Prologue
Josh
“That girl has no idea what she is doing!”
I glanced over to where Sam was pointing and saw Brenna Jensen struggling to carry a surfboard almost twice her height across the sand.
“She already has the leash attached to her ankle,” I said, shaking my head with a chuckle.
“She’s cute,” Sam remarked.
“She’s 17,” I shot back, giving him a disapproving look as I stood up.
“You know her?” he asked, clearly unfazed by my glare.
“I do. She grew up here too, and she’s a senior in high school now.”
Sam smiled mischievously. “Where’s she going to college? If she comes to Santa Barbara with us, she’ll be a freshman next year.”
I sighed. “I don’t know her plans. But even if she does come to Santa Barbara, she’ll be a freshman, and we will be seniors. Don’t even think about it.”
Sam laughed. “Yeah, yeah. I hear you. Plus, I’ve kinda got my hands full as it is.”
I didn’t know how to respond to Sam. Everyone on campus knew his reputation, and as his roommate, I saw firsthand how many different girls he was involved with. After a minute, I realized I had nothing to say, so I just walked away from him and headed toward Brenna.
“Hey,” I said as I got close.
She looked up, and a surprised smile spread across her face.
“Hey, Josh!” she said excitedly. “I haven’t seen you in forever! How are you?”
“I’m good,” I answered. “But I don’t think it’s been forever. I was home last Christmas, remember? I saw you at the bonfire.”
Brenna laughed. “Yeah, okay. I saw you there, but we only talked for a few minutes. Are you home for the summer? I didn’t think colleges were out yet.”
I shook my head. “No, not quite. I just came home for the weekend. I brought my roommate Sam with me. We’ve lived together since our freshman year, but he’s never been here.”
“Oh, cool,” she said, looking past me to see Sam in the distance. “Can I meet him? I’d like to meet your friend!”
“I guess, if you really want to,” I said hesitantly. “But he’s not really my friend. He’s just my roommate. It’s complicated.”
“I see,” Brenna said. “So you’re not claiming anything he says or does?”
I laughed, surprised at how quickly she caught on. “Exactly.”
“Hmm,” she said, looking out at the ocean. “In that case, maybe I’ll meet him later. Right now, I want to go surfing.”
“Do you know how to surf?” I asked, looking at her and focusing my gaze on the leash attached to her ankle.
She blushed and shook her head.
“Not exactly,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.
“Yeah, I figured,” I said.
“How did you know?” she asked.
“Well, for starters, you are walking across the sand with the leash attached to you. That’s not something experienced surfers do. It makes it infinitely more difficult to walk. Also, I have never seen you out here, and I am here every day when I’m home.”
