We were on the water at eight this morning and by eleven, we were no longer beating the heat. I lost Fischer when he sped around the bend and now that the lake is starting to fill up, it's hard to find him in the sea of jetskiers. I came out here because I thought fucking around on the lake with my friend would distract me from the five foot-six brunette that came in and kicked a hole in my heart last night. I knew seeing her was going to be hard, I just didn't realize how hard until I saw her digust over my tending to the bachlorette party. Her hardened face when Hannah came and grabbed me proved we still have pent up anger towards each other. Our one spat in the parking lot two months ago is still clearly fresh and she still clearly hates me.

I glance down to my dash and see I still have enough fuel to make it back to the loading dock but not enough to continue trying to find him somewhere on Lake Pleasant. I'm idling on the shimmering water and the crowded lake is starting to send harsher waves my way. My jetski sits higher than his does, so I am sure he's getting bounced around out here. A spray of lakewater covering my sunglass lenses blocks my view, so it's even harder to find his white and orange jetski.

He knows I have class at one, so he can't dick around too much longer. There was a time I'd blow class off to fuck around on the lake, but not this close to graduation. He'll know to meet at the dock which is always our meeting spot, so I rev the handle and get back moving. I'm glad it was just us two this morning that decided to get up and get on the water because anytime I am on any kind of timeframe, it's like herding cats to get off the water. My group of friends like to sprawl out across the water, some jet ski around the massive lake, while others find empty bay's to control the waves so they are able to do tricks. If Taylor comes, I know he'll have a flock of women wanting to drink and chill on his pontoon, no one eager to leave until they are fried and toasted. I've learned the hard way that I can't hang out with Taylor on days I have class.

The water cools me down as I slice through the harsher waves and my entire torso is getting a workout as I maintain my balance across the lake. I think of Lucy soaring off the back of my seat the last time the waves were this high after refusing to wrap her arms around my lifevest. I smirked at her as I fished her out of the water and her freezing hands remained tightly around me after that. She used to be my weekend boating buddy and I've missed her company. She would love to just perch herself on the back of my jet ski and cruise around the lake all day because she never felt comfortable lounging on Taylor's pontoon with his "lake rats." She for some reason never saw it as an opportunity for her to also meet guys, she always just saw it as an opportunity for me to flirt with girls. I eventually figured out her anti-socialness was due to her insecurities, so I started taking her around the lake alone. While they were blasting 90s rap and sucking down White Claws, we'd go and find cliffs to jump off of or bays to swim around in. She was thinking of buying her own jetski right before she met Blake. He eventually commandeered her weekends and he was never a fan of hanging with our group on the water.

When I finally make it back to the smaller dock that sits near the loading dock, I fish my waterproof bag out from under the seat and find my phone. I text him to let him know where I am and I see that I need to be hitched back up and driving away from the loading dock in less than twenty minutes if I am going to shower before class. I'm sure my classmates wouldn't enjoy the lakewater smell wafting around the classroom.

I know I could get my trailer into the water and the jetski tied back up myself, but it's so much faster and smoother with two people. I also don't want to leave him behind because his trailer can be a bitch to get straight. I glance around the docking area again but only see speed boats and pontoons being launched. When I turn toward the no-wake zone, I spot a hot pink jetski floating toward the docks and my stomach tightens. I know exactly who the blonde sitting on top is and she calls my name out when she sees me.

"Jack!" Ariana yells with her hands cupped around her mouth. She waves eagerly to me and I groan. I politely wave back to her and she turns her handles to head to where my jetski is tied up to the dock. I watch her stand up while she idles forward and she's wearing a tiny strip of a swimsuit top with cut-off jean shorts. Her long tan legs go straight so she can stick her ass out to the other slow boaters behind her and she bounces it up and down in excitement to spot me.

"Jack! Jack! Jack!" She chants as she gets closer and I was hoping to never see her again after her last shift at Mag's. I tried to actively avoid her when we had our last few shifts together after she made it very clear that once we were no longer co-workers, I could take her out since she knew I had been dying to. I still don't know what gave her that impression, but she looks just as eager now. She's also a shameless gossip and loves to talk.

"Hey Ariana," I say back to her with a wave and I yank my hat onto my head after fishing it out of the drybag.

"I came back to grab our bag of sunscreen and look who I find!" Ariana Townsend says with a squeal. She has a high-pitched voice- almost cartoon-like so her squeal sounds a bit like a hiccup. She glides right into the other side of where I am hitched up and holds her hand out to me to help her off. I yank her off her jet ski and she quickly gets it secured to the dock. She is bent over right in front of me and I have to take a step back so her ass is no longer in my lap. She bolts upright after her knot is secure and throws her arms around me.

"I can't believe you're here! It's been like what? Three weeks since I left Maggie's?" She asks as she takes a step back and tosses one of her blonde braids off her shoulder. She puffs out her chest while sticking a hand on each of her hips.

"That sounds about right," I reply back to her and I am officially stuck here. I could walk back up to my Jeep, but she'd just walk alongside me. I glance behind her as I say, "I'm just waiting for a friend."

