Page 44 of Acadia Falls

“You don’t look like you’re having fun.” Tommy drank some more beer and wisely shut his mouth again.

“Don’t get me wrong—I like her,” I admitted. “But she’s just a tourist, you know? Like every other girl every other summer.” I shrugged. “No use pretending it’s something else. Right?”

Tommy drained his beer—awfully quick, considering he’d just opened it—but didn’t answer me.

“Right?”

“Hold on.” He grabbed two more fancy, high-alcohol IPAs from the steel ice bucket. Tommy opened one and handed it to me, then opened the other for himself. “You said you like this girl, right?”

“What’s not to like?” I jerked my chin in Maran’s direction, her blond hair spilling over her shoulders, her smile catching the light from the sunset. “She’s gorgeous, and she’s smart.”

“The thing is…” Tommy had a pull from his beer. “You’re turning thirty this fall. You know that?”

“Of course, I know that, dumbass.”

My brother pointed at me. “I know she’s just a tourist and all, but…”

“But what?”

“When’s it going to be the right time, huh? You’ve never had a serious girlfriend.”

I itched my neck and tugged on my T-shirt. Tommy was calling me out, and I did not care for it. “I don’t know. When will you finally get over M.B. or ask her to marry you?”

“Ouch.” He immediately stood up. “You don’t have to be a dick about it. You don’t want to have a real relationship, don’t have a real relationship. But don’t take it out on me.”

“You’re one to talk,” I muttered, but the words tasted bitter. I shouldn’t be mean to Tommy. He’d never been anything but loyal and honest with me. “Hey, wait a sec⁠—”

But he was already down the steps and halfway across the yard. My brother had had enough with me for one day, and now he was walking home.

I couldn’t say I blamed him.

I needed to apologize—saying that about M.B. had been a low blow. I glanced at Maran. She was surrounded by Tori Blaisdell’s people, chatting away. I didn’t want to interrupt, but as my day continued to nosedive, I should probably do something to right it.

I took a deep breath, hopped up, and stopped where Tori and Ryan sat. They looked cozy, arms wrapped around each other as they watched the sunset. “Hey, Tori. Thanks for having us down, but Tommy and I have to go.”

“Looks like Tommy already went.” Ryan peered past me, watching our brother as he kicked rocks down the drive.

“Yeah, I gotta drive him home. Thanks for the beer.”

I headed in Maran’s direction, catching snippets of her conversation. “You should totally come to LA,” one of the handsome guys was saying. “You’re too attractive for corporate law. You need to come out and work in entertainment! That’s where all the beautiful people are.”

“Aw, that’s so nice,” Maran said, “but I can’t beat my job—it’s with Krieger and Krieger. Plus, I don’t have any contacts in LA.”

“You do now.” The man pulled his sunglasses down, and I noticed, much to my chagrin, that the dude had perfect cheekbones and thick, sandy hair. “You’ve got me. And I know everybody! Seriously, you should come out⁠—”

I don’t know what came over me—well, it was probably the fucker’s hair and his trendy, thousand-dollar sunglasses—but I launched myself at him. Punched him right in the face. Bright red blood spurted out from his nose, and he screamed. I felt better for a second, so I hit him again. Then I saw Maran’s face, which was white, her mouth hanging open in a giant O.

“Jack! What the fuck?” Ryan was immediately on me, pulling me off the guy. “What the hell’s the matter with you?”

“Nothing. I just don’t appreciate the fancy tourists propositioning my girl⁠—”

“I wasn’t propositioning her, you freaking hick! I’m gay! I was trying to be friendly! Why don’t you go back to your cave, huh, while I call my lawyers? I’m going to⁠—”

“All right, all right, everybody calm down.” Alex was suddenly in the mix, handing the guy a napkin, cleaning up the blood from the deck, patting Maran’s hand, and giving me the evil eye. “Time for you to go home, Rocky.”

“Yeah, I know.” My gaze flicked to Maran, who was staring at the guy I’d just decked. She wouldn’t look at me.

“See you. Sorry about that, Tori,” I mumbled.