In Waves | ✔️

65 | homesick

Matt's arm slides around my waist, giving me a squeeze. "Can you blame me?"

"Not one bit, Matty." His eyes are fixed on mine, his thumb stroking over my skin as we shake hands. "The photos don't do her justice."

I feel Matt's arm stiffen slightly and I know he's noticed his friend's prolonged touching. I slip my hand from his, pasting on a smile. "So you go to school here in the city?"

Evan clears his throat, digging his hands in his suit pockets. "Columbia Law. Second year."

College. Now it definitely feels like Matt and I are the youngest here.

"Seems like this place has a proclivity for lawyers, huh? Or your families, at least," I say.

Evan shrugs. "Hard not to follow those footsteps when you're generations in. I mean, it runs in the blood, right?"

"Not everyone's," Matt chimes.

"Please," Evan says through a laugh, flitting back to me. "You think he's good at football? This guy is a natural-born lawyer. A bigger shark than his old man, and believe me, that's saying something. You should have seen the things he got away with when we were kids."

"Yeah? Like what?" I ask, glancing at Matt shaking his head, a subtle smile forming.

"When Matty was what, eleven? We took a golfcart for a joyride in our parents' country club, drove it right into the pool. Totally wrecked. So obviously we're screwed, right? Nah. Matty flipped it and convinced the owner that we were trying to do him a favor. That we saw the cart there and wanted to put it with the others so it would be safe. Just two innocent kids who tried do the right thing and were lucky to walk away alive. The owner ended up giving us an apology for his negligence. Our parents didn't even have to pay for the damage."

I look at Matt in disbelief. "What other crimes have you talked your way out of?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," he says with a wink.

"Matt, there you are." Mr. Benson appears through the crowd. "See by the bar? That's Grant Wallace and Samantha Mercer, I want to introduce you. Evan, you should join us. I believe Grant has a liking for picking law students' brains. Make an impression."

Evan isn't even his son, but the tone of his voice clearly conveys his insistence. He doesn't hesitate for more than three seconds. "Wouldn't miss it."

Matt takes my hand for me to follow, but I slip away. "You go. I think I'll get some air."

"Good call. This is going to be boring as hell."

He follows his dad, and then Evan follows him. Moving behind me to pass, his hand lingers on my lower back as he goes.

〰️〰️〰️

Unsurprisingly, only three other people are braving the chilled air of the night, and that's just because they're smoking. I walk to the edge of the balcony, taking in the mass of glimmering lights, the distant sound of traffic drifting up. New York has so much life, but in a different, noisier way. Some people thrive on all this energy, but I don't think I could ever get used to the harshness of a city.

I shake my head to myself. How did I get to the point of missing a town I simply tolerated for so long? What day, I wonder, was the day I started thinking about the beach when it never had a place in my mind before.

I remember the day Mom told us we were moving to California. "Right on the coast where it's sunny all the time. No more gray days." Rob was briefly upset about moving away from his friends, but as soon as we arrived in Oceanview, he was home. My life felt like it fell apart.