Page 24 of Summer Love

I hold back a smile. Evan keeps going.

“Then three guys with GoPros climbed the fence at Star Park to do some urban exploring on the rides. Cole and I had to haul them out before one of those idiots busted his ass on a rusted-out gondola and slapped us with a lawsuit.”

“Again? That’s the third time this month, right?”

Evan nods and goes on.

“And to top it off, a fifteen-year-old kid with hypothermia on the beach. Tourist, no wetsuit, stayed in the water too long. I was on patrol when I saw him shivering on the sand. His dad was filming instead of calling for help.”

He takes a sip of his soda.

“That was my day. So yeah, the text—I forgot. Sorry.”

“Riptide” ends. Another track takes over, slower.

“And besides… it’s been six years, Jace.”

The number lands heavy. Six years since she vanished. Six years of carefully avoiding the subject.

“Nobody thought she’d come back.”

I don’t answer.

“What did you say to her?” Evan asks quietly.

I turn the bottle between my fingers. The wet label peels away.

“Nothing good.”

Evan doesn’t push. That’s why he’s my best friend—he knows when to back off.

I should do the same. Let the subject die, drink my beer, talk about something else. But the image comes back: the beach, the sun, Flip betraying me.

“That dumbass dog jumped all over her. She was on her knees in the sand, petting him. I called Flip, she turned around, and⁠—”

I stop.

She didn’t have that body last time. Or that face. The eyes, yeah—that cold, clear blue that forgives nothing. But the rest… She’s become…

Evan watches me in silence.

“Then Maya showed up. She needed the first-aid kit.”

“Great timing.”

“Tell me about it. I didn’t even have time to… I don’t know. React. Do anything.”

“And Summer?”

“What about Summer?”

“Did she say something?”

Jace…

My name in her mouth. The way she said it.

“No. Nothing.”