After All (Cape Harbor #1)(10)

“What happened?” she asked him, pointing to the scar.

His hand rubbed against the spot, and he winced. Almost as if he forgot he had hurt himself. “Bad casting.”

“Casting? Are you in a movie?” His comment confused her, and she was sure her face showed him as much. He laughed, and his hand went back to holding the strap of his bag.

“No, a fishing hook caught my chin.”

She covered her mouth. Even though she had grown up near the ocean, she had never been fishing. It wasn’t a hobby of her dad’s, nor any of her friends’. Brooklyn reached out to touch the mark, her fingers coming close, until she dropped her hand. She had no right touching this boy, a complete stranger. She cleared her throat and asked, “Did it hurt?”

“Hell yeah, thirty stitches later and I’m good as new.”

“Oh.” She briefly wondered if her father had been the one to stitch up his chin. She leaned closer as if she were admiring the precision it took to put the boy’s skin back together. His scar was healing nicely and probably wouldn’t show if he grew a beard later in life.

“I’m Austin Woods, local fisherman, resident heartthrob, and late for his first day of junior year.” He smiled and stuck his hand out to shake hers.

Brooklyn giggled and quickly covered her mouth. She hadn’t meant to do that, but he’d made her laugh, and she thought he was cute with his russet-colored hair and rich brown eyes. She caught him staring and felt her body temperature rise. She took a step forward and placed her hand in his. “I’m Brooklyn Hewett, new girl and late for her first day as well.”

Austin stepped toward her, holding on to her hand a bit longer than what would be deemed socially acceptable for two people who just met. Brooklyn didn’t mind, though. She liked the way her hand felt in his. In Seattle, she’d had guy friends and had never given them a second thought. Yet, in a matter of minutes, she had developed a crush on this boy, the self-proclaimed resident heartthrob who liked to fish.

“What do you say I walk you in? I’d love to be your tour guide.”

“What if we don’t have the same classes?”

He chuckled, shook his head, and turned to stand in front of her. Her heart raced, the beats thundering in her chest as Austin stared down at her. “There’s like eighteen kids per class. You’ll be easy to find. Besides, now that I’ve found you, I’m never letting go.”

Inside, he showed her where her locker was, which as luck would have it, was right next to his. This excited her. She told herself it was because he was a familiar face in a sea of peers looking at her, wondering who she was and where she came from. At her former school, when someone new came, you heard about it through the rumor mill, unless the new person was in your class. Here, you were front and center, like you were on display.

By lunch, she was frazzled. Peppered with questions throughout her first set of classes, she walked cautiously into the cafeteria, clutching the orange plastic tray that held some semblance of food. She decided she would ask her mom to make her lunch from here on out, especially since leaving campus wasn’t allowed.

“Brooklyn!”

She looked around for the source calling her name. She had met a few other classmates earlier and was surprised when Austin wasn’t at his locker when the lunch bell rang. She’d fully expected him to be there, waiting. At least, she had hoped he would be.

When she spotted him standing on a chair with his arms waving wildly in the air, she smiled. She hadn’t meant to, but it was like her heart had taken over her senses. Love at first sight was what Rennie would say if she were here. Brooklyn wanted to agree.

She made her way through the small crowd, apologizing for bumping into people as she walked by them. The table where Austin sat was full, but that didn’t stop him from giving up his chair for her.

“Where will you sit?” she asked after setting her tray down.

“Next to you.”

Again, she felt her heart race, gallop, and skip. It was doing so many different palpitations she couldn’t pinpoint just one.

“Brooklyn, these are my best friends, Bowie Holmes, Grady and Graham Chamberlain.” He pointed to the two guys sitting across from her. “And that’s Jason Randolph and Monroe and Mila Whitfield. Roe and Mila are sisters, and I’m pretty sure you figured out Grady and Graham are twins.” Brooklyn glanced at Austin, who adjusted his baseball cap. She had, in fact, realized they were twins. It was really obvious, but she didn’t want to call Austin out and embarrass him. Plus, she’d already met the girl he called Roe. The guys mumbled some sort of hello, and Roe pointed out that they had English together. Mila smiled, sort of, and offered a small wave.

“Where are you from?” Jason asked.

“Seattle.”

“Why would you move here from Seattle?” Mila asked. There was a bit of snark in her voice, something that surprised Brooklyn. So far, everyone had been pleasant to her, but Mila seemed put off by her presence.

Brooklyn had been asked this question multiple times already and was wondering if there was something wrong with the town. She found the town to be cute, a little quiet, and completely opposite of what she was used to, which her mother loved.

“My dad is the town doctor,” she said.

“I’m going to be a doctor,” Jason added. “The University of Washington is where I’m headed.”