“Not really. You have your own food,” I pointed out. Flynn opened his fist and dropped my fries back onto my plate.
“Sorry,” he mumbled and returned to his steak.
“It’s okay,” I said and then took a few of my fries and put them on his plate.
“But I thought you didn’t want me to eat them?” he asked, confused, but picking one up and putting it in his mouth.
“It’s okay ifIgive them to you, Flynn. Just don’t take them without asking,” I explained.
He liked that explanation and he ended up eating all of my fries anyway.
After we finished our dinner and Flynn had paid a still very put out bartender, we wandered into the lobby.
Flynn seemed ready to head back to the room for the night. But I hated to waste the evening. I couldn’t go back up into the room without sticking my toes into the sand. I needed to feel it for myself. It was time to do a little pushing.
“Flynn, I’d really like to go out to the beach,” I said, bracing myself for his refusal.
Flynn was quiet, his hands shoved into his khakis. “Okay,” he said after a beat.
“Okay?” I asked, hardly able to believe how easy that had been.
His eyes met mine briefly before they skittered away again. “Yes. Let’s go to the beach. I know you want to see it. I want to make you happy.” I couldn’t stop my grin from spreading across my face. It stretched my cheeks so much it hurt.
“Let’s go get Murphy, we can walk him at the same time,” I said, sounding like a little kid.
We took the stairs instead of the elevator and hurried to our room to get the dog. I grabbed my coat and reminded Flynn to get a sweater knowing it would be cold and then we were heading back downstairs.
I could barely contain my excitement as we crossed the street to the stairs that led down onto the beach. I sat down on the bench and quickly removed my shoes and socks.
“Are you going to take your shoes off?” I asked Flynn.
He hesitated and I reached out to take his hand. “It’ll be okay,” I coaxed and he bent down and untied his shoes and slipped them off his feet. His toes curled and he made a face as his bare feet made contact with the sand covered pavement.
But he didn’t say anything, and I figured so far so good.
“Are you ready?” I asked, holding my hand out for him. Murphy had already taken off down the steps and was running circles in the sand. Flynn watched his dog for a few minutes before putting his hand in mine.
We walked down the steps and the second my feet hit the sand I giggled. Ellie McCallum actually freakinggiggled!
I set my shoes down by the steps and walked forward a few feet, digging my toes in the still warm sand.
“Oh my god! This is unbelievable!” I gasped, bending down and burrowing my hands in the sand by my toes.
I realized quickly that Flynn was being extremely quiet behind me. I turned around and found him only a foot from the bottom stair. His feet were in the sand but he was definitely agitated.
“Flynn?”
“Just, leave me alone. Please,” he said, shaking his head furiously. I opened my mouth to say something else but decided to give him his space. I didn’t move any closer but I didn’t move away either. I sank down and sat down on the beach, watching Murphy burrow his nose in the sand and kick it up behind him as he raced to the shoreline.
I don’t know how long I sat there, waiting for Flynn to compose himself. It could have been minutes. It could have been hours. The light was slowly bleeding from the sky and the air was getting chillier, making me glad I remembered to bring my jacket.
I felt Flynn beside me before I saw him. I looked up to find him gazing down at me, frowning.
“You want to walk down to the water?” I asked, praying that he’d say yes. I wanted to experience this with him so badly. I didn’t want to pressure him but god; I wanted to have this one perfect moment with him.
Flynn wiggled his toes. “I hate it. It’s getting stuck between my toes. It’s rough and itchy and I want to wash it off,” Flynn said, stringing his words together in a rush of panic.
“Well, let’s go down to the ocean and wash them off,” I suggested. Maybe I was being selfish for pushing this, but I couldn’t help it. I needed him to do this with me.
