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“Catch you later, Hazel.”
She walks away… without looking back, even once.
Me? I can’t take my eyes off her.
Part of me can’t stand her—but part of me is already counting down the hours until I’ll see her again.
Chapter 10
Hazel
I lean my elbows on the wooden railing and stare into the depths of the murky green water.
A sea turtle is down there, swimming lazily about.
His fins swipe through the water. He noses through a patch of seaweed and paddles around a rock. Then he pokes his head up above the water.
My ringing phone pulls me out of a delightful daydream about how simple my life would be if I were born a turtle.
“Alexis, thank goodness,” I gush. “I’m freaking out.”
“Babe, calm down. Okay, I got your texts. This is not as bad as you’re making it out to be.”
“I kissed Jack Morgan!” I hiss. “Weren’t we just talking about him yesterday? How he’s all swagger, no substance, and he has no clue?—”
“Wait, wait. Take a deep breath.”
I draw in air, then let it seep out, nice and slow.
“Better?” she asks.
“Maybe.” I sigh.
The turtle dips underwater again and swims toward a far corner of the lagoon. “I wish I was a sea turtle. Sea turtles don’t make stupid and embarrassing mistakes.”
“Who said kissing this guy was a mistake?”
“I did. It was. He’s the worst, Alexis.”
“Well, you didn’t think that yesterday, obviously. I know you, sister. You don’t hook up with just anybody. You’re incredibly picky. How did this even happen? Walk me through it.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You do want to talk about it, or you wouldn’t have called me and left that desperate message. Come on, don’t clam up now.”
“Let’s just talk about you. Distract me. Tell me about how everything’s going there. How’s Melody?”
“Nope. No way. You’re not pulling that. We’re talking about you and your Hawaiian kiss, and I want details.”
I tilt my head to the sky. This is exactly why Alexis is my best friend—right here. She won’t let me hide.
Everyone else is fine with it when I bow out or take the back seat. Alexis doesn’t let me get away with that.
I remember how we always bumped into each other because we went to the same beautician in town for facials, manicures, and pedicures. Sometimes, we sat in the waiting room together for hours or side by side in our salon chairs without saying even one word. When we finally had our first conversation, she cracked up laughing. “All this time, I thought you were such a snob! You’re actually really cool.”
Since then, she’s had this habit of prying things out of me.
It’s good for me. I feel that.
