Next Summer

by Hailey Abbott

  Ella gasped out loud when she got it.

  Pack on a muscled body and skin that actually tanned, and Beth was talking to a clone of George.

  It would have been a little creepy if it weren’t so funny.

  “Hey there,” Ella said, smiling her brightest smile, when Beth and the boy arrived at the edge of her towel. “I’m Ella,” she told the hot lifeguard.

  “Adam,” the lifeguard replied. He was even cuter up close. Definitely a movie-star version of George.

  “Bethy,” Ella pouted. “How dare you hog the attention of the best-looking lifeguard on the beach?”

  Beth rolled her eyes, but her cheeks were pink. “Adam’s just helping me with my surfing, El. And there are plenty of other lifeguards. Go check out the guys at the station.”

  “Definitely,” Adam said, grinning. Ella noticed, though, that his smile wasn’t directed at her, but at Beth. “They could use a distraction. It gets crazy around here on the Fourth.”

  Ella turned to peer down the beach toward the big white lifeguard station, and shrugged. It seemed awfully far away, across a whole lot of hot sand.

  “Are we going out later?” Beth asked, already backing away from Ella’s towel.

  “That’s the plan,” Ella said. Beth looked as if she couldn’t wait to start her surfing lesson.

  “I’ll see you back at the cottages,” Beth said, and then sauntered off with Adam. Ella smiled. If the situations were reversed, and she was parading around with a sexy lifeguard, Ella knew she certainly wouldn’t waste her time on small talk with Beth.

  Ella looked back toward the lifeguard station again. Lifeguards were, by definition, supposed to be in excellent shape. And lifeguarding indicated a certain interest in the welfare of others. That meant they were esentially good guys, right?

  So really, she had to check it out for herself, just in case her future, serious, long-term boyfriend was there, waiting for her. Ella loosely tied her sarong around her hips. It perfectly matched her fire-engine red bikini. She adjusted her boobs with a few expert pats and she was prepared to go find herself the nice relationship she wanted.

  Down near the lifeguard stand, Ella paused to consider her approach. It wasn’t quite the all-you-can-eat hottie buffet that Beth had hinted at, but Ella couldn’t complain. A tall, broad-shouldered blond guy caught her eye immediately. He had a square jaw and a confident grin that deepened when he saw Ella. She smiled back, but she didn’t feel too excited. He was a little too…wholesome. Besides, Ella liked to be the blonde one in the relationship. It was just a quirk of hers that she couldn’t explain.

  The lifeguard sitting next to the blond, however, was a different story. At first glance, Ella had dismissed him. He had brown hair and eyes, which Ella liked, but he sat in a sort of careless way that gave her the impression that he didn’t think anyone would be paying attention to him. But then he got up and climbed down to the sand in a few easy movements that changed everything Ella had been thinking about him. She took a second look.

  He was a puzzle, that was for sure. When he hit the beach, the easy grace he’d displayed a few moments ago seemed to disappear, and he became a lean, lanky guy with shaggy brown hair. Nothing special.

  Except…If she looked closely, there was a certain sexy, dark vibe going on that she couldn’t resist. Even better, it was clear that he had no idea how cute he was. Ella could spot a winner when she saw one, no matter how awkwardly he carried himself.

  She strolled right up to the lanky guy as if she were playing a game of chicken and she knew her opponent would definitely budge first. She made sure he got to enjoy the full effect of her red bikini and her curves. She watched his eyes travel over her and felt a little flicker of something in her heart.

  This was the best part of meeting boys. Hands down.

  “I’m looking for Adam,” she said softly.

  “Aren’t we all,” said the blond from up above. Ella smiled at him, but didn’t linger, and quickly looked back at her hottie-in-hiding.

  “He’s, uh, giving a lesson,” Lanky said timidly, as if he couldn’t believe Ella was talking to him.

  “Oh,” Ella said very brightly. “With Beth, right? She’s my cousin. We were supposed to meet up…” She broke off, and flashed her sweetest smile at him. “I’m Ella, by the way.”

  He looked slightly stunned, but Ella took advantage of his reaction by moistening her lips with her tongue and ever-so-casually tousling her hair with her hands while arching her back. And if doing that thrust her breasts out, well, that was okay, too.

  “I’m Jeremy,” he said, never moving his gaze from her face, which kind of unnerved her. “Adam should be back in about fifteen minutes. You can wait here if you want.”

  “That sounds like a great idea. Why don’t we wait together?”

  His wonderfully dark eyes probed hers for a moment, then dropped back over her bikini quickly. Then he looked away and shrugged.

  Ella smiled.

  Finally, things were looking up.

  9

  After the Fourth, Beth’s days took on a comfortable routine. In the late morning, she would head down to the beach and work on her surfing alone until Adam took his break. Then he helped her try out different moves. Adam had totally undersold himself—he wasn’t a decent surfer. He was practically a surf Zen master, and he was an even better teacher. Beth felt herself improving by the minute. And her mood was brightening, too.

  “I lived in California until I was about twelve,” Adam told her on this particularly humid July day, when they were taking a breather. They sat together just above the waterline, watching the waves crash against the sand and then reach for the dunes. “I got into the whole surfing thing out there. The waves are way better there than here on the East Coast.”

