She looked at him, her head tipped to the side. “Really? You’d do that?”
“Sure.” He held her gaze, squinted. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like I just grew a tail or something.” He glanced over his shoulder and brushed his hand over his butt. “I haven’t, have I?”
She smiled, a slow, special smile. “No. I’m just…impressed. I like that you’d do that.”
“Whatever.” It wasn’t that big a deal. But a zoo was even more fun with kids. They moved on to the lions.
After a couple of hours of the zoo, Krissa peered at her watch. “I was just supposed to take a break for a little while.”
“Are you having fun?”
She nodded and he saw her swallow.
“Good. Then let’s bike a little further.”
They cycled past East Beach, busy despite the cool winds and rolling waves, past Stearns Wharf, and when they reached the Breakwater, Nate turned off the path into the parking lot. “Let’s go out on the Breakwater!” He again led the way. They dismounted and walked their bikes past the fishing boats, little shops and restaurants. The fishy, salty odor of the ocean intensified here, but the strong wind whipped it quickly away.
The flags lining the walkway on tall poles snapped and flapped stiffly. Waves crashed against the concrete so hard water flew across the sidewalk in places and they had to jump out of the way of a spray of saltwater a few times, laughing, breathless. The wind whipped Krissa’s long hair around her head, across her face and she kept trying to control it.
“This is hopeless.” A frown edged her forehead. Nate stopped, and propped his bike against the wall. He took her hair in his hands, smoothed it back as best he could, and held it at the nape of her neck. She glared up at him.
“You look annoyed.” He grinned.
She sighed. “Yeah. Sorry. I should have worn it up.”
He reached into a pocket of his cargo shorts and fished around, pulled out an elastic band. “Don’t ask me why I have this. I have no idea.” He wrapped it around her messy ponytail a few times to secure it.
She gave him that look again—like he’d grown a tail—and then smiled. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” They stood there, smiling into each other’s eyes. Nate let his hands rest on her shoulders. Then a huge wave exploded against the breakwater wall and shot high. Icy seawater rained down on them, drenching them. Krissa screamed and ran, Nate grabbed his bike and followed, and once in a dry place they stood, laughing uncontrollably and gasping for breath.
“I’m soaked!” Krissa held her arms out to her sides. Water had darkened spots of the blue hoodie.
“You’re okay.” They faced each other and Nate wiped water from her face with his fingertips, lingering on her peachy cheek. He watched his thumb stroke across her bottom lip, then their eyes met. He smiled.
They walked on and paused where the breakwater curved, far enough from the waves that they didn’t have to worry. They leaned on the concrete on their elbows, side by side, and stared out at the ocean.
The breeze tugged tendrils of Krissa’s hair loose to swirl around her face. She pushed them back, but didn’t seem bothered. The fresh air had brought a pinky flush to her cheeks and her eyes sparkled. Yeah, this had been good for her.
They turned their backs to the ocean and regarded the mountains behind the jumble of masts in the harbor.
“Would you like to live on a boat like that?” Nate asked her.
“No way!”
“Why not? You love the ocean.”
“I wouldn’t want to live on it, though. I’m…afraid of it.” She peeked at him through her lashes as if she was embarrassed.
“Afraid of it?”
She turned to him. “Yeah. It’s so huge. And deep. It’s likeit’s…endless. I like to look at it from afar but I’m kind of scared of it.” She paused. “One time I was out on a boat with my family, whale watching with a guy my dad knew. We got off course. We were so far out you couldn’t even see the shore and there were no other boats around.”
He watched her with fond amusement. “Was it stormy?”
