Chapter 4

The theater is busy for a Friday. Everyone is excited for a superhero movie premiere. I leave the office after turning in my cash drawer and almost run directly into Gavin.

“Hey, Ainsley. You know Sarah, right?” He asks.

He has his arm draped over a brunette girl’s shoulder. I assume he’s trying to make me jealous. It won’t work. Everyone knows Sarah Cooper. She’s a werewolf cheerleader who has a reputation for sleeping around with humans and werewolves. She’s also one of Riley’s ex-girlfriends. 

“Yeah. Hi, Sarah.” I smile.

“Ainsley, we’re having a party next Saturday to celebrate the end of school.” Sarah’s screechy voice strains my ears. “Wanna come?”

Sarah is also famous for throwing large parties. Her parents live off territory and travel for work a lot. Her older brother is supposed to watch her, but he’s never around. No parents, lots of alcohol.

She’s only asking me to go because of the Grands. The retired Alpha and Luna’s name carries clout. Going to her party will be a fat feather in Sarah’s cap.

“I’ll check my schedule.” I force a smile. Gavin is glaring at me dangerously. She seems oblivious. “Would it be awkward if I brought Riley?”

“Uh,” she looks flustered, “yeah sure. Water under the bridge and all that.”

Oh, maybe Gavin isn’t the only one trying to make an ex jealous? Noted.

“Why do you bother with that mutt, Ainsley?” Gavin growls. “You could be Luna of Rambling Hills if you spent more time with us than him.”

“Drop it, Gavin. He’s my best friend, and he’d never hurt me like some wolves I know.” I cross my arms and cock my hip.

He pulls Sarah away with a snarl. She giggles and leans into him, oblivious of his insinuating that he still wants to be with me.

Riley’s POV

Ainsley Rogers has been my best friend since first grade. She lives with her grandparents half a mile from my house.

I’ve never met her mom or twin brother. They don’t visit, and never call. It’s like her mom dumped her at the Grands one day and disappeared. She never talks about it, but it had something to do with her dad being murdered. It wasn’t her fault, but you can tell it still weighs on her.

Lately, Ainsley has been missing school with no warning. When I check on her, she’ll have bruises or a busted lip. Sometimes even a black eye. She says it must be from her self-defense training with Grandpa. He wouldn’t hurt her like that. She promises it isn’t from Gavin. Obviously, it’s Gavin. That guy is a dick. Breaking up with him was the best thing that ever happened to her, but she keeps giving him chances he doesn’t deserve. She still acts like she owes him, like… respect or something? It’s bullshit if you ask me.

She’ll never admit it, but Ainsley is always a little sad. Just under the surface. When she thinks people aren’t looking, she gets a faraway look in her eyes. As soon as she’s distracted, it disappears, and she goes back to smiling, happy Ainsley. I mean, the sadness is still there, but she hides it. I get it.

She’s my best friend. I see the shit that other people don’t. Like when we were little and allowed to have sleepovers. She’d wake up crying from nightmares about being trapped in the dark or being chased by wolves.

I would hug her and tell her I wouldn’t let anyone mess with her until we both fell back asleep. She’s still scared of the dark. I bought her a Snoopy nightlight for her tenth birthday. She still uses it every night.

It doesn’t matter what stupid shit I get myself into; Ainsley is there for me. She’s constant, like the tide. I know I can count on her when I need her or keep her distance when I need space. It’s like she’s my guardian angel.

Everything between us is just easy. When we met on the first day of first grade, I was miserable about Mom dying. I didn’t know how much I needed a friend back then. Now I can’t imagine life without her. 

That’s some best friend shit right there. Like, for real.

The beach is my happy place. Ainsley’s too.

Dad got us passes to a surf wave park for my birthday a couple years ago. We had a blast, but it just wasn’t the same as a natural wave. Ainsley and I both decided it wasn’t for us. 

The sun isn’t up yet. Perfect for a few morning runs before the crowds get to the beach. The water is smooth like glass. We paddle out and sit for a few minutes in the calm dark swells of the building waves.

As the sun crests over the hills, she looks up at the sky and then at me with her megawatt smile and impossibly deep, ocean blue eyes. Like seriously, no one has eyes as blue as hers. Her blonde hair is just starting to get bleached from the sun for the summer.

Ainsley has a weird thing for the moon. She especially loves being able to see the moon and the sun in the sky at the same time.

She loves Greek mythology too. When we were little, she would tell this story about some Greek gods named Selene, Helios, and Eos. They were siblings. Ainsley believed they weren’t allowed to be in the sky at the same time.

The split second when the sun crests out of the dark, right before the moon sets is the only time the three of them ever get to see each other. I figure it was some sort of metaphor for her and her family being separated.

