Page 176 of Summer Love

“Jace… Go easy, okay? She seems tough, and she is. But she’s got her limits.”

And she hangs up.

Dazed, I slip the phone into my shorts pocket and step outside. I cross the yard to the beach, to the line on the sand where the water rises and pulls back. I stop there.

I don’t want to go in the water.

I love this ocean. I’ve loved it since the day I was born. It almost killed me at eighteen. It put Summer back in my path this summer—first when she almost drowned, then with that goddamn video of the attack that should’ve stayed buried.

And that same ocean took her from me. If I hadn’t gone surfing under the cliffs that morning, maybe we’d be together.

I don’t know if that’s true. It’s what I tell myself when I’m tired.

The phone buzzes in my pocket.

Elena

Lucky Star Diner. Delancey Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan

Tomorrow night, shift until 10 p.m.

Good luck, Jace.

I read it three times.

I know where she is.

I want to scream. Instead, I run to the trailer and open my messages before I’ve even shut the door behind me.

New group chat. I add the names one after another. Avery, Noah, Luke, Miles, Evan, Sierra, Maya, Kai, Mom.

Emergency meeting. Lodge front desk in an hour. I need everyone.

The confirmations come pouring in. No questions.

Maya

Sí, jefe

Miles

Luke

I’ll bring stuff.

Noah

OK

Evan

I’m off tonight.

Mom calls right after. I pick up, sum it up in two sentences. She’s in Carmel with Avery for a meeting with a sponsor.

“We’ll be there in an hour,” she says.

I splash water on my face, change my T-shirt, and head out. Flip trots after me, his nose against my thigh.