In Too Deep by Kimberly Derting

Author:Kimberly Derting [Derting, Kimberly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-03T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

LAUREN

I didn’t even realize I’d dozed off until I heard Emerson’s ear-piercing squeals. When I turned my head, I saw Lucas wrapping his arms around her as he hauled her down in the sand. Em was giggling, even while she pretended to fend him off.

“Holy crap!” I shot up diving for my cell phone to figure out how long I’d been out. It had only been about forty-five minutes, but my head felt fuzzy from the heat.

Lucas got to his feet and flung Emerson over his shoulder like she weighed less than nothing. She squealed louder and protested harder, but she wasn’t fooling anyone—she was exactly where she wanted to be.

“We’re going for a dip!” she shouted to me as Lucas started jogging toward the shore.

I waved her away while I reached for my sunscreen. The last thing I needed was a blistering sunburn.

“Need some help with that?”

I tossed my head around to see Zane on the other side of me, kneeling in the sand beside two surfboards that I assumed were his and Lucas’s. I must’ve done a shitty job hiding my surprise, because Zane’s hands went up in surrender.

“Don’t worry,” he explained. “I promise to be on my best behavior.” His brow fell and his expression turned solemn. “I’m really sorry about the other night. I don’t know what got into me.”

It wasn’t the first time I’d heard one of these apologies, and it wouldn’t be the first time I’d accepted one. I shook my head. “Seemed pretty obvious to me. You had a little too much to drink.” I flipped open the cap of my sunscreen, ignoring his offer to help.

“Look, I get it. I came on too strong. But I don’t want you to get the wrong idea; I’m not always like that.”

I rubbed the lotion over my arm, avoiding his eyes.

“Seriously, Lauren, I’m sorry. I was hoping we could be friends.”

I went still. Friends. I’d asked Will if we were friends and look where that had gotten me.

But Zane wasn’t Will, I reminded myself. Zane was here, and he was looking at me in such a puppy-dog-ish way that I allowed myself a cautious smile. “Friends, huh?”

“No strings.” Leaning forward, he held out his hand in truce. “You have my word.”

I sighed, allowing myself a truce smile as I put my hand in his. He shook it, as if we were striking a business deal.

“You surf?” he asked, nodding toward the boards. “I got an extra wetsuit.”

I drew my hand away. “I don’t even swim.” I’d spent the past three days eating ice cream and thinking about why I’d really come to California. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure if I was in love with the idea of swimming as much as I’d been in love with the idea of doing something my parents had been so adamantly opposed to.

Maybe a little of this, a little of that.

But now, I think it might’ve been one of those childish dreams I needed to let go of. I wasn’t a swimmer.

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