We spend the morning on the water until low tide, then sit on the sand enjoying the sun before we go home.

“Ains, when we graduate, we should rent a place close to the water. Maybe down to Sunset Beach? We could become instructors together.”

“Maybe for the summer, but you know I want to go to college after graduation.” She shrugs. “Besides, I hate Sunset Beach. The riptide is crazy out there.”

“Yeah. I know.” I sigh dramatically. “You’re gonna abandon me for sorority life.”

She rolls her eyes. “Speaking of partying. Sarah’s having a party next Saturday. Wanna go?”

“Sarah invited me to her party? Sarah, Sarah? Sarah my ex, Sarah? That Sarah?” She must be joking.

Ainsley laughs at my reaction. “Yes, that Sarah. I ran into her at the theater. I asked if I could bring you.”

“Oh, so this is a pity invite.” Now I’m annoyed that she wants me to go to a party at my ex-girlfriend’s house.

“Not a pity invite. More like, if I want an excuse to leave, I’m using you as the excuse, invite.” She pokes me in the ribs, sensing my mood shift. 

“Oh, so you’re just using me now. I see how it is, Ainsley Rogers. Just a piece of man meat to you.” I tease her back.

“I’m banking on you being a drunk piece of man meat that needs a ride home. Take one for the team, Riley. Come on, I’d do it for you!” She pouts her lip.

“Ugh, fine.” I groan dramatically. 

“Promise?” She bats her giant blue puppy dog eyes.

“I solemnly swear to get smashed so you can leave the party early.” I pause for a second. “Wait, is Grandpa letting you take his Audi?”

“Nope.” Her mouth curls into a wicked smile.

“Marilyn?” I gulp.

“You bet your sweet ass.” She wiggles her eyebrows. 

Ainsley is sick on a motorcycle. She’s a shit driver in a car, or in my case, an old Tacoma Dad and I restored, named Marilyn. We got it from the junkyard and finished it a week before my sixteenth birthday. Ainsley has let Marilyn kiss enough curbs that I banned her from driving unless it’s an emergency. 

I eke by with D’s in all my classes, except auto shop. I get an A in that. Ainsley chastises me for not trying harder. If my surf instructor dream doesn’t pan out, my backup plan is to be a mechanic and open my own shop. Anything not to have to work for my Dad’s quarry for the rest of my life.

I’m scrolling through Laci Kay’s social posts when I hear Ainsley in the kitchen talking to Dad. Thankfully, she walks like a horse, so I hear her coming and have time to at least put a towel around my waist before she barges in without knocking. 

“Dude, you’re not ready?” She throws herself on my bed and grabs my phone. “Let me guess, you got distracted by Laci Kay’s ass again.”

She scrunches her face at the social feed, then sets our favorite playlist to play on my stereo.

“Hey, I guy can dream can’t he?” I grin and go to the bathroom to put pants on. “Pick a shirt for me!”

When I come out of the bathroom, she tosses a shirt from somewhere inside my closet, dusting her hands off dramatically when she comes out. “Here. How do I look?” 

She has her hair in a ponytail and is wearing a yellow halter top with white cuffed shorts. They make her tanned legs look like they go on for days. She’s already, like, five-foot-nine, so with the wedge heels she’s wearing, you know, the ones with the rope around the edges, she’s almost as tall as me.

“Damn, girl. Who you fightin’?” I whistle.

She’s my best friend, but I’m not blind. Ainsley is a smoke show. No joke, real deal, California dime. When people talk about effortless beauty, Ainsley is who they’re talking about. 

She doesn’t seem to realize it, though. Not gonna lie, it makes me feel more protective of her. Ainsley is too nice to tell a guy to get lost, which is why she needs a drunken wingman to rescue her tonight.

“It’s not too much?” She smoothes her shorts down. She has an unsure look on her face. The sadness is creeping in. “I heard Gavin’s going to be there.”

“You look like you’re ready to have a good time. Aaannnd, the yellow looks good with your eyes.” I reassure her. “Gavin is gonna shit himself.”

She smiles gratefully. Just like that, the sadness disappears.

We listen to music and talk about our summer plans while I finish getting ready. Ainsley’s eighteenth birthday is the fourth of July. Technically, she’s an adult all summer. Mine is on New Year’s Day.

We have concerts and surfing weekend road trips on our wish lists. My dad won’t care, but the Grands are super protective of Ainsley. I don’t think turning eighteen will change that.

The party is already raging when we get there at eleven.

“You good, Ains?” I put the truck in park. “You seem a bit off tonight.”

“Just a lot on my mind.” She sighs with a weak smile. “Nothing the ocean can’t wash away tomorrow. I say we show face in there, then back away slowly so no one notices we’re gone.”