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“You’re not going to introduce me?” she asked.

“I’m his girlfriend,” I said, reaching out and slipping my hand into Asher’s. “Wren. Nice to meet you.”

Elinor couldn’t hide her shock for a brief moment. Her eyes locked on our linked hands, but then she tamed her expression to neutral.

I tried to read her reaction. Was she just shocked because she hadn’t seen Asher since school got out and his having a new girlfriend was surprising news? Or was she shocked because she had been talking to him online as Gemma and had no idea his relationship with the person who had stepped into that role in real life had progressed this far?

“Hi, nice to meet you,” she said. “I didn’t realize…I had no…How did you two meet?”

Crap. Here it was. If she was Gemma she could call me out right now. Before Asher could say anything, I said, “In a coffee shop.” Because thatwaswhere we met.

Elinor narrowed her eyes. “Wait, are you—”

“You don’t know her,” Asher said, not realizing he was saving me from having to answer any more questions that might expose my lie. Or hers. If shehadbeen lying to him online.

“Wren!” Kamala called. “Your phone is ringing! Do you want me to answer it?”

She was following through with her promise to get me out of becoming a floating bait trap, but the timing wasn’t right. Did she not see that? I couldn’t leave now. Not with Elinor here—she would probably ask more questions as soon as I was gone. I gave Kamala a thumbs-up, hoping she’d interpret it correctly.

“We met online first,” Asher was saying.

“Yeah…” I stepped back, my body apparently trying to get out of this conversation, and I tripped over his leg strap, or maybe mine. Then, as I tried to catch myself, my heel caught on the board behind me that was floating in the shallow water. My other foot stepped right on top of the board. It went out from under me and I fell backward, onto the second board. It, too, was not stable and between my momentum and the shifting boards, I tumbled off and right into the water.

I landed on my back and immediately went under. The water was cold and all the air was sucked from my lungs. My feet were still up on the board, but my entire torso and head were underwater. I thrashed, trying to bring my head above water or to free my feet. Blackness closed in on me. A bed of seaweed tangled around me, pulling me deeper. No, that was a memory. That wasn’t happening. I could feel the bottom. The bottom was right there. I pushed on it and sat up.

My head broke the surface and I coughed and gasped for air. Asher was at my side, kneeling in the water, his hand on my back. Had he helped me up?

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I nodded even though I really wasn’t. “I just need to stand. Get me out of here.” My cheeks were as hot as the surface of the sun.

Asher helped me to my feet as his ex-girlfriend watched.

“Please let me put that on TikTok,” Dale said.

My eyes whipped over to Dale, whom I had forgotten about. “If you do, I will cut you up in little pieces and feed you to the sharks.”

Asher laughed.

“Ugh. You’re no fun,” Dale said.

“Hi, Dale,” Elinor said.

“Hey, witch.”

Sometime in the midst of the chaos, Kamala had joined the group. She was holding out my phone. “It’s your boss.”

I shook my head at her, hoping she’d realize I needed like five more minutes.

“No, really,” Kamala said. “It’sreallyErin. She needs to talk toyou.”

Water was dripping down the back of my neck and off my chin and down my legs. I walked toward Kami but was stopped short by the ankle strap, which was still on my leg. Kamala closed the distance and handed me the phone.

“Hello.” My teeth started to chatter, from being cold or from the shock of what had just happened. I squatted and untethered myself from the board. “You still there?”

“I’m so sorry,” was how Erin answered. “I didn’t want to bother you on your day off, but you are my fourth call. Everyone is out of town or not answering.”

“What’s wrong?” I asked.