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I reach out, taking it from her as I wrack my brain, thinking what it could be. I shouldn’t be getting anything from Grace Hill University. Where was the envelope sent from?
Alliance.
I tear the letter open without hesitation. Why the fuck am I getting mail from my hometown? Actually, fuck that. Alliance is my birth town. Darien is my hometown. The Reeds are my family, and nothing will change that.
Dear Miss Reed, we regret to inform you of the passing of your birth parents, Damian and Christina Gordon.
The dream is turning into a nightmare.
CHAPTER TWO
Oliver
If there’s one thing I love about Alliance, it’s the water. Problems don’t matter when you are wading through Lake Michigan. Whether on a board or enveloped in the water, the world I know on the surface fades away. Everything seems calmer and slower underwater.
Humans need to figure out how to breathe underwater. They say over seventy percent of the earth’s oceans are unexplored. Why are we spending so much money to learn about space when there is an unknown world below? Looking out over the vast blue void makes you forget the waves above that crash into everything.
Sadly, the air in my lungs starts to thin, so it’s time to head back to the surface. I wish we could breathe underwater.
Conquer the ocean.
A childish request, but it’s one I will hold dear always. Even if I’ll never see it come true.
My body resurfaces seconds later, and like instinct, I’m already swimming to shore. The waves weren’t big enough to surf today, so a little dive was the best thing I could do. Best way to wake up if you ask me, but now it’s time for another day of scraping by.
I reach the shore, grab my towel and throw it over my shoulder. The summer sun will dry off most of the water dripping from my body. My longish brown hair might still be damp before my shift at the Water's Edge, a local bar and grill here in Alliance.
It only takes a minute for me to reach my house. It’s still weird thinking I’m in charge of this shack. Technically, it’s still in my old man’s name, but since he decided I was old enough to live alone, he fucked off to some boat job. So, I’m a homeowner, I guess. It would be sadder if I hadn’t been expecting it since before I turned eighteen, and his legal responsibility for me ended.
Alliance is a small town—if over seven thousand people is still considered small. The town rests between two different parts of Lake Michigan. You have Alliance Bay, where all the tourist beaches, lake houses, and shops are located. Then you have the Creek, a river that funnels through Alliance on the way to Charlevoix. That’s where I, and most of the riverfront residents, live. Doesn’t mean we don’t mess things up for the lakefront anytime we can.
“Dude, hurry the fuck up!” I hear the familiar voice of my best friend, Jaxon.
Jaxon Jennings is the definition of rough around the edges. If I’m the surfer bro, then he’s the grease punk. Safe to say, we both drive the ladies wild. They love my chill nature and the fact that I can teach them how to surf, but with him, it’s the thrill that their dads will hate his guts. We met my freshman year of high school and have been inseparable since.
We’ve been through a lot together, especially after my childhood best friend was taken from me.
“Bro, why the fuck are you scowling like that?” His voice snaps me out of my train of thought.
Quickly, I shake the frown from my head and pull my uniform over my body. Water's Edge’s uniform is just a maroon shirt with the logo on the back. Water’s is written out to look like ocean waves, and then next to Edge, there is a cooler and surfboard. Piper, the daughter of the owners, designed them, saying it helped bring the crew together. She even made sure to put it on different styles of shirts to fit the crew and their outfit choices. Piper has been talking about putting the design on different shirt colors too.
“You actually showing up for a shift?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
“What do you think?” Jaxon points at his cutoff version of the same shirt I have on. “Tonight is Dollar Marg night, so tips are going to be rolling in.”
I let out a laugh, walking past him. He wraps an arm around my shoulders as we make our way to his truck. Jaxon and I have a deal: he can stay over at my place as much as he wants as long as I can use his truck when he’s not using it.
I have a car—a 2007 tan Jeep Commander, actually—but using Delilah when it’s just two people doesn’t really make sense. I climb into the truck as Jaxon gets into the driver’s seat and peels out before I can even put my seatbelt on. I shake my head, strapping myself to the seat. Jaxon has always lived his life in the fast lane. He doesn’t have a care in the world and knows the world doesn’t care about him. So, he lives by his rules and doesn’t let fear hold him down.
I wish I could live like that, but some fears still seep through the cracks of my walls. Is this my life? Two jobs just to put food on the table and keep my lights on. The sad part is that Alliance is all I know. This town is in my blood.
Water's Edge has several nights a week that bring in both tourists and townies. Today is Friday, so the place is about to be packed with both.
I won’t complain, though, because that means new faces tonight, and most of the girls are still in their swimsuits, ready to get wasted on cheaply made margaritas.
During the week, I wait tables, but on the weekends, I help the bar by running drinks, restocking the liquor, and cleaning up any messes that will get worse throughout the night. The tips, however, sweeten the deal enough that I’ll even pull a smile out of my ass for everyone that nearly spills their drink on me.
“Hey, stranger.” A pretty blonde walks up to the bar as I’m wiping it down. I look up and immediately recognize her.
