Page 34 of Spring Tide

It’s Saturday night,meaning it’s almost time for my pseudo-date with Nate.

There are four of us crowded around the bathroom mirror, touching up our makeup and combing through our curls. I somehow roped my two best friends into joining me tonight. Naturally, Stella convinced her girlfriend to tag along, too.

Now, the two of them have their arms wrapped around one another. Lai’Lani leans in to press a soft kiss against Stella’s cheek, leaving a faint outline of plum lipstick. Stella snaps a quick selfie and then swipes at her face with a tissue.

“Look at you two being so cute,” I gush.

“That we are. But you know who’s even cuter?” Stella singsongs, nudging me on the shoulder. “You and Reynolds.”

“Me and Luca?” I ask, confusion coloring my tone. “I thought you all wanted me to go for Nate tonight?”

“We did. I mean, we do.” She lets out a soft laugh, eyeing Eden in the mirror. “We want you to go for whoever you want, of course. We just think you and Ötzi are super cute together. She makes him blush, you guys.”

Eden tries to hide her smirk, but I catch sight of it out of the corner of my eye. “You have something to add?”

Her smirk melts into a teasing grin. “Well, he does get really flustered when I bring up your name.”

“Probably because he thought I was lying about him.” I shrug, careful to keep my tone impartial. “And now that we’re ... doing whatever we’re doing, he doesn’t know how to act around you.”

“I think there’s more to it, though,” Eden urges, adding the final row of bright purple clips to her hair. “I think he really likes you. Although he is easily flustered, like the other week when he caught Fletcher and me—”

“Fletcher and you, what?” I cut in, eager to be let in on the secret.

Eden’s head tilts back, a heavy sigh floating from her lips. “Grant kissed me.”

“What?”

Eden’s eyes squeeze shut, nose wrinkling as she continues. “We were arguing about our schedule in the athletic training room, and he just ... I don’t know, somehow backed me against the lockers, and we kissed.”

“Did he force you?” Lai’Lani butts in, a gentle undertone to her words.

“No, no it wasn’t ... I was definitely giving him signals,” Eden wearily admits.

“Signals? Or consent?” Lai’Lani clarifies, lips pressed into a tight line.

“He knew I wanted him to,” Eden argues. “I, um, I was staring at his lips, and then I leaned forward. Plus, I kind of kissed him back.”

“Wow,” I breathe out. “Do you want to get back together?”

While I don’t know the exact details of their breakup, I know that it was quite nasty. There was lots of arguing, drunkenness, and lingering toxicity until it finally fizzled out before the summer.

Eden snorts, hands absentmindedly smoothing down the pleat in her trousers. “No, he’s still a huge dick.”

“Heisa huge dick, or hehasa huge dick?” Stella asks, waggling her brows.

“Both, unfortunately,” Eden mutters in return.

The rest of us break into a fit of laughter, Eden rolling her eyes as I clutch Stella’s arm. Then, naturally, we spend a few minutes discussing relative dick sizes. When the topic inevitably circles back to Luca, I expertly avoid the subject by calling us an Uber.

* * *

It’s notlong before we arrive at the Triangle Lounge. The four of us girls shuffle inside together, hands clasped in a tight chain as we weave through the crowd. This bar has a nightclub-type vibe, with glowing lights and dancing and off-the-wall music.

Thankfully, it doesn’t take too long to spot Nate’s perfect head of curls. Perhaps it’s because he’s surrounded by a group of tall, muscular baseball players. Or maybe it’s because he’s in the midst of laughter, head thrown back as his shoulders shake.

When he spots me, I swear something in his eyes lights up. “Harper!” he shouts, waving me over.

Once I slide in next to him, it takes a few minutes to get our introductions out of the way. Fortunately, I’ve already met most of the baseball players myself, but Nate does his due diligence by introducing them to my friends. Once we’ve all made the initial obligatory small talk, my friends break off to grab drinks at the bar.

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