Page 9 of Spring Tide

“That true, St. James?” His brows skyrocket. “Or did you lie soPrincessEden could have what she wanted?”

“I, uh—”

My friend steps forward, leveling him with her stony gaze. “She’s not lying, asshole.”

“No?” One corner of his mouth tugs up in a smirk. “Then tell us who the lucky guy is.”

“More likeimaginary guy,” his buddy cuts in, coughing under his breath.

“Come on, Fletch,” another pipes up. “You know we’ve never seen her at their parties.”

“No.” I fold my arms across my chest, going in for the kill. “They’re right.”

“They are? You actually lied to Gill?” His grin is full-blown now. “I thought you were, like, in love with her or something.”

“No, it’s just, Luca’s not really into the whole party scene,” I blurt, nearly flinching as his name rolls off my tongue.

Oh God. Now I’m spiraling.

“Luca?” Fletcher raises one dubious brow. “Luca Reynolds?”

“Mhm,” I murmur my agreement, willing my lips to stay closed. The bigger the explanation, the bigger the lie. And I can’t afford to keep weaving this web.

“You’re dating Ötzi?”

“Ötzi?” I echo, confused.

“You know, the Iceman?” his buddy clarifies. “’Cause that kid’s cold as ice. Never fucking talks to anybody.”

“Oh, right.” I square my shoulders, indignant. “Well, he talks to me.”

“Right.” Fletcher’s lip curls. “So how’d you guys meet, then?”

“What is this?” Eden demands, voice dripping with irritation. “Are you testing her or something?”

“If I were, she probably wouldn’t be passing.”

“Actually, we met at Amber Isle,” I cut in, another half-truth slipping from my lips. “Luca works down at the pier, and I lifeguard. But you already knew that.”

“Huh, for real?”

“Yep.”

“You know, you probably should’ve kept that to yourself, then,” he finally concedes. “If you stayed with football, you and Ötzi could’ve spent a ton more time together.”

“Yeah, well, I was worried about keeping things appropriate.”

His gaze slowly drags across my frame. “I bet you were, Sunshine.”

“Grow up, Fletch,” Eden grumbles, visibly annoyed.

“Make me,” he shoots back, his words vaguely reminiscent of a toddler.

Eden snorts, clearly fuming and unafraid to show it. In fact, her anger’s practically dripping onto the tops of my sandals at this point. But I can’t fault her, not when her ex-boyfriend is purposefully baiting her.

“We have to get going, Fletch,” I murmur, looping one arm around my friend. “See ya later.”

“See ya, Sunshine.” His gaze cuts to Eden, then, “See ya,Princess.”

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