"Oh cool! I'll wait with you!" She offers and maybe I should have just walked with her to the parking lot. "How are you? How's Maggie?" She asks and I cringe. Another reason I had never wanted to run into her was that she discovered us mid-make out at one of Hannah's parties and made all sorts of assumptions. It was the night after Lucy had left for New York and I took my anger over her out on Maggie by stupidly making out with her. For some dumb reason, I thought that was getting back at her.

"She's fine. She's still just my manager and nothing more," I remind her and she giggles in response. I quickly dart my eyes to my phone, starting to get annoyed with Fischer and wanting to get away from Ariana.

"Right," she says with a wink and then adds, "You were always so adamant about not hooking up with staff. I thought it was because you and Lucy had a thing going. But it makes sense if you were actually with the boss."

"I promise you, Ariana, there is nothing going on with me and Maggie. I was a drunken idiot, nothing more," I tell her but something else she said has me adding, "Why did you think I had a thing with Lucy?"

She adjusts her huge black sunglasses on her face as she answers, "You guys were always just so flirty and like, always doing shit together. Oh, she's back in Phoenix now did you hear?"

"Yeah, she's started back at Mag's last night," I tell her and her jaw drops dramatically. She paws a hand at me as she says, "Oh my god the drama!"

"Drama?"

"Uh yeah, between you, Maggie and Lucy. Does Lucy know about you and Maggie?"

"She wouldn't care," I say casually but I know Lucy would in fact care. Which is why I don't ever want her to find out. Ariana pops her hip out again and smirks at me, looking at me like I am a total idiot.

"O.M.G men are so clueless," she says with a response and I have never heard omg used in a sentence outside of texting before. "You and Lucy may not have had a thing." She puts thing in finger quotes and adds, "But Lucy had a thing for you." Again putting thing in air quotes.

"She was engaged remember?"

"Yeah but this was before that guy. This was when she was going to that wedding in like, I can't remember, Mexico maybe? She was going to ask you to be her date but then Maggie told her you wouldn't go because of the whole co-worker thing."

My gaze is no longer on the no-wake zone but fully on Ariana as I ask, "Wait. What?"

"Yeah, I think she ended up taking her friend from school because Maggie talked her out of asking you. That's how I know Lucy had a thing for you." She winks and then with a wide smile says. "It makes sense that Maggie talked her out of it if you two were secretly hooking up behind the scenes." I am stunned by this bit of gossip, but I also want to shake her and drill it into her head that I have never hooked up with Maggie.

"I think you're confused Ari. Lucy and I were always just buds and Maggie was just a drunken mistake." She opens her mouth to reply, but a loud motor brings both our gazes back to the water. I watch Fischer approach the dock and he waves to me. Thank god. 

"I'm here, Jack!" Fischer shouts out to me just in case I didn't clearly see my friend of fifteen years. I can also see he got too much sun from here. His tan, freckled skin is splotchy and his Oakley's sit tight on his face. He glides right behind me and says, "Sorry bud, I didn't realize how far ahead of you I got." He jumps onto the dock and notices Ariana standing next to me.

"Hey!"

Ariana gives him a wave with a wide smile, "Hey! I'm Ariana, friend of Jack's." She holds her small hand up for a high five and Fischer smacks it.

"Hi Ariana, friend of Jack's, I am Fischer, also friend of Jack's." He's also smiling at her and I can tell Ariana is being cutesy for him. Fischer is handsome, jacked, and vivacious. Women flock to him.

"You guys leaving? We are having a barge party in Scorpion Bay if you wanna join." She does the thing where she pushes her chest out and sticks her hands on her hips again. Fischer looks to me and then back to her, "Jack has class so I gotta help him load up. Jack, you cool if I stay with Ariana here?"

"You don't have to rush back, if you'll just help me load up," I ask him and he nods. He looks back to Ariana and says, "I think my friend Taylor has a pontoon over there too."

"Taylor Hill?" Ariana asks us and we nod. "Oh shit, I know Taylor. My friend Amber parties with him so we'll probably be anchored next to him."

"Cool. Well, I'll help Jack and then come on over to Scorpion bay. I'll look for your pink jetski." Fischer tells her with half-grin. I hope Fischer doesn't try to get me to stay. He knows I have class, and if I am ever going to win Lucy over, I should probably not go off and flirt with girls in bikinis all day.

She lifts her phone that's tucked inside a waterproof case strapped around her wrist and goes, "Oh wait!" She skips next to me and lifts her phone out to us. I see her camera is open and Fischer ducks down next to her.

"Say Mag's!" She squeals and then snaps the picture before I know she's doing it. She drops the phone down and says, "See ya soon Fish! Bye Maverick!" She skips up the dock and Fischer looks at me.

"She's hot. I've seen her before though, right?" I nod as we start striding up the dock several paces behind her.

"She used to work at Mag's and trust me, she's bad news."

"Girls that look like that always are," he mutters, but I know that's not going to stop him from skipping across the lake to hang with her.