Nick knew what he wanted, all right. He just wasn’t sure he wanted to want it. His life was already complicated enough. He reached for another stone.

“He asked about you,” said Quinn.

Nick dropped the stone on his fingers. He swore again and flexed them to ease the pain. “Yeah?”

“He asked how you were doing.”

Nick didn’t say anything, just rocked the stone into place.

“Hmm,” said Quinn. “What did I tell him about you . . . ?”

Nick’s heart tripped and stumbled along. He waited.

And waited.

Finally, he looked up. “There’s a pool around back. Don’t think I won’t drop you in it.”

Quinn smiled, but it was a little cautious, a little sad. “He asked if you’d be coming with me to the studio anytime soon.”

She meant the dance studio at the Y, where he’d first met Adam. Nick enjoyed watching Quinn dance, and he loved the way music coursed through the air to seep into his skin. Then he’d seen Adam, and it was like a missing puzzle piece finally snapped into place.

He’d loved watching Adam dance, too.

Nick grabbed a hand roller and flattened the next expanse of sand. “I don’t want to be a distraction.”

“I think you need a little distraction.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you’re completely stressed out.” Quinn rolled off the bench and walked behind him, putting her hands on his shoulders. She dug her thumbs into the muscles there. It almost hurt, but it felt good, too, so he didn’t stop her.

“Quinn, it’s fine. I have a lot on my mind.”

Like the fact that he and his brothers were still marked for death for the Elemental abilities they struggled to control.

Or the fact that a bunch of younger Elementals had nearly destroyed the town a week ago.

Or maybe that the Guide who’d come to town to kill them all was sitting in a jail cell, and could be released at any time.

Not to mention the stack of college responses hidden in his desk at home. Or his family’s struggling landscaping business, which was barely turning a profit now, to say nothing of getting through the winter.

Oh, and the fact that he was gay, and one of the only two people who knew was sitting right here ragging on him about it.

“Why don’t you come to the studio tonight?” she said.

“I have a physics test tomorrow. I need to study.”

“Please. Like you couldn’t pass that in your sleep. And if you really needed to study, why aren’t your brothers doing this job?”

Nick shook her hands off and reached for another stone. “Hannah was off tonight, and Mike needed a break. I offered.”

“Of course you did.” She paused. “And Gabriel? Chris?”