“Just tell me what it is,” I whisper, as I wrap my arms around his chest. Click. Click. “Fasten all three of the buckles,” I say to the group of boaters in front of us. Aiden and I never could decide who would do the live demonstrations, so we entertain ourselves by doing them together. Aiden stands straight faced in front of me, doing his best mannequin impression. “I know it’s more comfortable but don’t skip the bottom buckle,” I say, fastening the last buckle of Aiden’s life vest. We rotate who has to be the dummy. I circle around Aiden and face him. “Then tighten all of the straps,” I say, pulling on the first of three. “Not too tight,” I tell the boaters.

I pull the last two straps of Aiden’s vest a little too tightly and whisper, “I’ll get it out of you eventually. I have ways.” I pick up the paddle—the next part of the demonstration—and smack it into my palm. Finally Aiden cracks a smile, and I win. I almost always win. Except for the time Aiden covertly tickled me while putting on my life jacket. That was cheating.

AIDEN

It’s one of the few days Olivia and I don’t work together. Ellis almost always schedules us together, but today it’s just Beth and me working the dock, and a crapload of boaters. Olivia stopped by for lunch at The Grill, and after work I’m headed to her house to do some prep work for my next project. The final hour of my shift goes by as slowly as the river.

“Hey, Emerson!”

I’m just leaving River Depot, walking from the gift shop entrance to my bike, when I hear him. His voice takes me back to every baseball field I’ve stood on since I was ten. He’s wearing a baseball t-shirt and hat. I’m half surprised he didn’t show up in his cleats and pads, just to rub it in a little more. I slow down as I cross onto the grass, and he steps out of the parking lot. Is Zander here to see me, or Olivia? Has word finally gotten around about us? Obviously it was going to happen, I just hoped we’d have a few more weeks before we had to worry about going back to school and dealing with everyone. Maybe I secretly hoped Zander would just stay up north indefinitely.

“Hey, man.” I’m hoping if I pretend he doesn’t hate my guts, that maybe he won’t. “If you’re looking for Liv, she’s not working today.”

He comes to a full stop in front of me and his brows quirk up. “Liv?”