Fathom by L. Standage (spanish books to read .TXT) 📕

grieved my parents breaking our family into pieces—withered a bit. No. I reset my shoulders and lifted my head. This would be the best summer ever. I had my best friend to keep me laughing—and an ocean to explore.

Sam stopped dancing. “Now, where’s the eye candy?” A group of guys tossing a football in the distance caught her gaze. She nodded toward them. “Do you know any of them?”

“Really?” I said, my eyebrows high. She shrugged.

“Just asking. Your aunt lives here, after all.”

“I doubt she’s making friends with dudes half her age.”

“I meant you, you dork. It’s okay to get out there, you know.”

“It’s okay for you to not always get out there, you know. Except it’s hilarious to watch, so I’m not going to stop you.”

She giggled. “A girl can have a little fun. A little harmless flirting. A little—” She cut herself off with a gasp, stopped walking, and gave a low whistle. A sudden gleam appeared in her eyes and an eager half-grin twitched at her mouth.

“A little what?” I asked, even though I knew that look. Prey had been spotted.

“A lot of hottie.”

“Okay, which one is he?” I scanned the guys with the football.

“Over there.” Samantha pointed in the other direction, toward a guy who knelt in the sand, his head bent and examining something. My heart dropped for a second. Could it be? I didn’t know what either of the men looked like from last night. And this guy definitely stood out, kneeling in the sand and wearing a tee shirt and jeans instead of a swimsuit. I racked my brain. The two men from the tide pools definitely seemed older than this guy, who looked to be in his early twenties. I cast him a side eye and wondered what he was doing. Despite the alarming possibilities, a weird blip went off in my long-suppressed attraction radar. Something could be said about a guy studying sand instead of throwing around a football.

I shrugged it off. Maybe he did have something to do with those men. Maybe he didn’t. The odds were insane. I wasn’t going to stick around long enough to find out. And yet…

I shook my head as though to flick away any fascination I may or may not have had so Sam could have her go at him.

“Yeah, he’s cute, I guess. Have fun.” I waited for her to saunter off. Sam looked at him, then at me, and then back and forth again. She grasped my arm.

“No, wait. You’re going to go talk to him.”

Talk? Did she mean flirt? With that guy? I stiffened. “What? No.”

“I saw that look on your face, babe. You’re going.” She grabbed my arms from behind and marched me closer to the guy still kneeling in the sand. “Maybe he’s a marine bio nerd like you.”

Marine bio nerd or not, I’d rather get pricked by a sea urchin than talk to some random guy. Sea urchins are dependable. Sea urchins understand.

“Sam, no.”

She came around and looked me in the eye. “If you try this, just once, I’ll take you to the aquarium. My treat. You can tell me everything you know about starfish and plankton and all the slimy things.”

“They’re called sea stars. And I’m not going to talk to him.” I turned around. She grabbed my arms again, whirled me in a circle, and pushed me closer to where the guy knelt. “Stop,” I hissed, “he’ll hear us.” Any second now, he might look up. He’d notice our struggle.

“Then go.”

“Fine,” I said through clenched teeth, my face on fire. “I’ll do it. But we’re going to the aquarium and Sea World.”

“Deal. Now go make me proud.” She slapped me on the butt.

I fiddled with a strand of my hair as I stepped closer to the guy. When was the last time I’d just gone up to some guy I didn’t know and talked to him? My days of unabashed flirting had ended a long time ago. I took a deep breath and another step. Maybe I could ask him if anything weird happened here last night. This didn’t have to be about chatting him up. I could find out information. I took a few more steps. He had a black case sitting in the sand next to him. He held a test tube and scooped some bits of sand into it. Why? What was it for? Environmental impact study? Was he from the nearby Birch Aquarium? The thought sent a ripple of interest through me.

He capped the test tube and put it in his case, then looked around the sand. I gulped. His eyes searching the ground stopped at my feet. He looked up. Whoa.

He was beautiful. Not teenage-heartthrob-cute like most of the guys that drew Samantha’s eye but not less attractive either. Just different—a sturdy jaw with a hint of shadow, messy chestnut hair with unkempt sideburns, and a firm brow.

For a second, I stood there like an idiot, staring. I couldn’t tell his eye color from several feet away but being rimmed with dark lashes, the color didn’t matter. I opened my mouth. Then closed it. I looked away, gave my head a shake, and turned to go.

Samantha caught my arm from behind and turned me back, hauling me toward the gorgeous guy in the sand.

“Hi,” she said. “My friend is a little shy and she was just wondering what you’re up to. She’s totally into the ocean and stuff.”

My face burned. His expression didn’t budge. Only his eyes, which I could now see were ocean gray, roved from me to Samantha. He looked back down at his things.

“I’m only passing through,” he said. Did I detect yet another accent?

“That’s so cool,” Sam said. “What for?” He didn’t look up.

“Sorry, but I’m rather busy at the moment,” he said. No mistaking it this time; he had a small trill to his “r’s” and a bent intonation to his vowels. Scottish or Irish by the sound of it.

“Olivia, maybe you could help?” Samantha said