Welcome to Corbet's Inlet, North Carolina, where the teenagers act like adults and the adults act like teenagers. It's Griffin Connolly's favorite place in the world. And while she may not be good at making decisions when it comes to her own life, s...
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"Griffin."
"Hmm?"
"Griffin."
"What."
"Quit staring at the sunset and pay attention to me."
Griffin glanced across the picnic table and found Matty scowling at her over his dinner menu.
"Aw, Fratty Matty, are you feeling neglected?" she asked.
Matty pretended to check his watch. "Oh, wow, would you look at that? You've been in Corbet's a whole hour and a half so far and you've managed to call me that precious little nickname, like, eighty-nine times already. Cool."
Griffin wiggled her eyebrows at him. She and Matty had decided to meet up on Driftwood's back pier as soon as Griffin got in from Atlanta that evening—she hadn't even unpacked her car yet—and it'd only taken a second to get inventory on Matty's outfit when he came to pick her up. Everything from his NC State University visor, to his Kappa Delta Semi-Formal t-shirt, to his pressed khaki shorts screamed I'M IN A FRATERNITY!
The Fratty Matty jokes had started immediately.
"Not my fault you went all super-mega-frat-bro on me in college," Griffin said.
"Excuse you, I like what I'm wearing."
"Of course you do. Is that the latest trend in Narnia these days?"
"Ha!" he scoffed. "I get it! Narnia's in a closet; I'm in the closet...because I'm gay! Good one, Griff. A real knee-slapper."
Griffin did a quick scan of the pier, gathering her blonde hair over to one shoulder. It was barely June and Driftwood was slow tonight, but it was the only bar/restaurant on the island that lived up to both the locals' and the summer regulars' standards. She wanted to make sure no one was listening in. Corbet's was the type of place where you had to be careful about that.
"You know I'm kidding," Griffin said, giving him a soft look.
Matty shrugged and folded his hands behind his head. "S'okay, Griff. You've kept it a secret for me this long. I'll allow a joke here and there."
"True. Speaking of, are you planning on letting other people in on that secret any time soon? Like, your parents maybe?"
Matty's grin widened. He was shameless—all good-natured brown eyes and subtle scruff in the golden hour.
Matty was hot. And one of Griffin's closest friends. She'd 100% consider asking him to marry her if he didn't already bat for another team.
"Nah," he said. "I want my parents to keep thinking I'm the exceptional child of the Barnes household a little longer."
"You're the only child of the Barnes household," Griffin said.
"And imagine how spectacular my fall from grace will be when my parents figure out their only exceptional child is Not Straight."
