Page 17 of Goldilocks

Dew and Bee laughed.

“Ugly, ugly, ugly,” Dew chanted next.

“Just answer me,” the teenager growled at them. “What does your golden friend like?”

“Not you.”

“Not you!”

Wow. Dew and Bee were kind of assholes.

The teenager stooped down, picking up a discarded shell by his foot. He rose up swinging and fired it at the mermen. They vanished beneath the waves with a flourish and a tail smack and didn’t resurface. The teenager sneered at the water and whirled on his heels, only to immediately stop, face jerking up to look at Sam.

His hair was silvery, his features delicate, nose narrow, lips plump. He was pretty. Really, really pretty.

Sam recognised Connor’s ex at once, and from the way Austin’s eyes darkened to fury, he was certain that he’d been recognised right back. Not that there was any reason forhispresence to make Austin mad. Sam was the one who got dumped by Connor because he couldn’t stop thinking about Austin. If anyone had the right to be upset or angry, surely it was him.

“Eavesdropping a hobby of yours?” Austin asked, his voice, his eyes, even the way his lips twitched, felt like a threat.

“I just got here. I didn’t hear anything,” Sam lied. He preferred to stay honest, but this moment felt like it called for a lie.

“Hah,right.” Austin was suddenly in Sam’s space, pushing him back with one hand flat on his chest.

Sam yielded a step to kill some of that fire in Austin’s eyes. “Are you looking for Connor? Because he usually docks by the bar—”

“Still hanging around him?” Austin cut him off. “You’re pathetic. He dumped you. Why don’t you get that into your thick head?”

Wow.

Laurence had told Sam that Austin was a lot to handle and that even though Connor had forgiven him for the part he played in his abduction, Trevor had been firm that he wasn’t allowed into the house afterwards. Trevor seemed like a forgiving person, so Sam suspected there was more to the story. From what he’d heard, Austin didn’t have any say in what happened any more than Connor had, merely a bit more awareness and a lot less freedom because of that.

“And he didn’t dump you?” Sam asked. Just because he felt bad for the guy didn’t mean he was going to stand there and take the hurled insults lying down.

Austin shoved him again. Sam didn’t pretend to get pushed back this time.

“Move.”

“It’s a wide path. You can walk around me.” Sam met Austin’s fury head-on. Austin’s eyes flashed an unnaturally bright silver.

“Move.” His voice was low and dangerous.

Sam felt kind of bad for not getting intimidated. He was obviously trying very hard to push Sam around. It honestly felt like Austin was putting on a show. Maybe he was embarrassed that Sam overheard him getting mocked? Maybe he felt exposed and vulnerable and was now lashing out even though that wasn’t really what he wanted. Sam lifted his hands and stepped aside. “Moved.”

Austin purposefully shoulder-checked Sam as he stalked past, and Sam went with the movement so Austin didn’t hurt himself. A niggling feeling stirred in Sam’s stomach. Memories of Connor from before bloomed inside, and how he had transformed from jagged and dangerous to relaxed and at ease. Austin had that jagged and dangerous form to him, and Sam never saw him hanging out or talking with anybody. The only conversation he’d seen was the one with the mermen just now, and he hadn’t been treated nicely.

“You can come out on the boat with me if you want,” Sam said to his back. “The golden-tailed merman usually comes to hang out, so if you’re curious about him, you can tag along.”

Austin slowed his march. His shoulders were a rigid line of tension when he twisted to fix a narrow-eyed look of suspicion on Sam.

Sam answered that suspicious look with a shrug. “I usually head out for a few hours, bringing my books to study while I’m out there. I can do a shorter trip if you—”

“So you did eavesdrop,” Austin interrupted flatly.

Sam winced. “Sorry,” he apologised. “You were having a loud conversation in a public place.”

Austin’s scowl worsened. “What do you mean, he hangs out?”

“He hangs out. Swims around the boat.” Waits with very little patience for Sam to draw him.