Page 7 of Acadia Falls

I wrinkled my nose. “Coffee?”

She shuddered. “No.”

“What happened to you?” I asked.

“Tori Blaisdell had an after-party. I haven’t been to bed yet.”

“Oh boy.” I went and fetched her a glass of water and some Advil.

Alex was rubbing her temples when I rejoined her. “Here.”

“Thank you.” She winced as she swallowed the pills. “What happened to you last night? You disappeared.”

“I drank too much—I staggered home and passed out.” I left out the part where I engaged in lewd behavior in public with one of Derek’s hot friends.

A motor rumbled from the bay. We looked out in time to see a fishing boat idling, lobster traps stacked neatly at its stern. Two young, strapping guys in hoodies and baseball hats stared back at us from the water.

After a second, they smiled and waved.

We waved back, but I had a funny taste in my mouth. One of the men looked familiar. “W-who’s that?”

“The Brennan brothers—Jack and Tommy.” Alex was rubbing her temples again. “They came down to Tori’s last night. Ugh, I can’t believe they’re already out fishing.”

I gaped at the boat. One of the guys was still smiling at me. “Did you say… Jack?” I croaked. “Aren’t they Derek’s friends?”

“What? No. They’re locals. They fish year-round.” Alex yawned, but then she winced again. “Ow. My head is killing me—I’m going to go to bed. If you see my parents, will you tell them I’ll call them later? They’re flying out this morning.”

“Yeah, sure.” I was still staring at the boat.

The guy smiling at me—Jack, it had to be Jack—turned away.

He was a local. He lived on the island. The island where only seventy people lived.

I sat there, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Chapter Two

JACK

“Wasn’t that your little friend from last night?” Tommy scratched his face. “The blonde?”

“Wasn’t that yours?” I nodded in the direction of M.B.’s boat. She sped out past us without a backward glance.

Tommy sighed. “Not exactly.”

“I saw you two.” I grinned at him. “She looked like she was having a good old time.”

He grumbled something under his breath, then seemed to pay extra attention to steering the boat.

M.B., whose real name was Mary Beth, was another local. She also fished. Tommy had liked her for years, but nothing ever happened between them. But he’d asked her to be his date for Alex Vejas’s wedding, and she’d accepted. I’d kept an eye on them at the party. M.B. had piled her plate high with food, ignored my brother, and left with an unopened bottle of top-shelf bourbon.

“You didn’t even get a good-night kiss, did you?” I teased him.

He didn’t look at me. “She was tired.”

“That’s because she’s old enough to be your mother—or at least, your babysitter.” With her thick brown hair, dark brown eyes, and toned body, M.B. would’ve been a pretty hot babysitter.

“Shut it, Jack.” His silence seemed grumpy, but Tommy didn’t have it in him to stay mad long. “Ryan stayed over at the Lookout, didn’t he?”