TJ laughs. "He's not lying. I'm not the guy you want if someone's bleeding."
"Who else is working this summer?" I ask. "Is Tara coming back?"
"Yeah, but she's going to miss today. Her flight was delayed. But it's not like she hasn't already heard this orientation stuff before."
"I was thinking Tara would be a good match for Brad." I smile at him. "What do you think?"
"I don't know, man. I can't figure out my own love life, so I'm not the person to ask. Speaking of that, how's your sister?"
I sigh. "For the last time, she's married."
"Maybe she got a divorce."
"She didn't. She's married with a kid."
"Any chance she might get a divorce?" His brows rise. "Are they having troubles?"
"No! And stop asking. Even if she was single, I wouldn't want her going out with you."
TJ shakes his head. "I should've went after her when she was single. I was too damn shy back then."
"See?" Brad says, nudging me. "He didn't tell her and she ended up with someone else. The same thing's going to happen to you if you don't hurry up and talk to this girl."
"What girl?" TJ asks.
"No one," I say, not wanting him to know. "Just forget it."
"Hey, have you heard from Riley today? She's usually the first one here."
"She's running late. The salon made her stay past her shift because the new girl didn't show up. She'll be here soon."
"I heard the salon might go out of business," TJ says, leaning against the locker. He doesn't like standing up straight. He's always finding something to lean on.
"It's not going out of business," I say. "Who told you that?"
He shrugs. "I don't remember. Maybe it was Cassandra. She's the girl I've been seeing. We've only been out a few times."
"And she said the salon's closing?"
"Maybe it wasn't her. I can't remember where I heard it. Someone just said the owner doesn't like running the place and wants to get rid of it."
"Renee's the owner, but she's never talked about selling it. She just hired me to design her brochure. She wouldn't do that if she was selling the place."
TJ checks his phone. "Looks like Johnny's lost. He went to the wrong pool." He swipes through his phone. "Giada just got here. I should go show her around."
"Giada's a lifeguard?" Brad asks TJ.
"Yeah. Another college kid. Staying with her friend for the summer. She's from Italy."
I smile at Brad. "An Italian girl. That could be fun."
"Would you stop trying to set me up? And what about this Tara girl? You said she was my perfect match. Now she's out and you want me with the Italian girl?"
"I'm just suggesting you keep your options open."
"I'm not looking for a girlfriend. I'm here to work and hang out with my cousin all summer."
"Unless your cousin has a girl, in which case you need to get lost."
He rolls his eyes. "Great. Then I guess I'll be hanging out with Aunt Kathy. We can do crafts together."
I laugh, imagining Brad and my mom doing crafts together. She'd love that. She's always looking for someone to do crafts with her. That someone used to be my sister until she moved away.
"See you guys out there," TJ says, walking away.
I check the time. "We need to get ready. We have to be out there in five minutes."
When we get to the pool, Kent and Kendra are there. They're twins and worked here last summer. They both have short dark hair and short stocky bodies, so from the back it's easy to confuse them. I did that a few times last summer to Kendra, confusing her for Kent, which was really embarrassing, but other people have done it too.
I walk up to them. "I didn't know you guys were working here this summer."
"It's the last time," they both say in unison.
Kendra kiddingly hits her brother. "Stop doing that."
He ignores her and says, "We're moving after the summer. She's going to Texas and I'm going to Nevada."
"You're splitting up? That'll be a change," I kid.
"I know," Kendra says. "But it had to happen sometime."
"Why the move?"
"We're both engaged." Kendra smiles at Kent. "He found Shira and I found Simon. On the same night!"
"Really?" Brad says. "That must've been quite a night."
"It was our friend's engagement party," Kendra says. "Love was in the air."
They weren't engaged last summer, which means they fell in love and got engaged in less than a year. Maybe the same thing could happen to Riley and me. I already love her, and if we start dating soon, maybe we could be engaged by next summer, or even sooner.
"I'm Brad," I hear him say. "Nate's cousin."
"Sorry," I say. "I should've introduced him. He's here for the summer. Going to med school in the fall."
TJ's voice booms from a megaphone. "Gather around everyone. Let's get this thing started."
"I hate when he uses that thing," I say to Brad.
Next to TJ is a lanky guy with a dark tan and bleached blond hair. I'm guessing that's Johnny. Just behind him is a girl with dark hair, dark olive skin, and a whole lot of curves. That must be Giada. Shit, she's gorgeous. If she's single, Brad should definitely ask her out.
When I look over, I see him staring in that direction. He slowly smiles as she approaches.
"Sorry I'm late!" I hear Riley say. She's right behind Giada, walking fast, her red swimsuit covered in a long white t-shirt, her hair up in a messy bun, her oversized purse falling off her shoulder.
She's a mess, but I love her. God, I love her.
Chapter Seven
Riley
I stop next to Nate, trying to catch my breath after running from the locker room.
Nate leans over to me. "Glad you could make it."
I turn to him. "Am I late? I thought he just started."
"I was kidding." I pull her into my side. "You're not late."
TJ sets the megaphone down and picks up a binder from one of the lounge chairs. "Let's start with roll call."
"Is that really necessary?" Nate asks. "You can see who's here."
TJ looks at all of us. "Then introduce yourselves. Not everyone knows each other. Nate, you start while I figure out my notes."
"Hey, I'm Nate." He waves at everyone. "But most of you already know that."
"Ditto for me," I say.
"Your name's Nate too?" Brad jokes.
Everyone laughs.
"I meant that most of you already know me. But for those who don't, I'm Riley."
"And I'm Brad," he says, "who most of you don't know. I'm Nate's cousin."
We continue with the introductions, then TJ does his usual welcome speech and goes over all the rules. Next is the first aid lesson, which I've heard multiple times, but it's always good to hear it again.