“You okay?” I’ve got both hands on my knees as I’m lurching forward, but I raise one hand to give him a thumbs up. Then I finally straighten up and see him looking at me.
His eyes travel from top to bottom, though I can see he’s trying to do so in a subtle way. But it’s not subtle at all. He stops for half a second on my middle, where my high-waisted bottom leaves a small strip of skin uncovered. I feel my face flush and immediately turn to pick up the towel I left on a nearby boulder.
His mouth is open in a soft O, and he finally blinks and looks away. I swallow the lump in my throat as I wrap myself in my towel to hide what shocked him so much.
Ugh. I hate when my anxieties get confirmed.
His footsteps against the pebbles ring out behind me. He’s getting closer. “You sure you’re good? Looks like you swallowed the whole ocean. And you look cold.”
I don’t turn to face him yet. Instead, I look out towards the ocean and take a deep breath. “I’m good. But, yeah, it’s gonna take me a while to warm up, even with the sun being so strong.”
I can move past this. I can ignore it. It’s not like he’d be the first to not like what he sees. Jasper would consistently point out I was gaining weight and that I should be more careful.
So I plaster a smile on my face and turn to face Logan. “So yeah, I’m gonna go change.”
He looks embarrassed, like he doesn’t know what to do with his hands. So he crosses them in front of him, right below his hips. “Great, okay. And …”
I don’t speak, giving him time to continue.
“I know you’ve probably had enough water drama for one day. But something came up and I thought you’d be interested?”
“What’s up?”
He perks up. “The Zodiac place five minutes from the resort had a group cancellation. The owner, Yasser, always calls me when that happens in case people from the resort want a last-minute bargain ride.”
I smile, liking the sound of that.
“So I thought we could take it for ourselves,” he continues. “Hopefully riding around the water inspires something for your contract thing.”
I want to say yes right away, but one doubt crawls in to stop me. “For ourselves? You know how to ride this thing?”
His eyebrows shoot up as if he’s offended I’ve doubted his abilities. He puffs up his chest. “Of course. I’ve done it a few times when Yasser let me. It’s pretty simple.”
I cross my arms, careful not to disturb the towel. “Hmm. It does sound tempting.” And that much was true. In fact, nothing sounded better than going out in the open waters for a little adventure. I’ve missed being on a boat.
Hey, maybe we’ll even see a whale. If that doesn’t give me some inspiration to inject some life into this website copy, I don’t know what will.
But at the same time, I don’t know if I feel like spending time alone with Logan right this second. I’m still feeling slightly hurt from the look he gave me. But it doesn’t seem like he noticed, and really, it’s not a big deal. Didn’t I say I just wanted to be friends?
“It sounds tempting because it’s pretty awesome,” he continues, raising his eyebrows even more. “So come on, what do you say?”
Whatever. I need to get over it. “Yes, let’s do it.”
* * *
After I get changed into some activity-appropriate clothing—some shorts and a tank top that dry quickly—I meet Logan at the lobby, where he’s putting something in the trunk of his car. He stands back up and motions for me to get in the passenger seat.
“What do you have there?” I ask him as I point to the trunk.
“Just a few snacks in case we get hungry.”
“Oh, now you’re speaking my language.”
Before I know it, we’re on our way and already there. I think Logan exaggerated when he said this place was five minutes away. He probably meant five minutes on foot, because we’ve barely been on the road thirty seconds when he turns into the parking lot of a small, old-looking building. Beyond the building, I can see the docks lined with boats of all sorts: sailboats, fishing boats, and yes, a few Zodiacs, of course.
Excitement bubbles in my chest. Even though I’ve been to the ocean a few times, I’ve never actually beenonthe ocean. The closest I ever got was when Jasper and I took a vacation to Costa Rica and I begged him for us to go on the catamaran excursion, but it never happened. He’d preferred the four-wheeler excursion instead, and for some reason, he ended up winning the argument.
But this isn’t the time to think about Jasper. I nearly jump out of the passenger seat of Logan’s car and start sprinting towards the docks. “So which one is ours?” I yell out without even turning to look back at him.