  “Hey, don’t disrespect the East Coast,” Beth teased, leaning back on her hands.

  “Listen,” Adam said, turning to look at her, “I love Maine. But the water temperature could stand to be better. I mean, even you were a little blue before.”

  “I was not!” Beth sat up, pretending to be mad. She’d been cold, true, but they’d been having fun, so who cared? It was like when Beth had been little, and her parents would have to literally drag her, Jamie, Ella, and Kelsi out of the water. The girls had been so hyper and excited that they’d had no idea if they were freezing-cold or not. Surfing with Adam was that kind of fun.

  “Hey, it was very becoming,” Adam joked.

  When their eyes met, Beth felt a warm glow, like the sun was inside her as well as beating down from up above. She couldn’t believe that only a few weeks ago, she’d been a mopey, missing-George mess. Funny how making a new friend could cheer her up.

  “Want to catch one more wave before you have to get back?” she asked Adam. His breaks always felt way too short.

  He was still watching her, a gleam in his blue eyes. Beth felt warmed by that, too.

  “I have to get back,” he said with regret in his voice. “For some reason, they actually want me to work.”

  “That’s crazy!” Beth laughed. For the briefest instant, she wondered if she was flirting. Nah. She never flirted.

  “Tell me about it.” He paused and then shot her a look from beneath the curls that spilled across his forehead. “But maybe we could grab some dinner tonight, if you felt like it.”

  Beth froze. Hang on. Was Adam asking her…out? Taking their friendship from the beach to places where they’d have to wear shoes seemed like a big leap. Adam was her “beach buddy.” They existed only in this safe zone. But now Beth felt panicked by Adam’s invitation. “Don’t swim beyond this point!” she wanted to say.

  But maybe she was overreacting. Adam was her friend. He’d practically saved her life. Of course she liked him and felt safe with him. It was silly for her to feel like she was betraying George in some way by accepting Adam’s invitation. So what if she’d forgotten to check George’s text messages that day? It didn’t mean anything. She could have a boyfriend and a boy fri
end at the same time. Couldn’t she?

  “That would be great,” she said at last, trying to play it cool. But then, her smile seemed to get lost in Adam’s smile for a long moment.

  “Adam’s a great guy,” Beth told George later that evening as she made her way down the beach, where she was about to meet her favorite new lifeguard. She held her cell phone to her ear and clutched her shoes in her free hand. Beth much preferred to go barefoot, even if the sand was a little chilly in the evening. “Not to mention, he saved my life.”

  “I owe him, big-time,” George said at once. “Anyone who saves you from the clutches of death is a god.”

  “You would love him,” Beth laughed. “I wish you could meet him. I feel like he’s practically one of your friends already.”

  Adam was waiting at the lifeguard stand, leaning against the wooden structure and watching her approach.

  “As long as he’s funny,” George was saying. “I have low-to-zero tolerance for people with no sense of humor.”

  “He has exactly our sense of humor,” Beth said, and wondered if she was gushing. “Here, find out for yourself,” she added as she approached Adam. She grinned, and handed him her phone. “It’s George,” she said. He looked at her blankly, and Beth suddenly realized that somehow, in all their conversations, she hadn’t even mentioned that she had a boyfriend, let alone one named George. Beth didn’t even think that it was possible to flake on such a thing, since she usually referred to George constantly. Didn’t she?

  After a short, tense pause, Beth added, “He’s my boyfriend,” hoping to clear up any confusion.

  Adam seemed to stiffen, but he already had the cell phone.

  “Hi,” he said, sounding surprisingly awkward.

  Beth furrowed her brow. Surely she’d mentioned George to Adam before. But she wasn’t sure she could remember doing it. Her pulse quickened. How could she have missed George so much that she was ready to ship herself to Boston via FedEx, and yet neglect to tell Adam about him at all?

  Adam didn’t seem to have much to say to George, so Beth took her phone back from him.

  “I’ll call you later,” she said to George.

  “Or sooner,”George countered. “Don’t let Mr. Personality try any funny ‘mouth-to-mouth’ stuff on you, okay?”

  Beth tried to ignore the enormous, if inexplicable, wave of guilt that engulfed her. “Will do,” Beth said, laughing. She tucked the phone in her pocket and glanced at Adam.

  “So, that was your boyfriend,” Adam said, watching her.

  Something fluttered in Beth’s stomach, but she ignored it. Probably just hunger.

  “Yup. Sorry to foist him on you. He’s a character.”

  It seemed like Adam might say something else, but the moment passed. Then Adam gave her his typical warm smile.

  “Hungry?” he asked her.

  She nodded. “You?”

  “I’m so hungry I could eat your shirt,” he said as he grabbed the hem of Beth’s T-shirt.

  It was so something George would have done.

  Beth yanked the fabric from Adam’s grip and felt a spark when their hands touched. But it didn’t mean anything. Adam was just a friend.

  George, George, George, she thought.

