Page 25 of Buzzer Beater

“What about me? What if it makes me miserable?”

“You haven’t been a real person to me, to any of us, until now. You were a memory, a story. Now that we’ve all met you. I think it’s even more important than ever for you two to work things out.”

I was feeling trapped. Did I not have a choice in my own actions? I did. Just because Erik was some hot shot hockey player didn’t mean he got to boss me around. We weren’t friends. We’d never even met before this conversation and suddenly he was diving into my past. The one I kept hidden with a lock?

“Sorry,” I muttered, “but that’s not going to happen.”

I pushed past him and took a deep breath as I walked across the deck to Amber. “Why are you playing friends with them?”

She turned from facing Riley and sighed. “We can’t change the circumstances, Lucy, so I’m trying to make the best of it. We’re here to have fun remember?”

I rolled my eyes and looked out over the ocean to the land that was growing farther and farther away. Could I make it to shore? I doubted I could swim that far. I looked down at my gear. Well…maybe.

Amber grabbed my arm. “You’re not jumping.”

I blew out a breath between my lips. “I know. I’m sorry, but this is hard enough for me to deal with. I can’t stand mingling with all of them. They act like they know me.”

Amber smiled at the two blonde women passing. They smiled back and paused, but I turned away hoping they would get the hint.

“Lucy, you can’t act like this. It’s rude.” I could tell Amber was using her fake smile while whisper yelling at me. She’d picked it up from her mom.

“I don’t know these people. I don’t have to interact with them.”

She grabbed my elbow and turned us to face the waves crashing against the boat. “I can’t imagine how hard it is for you to see Colin again. I know you’re hurting. I know, Lucy. I do. I love you and wish I could make all the pain disappear, but this is life. Crap happens, and we have to deal with it. I’m trying to make the best of a tough situation, and I would really love if you would try too.”

I closed my eyes and sighed. She was right. This was her party, her week to celebrate with us, and I was making it about myself. I was bringing the whole group down and nobody, not even the intrusive hockey players, deserved that.

“You’re right. I’ll try to play nice, but no guarantees with him.”

I didn’t have to speak his name for her to understand my meaning.

“Don’t worry. If he comes within five feet of you, I’ve instructed the girls to jump in and intercept.”

I laughed at the image that brought to my mind. “Thanks.”

“Anything for you, babe.” She wrapped an arm around me and squeezed. “We’re going to have fun today. Okay? We might even see whale sharks.”

I smiled and nodded. “You’re right. This is going to be fun.”

We joined the rest of the group as Manuel began giving instructions. I looked around at everyone and froze when Colin’s eyes met mine. He didn’t blink, didn’t move. Once upon a time I thought we could communicate through looks, but not anymore. I couldn’t read him. No smile or frown. He just stared until I looked away.

I clenched my jaw and turned away. I couldn’t let him see what he still did to me. The flutter that was still there. I’d suppressed it, but every second around him made that stupid butterfly stronger.

The boat came to a stop. I had no idea how the captain knew this was the place since we were in the middle of the ocean. Maybe this was where the x was on the map. It didn’t seem right though. I thought snorkeling was done around land formations or coral reefs.

Miguel clapped. “Now we’ll start here. There’s a small reef in front of the boat, so we’ll swim and see if anything is around.”

He slipped his mask over his face and pulled on his fins at the back of the boat before jumping in. I watched him swim to the bow then everyone followed, single file. Elena stepped next to me.

“Are you excited?” she asked.

I looked to her and nodded. We were in Mexico about to snorkel with real sea life. There was plenty to be excited about and I decided to focus on that. “Yeah, I hope we get to see something good.”

She smiled. “We will. I’ve never been disappointed on one of these excursions.”

When it was my turn, I checked that I had everything on correctly before taking a step off the deck and falling into the water.

The warmth was a shock. The Pacific Ocean was never this warm. It felt like we were in a nice bathtub. I followed the boat until I reached the rest of the group. Miguel waved at me and pointed to his left. “Good stuff.”