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 jet skiers.

I came out here because I thought fucking around on the lake with my friend would distract me from the familiar brunette who 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 disgust over tending to the bachlorette party. Her hardened face when Hannah came and grabbed me proved that 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 at my dash. 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 jet ski.

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 who decided to get up and 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 massive lake, finding empty bays to control the waves so they can 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 life vest. 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 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 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 jet ski 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 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 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 lake water smell wafting around the classroom.

I know I could get my trailer into the water and the jet ski tied back up on my own, but it's so much faster and smoother with two people. Plus, I don't want to leave him behind. His trailer's a bitch to get straight.

I glance around the docking area again, but all I see are speedboats and pontoons being launched. When I turn toward the no-wake zone, I spot a hot pink jet ski floating toward the docks, and my stomach tightens.

I know exactly who the blonde sitting on top is.

She spots me and calls out my name.

"Jack!" Ariana Townsend yells with her hands cupped around her mouth. She waves eagerly and I groan. I politely wave back to her and watch as she turns her handlebars to head to where my jet ski is tied up to the dock. She stands up while idling 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.

"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 with a wave before yanking my hat onto my head after fishing it out of the dry bag.

"I came back to grab our bag of sunscreen, and look who I find!" Ariana squeals.

Her voice is high-pitched—almost cartoon-like—so the squeal comes out sounding more like a hiccup. She glides to the other side of where I'm hitched up and holds out her hand for help getting off. I yank her off the jet ski, and she quickly gets it secured to the dock.

She's bent over right in front of me, so I take a step back because her ass is basically in my lap.

Once her knot is secure, she bolts upright and throws her arms around me.

"I can't believe you're here! It's been like what? Three weeks since I left Mag'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, and just like that, I'm officially stuck here. I could walk back up to my Jeep, but she'd just tag along beside me.

I glance behind her as I say, "I'm just waiting for a friend."

"Oh cool! I'll wait with you!" she chirps.

Maybe I should've just walked to the parking lot.

"How are you? How's Maggie?" she asks, and I cringe.

Another reason I never wanted to run into her: she caught us mid-makeout at one of Hannah's parties and ran wild with her assumptions. It was the night after Lucy left for New York, and I'd taken my anger at Lucy and channeled it into making out with Maggie like an idiot. Somehow, in my twisted brain, I thought that was a good way to get back at Lucy.

"She's fine. She's still just my manager and nothing more," I remind her, but she just 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, nothing is going on with me and Maggie. I was a drunken idiot, nothing more," I state, but something else she said has me adding, "Wait, 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, 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 laugh, and I have never heard 'omg' used in a sentence outside of texting before. "You and Lucy may not have had a thing," she says with finger quotes, "But Lucy had a thing for you." 

"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 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 notice my friend of fifteen years. I can also see that he got too much sun from here. His tan, freckled skin is splotchy and his Oakleys 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, a 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'm Fischer, also a friend of Jack's," he says, grinning.

Ariana's already turning on the charm, playing cutesy for him. Fischer's handsome, jacked, and loud in all the right ways. Women flock to him.

"You guys leaving? We're having a barge party in Scorpion Bay if you wanna join," she says, pushing her chest out and planting her hands on her hips again.

Fischer glances at me, then back at 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 first," I reply, and he nods.

He looks at Ariana again and adds, "I think my friend Taylor has a pontoon over there too."

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

"Cool. I'll help Jack, then come over to Scorpion Bay. I'll look for your pink jet ski," Fischer tells her with a half-grin.

I just hope he doesn't try to talk me into staying. He knows I've got class. And if I ever want a shot at winning Lucy over again, disappearing to a bikini party all day probably isn't the move.

Ariana lifts her phone, tucked in a waterproof case strapped to her wrist. "Oh wait!" she gasps. She skips over to me, lifts the phone, and I see her camera's already open. Fischer ducks down next to her, ready for the photo.

"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.