Page 36 of All Our Nevers

“Yeah, thanks,” I reply, knowing I won’t. “And I can’t believe it took your group all this time before any of you started dating each other. I mean, you have willpower. I don’t think I could be friends with girls who look like that without making a move.”

“Come on, man, that’s my sister.”

I laugh, “Sorry, sorry. I’m not saying I’m gonna do anything. But you have to admit it’s a little weird, right? Especially since we know Andy and Sophie were into each other the whole time.”

Nolan looks wistfully towards the water, a smile wrinkling his eyes. “They just needed time to figure it out.”

He looks genuinely happy, not a trace of envy, and I decide he’s probably the best dude I know.

“Well,” I say, “I’m glad Andy had you back then. Especially since I wasn’t there.”

That comment instantly spoils the mood. Nolan’s brow furrows in pity, mouth creeping open like it’s working hard to choose words. He lands on, “Oh… hey…” and I deeply regret saying anything.

Thank Christ, that’s when I see Andy walking back in the distance and call out to him: “Hey! Found one?”

“Yeah,” he says as he reaches us. “Disgusting but yeah.”

“We should go in the water,” I say as I take my feet. “We’re at the beach, right?”

“Yeah absolutely!” Nolan exclaims with reliable enthusiasm—and the apparent attention span of a goldfish.

“Sure,” Andy agrees. “Let’s go.”

9

Lia

The daylight is warm and the breeze is cool as Sophie and I head down to the water, grains of sun-warmed sand sliding beneath our feet. It’s not the most aesthetically pleasing beach, but it’s also not crowded, which is more important for my purposes.

“Can you just get a bunch from this angle, so I’m at the edge of the water and then you can see the ocean and the sand?”

“You got it,” Sophie says, taking the phone from me.

She’s well-trained by now, if not naturally skilled. Her angles are just right, crouching low, zoom at 0.5, exposure balanced. I hit a few different poses—standing, kneeling, sitting, lounging at the edge of the water—before I tell her it’s enough and review the shots.

The bikini looks amazing. I didn’t make this one, it’s from one of my sponsors, but I will be posting enthusiastically about it from here on out because holy shit. Tiny but flattering, and really stays in place where you put it. My hair isn’t quite right in these pictures though—more ringlets than beach waves. I’ll shake it out a bit and try again later.

“These are great, Soph. Thank you. Do you wanna get in the water?”

“I guess…” Despite being from Minnesota originally, Sophie’s very sensitive to cold. “Let’s just go slow, okay?”

“Okay, and can you get a few shots of me walking into the water from the back, too?”

“Sure thing.”

The water is absolutely fucking freezing as I wade in, but for the sake of the pictures I can’t tense up. I push the sting of the cold into my subconscious and focus on my choreography, arms gently out, hair swaying in motion. The reality of the environment is much less romantic than I’m trying to make it seem—a seagull screeches overhead, young children flail in the surf—but it’s about the fantasy.

I stop waist-deep and rotate towards Sophie. In an attempt to look candid and editorial, I don’t look directly at her. Instead, I’m gazing up the beach, towards the place we camped out.

My gaze finds Owen’s.

We’re fifty feet away, but even at this distance there’s a sternness in his posture. I can imagine him replaying our interaction this morning, as furious as he is turned on. And he doesn’t even look away when I catch him staring, the absolutely shameless flirt.

I give him a middle finger before saying to Sophie, “Okay, that’s probably good. Thanks.”

It takes several minutes to beckon her to my depth of the water, the little wimp, and when she finally gets here I decide to distract her from the cold with a topic she’ll love.

“Okay, tell me the three things you’re most excited about for your honeymoon.”