed me one of the cups and put his hand out for me. After he helped me to my feet, he kept his fingers intertwined with mine.

Now J.J. was the one who looked pissed. We followed him over to the other lifeguards.

"Hey, Mila?" Reggie stopped me a few feet away from everyone.

"Yeah?"

"Does J.J. know that you guys aren't dating? He looks like he wants to kill me."

I took a sip of my drink. It was strong. "Honestly, I told him I liked him a little while ago and he said he just wanted to be friends." I shrugged.

"Do you still like him?"

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