There’snothing like fighting tourists at the Jiffy Mart the morning of the Fourth of July. All I need is a couple of items from the dairy section, some chips, and two cans of beans, yet I’ve spent ten minutes dodging grocery carts full of hotdogs, screaming kids, and two guys each carrying out five bags of ice.
Oh right, and Justin.
He’s over in the beer section with Bobby, filling their own cart with a variety of brands. I’ve known them both long enough to appreciate that Bobby has a preference for cheap, American beer, where Justin tends to favor the quirkier, independent breweries. Sure enough, as I hide behind a display of soda, I can hear that’s exactly what they’re fighting about.
“Dude, no one cares what it tastes like—this case of PBR is only twenty bucks,” Bobby argues.
Justin’s jaw is set and he shakes his head. “I’m not drinking that crap.”
“Are you kidding me? Is this what you learned in college? Snobby beers?”
“Stop being stupid. Just get some of both. I’ll pay for it.”
“Whatever,” Bobby says with a grin. He tosses a couple more cases into his cart before rolling off.
I peek around the corner, expecting to find them gone, and instead come face to face with Justin.
“Oh!” I say in surprise. I wonder when he spotted me.
“Hiding from me?” he asks.
“Avoiding me?”
His eyes drop. “Not exactly. I heard you were back in town.”
“I couldn’t stay away.”
“Nick talked you into it, didn’t he?”
I fail to keep the laughter down. The fact they all know…it’s too much.
He breaks into a grin and rubs his chin. I see the grease stains on his hands from working on the boats.
“I’m sorry,” I blurt, ready to cut to the chase.
“It’s not your fault, Summer, but that whole thing at the bar with Mason, it was like a moment ripped out of my childhood. I can’t go back to that place.”
I’m confused. “What are you talking about?”
He looks around and lowers his voice. “All I ever saw was my mama and daddy fighting. It was always about other men or other women. More than once, things got physical. Once some guy showed up with a gun and threatened to shoot us all because my daddy couldn’t keep it in his pants. I’m not living that life again, Summer.”
“I’m…I’m not asking you to,” I stammer. “None of that was normal for me.”
“I know, and I appreciate it. I just don’t know if you appreciate what it’s like to live like that.”
“What? Where you’re the kid waiting around while your parents fight and divorce and leave one another for someone new? My dad was a cheat also, Justin. It’s one reason being with Mason ended so badly. He had a fiancé. I had no idea.”
I see his resolve weaken—just for a second—before the walls come back up. “Good, then you understand.”
“I wish I didn’t.” But the familiarity gave us a common ground. A better understanding of who we are outside the basic attraction and fun days on the beach. A woman bumps into my foot with her cart and I jump out of the way. He reaches out to steady me and his fingertips shoot a jolt of electricity through my body.
Fight or not, there’s no denying our attraction to one another.
He looks into my cart. “So you’re going to the party?”
I nod.
Bobby calls his name and he leans in and I think for a brief moment he’s going to kiss me, but at the last second he hesitates and pulls away. “I’ll see you there.”
