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I shrug. “No one’s said it to my face. Except you, of course.”
My grin widens, and Natalie rolls her eyes again.
“Well, I’d say the girls you hang around are idiots, but you’re from Glenmont. So it seems obvious.”
She smirks, stands, and walks inside.
We spend most of the day on the beach with the same group as yesterday, swimming and relaxing on towels. By the time we return to the cottage around dusk, everyone is sandy and sunburned.
Parker’s first question when I agreed to come this weekend was if I liked seafood. I told him I like fish, and he laughed. He and Tyler are scooping lobsters out of a cooler, while the girls carry bags of corn over. I go with Gus and Colin to collect seaweed from the outcrop of rocks offshore.
When we return to the cottage, a big hole has been dug in the sand, filled with smoking embers and hot stones. Gus and Colin toss the seaweed on top, and I do the same.
Lobsters, clams, and corn get placed on top, covered by more wet seaweed and then a tarp that Parker and Gus drag through the ocean first.
“So,” I say, looking down at the covered hole. “We just buried dinner? In the sand?”
Parker laughs, then punches my arm. “You’ll see.”
The group dissipates, everyone heading back to change. Tessa and Tyler linger. So does Natalie.
I don’t.
I can’t tell if Natalie is interested in Tyler or any of the other guys. I shouldn’t care—if she’s kissed any of them. If she’s asked any of them to put on a shirt. If any of them know she draws.
But I think those things were all unique to me, and that makes it harder. Makes it feel like those moments mattered. And moments that matter are harder to shake.
I shower off the salt and sand quickly, not wanting to hold up the bathroom whenever Natalie comes inside. I use her shaving cream again, even though I barely have any stubble since last night. The smell has grown on me.
I get dressed and head back downstairs. Parker is standing by the homemade oven, wetting the tarp again.
“Need any help?” I ask, shoving my hands in the pocket of myGlenmont Footballsweatshirt.
I didn’t realize it was one I’d packed until I pulled it on. Debated changing, and then was annoyed I did. There’s no good reason I should be tiptoeing around the rivalry.
“Nah, I’m good, man. Thanks. This just has to sit for a while longer.”
I take a seat in a folding chair that’s been set up. There’s a whole bunch of stuff that wasn’t here before I went inside. Coolers and chairs and a big picnic table.
“Where did all this stuff come from?”
“Tyler and Gus dropped it off in Tyler’s truck. They decided to bring it over and then go and shower.”
“Do you guys do this a lot?”
“Drink on the beach at night? Yep. Pretty much all summer.”
I chuckle. “Nah, I mean all the lobsters and stuff.”
“No, we just do this for the Fourth. It’s a bigger production. Have you ever had one?”
“A lobster?”
Parker nods.
“No.”
“You’re in for a treat, Stevens.” He grins and leans over, opening one of the coolers. He pulls a beer out and tosses another one my way. “Cheers, man.”
