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“I guess I’d better not swim until you’re back on duty,” I say.
He looks me up and down. “I make it my personal goal to never save a life while I’m on break, but I’d save yours.”
And then, like a sudden storm cloud, a shadow falls over us.
I look toward the sun and make out James approaching, his face grim. “Why are you all the way down here?” he asks, his tone rife with accusation.
“You know why,” I sigh.
“Allison went inside,” he says. “She doesn’t really like the beach.”
“Shocker,” I mutter.
“Hi James,” says my new friend.
“Nick,” says James. It sounds like a warning, not a greeting. “Shouldn’t you be out saving lives?” Unlike mine, his tone is less teasing and more overtly hostile.
“What is it with your household’s concerns with safety?” Nick asks me.
“I guess it’s our thing,” I laugh.
James picks up my bag. “Come sit with us,” he says.
“I’m fine here.”
His jaw grinds. “I think Ginny wants to talk to you,” he says.
“Fine,” I sigh, waving goodbye to Nick.
“Hey! Are you working tonight?” he calls after me, and when I nod he gives me a thumbs up.
James is silent for a moment, and tense, as we pick our way around the towels and umbrellas that line the beach.
“Are you going to go out with him?” he finally asks.
“He hasn’t even asked me out.”
“Yet.”
I shrug. “He seems nice enough.”
“Is that where the bar is set, Elle?” he asks through clenched teeth. “‘Nice enough’ is all you require?”
“‘Nice enough’ is a much higher bar than you’ve set, as far as I can tell,” I retort. “Because I guarantee no one says that about Allison.”
“Here’s what you don’t seem to get: any guy is going to come across as ‘nice enough’ when given incentive.”
I come to a dead stop. “So are you trying to imply that I’m too naive to know the difference between a nice guy and one who’s pretending to be, or that I’ve provided him some kind of ‘incentive’ to do so?”
“You have!” he explodes. “Look at the way you’re fucking dressed!”
“I’m wearing a bathing suit. As is every other person as far as the eye can see.”
“That’s not a bathing suit,” he sneers. “That’s wider-than-average dental floss.”
I know there is nothing wrong with this suit, but I feel ashamed anyway, and I hate him a little for it. “You know what, James? This is the first time in my entire life that I’ve ever worn a bikini, that I decided I didn’t give a shit about whether someone compared me to my mom. And until just now, when you came up and ruined it, it felt amazing. Liberating.” My voice borders on the cusp of tears. I turn toward the house before I lose it completely, but he blocks my path.
“Wait,” he says.
