Because Nick Oberbeck was the purest soul to walk this planet. He saw down to the core of my being, and I saw him. And I loved what I saw.
His hands gripped my upper arms. His smile was broad as he came in for a kiss that despite being gentle, ripped something loose inside me. “My wild Annabelle,” he rasped.
I was staring up at him like a fool, clinging to his every breath, every movement of his lips and his laugh lines and his eyes falling back to my chin. “Let’s go get you patched up, angel.”
He helped me hobble toward the truck, getting a good number of looks along the way due to the blood dripping down my neck. We ended up stopping at a lifeguard stand to get me taped up. I had to drop my pants for them to bandage my knees.
Nick got a picture of me, a wide grin splitting my face as two lifeguards tended to my injuries. His eyes danced as he watched me. “My little daredevil.”
I thought how much Kitty would laugh with me at that picture, but then got sad. I couldn’t send it to Kitty, because Kitty couldn’t know that part of my life.
As sure as I was that I loved Nick, I was just as sure that I couldn’t love him. I wasn’t allowed to.
I was quiet as we sat to dinner in a cozy brewpub on the beach, our longboards next to us at the table.
“Here, for your helmet hair,” Nick said, pulling another beanie out of his pocket and handing it to me.
That little gesture, to have thought ahead that I might hate how my hair would look, almost sent me into tears. Their incoming approach stung behind my nose. “Thanks, bub.”
“Coming down off the adrenaline?” Nick asked, noting my change in mood.
I gave a wry smile. “Maybe. I just . . . I wish we could be like this all the time. Everywhere.”
His brow knit. “Me too, angel.” I gnawed on my bottom lip, fighting the urge to cry. Why did I have to love him? Why did we have to be in the situation we were in? Why did I need him to be able to pay off my family’s debt?
His hand met the top of my bouncing leg under the table. Gentle yet firm, confident. “What if we make-believe tonight? We don’t know anyone around here.”
I laughed to ward off the tears. “Yeah. I’d like that.”
He moved his hand to the top of the table, opening it and wiggling his fingers to ask for my hand. “You don’t have to, but it’s here if you want it.”
It was such a knife in the gut that he was so considerate of my boundaries. I laced my fingers with his and let him brush his fingers over my knuckles. I lifted my wrist, another spot I’d gotten a scrape, but one we decided would be better without a bandage. He made a little pout and flipped my hand over, tracing his finger around the scrape.
“Poor baby. Look at that.”
“Gnarly road rash,” the server said, arriving at the table right then.
“It’s her first,” Nick said. “First day skating.”
“Aw, that’s incredible, bro! First round’s on us,” the server said. He held up his fist for me to bump, which I did. “Way to go full send on the first day.”
“Yeah, our Annie’s a badass,” Nick said, the sun setting over the Pacific and those fancy big hipster lightbulbs giving him a certain glow. We ordered beers and looked over the food menu when the server left us.
“Hi, um, sorry to bother you,” came a small voice. “But are you Nick Oberbeck?”
We turned to find a preteen girl and her dad standing behind her. “Yeah! What’s your name?”
The girl’s face went bright red. Her dad nudged her forward. “Go on, Annie.”
I smiled to encourage her. “Is it Annie? That’s a great name,” I winked. “My name, too.”
“Really?” The girl relaxed. “So yeah, I love hockey and I go to as many Princes games as I can.”
“That’s awesome. Thanks for the support,” Nick said. “Hey, give me your first and last name, Dad, and I’ll leave you seats for the next home game.”
Annie’s eyes got bigger. “Against Florida? That’s gonna be such a big game!”
Nick nodded. “That’s right. A real fan here.” He pulled out his phone and handed it to her dad. “Just put your name in here and I’ll make sure I leave you some seats. Annie, remind me if I forget.”
