A slow quiet week passed by with no more mentions of my wild night. While Bri went to work, I lay out on the beach soaking up the rays. My pasty skin thanked me by actually producing a nice tan. That was something I hadn’t had in years. Work didn’t leave me any time for it. That was all by choice though. I tended to drown myself in projects. Maybe that was why Russ did what he did. Shit! I wasn’t supposed to ever think his name. Yeah, he was pretty much my version of Harry Potter’s He Who Must Not Be Named.

I flipped the page on a cheesy romance novel I had found on Bri’s shelf, trying to forget the memories of Russ that had flooded my mind. Thinking of him would ruin my day. I had had enough of those these past few weeks. Coming here, I was determined I wouldn’t go home until I got over him. But it was hard. It seemed like I was stuck in a rut. Who was I kidding? My entire life had been a rut.

Sand hit my feet. I glanced up to find Bri staring down at me, still in her work clothes minus shoes.

“We’re having a party tonight,” she announced triumphantly.

I stiffened at the thought of being social once more. There was no way I was going down that road again. Yesterday was the first day I’d felt completely normal again.

“Why?” I asked, unimpressed by the festivities mentioned.

She plopped down beside me. “Because I’m determined to find you a new man. Even if he’s a one-nighter. I feel like I haven’t done my job as a best friend until I find you that one person that can help you move on and forget about dickface.”

I closed my book. “I’m not about to bang a random person I meet. You know that.”

“I know. I know. But at least talking with someone, flirting — whatever — might help. You’ve been walking around here like a depressed zombie all week. You’re starting to bum me out, and that’s hard to do considering I’m usually the happiest person people meet. Who knows who’ll end up here tonight…” Her voice trailed off, her nostrils flaring.

I knew whom she was referring to. The only guy I had remotely shown any sign of interest in since arriving.

“You really think he might come?” I hated the question as soon as I asked it. It was practically admitting I was, indeed, interested. It wasn’t that I minded Bri knowing that. It was because I knew I had no chance with him. Guys who looked like him went for girls who looked like Bri. So, when he rejected me, it was going to be embarrassing.

Bri’s smile grew to enormous proportions. “Maybe. I put the word out to Finn at the beginning of the week when I saw him at the gas station, even though I hate that douche ninety percent of the time.” She was silent for a minute. “Even though he’s hot as hell.” Whoa. This was the first time I’d seen her act like this over a guy. Was it that Bri didn’t have Finn’s attention like she did other guys? Maybe.

“How is it that you’ve known about this party since the beginning of the week and didn’t tell me?”

Her mouth drooped for a second, then the corners turned up into a smile. “Because I thought you’d dwell on it. I know you hate being around people you don’t know well because you’re so shy.”

Bri had a point. If she would’ve told me, I would’ve been nervous the entire week and counted down the days with a dreaded passion.

“Oh, I guess you have a point.”

She patted my leg then gave it a small squeeze. “Baby steps. I know it’s hard for you to be here around all these new people. But last weekend was a person I’ve never seen before.” She looked at me, her expression serious. “It was nice for you to let go. I think it’s what you need after what you’ve been through.”

“Despite it leaving me feeling like a truck hit me, it was fun.” I leaned over and bumped shoulders with her. “At least the parts I can remember.”

“Everyone will be here in a few hours.” She stood, brushed her butt off, then extended a hand to me. “Let’s go get dressed, my bronzed goddess.”

I gripped her hand. “I know, right? The sun is really helping me out.” I gathered my things and followed her back to the house.

Once inside, she disappeared to the bedroom. A moment later, the shower turned on, and her lyrical voice filled the house with song.

I wandered to my room and found a sundress lying across the bed. The fabric was soft and light. The pale yellow color made my skin look even darker against it. Dresses were not my thing. I hated wearing them, mostly because I felt they never looked good on me. Glancing back, I focused on the open suitcase. Shorts and a shirt were always an option. No. I needed different. Breaking out of my normal plain-Jane persona was the purpose of this trip. The dress won. I grabbed it and headed to the guest bathroom to take a shower.

