A loud crunch of gravel jerks my attention back to the parking lot, where a figure is crossing near us. Crunch, crunch, crunch. The man doesn’t look in our direction, but I know it’s Johnny. I get the odd sense that he’s already spotted us. Maybe it’s the tension in his broad back or the hard lock he holds on his jaw beneath the faint scruff. Or maybe it’s the way he’s walking so close to Alec’s truck rather than on the dirt pathway that leads directly to the restaurant, where he should be about to start his shift.
I swallow and watch him gain distance.
“Kat? What do you want to do?”
“Um.” I’m jostled back to my conversation with Alec, and I quickly try to remember the question. “We can go in. I need to know if you’re really as good at pool as you say you are.”
He grins like he’s accepting a challenge, then we start walking. A group of Alec’s friends are already standing around one of the pool tables. I recognize some of them from the beach volleyball game. Iris and Ava are there, their eyes on us—specifically on where Alec’s hand is releasing mine.
“Kat, hey!” Trisha’s arms are around my neck before I’ve even looked at her. “I’m so glad you’re here. What did you decide? Are you coming in on Monday or what?”
I open my mouth to respond then catch Johnny stepping behind the bar, tossing a towel over his shoulder. Does he ever smile? Annoyance shakes through me. “I haven’t decided yet,” I finally tell her.
The corners of her mouth push down in a dramatic pout. “Anything I can do to change your mind?”
I laugh. “I need to give it to everyone in this town. You all are a persistent bunch.”
Before Trisha can respond, Alec tugs me away and introduces me to Brett, along with a bunch of others whose names I know I won’t remember tomorrow.
“We’re about to play a game,” Brett says with an uptick of his head. “You two want in? We need a fourth.” He’s standing beside Iris when he says it.
“Yeah, we’ll play. Right, Kat? This can be practice for when we play each other later.”
He winks, and I make a cringe face at Alec, suddenly feeling put on the spot. “I’ve never played pool before.”
Iris rolls her eyes. “Perfect.” She leans her pool stick toward Alec. “You brought her here. She’s on your team.”
That fiery sensation that never leads to anything good is already building deep in my chest.
“Sounds like a good plan,” Alec answers easily, then he’s pulling me to the wall to help me find my own stick. “Don’t worry. I’ll teach you everything you need to know. We’ll beat ’em.” He chuckles, cooling the sparks that came alive moments ago.
When we walk back over to the table, Brent is racking the balls in a triangular shape while Iris and Ava huddle together, looking annoyed. The whole mean-girl act is already getting old, so I have no problem ignoring it for as long as I have to.
Alec insists I go first. He helps me position the cue in my hands. His body is close to mine. His warm breath floats over my shoulder, creating a wave of goosebumps on my skin. Once I have the positioning right, he takes a step back. “Now pull back a little and then tap the white ball so that it hits that solid blue ball. That’s your best shot.”
I do as he says, pulling back the stick then pushing it forward to hit the white ball. The white ball flies toward the blue one and smacks it dead in the center. I must have pushed too hard, though, because the blue ball leaps off the table, soars across the room, and lands somewhere on the floor.
Humiliated, I clutch my hot cheek with one hand and look toward Alec. He’s doubled over in a fit of laughter, and he’s not the only one. I don’t know whether to join them or cry from embarrassment.
“What an idiot,” Ava mutters to Iris.
Meanwhile, Trisha is cheering me on, and Alec is jogging across the room in search of the ball. When he comes back, he’s still laughing. He wraps his arms around me in a giant hug and squeezes. “Now, let’s just work on your control.”
I don’t have to see myself in the mirror to know my face is beet red with a blush. But we continue the game, watching as Iris and Brett pull ahead a few balls, leaving it up to Alec to save our game. Then it’s my turn again.
“Okay, Kat. You’re up. Keep the ball on the table this time.” Alec flashes a smile at me, and the heat rises in my face.
I eye the table, planning my next move, and notice a solid ball near the middle pocket. To get to it, I’ll have to somehow get the white ball around from behind a striped one. If I hit its side, it could bounce off it and hit the yellow solid right into the pocket. I position myself, eyes focused, figuring I have nothing to lose.
“Whoa, getting fancy,” Alec says when he sees what I’m about to do.
“Oh great,” Ava says dryly. “Everybody duck.”
As I pull back on the stick, I look directly at Ava and glare. My eyes aren’t even back on the ball when I push the stick forward, this time with much less force. The tip of my cue hits the white ball perfectly, pushing the white ball to the side wall so it moves around the striped ball, smacks directly into the yellow one, and sends the yellow ball into the pocket.
Alec cheers loudly from the opposite end of the table while Brett stands there with his mouth wide open. Iris and Ava stand off to the side, wearing incredulous expressions. I’m so shocked and elated, I yank the pool stick back from the table, not paying attention to what’s behind me. When the stick connects with something hard and all momentum stops, a shooting pain fires from my hands to my forearms. Horrified, I turn to see what I struck.
Johnny stands there, leaning over slightly, his red-faced expression filled with pain, and he’s clutching his stomach. I jolt toward him and place my hand on his shoulder without thinking. His arm stiffens before he shakes me off, but not before I can feel the strength beneath the fabric.
“I’m so sorry. I was excited, and I wasn’t paying attention.”
“You’re trouble.” He growls the words so low that only I can hear, and I hear his warning loud and clear. “Do yourself a favor and stay the hell away from me.”
With a glare, he leaves me completely shaken to the core.
As soon as my feet hit the sand the next morning, I feel free. I take off on a jog along the shore, breathing in the salty air from the bay as my legs ease into their natural cadence. After my mother’s death, I was in no mood to exercise, but after weeks of feeling like I’ve been locked in one place, my energy is practically bursting to break free.
I’m surprised by how quickly I find my rhythm. It’s like riding a bike, and it’s all coming back to me. At times, I feel like I can jog for hours. I get lost in my thoughts and let my feet take me where they lead. This feels like one of those times. Still, I try to pace my steps so I don’t overexert myself.
I continue past the neighboring homes until I reach the public beach just outside of Summer Estate. To the left, I stare down a strip of rock that juts into the bay and instinctively move toward it. I climb over the jagged rocks, one by one, taking cautious steps as water slaps over the rocks on either side of me. Once I’m at the end of the rock pier, I take a seat on one of the taller rocks and let my feet dangle over it. Water crashes the rocks around me, a melody fitting to such a turbulent past few weeks. This is the first time in a while I’ve felt anything close to peaceful. I can breathe.