Summer's Fun (The Boys of Ocean Beach 2)

“What? They seem to have some open-relationship thing. I thought I’d give it a shot.”

Isabel’s eyeliner is smeared and she looks small and young in the early morning light. I’m not getting an evil vibe off of her, just stupid teenage girl—I’ve lived with one for years, I’m familiar.

“Did you threaten Summer in any way?” I ask them both.

“No. Promise.” Jessica says. Isabel shakes her head. “I like Summer, but everything was so fluid with your relationship we decided to give it a shot.”

Her face turns red.

“Did you break into her camper?” I ask.

“What?” Isabel asks with a frown. “No. Why the hell would we do that?”

I look at the guys and Pete shrugs. I have a feeling this is a dead end, which means we have no idea who left the notes and flowers, which is pretty damn scary.

“Can we go back to bed now?” Lilah asks.

“Yeah, go.”

“One thing,” Whit says. His eyes are trained on Isabel. “Stop hitting on me or any of the other guys. We’re taken, got it?”

Her bottom lip trembles slightly. “Yeah, got it.”

“And don’t give her a hard time about it. The last thing she needs is you girls being bitchy.”

“Fine,” Lilah says, her eyes wide with annoyance. “Are you done?”

The three turn and flounce off, heading back into the house. Justin already has out his phone and is presumably dialing Summer. He holds the phone to his ear but curses when no one picks up.

“She may be asleep,” Pete offers.

“Let’s head back, just to be sure.”

“Does anyone have Shay’s number?” Pete asks.

“I do,” I say. “She gave it to me when I was helping with the interview.”

“She got some postcards, too. We probably need to check on her.”

I hop in the front seat of the Jeep and dial Shay’s number. The phone rings and rings, sending me straight to voicemail. An uneasy feeling builds in my chest, a fear like I’ve never experienced before. One I never want to feel again.

29

Summer

“You,” I say when I see Avery standing across from me. “

You left the flowers and the notes.”

“Did you really not know?” His eyebrows raise. “I thought you were a better investigative reporter than that.”

“I’m not a reporter. I’m just a student. A girl.”

“Oh, I know exactly who you are Summer Barnes. Unfortunately, you have no idea who I really am and neither does anyone else.”

He doesn’t speak again when he corners me in the small camper, he just lunges and even though I fight back, he’s bigger than I am and has the upper hand.

“What do you want?” I ask him.