Chapter Three

Jamie:

“Jamie!” Morgan Cook came running up to where I'd been sitting with a few girls from school, playing my guitar. “Do you know where Colby is?” She glanced behind her nervously and that was when I heard it.

“Callie,” Tony Andrews' unmistakable douche-like voice cut through the music. My eyes met Morgan's pleading gaze, and my fingers stopped their strumming.

I brushed Amelia off, who'd had her hand on my shoulder, and her chest pressed against my arm. A moment ago, it had made my night, but now I shoved my guitar at her and jumped to my feet. Before I knew what I was doing, I'd stormed across the beach, my fist connecting to Tony's face with a loud crunch. He hadn't seen me coming. I ducked a return punch and then tackled him to the ground. I wasn't nearly as wasted as Tony and had the upper hand, but he still got a few good hits in. People came running from the bonfire to see what was happening, but all I could hear was the anger rushing in my ears. I wanted to kill the dude for touching Cal or trying to. My mind briefly registered Callie pulling on her sand covered jeans and backing away.

Others moved in to break up the fight, but I was on a roll, not stopping until my buddy Eric pulled me away.

“What's your damage, Daniels?” Tony snapped, wiping blood from his split lip.

I stepped close, looking him in the eye. Despite the size he had on me, I refused to be intimidated.

“Leave Callie the hell alone.”

Backing away, I looked around. Callie was gone.

“She went that way,” Morgan told me, her mouth hanging open in the same shock the rest of our classmates were showing.

I took off the way Morgan had pointed.

“Ass,” Tony said to my back. I let him get away with it because Callie was more important. The noise from the crowd disappeared amidst the crashing of the waves, and I knew why she'd come this far. Callie would never admit it, but the two of us understood each other. We always had. We may not exactly be friends, but that was by no choice of mine.

I found her sitting in the sand with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her small body trembled as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her sopping phone.

“For Christ's sake.” She threw her phone in the sand.

I watched her as she sniffed and buried her face in her arms. What was it about that girl that had me punching people and leaving girls like Amelia behind? I'd felt that way for years, not like she'd notice.

She froze as if sensing me.

“What do you want?” She lifted her head to look at me.

“That's not a thank you.” Why did I always say things like that around her?

She let out a grunt. I chuckled, trying to hide my nervousness as I sat beside her.

“To tell you the truth,” I started, turning serious. “I was worried about you.”

“Since when do you care?”

Okay, maybe I deserved that.

I didn't answer her question, but only because I knew she'd laugh in my face if I said it out loud. I knew what she thought of me. She never tried to hide it. Her bluntness was one of the things I'd always liked about her.

“Senior year starts on Monday,” I said instead.

“Really? I couldn’t have guessed.”

I grinned in the dark. “Can we call a truce?”

“Why?” Skepticism clouded her voice.

“Well, I did just beat up the prized football team's tight end for you.”

That finally got her to laugh. “I meant why do you want a truce?”

“I've always wanted us to be friends. You're the one who hates me.” The truth of my words stung as I spoke them, but I hid it with a smirk.

“I'm not going to stop fighting you.”

“Good.” I laughed, glad she was considering it. “We couldn't have that.”

Her laugh was interrupted by uncontrollable shivering.

“I'm such an idiot.”

“No argument here.” Her teeth chattered.

“You're freezing.” I pulled my shirt over my head.

“What're you doing?” She shrank away.

“Getting you out of your wet shirt at least.” Holding my dry one out to her, “Take this.”

She was so cold she didn't argue or even wait for me to turn away before stripping off her sopping shirt. Her skin shone in the dark, and I had to bury my hands in the sand to keep from reaching out to touch her. Having mercy on me, she threw my shirt on over her head. Gosh, she looked good in that shirt.

Callie wasn't the usual kind of girl I'd dated and there'd been a lot of them. I wasn't what you'd call the relationship type. But there'd always been something about this girl that kept me around. It helped that her brother was my best friend, and I spent more time at their house than my own.

I watched her, my eyes latching onto hers.

“Thank you,” she said.

“It's just a shirt.”

“No, I mean for earlier.”

My lips turned up. Maybe Callie and I could be friends after all. “Just make me a promise.”

“What?”

“Let's make this year epic.”

“Okay.” She drew out the word.

“I mean it. This time next summer, we'll all be going our separate ways. I don't want to leave with any regrets. We can be great this year.”

I leaned forward, excitement spilling forth. Callie stared out across the water for a long moment before nodding and turning back. Something unspoken swirled in her eyes, and I knew she needed this just as much as I did. And she knew I was right. We were young. We were free. We could do anything.

This was the feeling we both needed. What we'd only found one place. And now it was here, brought by the most unlikely of people.

She pursed her lips, still meeting my eyes and then finally grinned. “Epic, huh?”