“Me too. It barely feels like you moved back. I miss you.”

“I know. My schedule will get better soon.”

“Will it?”

I sigh. “No clue.”

“Hey, Evie.” Harrison drops down on my other side.

“Hey. How’s it going?”

“Not bad. You?”

“Same. It’s nice to be doing nothing. Long week.”

“Yeah, I hear you.” Harrison is an associate at a big law firm downtown. His hours are almost as hectic as mine.

“You bowing out, man?” Noah nods toward the group standing near us with a laugh.

Harrison rolls his eyes. “Yeah. Emmett will too, I bet. He said he just wants to surf all day. Gray’s probably their best bet.”

My arm is too oily to absorb any more sunscreen, but I keep rubbing away at the skin anyway.

“No way,” Noah says a few seconds later.

“What?” Gray’s voice. Close.

I keep my eyes cast down.

“Figured you’d be all over that.”

There’s a pause where Gray’s reaction to Noah’s comment happens silently.

Then, Harrison asks, “How was Colorado?”

I look up. Right at Gray, who is sitting in the sand a few feet away and already looking at me. His gaze slides over to Harrison as soon as we make eye contact.

“Fine. It was a short trip.”

He was in Colorado?

“Is there footage of this ceremony?” Noah asks.

“Nah.”

“I thought it was a big deal?” Harrison questions.

Gray shrugs. “Compared to what?”

“I don’t know, man. Compared to something that would actually require you to talk about work.”

Gray shakes his head before looking away, toward the water. I keep my gaze on him, drifting away from his face and down the impressive musculature of his body. Over the sculpted abdominal muscles and the deep V that drags my attention further south. There are plenty of attractive, half-naked guys on this beach. A couple came over to me and Sloane an hour ago. But I’m looking at Gray because I know he was obsessed with Spider-Man in third grade. I know he makes really good pancakes because he made some before we went car shopping. I know the state of his relationship with his father bothers him. I know how he looks when he comes. Those are the reasons I can’t look away, not his six-pack.

I wish we were alone. Not only so I could ogle him, but also so I could ask him what his silence means. But before I look away, I notice the small gash on his shin.

“You’re bleeding.”

Gray looks at me, then down at the cut just below his knee. “Yeah. I hit a rock out there.”

Without really thinking about it, I stand and approach him. Kneel down directly beside him and touch the skin just below the scrape. It’s not that deep, but it’ll scab and scar.

“Will I live?”