Page 65 of Cruel Tides

And judging by that smug, all-knowing look on Shaun’s face, he’d read every single one of my deeply embarrassing thoughts.

If there was one thing I was certain of now, it was that my plan of getting the guys clotheswasbackfiring, and now it was biting me in the most inconvenient way when I needed to be getting back to them. We had places to go, things to do. We didn’t have time for this.

Shaun fanned the pages of my diary with his thumb. Then he parted it, opening it to a dog-eared page, and cleared his throat.

But before Shaun could start reading, Danny cut him off by stepping forward, her gum smacking between her lips as she studied me.

“Figures you’d be back,” she said with no hint of professionalism, then snapped her gum again. She’d made some upgrades to her wardrobe since high school and was dressed to impress, her pencil skirt and fitted blazer a great match for her petite frame. With the way her lips pinched as she chewed, she was having a rough day, and running into me probably hadn’t helped.

She inspected her nails, pretending Keith’s earlier rejection hadn’t affected her, and tossed out, “My aunt heard you hooked up with one of the crusty old fishermen at the lodge. Says you ran off together.”

A crusty old fisherman?Ouch.It was an obvious taunt, but luckily, I was used to being talked about. Although my blood simmered, I kept my feelings on that outrageous tale to myself. This wasn’t the first time I’d been the subject of ridiculous rumors. It likely wouldn’t be the last.

I took in a shaky breath, desperate to make a break for the exit, but they had me trapped. One step back, and my spine connected with the rack of swim trunks behind me. Fantastic.

Cue a snicker of amusement from Danny. “Well?” she said. “Go on. We’re listening. Who’s the lucky old man?” When it became apparent that I wasn’t willing to play along, her expression frosted back over. “Just so you know, Keith had to cancel on me so he could cover shifts while everyone was out looking for you. Ruined my whole night.” She planted a heel. “And you show back up here pretending like it wasnothing. The least you could do is apologize for wasting our time.”

My stomach dropped. The town really had formed a search party.

Although I had no control over leaving town, a soft “sorry” slipped from my lips. Being abducted by merfolk hadn’t been something I’d planned, but she was right. Searching for me had been a waste of the town’s time. Plus, I’d made Dad and Gram worry, and for that, I was sorry.

Danny smiled, though she didn’t bother to put any emotion behind it. “See. Was that so hard?”

Clutching to my armful of clothes, I considered pushing past the three of them to escape. I needed to get out of here; but while Danny and Keith looked like a steady breeze might be enough to blow them over, Shaun was a problem. After years of working manual labor at the docks, he stood taller and broader than most. He used his size to his advantage, but even he had nothing on a merman.

That thought gave me the courage to stand taller, and I stepped away from the rack of clothes I’d been wishing I could dissolve into. When it came down to it, Shaun was only human, and I was a mermaid. A monster hiding under a vulnerable human facade.

Okay—maybe I was still pretty vulnerable as a mermaid. But I’d encountered cecaelia and survived. I could survive a little immature teasing by my miserable peers.

“Well, I’m glad you left.” Shaun spun me away from Danny to flash my diary at me again. My attention immediately landed on the row of starfish drawn across the top of the page he held open, and my throat choked. “How else would I have found this? Though I would have thought you were a little old to be keeping a diary.”

The world shifted, tilting around me. I stared down at those starfish, the wordsNew Year’s Resolutionsspelled out in curly lettering underneath them. “Oh no,” I whispered, and Shaun’s cruel chuckle cut through the air like a knife as he pulled my notebook back to his face.

“Oh,yes. You’re quite goal-oriented, Red.” He snickered. “A real go-getter. With goals like these, it’s no wonder you never made it out of this shit town.”

Why,oh why, had I carried an incriminating list like this around with me?

Shaun brought a hand to his chest, making a show of clearing his throat again before beginning to read. “New Year’s resolutions—Learn to tie a double fisherman’s knot.How ambitious.”

Heavy dread settled over my stomach. I wasn’t sure what else I’d written, but if these resolutions were anything like previous years, things were about to take a sharp and fast downturn.

Nope—I wasn’t doing this. I couldn’t. If they weren’t above acting like children, why was I behaving like an adult?

“Yeah,screw this.” I made a grab for the diary, but Shaun’s arms lifted along with his cocky smirk, the asshole delighting in my misery like my humiliation was fuel for him.

His eyebrows waggled suggestively as he continued, “Resolution number two: Go on a date.”

My head buzzed as Danny cackled. “An entire year and all you were hoping for isonedate? Yikes. I’m legitimately speechless.”

I held my tongue between my teeth, my hands quivering with barely contained rage. Sure, I could knee Shaun in his balls and make a run for it, leaving with the clothes in my arms and continuing my new streak of thievery, but this shop meant everything to Dad. If I was being honest, the thought of straining his relationship with Mr. Brownlow was the only thing holding my feet to the surfer shop’s floor. But only barely.

Shaun held up a hand to shush his friends. “Wait, it gets even better,” he said with confidence. “Number three: make some friends and—get this—Red wrote, ‘fish don’t count.’ Underlined. All caps.”

Their laughter filled the store like thunder, the sound knocking around so wildly I was sure the fish in the tanks all the way in the store’s front could hear it.

“What the hell does that even mean?” Keith said as Danny clutched his arm to keep from doubling over.

“Fishdon’t count?” Danny howled. Her bracelets clacked together as she leaned forward, waving a hand in my face. “Wait, wait—so you’re saying you have fish friends? How would you even know if a fish wants to be your friend?”

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