“I want fish tacos,” I tell Theo.
It’s what pops into my head. I’m hungry. Fish tacos sound good.
No overthinking.
I just want fish tacos.
Fifteen minutes later, I have a bag of fish tacos in hand courtesy of a local drive-through place, and Theo’s driving us out of town.
I don’t ask where we’re going again, or why he didn’t get anything for himself.
Instead, I eat fish tacos and watch the sun dip lower in the horizon until he steers us up a road going inland, putting the sunset behind us.
Going nowhere.
Or maybe somewhere specific, and it’s a surprise.
Theo’s quiet. It’s an unusual side of him from what I expect. Almost like he can turn down the chaos dial sometimes and just be chill.
I want to ask him what he does for work, but that’s tooLaneyof me. So instead, I finish licking all of the delicious fish taco sauce off my fingers, then I pick a quite possibly more dangerous topic.
“Are you enjoying Emma’s wedding week?”
His gaze shifts to mine briefly, and I swear he knows it was on the tip of my tongue to ask him how he supports himself. “Could be worse,” he replies finally with that smile dialed up again. “Aunt Brenda could be babysitting me.”
Good thing I’m done eating, or I’d be choking on a fish taco right now. “I’m sure she wouldn’t have minded at all if you woke up with your hand asleep.”
“When you wake up withyourhand asleep tomorrow, I’m going to laugh my ass off.”
“I don’t wake up with my appendages asleep.”
“Of course not.”
“I’m a good sleeper.”Shut up, Delaney. Shut. Up.
His lips twist in bigger amusement. “Was today your first time going skinny dipping?”
“I was not—ahem. Excuse me. No. No, it was not.”
The car swerves. Like,actuallyswerves as Theo jerks the wheel while he glances at me as we leave behind the black lava rock landscape and head into a more desert-like area of the inner part of the island. I hope I get to see the tropical rainforest side while we’re here too. I want to see all of it.
“When was the other time?” he asks.
Is that my imagination, or did his voice go a little hoarse?
My imagination, I decide. Or a side effect of the wind whipping around the open top of the car.
But I smile at him like his voicedidgo hoarse. “Much like Sabrina, I am a steel trap. Fish tacos cannot buy this secret out of me.” And yes, I’ll be paying him back for buying my food.
I didn’t grab my wallet before dinner. I have no credit card and no ID on me. I’m livingon the edge.
“Ah,” Theo says. “You quickly pulled your suit down during senior dare night in the pool in the dark.”
“No.” Okay, yes. I did that too. But I don’t count it.
I didn’t pull my suit all the way off. And it was like, half a second. I didn’t want to be the one with my suit down if we got busted. My parents would’ve died.
Bad enough I wasthere.
