[COMPLETE]
When Hanna Haddad embarks on what's supposed to be another uneventful summer as a lifeguard on Cape Cod, a trip to the past comes as an unnerving surprise. The discovery of her estranged mother's journal opens up the world of tragedy and...
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Stella didn't show up to work the next day.
She had mentioned something in a text about feeling under the weather, and I was unsure whether to believe her or speculate she was trying to avoid Alex. Either way, I let her live her life, reminding myself that if there was one thing Stella was, it was honest, blatantly so most of the time.
I anticipated a second day of sitting next to Josh, Stella's replacement and slightly sexist asshole, but was pleasantly surprised to find Jesse setting up the area around our chair.
"Uh, what are you doing here?" I asked.
"Our captain moved me here today," he said, looking me up and down with those pretty blue eyes. They were dimmer in the cloudiness of the early morning but still just as stunning, like the ocean any time of day. "I hope you don't mind?"
"I guess it hurt Josh too much to work with someone who knows as much as he does," I joked, setting my bag down on our chair.
Jesse snorted lightly, clearly remembering his antics during training. "Is your friend okay?" He clapped his hands together, releasing a cloud of sand. "I haven't seen her in a couple days."
"I don't really know." I wanted to check my phone for a response, but I knew I had to wait until we went on break. "She'll definitely answer me after the twentieth text."
From his expression, he seemed more worried about her than I was. I wondered if he knew that the guy who kissed me at Colin's party was her ex-boyfriend. It didn't seem too unlikely, but I didn't mention it.
He changed the subject. "I'm going to run a few laps with some of the team. Want to join?"
God, if there was anything I hated more about this job than the bathroom questions, it was running, but I rose to my feet like an Olympic track star as soon as he asked that.
Jesus Christ, Hanna.
I cleared my throat. "Uh, yeah sure. Why not?"
I tried to keep my distance from him as we walked away from the chair, although he made it a little difficult when his arm brushed against mine. I wanted to say that was accidental, but it happened again when he picked up his pace, forcing me to veer away as I sliced through the air.
I couldn't be sure what it was—the adrenaline, endorphins, or whatever other science-y shit that Jesse was doing to my body—but it still had me eclipsing him in mere minutes, blending me into the next group of lifeguards. Each time I passed him, he ran a couple strides ahead of me, only to be overtaken in seconds. I ended up lingering behind him as we turned around at the far end of the beach, hoping no onlooker could tell I was admiring the way his back muscles flexed when swung his arms.
"You know," Jesse began after we finally finished, taking in a couple deep breaths. "You're actually one hell of a runner. You ever do track or cross country?"
