June has only one more summer before she marries her high school sweetheart. She intends to make the most of it, but she has no idea what is waiting for her in Dolphin Coast. Socks on the Beach is a tale of steamy love, jaw-dropping heartbreak, and...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Watch your fingers! Watch your fingers," Pearl repeated through exhausted breath.
We had severely underestimated how heavy the driftwood coffee table in the living room of 1255 Bud Ln was, and even with Dean carrying well over his fair share of the weight, it had been incredibly difficult to move. Luckily, we managed to lower it back down in front of the white brick fireplace without sending any of us to the ER with a broken finger. I plopped down on the couch.
Dean scurried into the kitchen, where he resumed his excessive jungle juice mixing. Half empty jugs of juice and liquor formed a forest of bad decisions on the virginal white countertops.
"I gotta go pick up Solo Cups, I just realized that we didn't get any," Perry said to nobody in particular as he started for the door.
"Is it cool if I go with you? I actually wanted to pick up some cigarettes for tonight," Pearl asked him and he turned to face her, cocking an eyebrow at her rudely.
God, he's such an ass...
"Drunk cigarettes don't count," she retorted and walked past him and out the door. My jaw dropped.
"What was that? What did she mean by that?" I asked, studying Perry's equally shocked face.
"Beats me," he grunted, turning on his heel and walking out the front door, slamming it behind him.
Silence filled the air. After a few moments, Dean spoke, his voice cutting through my skull from where he stood behind me.
"You know those two are fucking, right?"
"Don't be fucking ridiculous," I snapped like a rubber band, my neck aching from how hard I'd spun to face my out-of-line fiance.
He threw up his hands, a bottle of Everclear clutched in his right, as he smirked at me. I hated it when he didn't take me seriously.
"I could be wrong," he started, "but I'd bet money that they're either about to or they have been for a while."
I huffed at him, not wanting to continue to entertain such a ridiculous and insulting notion. Before last night, Pearl was a virgin, and there was no way that my best friend would betray my trust like that, especially without talking to me about it first.
"I'll be right back. Gotta make a phone call," I said dismissively as I lifted from the leather couch, smoothing the fabric of my white tennis skirt against the tops of my thighs. I gave him a pursed lip smile as I turned and walked past him and out the backdoor.
Safe again, with my knees tucked to my chest on my favorite bench, I dialed Sam's number. A crackle of static.
"Hey! What's up?" The familiar voice came through my phone and I smiled.
"Is there anywhere that you can go where we can talk in private?" I asked. From the music and the incoherent chatter in the background, I could've guessed that Sam was back at The Captain's Hook.
