“I’ve heard that rumor,” he replies with a smirk. “But the boxer briefs work in a pinch. You look a little warm yourself so you should try it.”
“You want me to swim in my underwear?” I raise a brow.
“I wouldn’t complain if you did,” he says. His voice is heavy and low like it was the other night in his trailer when we drunkenly kissed. However neither one of us is drunk…I don’t think.
“I like my underwear dry,” I declare and instantly regret it.
If this were a baseball game, I would have just served him the perfect pitch and of course he knocks it out of the park when he replies. “It’s more fun when it’s wet.”
The smile on his face is pure mischief and damn…my underwear is definitely not dry. “You’re a child,” I tell him, but I’m biting back a smile and he can see it so I turn and start toward the boardwalk.
I can feel his eyes on me as I go and it’s doing nothing to quell my overwhelming attraction to him. I know what I heard and saw the other night, after the make-out session when Kidd showed up. It should make me wary—and it does—when I think about it. But when I’m near him…when we’re just hanging out like we were just now—all of that concern disappears. I want to be close to him, not keep my distance.
As I reach the end of the boardwalk and start to slip my feet back into my flip-flops, I glance over my shoulder and find him walking toward me. His jeans are back on but the button is undone and he’s shirtless, carrying his shoes.
“You need to live a little,” he says as I start walking and he falls in step beside me.
“I’m living.”
“I’ll rephrase. You need to start having fun,” he says.
“You think swimming in the freezing cold ocean in my underwear would be fun?” I ask as we pass Cat’s store and I stop to grab my bike and put the blanket in the basket.
“I enjoyed it,” he says and glances at the door to the grocery store. I can’t tell if he’s nervous Cat will come out or he’s trying to decide whether to risk his life for his own lobster roll and go inside.
“I’m going out tonight,” I announce and that turns his attention, and his gaze, from the grocery store door. “Cat asked me to go out with her.”
I can’t tell if he looks impressed or concerned. He rubs his beard. “Where you guys heading?”
“No idea,” I reply because I don’t know. I didn’t ask.
He nods and we walk the rest of the way back to the cottage in silence. When we hit the driveway, he pauses near his trailer as I keep walking to tuck the bike in against the side of the house. “So are we ever going to talk about that kiss?” he asks.
Oh God. I stop at the foot of the stairs to the porch, and shield my eyes against the sun so I can look at him. He is so damn handsome and the look on his face is pure vulnerability again. He is just as uncomfortable about this as I am. So why is he bringing it up? I decide to let us both off the hook. “You’re acting like you’ve never made a drunken mistake before,” I say and give him a small shrug before climbing the stairs. “If you’re worried about what I’m thinking, don’t be. I’m not blaming you for it. Have a good night.”
I don’t give him a chance to respond because honestly, anything he could say will only make it more awkward. As I walk into the house, I look around and try to absorb all the changes. The whole ground floor looks bigger now with the wall down. I wonder if my dad would be excited to see it this way. He always planned on doing these renovations. My heart starts to ache again. God, I wish he were here. I take a shuddering breath and wipe the tears from my eyes and head upstairs to get ready to go out with Cat.
Four hours later, I’m sitting at a table by the plate-glass window at Riptide’s, a bar at the end of the pier in the next town over. Cat has just told me a story about her last Tinder date. “How many ex-girlfriends’ names were tattooed on him?’ I ask, trying not to laugh as I sip my piña colada.
“Fourteen!” Cat squeals, still clearly horrified by the experience. “But he told me not to worry, he had room for my name if I played my cards right.”
I almost choke on my drink. “Oh dear God.”
“I know, right?” Cat shakes her head. “So if a cute guy named Tony swipes right on you while you’re here, you’ve been warned.”
“I’m not on any dating apps and I don’t intend to be any time soon,” I say. “But thanks for the tip!”
“How long are you staying? Have you decided?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. I’m thinking about staying until spring. I have enough savings to get by.”
“Wow, really?” Cat looks stunned. “I’m telling you, it’s very boring and very lonely in the winter.”
“I know.” I take a sip of my drink and push my hair back over my shoulder. “I’m actually looking forward to that. I spent the last couple of years living with my sister and my parents again, with the rest of my family within walking distance. I need the alone time.”
“Maybe, but I don’t think you grasp how incredibly boring it will get,” she replies and sighs. “It really is a summer town and that’s the income that floats us through the winter. I can go two or three days and not have one person come into the shop.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t ban people then,” I say half jokingly. “I bet Holden would be in there every day for lobster rolls if you let him.”
