I wasn’t much for smiling these days.

“It’s you,” he said, eyes roaming my face. “Sydney, right?”

I gave him an odd look.

Idiot.

I waited on Jamie every time he came into Whitecaps because Tori refused to do it, and every single time, I went through my standard greeting, politely introducing myself, yet here he was, acting like I hadn’t told him my name at least ten times before.

Why were pretty boys so stupid?

“Uh, yeah,” I replied, awkwardly cutting my eyes away because he was now full-on staring. “Nice house. Seems like a lot for just one person.”

“I have a roommate,” he replied, undisclosed humor in his voice. “You should meet him. He’s around here somewhere, sulking over some girl he’s completely fuckin’ gone for. Messed up big with her and now he’s miserable, killin’ the mood and shit.”

Why was he telling me that? What did I care about his roommate’s relationship issues?

Idiot.

“Bet you could cheer him up,” he added.

I cut my eyes back to Jamie.

He was still smiling, doing it more obvious now.

Bet I could cheer him up.

Yeah. I knew exactly what that meant.

Random sex with a stranger was the last thing on my mind.

I shoved my hands into the front pocket of my hoodie and twisted my fingers together.

“I think I need a drink,” I said, wetting my lips.

Alcohol, the curer of all heartaches.

Jamie held his arm out and, with his other hand holding the empty cup, directed me toward the kitchen with it pressed to my lower back.

“Help yourself. I’ll be busy with Legs the rest of the night, so if you need anything, like I said”—he smiled down at me—“find my roommate.”

“Right. Thanks.”

I moved into the kitchen and over to the island, where every combination of girly beverage was on display.

Daiquiri mix in a blender, wine coolers, wine, Jell-O shooters.

I grabbed a cup and filled it with the cream-colored slush I assumed was piña colada flavored and took a sip, confirming that while my eyes scanned for Tori.

She was missing. So was Jamie.

I had a feeling he had either found her and they were off doing something together, naked and heavy breathing, or he was still trying to find her and hadn’t gotten to his bedroom yet, which I imagined was where she was waiting, naked and on the verge of heavy breathing.

I cringed when someone cranked up the music.

The room was noisy without the extra background effects. Over the music, people were hollering and squealing, some were even singing along to song lyrics, and all of it was pressing on my brain and making my eyes hurt.

I moved to the slider and stepped outside onto the deck.

It was quieter and nowhere near as crowded as the inside of the house. A small group of people were sitting on lounge chairs and smoking. They were talking but they weren’t hollering, so my head was already thanking me. Below, I could hear voices of people walking to and from the beach, which I got a better view of when I moved to the railing and looked out.

The view was beautiful. Salt water seasoned the air, and the shades of the setting sun painted the water in oranges and muddied reds.

I’d been in Dogwood a month and had been down to the ocean only once. Insane, right? I lived at the beach and I wasn’t experiencing it.

It hadn’t been a priority, and honestly, I didn’t have a lot of free time on my hands.

When I wasn’t picking up shifts at Whitecaps, I was talking on the phone to Brian, shut up in my room or doing it lying on the couch if Tori wasn’t home.

Now I wasn’t shut up in my room or lying on the couch, quilt-covered and heart-shattered. I was no longer talking on the phone to Brian and I wanted to see the ocean. I wanted to feel the sand beneath my feet and skim the waves with my hand.

I had tons of free time tonight while Tori got laid. Might as well make the most of it.

I took the stairs down a level and stepped out beneath the deck.

A couple was sitting on a hammock going at it like their boat was sinking, sloppy-suctioning kisses and need-filled moans spilling into the air.

There had to be a handful of empty rooms in that house. They couldn’t pick one and save me the surround sound?

Gross.

I followed the sand-covered path down to the beach, taking small sips of my drink as I went. Deep voices grew louder the closer I got to the water. I wasn’t paying much attention to them. I was looking ahead and forward to feeling the temperature of the ocean and maybe even finding a couple of pretty shells when the voices grew loud enough to hear clearly.

Very clearly.

That’s when it happened.

I stopped, feet frozen and ears alert when one of the voices not only grew loud enough to focus on but also registered in my mind as a voice I’d possibly heard before.

“Don’t know why I gotta keep repeating myself. It wasn’t like that,” the man said, sounding irritated. “She was sweet and good to talk to. Funny and cute about shit. Real cute. The fact that she was also a stunner didn’t surprise me. I heard it in her voice. But for the last fuckin’ time, and I mean this, I’m not saying it again, that’s not what got me. I was fucked before I even saw her picture.”

“You saying you were gone for a girl you never fucking met, Brian? Not possible,” the other guy replied.

I sucked in a breath.

Brian.

A phantom heartbeat fluttered in my chest.

No way …

With gentle steps, I moved closer to the voices, reached the end of the path, and peeked around an overgrown bush, spotting the two men standing on the beach.

I watched the one guy, taller than the other, who had his back to me, cross his arms over his chest and say to his friend, “Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. You talk to Sydney one fuckin’ time and you’ll know where I’m coming from. It was that fuckin’ good.”

I squeaked then. Not a gasp but a squeak I tried to conceal with a quick hand to my mouth, cup hitting the sand, but it was too late.

They both heard it.

Two pairs of eyes sliced in my direction. I stared back at the one pair coming from the one voice I knew, in my blood and my bones and the breath filling me, I knew that voice and the man it belonged to.

He stared back, eyes narrowing to focus better, focusing enough to make me out where I stood then going round and filling with surprise.

Pain lanced through me.

I wanted to run. To him or away, I didn’t know which urge was stronger, and it felt like I was being pulled in both directions by forces I couldn’t fight so I stood there, staring back as my hand uncovered my mouth and skimmed my throat.

“Brian?”

He was moving before I spoke, long legs closing in fast, and before I could blink, he was right in front of me, close enough to smell and feel if my eyes were closed but I definitely couldn’t test that theory right now.

I stared unconsciously into his face, tilting my head back to do so and taking in every inch of him.

Dark hair buzzed close to his scalp, thick eyebrows and deep green eyes, several days’ worth of stubble coating his jaw, which appeared sharp beneath it and full, perfect lips, parted as he breathed slow and heavily.

Beautiful.

I knew he was.

“Oh, my God,” I whispered. “It’s you.”