She leaned closer toward me, clutching the neck of the bottle tight. “Really? She told you that?”

“Hell no. You know she didn’t want to keep in touch.” She’d snipped me out of her life so easily. Even a year later, the bitterness and hurt rankled.

Penny’s lips twisted into a scowl. “Ugh. Are you going to try talking with her again?”

I shook my head. “That ship has sailed.”

“Good,” she said. “I’d have kicked your ass if you got back with her after what she put you through.”

“That’s why you’re my best friend.”

“I mean, it was fine if she just wanted to break up,” said Penny. “But she didn’t have to be such a bitch about it. Cutting you out of her life like that was super shitty. She didn’t have the balls to date you while she was here, but she managed to break your heart with no problem.” She made an aggravated sound of disgust.

“I’m over it,” I said. “But thanks for the ex bashing.”

Penny smirked. “Any time.” She held the beer out with her right hand. “To summer. And graduation. And to never talking to any of those fuckwads again.”

I grinned and took a sip before handing it back to her. “And lying out on the beach and eating tacos and ice cream every day.”

This was what I loved about summer, the free pass to be totally lazy and do things only if we wanted to do them. And nobody could say boo about it. It was like the rest of the year was an impostor somehow, and summer was the only time that everything moved back into place.

“God, yes. The tacos. Now I’m craving some bulgogi,” said Penny. “I want pickled cucumbers so bad. And sriracha mayo.”

The Korean steak tacos were her favorite, while I preferred the fish. Jeju BBQ was the only place in town that served street-style Asian tacos, and everything on their menu was pure rapture.

“Let’s go get some.” I bumped her shoulder. “Tacos are always a good idea.”

“I wish. We have something to do first, though.”

“If it’s more important than tacos, it must be serious.”

“Not kidding, B.” She paused. “Hey, so this is kind of awkward, but I was wondering if you could you do me a favor?”

I scrunched my forehead. Penny didn’t often ask for favors, at least not so obviously. So whatever this was, it had to be A Big Deal. “Sure. What’s up?”

“Would you go talk to Chad for me and, um, tell him I don’t want to see him?”

“What? Why?”

She didn’t meet my eyes. “Because I broke up with him.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, sure,” I said, swiping the bottle of beer out of her hands. Penny’s houseboat swayed beneath us, gently bobbing with the tide. “Ha ha.”