“Hey, baby, we got off on the wrong foot last night. Think we can start over?” Tyler says as he walks with me.

“Get off of me,” I say as I try to shove him away. He laughs it off, making the entire scenario seem like two friends messing around. No one around us even reacts.

“You’re gonna hang out with us tonight, right, baby?” He’s pulling me closer, and it’s making my stomach turn.

“I’m going to scream,” I say. I really don’t want to make a big deal out of it. It wouldn’t be that hard to really cause a scene and get people’s attention, but I just want him to leave me alone before it comes to that.

“Hey, stop,” he says. “Why do you hate me so much? Come on, give me a chance.” His head is cocked to the side and he keeps his hands on my shoulders. It’s such a typical reaction. To play the victim and act like I’m the one on the attack. Like I’m being unfair to him. I’m not falling for it for one second, but when I turn toward Natalie and Grant, they’re looking at us, waiting for me to smile or act like everything is okay. And for one second, I actually consider it.

“I’m not the right girl for you,” I say as I try to walk away.

“Hey, baby, it’s not that serious. We just wanna have some fun. Don’t you want to have some fun? Come on, please?” he begs, putting his hands together and literally dropping to his knees. And fuck me, I’m actually breaking into a smile. I shake my head at him.

“See you later,” I say as I turn and walk away.

He doesn’t respond as he walks back to the group, and I hear them all give out a collective “awww” when he rejoins them.

The fact that he played me so good that I almost gave in makes me even more angry. Last night, he was so wasted that he could have done serious damage to me, physically and emotionally, and he never apologized for it. And yet, Logan thinks he’s not good enough for me. It’s so unfair and makes zero sense to me.

I grab an iced coffee from one of the vendors on the pier before sitting down in the shade with my phone to do a little reading. When I walk back toward land, the group is gone.

There’s a small crosswalk that leads from the beach side of the street to the stores on the other side. After pushing the button to cross, someone standing on the other side catches my eye. He’s tall, blond, and has a charming smile which he’s pointing directly at me. I feel myself blush as he stares at me.

When the light turns, he doesn’t cross but shuffles around in place as if he’s contemplating whether to cross or not. I give him a gentle smile as I walk toward him, and when it appears like he’s waiting for me, I stop on the other side, looking at him expectantly.