An hour later, I sat on the couch with my hands folded in my lap. My palms sweated together. A few people had already arrived, bringing with them plates of food that smelled delicious. Laughter rang out from the kitchen. Everyone was having a good time but me. Of course, they all knew each other.

“You want a drink?” Sarah asked, appearing at the side of the couch.

Now that I’m not drunk, I guess I should find out her real name. She was the only one who’d tried to befriend me.

“No thank you. Last weekend is still fresh on the mind, you know?”

She laughed. “Oh, yeah. Bet you were pretty beat up after all that.”

I nodded. “By the way, I’m horrible about names. I keep wanting to say your name is Sarah, but I’m not sure.”

“Close. Suri.” She took a seat on the couch. “It’s impressive that you got it that close as hammered as you were.”

“I have a confession to make. That was the first time I’ve ever drunk that much.”

She roared with laughter. “I kind of figured that.”

The door opened, and more people piled in. I sucked my breath, searching for him. My stomach dropped when he wasn’t one of the newcomers. Each of them waved in our direction before joining the others in the kitchen. Suri jumped up and followed them, chatting with another girl in the back.

I watched the clock. It sounded miserable because that was what I was. Miserable. More people had shown up, but neither Luca nor Finn had bothered to come. To make it worse, I was pretty sure everyone here was already drunk except me. Sighing, I pushed a chunk of hair behind my shoulder. It was crazy frizzy for some reason tonight. I’d tried my best to tame it, but that hadn’t worked out. So, I had hidden it under a fedora that ended up looking pretty cute with the dress.

People had migrated to the living room. Most were sitting, having conversations that were entirely too loud. Another group danced to music blaring from the surround-sound speakers.

Bri bumped against my leg before squeezing between me and a guy with his back to me. “Sorry he was a no-show. I tried.”

“It’s fine.” I looked around the room, feeling claustrophobic all of a sudden. “I think I’m going to go out and get some fresh air. It’s getting really stuffy in here.” It wasn’t, but I needed some time in solitude. That was a big issue with introverts. A social scene like this one took a lot out of us.

“Do you want me to come with you? I’ll ditch these chumps if you want me to.”

I couldn’t allow her to do that. These were her friends. People she saw and hung out with on a day-to-day basis. I wasn’t one of them and couldn’t allow her to hurt their feelings because of me.

“I’m fine. You know I like to be alone sometimes.”

She nodded.

I took my time, subtly getting up. There was a dip in the cushion from me sitting in the same spot so long. I maneuvered around the coffee table only to be stopped by a group of guys. Honestly, all of them were super cute, but none grabbed my attention. “Excuse me, guys. I need to get by.”

Their attention turned to me. “Whoa. Where did you come from?”

Seriously? They had been talking in front of me for the past hour, having some stupid conversation about all the different earths from the Flash show.

“Um… just from over there,” I said.

Every one of them raked my body over with their eyes.

Heat tingled over my skin. Shifting from foot to foot, I crossed my arms. “Can I get by?”

One finally moved, giving me just enough room to squeeze past. I swallowed with a large gulp, shaking off the feeling they gave me. I hated the way they made me feel like a piece of meat. Ugh. Some guys could be so gross. I turned the handle on the back door and pushed it open. I walked down the steps and crossed the sand until I reached the shore.

The salty air tousled my hair behind me. Why hadn’t I tied it up? Now I had wrestling with tangles to look forward to. I growled, clenching my teeth. I glanced back at the house, considering fighting the crowd to get a hair band. People hanging off the balcony quickly shot that down. A gust of wind blew against my dress, lifting it slightly. I gripped the fabric to hold it in place but in the process lost my hat. It floated up and shot down the shoreline. Screw it. I let the dress go and ran. The fedora rolled across the damp sand, collecting foam along the way.

A dark figure reached down and picked it up. I backed away, aware that I was alone on a deserted beach with a stranger, one that looked way bigger than me. He could have the hat. I took a few steps back, my eyes remaining on the shadowy figure.

“Why is it everywhere I go, I seem to be running into you?”

I swallowed hard realizing who was in front of me.

Luca Bennett.