Page 36 of Prime Time Romance
“Thank you,” I tell him.
He shakes his head, confused. “For what?”
“For not making fun of me.”
He folds his arms across his chest. “I don’t exactly know what you or Sloan see in Spencer, but I’ll help you if I can. I’ll even act like this Fletch guy—the handsome and charming bartender everyone secretly adores—if that’s what it takes.”
I snort, and he smiles, as if that was the reaction he wanted.
“I don’t know if I used the words handsome and charming.” I walk toward him, closing the remaining gap between us. “But thank you, I appreciate it.”
He holds out his fist. It takes me a second to realize he’s looking for a bump.
As our fists connect, a cool breeze blows through the woods, sending out an echo of soft cracks of breaking branches.
“It’s getting pretty late. I think Spencer and Luce want to head out pretty soon. You ready?”
He nods. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
We walk silently out of the woods.
When we get back to the beach, the picnic is gone, and Luce and Spencer are nowhere to be found.
“Where’d they go?” I ask Josh as I notice that the blue paddleboat is also missing.
“Maybe they decided to take a paddle around the island while they were waiting for us,” Josh offers.
His words make logical sense.
I, however, know better.
We take a seat on the rock jetty and wait for five minutes, just to make sure, but there is no blue paddleboat coming around the bend.
Luce.
I knew it.
This was probably her plan all along. Wait for the perfect moment and then make a move to get Spencer alone.
“We better get going.” I rise to my feet. “I don’t think they’re coming back.”
Josh looks up at me, his eyes wide. “Um, Brynn. Did you remember to tie up our boat?”
Panic floods my chest. “Oh my god. Oh my god.”
My eyes flick to the sky, searching for storm clouds as I start to run to the spot on the beach where we last left our boat.
“Hey, Brynn,” Josh calls after me.
I slow just enough to turn my head back to him.
He’s wearing an almost manic shit-eating grin.
“I’m just fudging with you.”
11
Josh
