Summer Boys by Hailey Abbott

asked them to be home by 1:00. But even if they didn’t have a curfew, Beth would have been more than happy to leave.
    The only thing she wanted to do was to get in her room, close the door, and be by herself. When they pulled into the driveway, the three of them quietly spilled out of the car. The night had finally cooled down, and the sound of the waves was actually quite soothing after the noise of the party.
    Beth started toward the cottage door as Cara began walking to her own cottage, farther up the road. George hesitated between them.
    “You guys wanna hang out a while longer?” he asked, directing the question mostly toward Cara. Beth’s abdomen started to throb. She wanted George to come inside and be with her and make fun of the party like they always did. They could dig her dad’s macaroni salad out of the fridge and chat for a while.
    “Sure,” Cara said, pushing the toe of one foot into the ground contentedly.
    “I’m exhausted,” Beth said, stretching out her arms to underline the point. “I’m going in.”
    Please come in, George. Please come in.
    She was losing him. She’d felt it all night long. She was losing her best friend to a Diet-Vanilla-Coke-drinking, boring-ass violinist.
    “Cool,” he said. “Good night, Bethy.” George took Cara by the arm and escorted her to the picnic table at the far side of the lawn.
    Beth thought about changing her mind and parking herself right between the two of them until they both got annoyed and went home. But that wouldn’t be fair to George.
    So she swallowed the lump in her throat and walked inside alone.

14
    The first thing Jamie did when she separated from Beth and the others at the party was stop by the bar. At the very least, she wanted to have a drink in her hand. She wanted to look casual. The more at ease she appeared, the better chance she had of winning Ethan back. That had been Ella’s logic. It didn’t seem quite sensible to Jamie, but then, where had her own logic gotten her so far?
    “What’ll you have?” The Sailor Hat guy who was mixing the drinks gave her an openly appreciative smile that was aimed mostly at her legs. Jamie shifted from foot to foot.
    “Something with vodka, please.” Nervous under the guy’s gaze, she scanned the room, her eyes landing on a full-length mirror a few feet away, on a wall beside the kitchen. She could see her reflection staring back at her, but she barely recognized herself. Her green eyes were lined with kohl, which made them look more catlike than ever. The flimsy black top clung to her torso, a bare sliver of flesh showing below her collarbone and also on either side of her waist, where the hem of the shirt curved up revealingly.Her legs were long and coltish under the skirt, which barely covered her upper thighs. No wonder the bartender was staring.
    “Here you go. One screwdriver,” he said, thrusting the cup in front of her.
    “Thanks.” It was filled to the brim, with a few melting ice cubes floating on top. Jamie stepped away from the bar, took two long sips and surveyed the room a second time. She felt as if her heart was lodged in her throat. She was sure Ethan was somewhere close by. She bobbed her head to the music just in case he was watching her from some hiding place in another room.
    Just keep acting cool, she thought to herself.
    Pushing her shoulders back and picking up her confidence, she sauntered from the kitchen to the dining room to the hallway. She didn’t want to find Ethan so much as bump into him. As she walked, she tried to look sexy and careless, like Ella always did. She sipped her screwdriver at regular intervals. She’d already drunk two-thirds of it when she found him, standing among a circle of people in the den downstairs, talking animatedly and waving his arms. Jamie stood in the doorway, just on the verge of entering the room. She’d spent so much time working on looking good tonight that she hadn’t even anticipated how amazing Ethan would look. She