Page 54 of Shut Up and Drive

“No, it’s not her. Her douchebag of an ex-boyfriend, on the other hand…” I trail off.

“Oh boy. We need a drink for this,” Bash says, reaching into the cooler and tossing me a bottle of Dr. Pepper. “Come, sit.”

We wander over to a quiet spot on the dock and find two camp chairs. I twist the cap, take a big swig, and swallow before I begin.

“He’s the absolute worst.”

“He can’t be that bad, can he? Sera’s judgment is pretty good most of the time.”

I nod in the affirmative. “Usually, but do you remember that guy who took her to Homecoming the year after we graduated?”

Bash makes a face. “You mean the guy who was two hours late picking her up, refused to pay for dinner, then made out with another girl in the parking lot?”

“That’s the one. Well, Brad makes that guy look like a saint.”

“So his first impression was a mess, huh?”

“Catastrophic. He showed up uninvited and unannounced, and has done nothing but criticizeherand belittleme. Honestly, I don’t care how he treats me. But he fat-shamed Sera right in front of everyone at the fire pit! You should’ve seen her face, man. I wanted to deck him.”

“Get in line, I want the first swing,” Bash says, standing. “Hey Jamie, we’re headed down shore to my parents’ lake house. We’ll be back in a few,” he calls up to his fiancée.

I jump up from my chair and jog down the trail behind Bash. “Wait, are we gonna fight him?”

“Nah, man. I have to be careful about assault. The Secret Service frowns upon things like that.”

“Then what are we going to do?”

“Recon and psychological warfare are free game,” Bash says, and punctuates it with his “mischief smile.” I haven’t seen that expression in years, and it makes me all giddy inside, like we’re about to stir up a bunch of trouble. “Tell me more about him.”

I slap Bash on the back. “Man, I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too. I’m glad you finally came home,” he replies with a grin.

I take a deep breath in as we reach the lake house, still trying to decide whether coming home to New York was a good idea or not. I mean, mending fences with Fina hasn’t been easy, but ithasbeen healing. The jury’s still out on how it’ll turn out in the end, though. At this moment, I’m not sure if she still wants to shave off one eyebrow when I sleep, or if we can at least be friends again. But as long asBradleyis here, no progress will be made in that department, I’m sure of that.

Sera runs out to greet us, and wraps Bash in a hug before slugging him in the arm.

“Hey, big brother, it’s been too long! How is your oh-so-important job with the Secret Service?”

Bash slugs her back, but not nearly as hard. “Secret,” he says with a laugh.

“Do you get to guard the president?”

Without missing a beat, he replies, “That’s classified,” and we laugh.

That is, until Bradley wanders down toward us. The tension he brings sucks everything but the humidity from the air, and I clear my throat.

Sera stiffens when he puts his arm around her, and when she tries to slide out from underneath him, he holds onto her tighter. “Bash, this is Bradley… my… ex-boyfriend.”

Bradley lets out a laugh. “I’m not your ex-boyfriend, Serafina. This whole thing has just been one misunderstanding. You’ll see. And I’ll explain it all to you on the beach in Bimini on Wednesday.” He squeezes her tighter, and it takes every ounce of goodness inside me not to unleash the ugliest side of myself onto him.

Bash is better at weird situations than I am, so he immediately sticks his hand out to shake the hand Bradley has around Sera. When Bradley releases his grip on her to shake Bash’s hand, she immediately puts a few feet between them.

“That’s quite a grip there, ‘Bash.’ Do you work out?” Bradley’s awkwardness at using Bash’s nickname is palpable, and I hold in a snicker.

“Sure do. Can’t protect the president if you skip the gym,” Bash says with a cocky grin.

“Iknewit! You get to guard the president? What is he like?” Sera exclaims.