37| Boys and Bonfires (pt. 1)

I didn't know what to say. I could feel Noah standing behind me as I stood face to face with Josh and Chris. Seeing Josh's face just reminded me of how crazy I was behaving when he left me sitting on the kitchen island my first week here.

"Hey Jay," Chris greeted with a smile, "Can we come in?"

I shook my head slightly to snap out of it. "Yes, of course, sorry, come on in."

I let the two of them walk passed Noah and I as we all made our way into the kitchen to join Ryan and Alec.

I was still feeling nervous as I took my seat at the kitchen island, and Noah found a spot standing behind me. Alec and Ryan were both standing up now as well, and were on the other side of the island across from us.

Before I could introduce Noah, Alec spoke up. "Oh hey, I know you," he said, looking in our direction.

"Yeah, I was your surf instructor. Hey man!" Noah greeted, friendly as ever.

"Not you," Alec responded, fixing his gaze on Josh who was standing beside Noah, "you."

"Alec," I warned. If he says