Splash & Sparks

I was totally **running** late to Tyler's pool party—again. My hair was a mess, I couldn't find my favorite bikini, and my phone kept blowing up with texts from everyone asking where I was. Classic me, right?

When I finally showed up, fashionably late (or maybe just awkwardly late), the party was already in full swing. People were cannonballing into the **water**, music was blasting from someone's portable speaker, and the smell of sunscreen and chlorine hung thick in the air. That's when I saw him.

Fox. Yeah, that's his actual nickname—because he's got this auburn hair and these amber eyes that make you feel like he knows something you don't. He was standing by the snack table, looking unfairly good in his swim trunks, laughing at something someone said. I'd been lowkey **spy**-ing on his Instagram stories for weeks like a total creep, but now here he was in 3D, looking even better.

I was still trying to decide whether to go say hi or pretend I needed to check my phone when the sky opened up. A massive storm rolled in out of nowhere—typical summer weather—and suddenly everyone was scrambling inside. But not me. Not Fox either.

We both got caught trying to grab our stuff from the lawn chairs. Rain was pouring down, thunder was rumbling, and then—CRACK. **Lightning** struck somewhere so close it made the ground shake. We both screamed and made a run for the covered patio, crashing into each other and ending up soaked and laughing.

"Smooth," he said, grinning as he shook water from his hair. "You always this graceful?"

"Only on Tuesdays," I shot back before I could overthink it.

We spent the rest of the storm huddled under the patio, talking about everything and nothing while my friends sent me texts asking where I'd disappeared to. But I didn't care. I was too busy noticing how he somehow looked even better soaking wet, and how his laugh sounded even better in person than in my carefully curated Instagram-stalking sessions.

The rain stopped. His friends called him back inside. But as he walked away, he looked back over his shoulder and smiled. "See you around, Tuesday girl."

I stood there grinning like an idiot, water dripping from my hair, thinking maybe being late wasn't always such a bad thing after all.