"Sorry," Harper whispered over my sand stomps. "I didn't mean to make you trip." The boys gawked as we returned my stuff to the paddleboard shack, tossing them at the feet of a burly, disinterested guy. Muttering, "Thanks," I wobbled back to our towels with the weight of perverted eyes on my ass. "It's okay." I directed my strongest glare at the boys, whose lips curled up into smirks. Ugh, that look. My skin crawled. "Ignore them. They're not worth adding deposits to the five-knuckle shufflers' spank banks." Harper walked me around a group of eight-year-olds projecting they were bored with everything in life. "Still want to watch the sunset?" "Yeah." I nodded. "Did you see their shirts? Assholes from Salesian." She scrunched her nose and eyebrows together. "Total assholes." One of them scanned her curves and grinned. "Come here, babe," he called over the kids' heads. "Happy to give you my full, undivided attention." "I'd rather shave my nipples off with a nail file than take your sausage factory tour." She flipped him a middle finger, but I groaned at her choice of words. She baited him into- "Match made in heaven…" He extended his hands and gestured a few pelvic thrusts. "Your buns, my meat stick." Had it been me, I would've turned away mortified. But Harper relished in these ego-crushing opportunities and, other than her lips twitching up at the corners, she was unfazed. "I don't eat hot dogs!" And I won't eat those again. "I'm so glad witnesses are hearing this." I wanted to cover the closest kid's ears, but I sat with a grunt. "See that, kids?" She pointed at Mr. Hip-thruster's continuous piston gyrations. Did he have an off switch? "Don't do steroids." His obscenities reminded me of Jake. Where was he, anyway? I rolled my eyes. "I can't with these misogynist egos." "Same." She surrendered her board to another round of catcalls, which earned the boys her two middle fingers. "Speaking of guys with more than one shared brain cell, how's Alex? Is he doing that stupid school thing you applied for?" "I don't know." I shook my head. "I haven't heard much from him. And no, he's not doing the ambassador program." "You're the only one I know who applied." Her coy tone mirrored the gleam in her eyes. "Why don't you text him?" "What would I say?" "Umm… how about hi, how are you? Thinking of you? Let's talk about Steinbeck? I don't know." Her chipped black nails scratched her chin. Alex was quiet, thoughtful, and serious. Our discussions delved deeper than some hot new girl, upcoming party, or jock strap refills. He was the type of a guy I could see myself with in college, my chance to start over with a blank slate. "I don't know either." I grimaced. "This is why we're single." My joke rolled off her as Harper turned to me. She paused with an unusual hint of uncertainty in her voice. "Ignoring that dick display, are you going to date this year? Not that spineless Henderson. Someone who can gouge under Jake's skin." A scoff left my mouth at the word 'date,' which pushed my reply out fast and bitter, "No. I'm waiting to expire." She should know better than to ask me that. I'd never date anyone with the sole motivation to piss off Jake. He was insufferable enough to live without that unnecessary level-up. I didn't need to look at her to know she was unconvinced. "Are you… Okay, Elle?" "Yeah?" The word came out more like a question than a confirmation, making her frown. "The nightmare, I mean." Her voice softened. "Sorry for dragging you here. Meeting assholes wasn't in my plan. I only wanted to give you a diversion, even if it's one you didn't like." She had. I had spent most of the time here focused on the details of why I hated it. A shudder ran down my spine as the images replayed in my mind. I shuddered and closed my eyes, wishing I didn't have them memorized. I'll never get involved with another football player ever again. "It's fine." I waved a dismissive hand. "We'll never see them again, so it's nothing." "Speak for your - oh, fuck!" Her gaze shifted behind us, where shouts and curses rang out. Anywhere my brother appeared, attention gravitated to him. Jake's confident swagger projected his football field-sized ego within a twenty-foot radius. More than that, he confronted two of the guys that Harper and I abandoned. His favorite frayed-edge Cardinals hat was backward and his bare back and shoulder muscles rippled with his arms raised. Not again. By Harper's scoff, the one girl he never impressed remained so. "You'd better sistervention so dick for brains isn't expelled before school starts. Or worse, arrested." She was right; my hot-headed brother had too much to lose from stupid fights. "He's not getting any of my savings for bail money." I sprung to my feet, trudging in slow motion as his hands fisted one guy's shirt. "No no no no," I murmured. "Don't do it, Jake." For once, I moved faster than Harper. My stomach churned as I stepped in the middle of a meathead sandwich and grasped the steel cables of Jake's forearms. His dark brown eyes blackened with rage, his face flushed red, and his right temple's anger vein protruded. A shriek tore up my dry, raw throat, "Jake!" "Empty threats, Harrison," the guy behind me challenged, his voice full of reckless confidence. "One of these days, someone-" "Fuck off, Hightower." With a sneer over my shoulder, Jake's arms flinched and loosened my grip. His eyes met mine. "Move, Ellie. This doesn't concern you." My eyes shifted over my shoulder, to the chest of the poor guy in Jake's grasp. He was… taller than Jake? Maybe he was - nope, another smirker. "You concern me." I palmed the accelerated beats in my brother's chest. "He's not worth it." A wall of heat leaned over my back. Goosebumps pricked on the back of my neck, trickling shivers down my spine. A warm breath kissed under my right ear and his words hummed with pure arrogance. "Promise I'm very much worth it, baby." Seriously? Not the place, and never the time. Whoever this guy was, his inability to dial down the inappropriate schmooze deserved another over-the-shoulder glare… directed at his chest. "Bitch boy." Jake's biceps tightened outside my shoulders. "You have five seconds-" "Stop! And listen, you." I whirled around to a gray T-shirt. Bubbles of discomfort rose in my stomach, rolling it with nausea. I covered my mouth with both hands. "You…" Harper's hand cupped my elbow. "What's wrong, Elle?" "Ulp." An internal kick heaved my stomach and sprung tears from my eyes. I cupped my mouth and shook my head. The giant in front of me blurred. "You… Oh, fuck." Another lurch slacked my jaw. Bile-tinged bubbles erupted from the back of my throat and escaped as a hiccup. "I-I oooouuugghhhh." I doubled over the pain folding my stomach in half, expelling its contents on the feet of Jake's punching bag