|a n d r e w|
🌊

Aspen.

The lifeguard who saved my life's name is Aspen.

The name swims around in my head, making me already feel accustomed to it by the time we reach the tiki bar. Most of the drinks served here are alcoholic, but they have a small selection of smoothies and other beverages for those below the age of twenty one.

Aspen invited me to walk with her to the bar on her break, and I offered to buy her drinks since she saved my life.

"I was just doing my job," Aspen laughs humbly, knocking her shoulder into mine as we sit on bar stools at the counter. I playfully knock her's back, earning a breathtaking smile.

How come there aren't any girls in my hometown that aren't either my sister or my cousins?

"So," I start, desperate to start conversation, "how long have you been a lifeguard?" Aspen shrugs and spins around on her stool. "Legally? Since I was fifteen. Illegally? Twelve." She laughs, making her hazel eyes sparkle and nose scrunch up.

I'm falling for her and I don't even know her yet.

"So, what do you do?" she asks after we order our smoothies.

"I work on my family's lumber yard in Alaska. I mostly do the hard labor stuff and my sister works with the money."

"Alaska? What the hell are you doing in Mångata?"

Our smoothies are handed to us by the lady working behind the counter with a wink. I nod a thanks and Aspen smiles at her. We turn back towards each other, holding our cold glasses. "Vacation. You?" I reply.

"I've lived here my entire life." She sips her smoothie. "You said you have a sister?"

"Yeah," I say, pointing to Rose splashing water in some boy's face. I furrow my eyebrows watching them. Rose isn't one to make friends easily, especially with boys. Earlier, when I saw them in the water, I thought that she'd scare him off quickly, but seeing how close they're standing and the look in both of their eyes...

"Teo's a good kid; you don't have to worry about him messing with your sister," Aspen comments, breaking my train of thought. I turn and meet her smirk with a confused glance. She motions back to my sister. "That boy she's with, Teo; he's a good kid. He's my boyfriend's little brother."

My heart stops and I nearly choke on my smoothie. Boyfriend?!

"Well, technically they're stepbrothers," she continues, but I'm not listening anymore.

She has a boyfriend.

My eyes flicker up as a guy with a backwards baseball cap perched on his head approaches Aspen from behind and wraps his arms around her. She jumps at his touch and whips her head back to see him.

"Hey, baby," he says, kissing the top of her head. He glances up at me and sends me a glare. Aspen gives me an apologetic smile as she turns to him.

"Will, this is Andrew," Aspen tells the baseball cap boy, who moves to sit beside her. She continues, "Andrew, this is my boyfriend Will."

I offer Will my hand, which he takes and shakes stiffly. His glare intensifies by the second. I gulp.

"Hi, Aspen saved me from drowning," I say awkwardly. Will's tough, over-protective façade seems to wither away.

"She saved you from drowning? That's gotta be one helluva story." He nudges Aspen, who doesn't meet his eyes.

"Yeah, it was nothing. Just doing my life-guarding duties." She clears her throat uncomfortably and crosses her arms. Will wraps an arm around her waist and looks to me.

"How long are you staying in Mångata?"

"All summer."

"Tell you what; if you ever find yourself bored, just call us up and we'll hang." He hands me a slip of paper with his number scrawled on it. I wonder if he keeps a bunch of these in his pocket in case he meets any hot girls.

I glance from Aspen's slight nod to Will's smug smirk and then back to Aspen. I find myself forcing a smile and nodding.

"Sounds cool."

🌙

"So, how was everyone's day?" Dad asks as we slide into a booth at some weird seafood joint called Monsoon Lagoon. Mom and Dad spent the day at a spa then probably went to a casino for the majority of the time. My mom isn't the spa type of person, but my dad insisted that she tried it because women usually love them; however, I'm not so sure either one of them had much fun.

"Fun," Rose replies tersely. I peer over at her as she creates a subtle barrier with her hair to hide her blush.

"Really? I thought you were scared of the ocean, dear." Mom smiles at my sister and leans in slightly to hear her over the clattering of plates and silverware around us.

"I was, but I got over it quickly."

Mom nods. "What about you, Andrew?"

"Well," I start, deciding not to tell them about almost drowning and developing a crush on a girl who already has a boyfriend. "I made some friends," I state truthfully. My parents nod seeming interested. "They said that if I was ever bored I could hang with them."

Dad grins. "You should take them up on that offer sometime, I'm sure we'll have our fair share of downtime."

I smile politely and our waiter appears with the menus. We all order our drinks and the waiter sets off to fetch three lemonades and one Bud Light. Just as Mom starts asking Rose about the beach, a familiar face walks by in the restaurant uniform. Her sun kissed auburn hair sways in a ponytail high on her head as she turns around and makes eye contact with me. She smiles and waves. I wave back, my heart thudding in my chest.

"Who's that?" Mom asks.

"Who? The waitress? Oh, she's Aspen; a friend."

Mom and Dad share a look while Rose raises an eyebrow at me. "Isn't she the lifeguard who saved—"

I quickly finish for her, "That little kid at the beach? Yeah." I lean back in the booth and cross my arms over my chest, sending Rose a warning look. She runs her fingers over her lips like a zipper and pretends to throw the key away.

After we order our food and finish eating, we make out way out to our rented car in the parking lot. On our way out we pass by Aspen in the doorway, who's pulling her hair down from its high place on her head. It swishes down across her shoulders in light waves. When she notices me she sends me a grin.

"You're a lifeguard and a waitress?" I ask.

She laughs. "What can I say; the owner, Will's dad, pays good money."

Will's dad is the owner of the restaurant. Of course Will always has to butt his way into our conversations.

"That's cool."

"Yeah. Hey, are you looking for a summer job?" Aspen asks enthusiastically, bouncing on the soles of her flip-flop clad feet. "Monsoon just lost another employee so staff is low, plus it'd be fun to work together. It gets really boring here without a friend sometimes." She gives me what must be her puppy dog eyes, which are actually effective. Her big hazel eyes and jutted out lip make her look so innocent and sad that I can't resist.

"Sure, yeah. Just," I motion to my parents waiting at the car, "let me think about it first?"

"Okay. See you around?" she asks hopefully. I try to suppress my grin so I don't seem so desperate.

"Yeah."

She sends me another award winning smile and turns around, walking back into the restaurant.