  The next morning, Beth and Ella made their way down to the beach, picking a path across prickly beach grass and pieces of glass. Beth liked the company while she waited for Adam’s break, so she could tolerate Ella’s newfound interest in all things Jeremy. Apparently, Ella seemed to think that because Beth and Adam were tight, Beth somehow had a window into Jeremy’s brain. So Ella asked tons of questions about the shy lifeguard. But Beth couldn’t have cared less about Jeremy.

  It was the craziest thing, but she couldn’t stop thinking about Adam. Dinner last night had been so much fun that Beth couldn’t wait to see him again. She didn’t have a crush on him or anything, but it would be stupid not to admit that she found his attention the teeniest bit flattering.

  “Adam’s really funny,” Beth told Ella then, as if they’d been talking about Adam all along. “He had me laughing so hard last night I almost choked on my clam sauce. He was one step away from doing the Heimlich and saving my life again.”

  Ella peered back at Beth over the top of her sunglasses, like some kind of movie star, but said nothing.

  “He’s been a lifeguard here for a few years now,” Beth continued. “I can’t believe it—I mean, it’s so weird that I never saw him before this summer.”

  “Weird,” Ella echoed, her tone slightly wry.

  “He showed me this really cool new way to balance on my board,” Beth chattered on. She didn’t know why Ella was being so quiet, but she didn’t care. “It’s so simple, but I never would have thought of it on my own. He’s an amazing surfer.”

  “The most amazing thing about Adam,” Ella said, shoving her sunglasses back up on her nose, “is how much he reminds me of this other guy we know.”

  Beth wrinkled her nose in confusion. “He does?”

  “You don’t see it?” Ella shook her head. “Come on, Bethy. I’m not exactly Ms. Perceptive, but I noticed it right off.”

  “You are perceptive,” Beth said. She frowned at Ella as they reached the last turn of the path that cut through the dunes to the water. “But who do you think he looks like?”

  “Take a moment and think real hard,” Ella said through an amused smirk. Seagulls jeered at one another overhead, and Beth shrugged and wiped at the dried salt on her face.

  “I give up,” she said.

  “Well,” Ella began, sounding particularly pleased with herself, “he could be George’s brother. Not his identical twin. Maybe fraternal.”

  Beth went very still. “Adam isn’t anything like George.” Even though, last night, she’d told George that they had a similar sense of humor. But so what?

  Ella was on a roll. “And that laugh? Hello—totally George,” she said, shaking her head. “Trust you to go out and find a carbon copy. I think I’ll call him G-2 from now on.”

  Beth didn’t respond. She was suddenly acutely aware of how hot the sand beneath her feet felt. She picked up her pace so much, she shot by Ella altogether, each grain of sand embedding itself in her feet along the way.

  10

  Ella dressed carefully for the night’s activities. The cousins were all going out to eat at the Lobster Shack, the new dinner joint in town, where, according to Beth, G-2 was supposed to turn up with the delicious Jeremy. Ella was wearing a skimpy pink miniskirt she’d picked up at Urban Outfitters with a pair of pink round-toed Steve Madden heels that would have looked dangerous in New York City and were—at best—highly inappropriate for a beach town. She’d chosen her strappiest black tank top—courtesy of Abercrombie—because it clutched her breasts lovingly and made her waist look practically nonexistent.

  “How do you walk in those shoes?” Kelsi asked, as Ella—who believed in mind over matter when it came to stiletto heels—sauntered down the dirt road like it was her own personal runway.

  Ella just smiled mysteriously. There was no point in explaining the art of walking in heels to her boring sister—it was all about leaning back.

  “I’m impressed,” Beth chimed in, linking her arm through Kelsi’s and observing Ella.

  Ella noticed that Beth wasn’t wearing her jogging clothes tonight. She’d opted for what looked like Levi’s, a cute little T-shirt that said ADULT SWIM on the front, and, if Ella wasn’t mistaken, lip gloss.

  Very interesting, Ella thought, but then she had to concentrate on not tripping over an exposed root instead of Beth’s fashion choices. That was the problem with being known for inappropriate shoes: People would never let you hear the end of it if you actually exhibited even the teeniest problem with them. Ella always had to pretend that the five-inch heels she sometimes wore didn’t hurt a bit when in actuality they were rubbing her skin raw.

  When they got into town, Kelsi and Beth headed straight toward the Lobster Shack, but Ella found herself far more
interested in the flashing lights and music coming from another new Pebble Beach venue, the Lighthouse.

  “Have you guys checked this place out yet?” she asked.

  “You can’t get in there unless you’re twenty-one,” Kelsi said firmly, sounding very “big sister.”

  “Whatever,” Ella replied breezily. “Don’t underestimate me, Kels.”

  “Trust me,” Kelsi said to Ella. “They won’t let you in.”

  Ella always enjoyed a challenge, so she blew a kiss at her sister and Beth and headed straight for the Lighthouse. She could meet up with them—and Jeremy—later. As she approached, she could see the bouncers already sizing her up. She ignored them and concentrated on the music she could hear from outside. Whenever the door opened, she liked what she could see of the wooden and red interior. It looked exciting and adult, the sort of place cool people would go to drink whiskey or something. She imagined it was the kind of place guys like hot alterna-rockers would hang out in. Ella got a little closer so she could get a better look.