Juniper laces her fingers with Viggo’s hand draped over her shoulder as she gives him a coy smile. “Well, it also helps that my thrift shop is here and Viggo wants me to stay with him in the evenings.”
Lowering his face to Juniper’s ear, Viggo’s voice drops to a deep purr. “Don’t pretend you don’t like being wrapped in my tentacles all night.”
My cheeks heat anew as I imagine all the places tentacles can explore. Before I can catch myself, my mind wanders towardmale dragon anatomy and the unconfirmed claims I’ve read online of how much they differ from humans. I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking for any references or information about water dragons, but wasn’t able to find much. From what I can gather, they’re fairly secretive and keep to themselves, which only makes me even more curious about Beck.
Audrey hooks a thumb toward me. “Let’s not scar Eleanor with your tentacle sex talk. Yet. At least buy the girl a drink first.”
My mouth gapes open.Am I about to be propositioned for a threesome? An orgy?
Apparently reading the shock, confusion, and near panic on my face, Juniper quickly adds, “We’re monogamous. Don’t worry. But I am guilty of oversharing. If you have any questions about creature features, I’m your girl.”
“Oh, okay,” I say on a relieved exhale. “I might take you up on that offer. After a drink, or two.”
Audrey nods enthusiastically. “Me too. I have questions. Many, many questions.”
Juniper’s laugh is effervescent as she hops into the boat. “I’m sure you do.”
Viggo helps Audrey in, then offers his hand for me as I hesitate on the dock, my eyes roaming over the narrow hull, my feet not quite ready to leave the safety of the land. It’s not exactly that I’m scared of the ocean, but I’m also notnotscared of it. I just hold a certain level of profound respect for its mysterious depths and the diverse, and somewhat terrifying, creatures living beneath the surface.
“How do you know Beck?” Viggo asks brightly, his hand still outstretched.
Appreciating his attempt at redirecting my attention, I place my hand in his and step into the boat where Juniper quickly takes my other hand and gently pulls me down to sit snuggly between her and Audrey.
I give them a subtle yet very grateful nod at their smooth coordinating assistance and tap into my lawyer side, suppressing any emotions to lay out the simple facts. “Beck’s grandmother lived next door to us when I was small. He came to visit her every summer and we’d be inseparable from sunrise to sunset. Then, one morning, in the middle of summer, he was just gone. I went to check with his grandmother if he was okay, but she simply said he had left, gone home early, without any further explanation. I never saw him again. Until a few months ago when he was waiting right here on the dock.”
“Ooo. So you guys go way back. Did he explain what happened?” Juniper asks eagerly, leaning forward as she squeezes my hand.
I shake my head, a little bit of disappointment bleeding into my voice. “Nope. We both recognized each other, acknowledged that it’s been over two decades since we’ve seen each other, then…”
“Then?” Viggo asks, apparently also engrossed in my sad tale.
I shrug. “Then we rode in silence the rest of the way.”
Juniper winces. “Oh. That’s…”
“Awkward,” Audrey says with a grimace.
“Sweet,” Viggo corrects with a knowing tilt to his chin.
My head swivels between the three of them. “Huh?”
Viggo taps his finger against his temple. “You were both nervous and got stuck in your smarty-pants heads, probably overthinking everything, and ended up saying nothing.”
“You think?” Now that he mentions it, it definitely felt like that for me. I kept thinking about what to ask Beck and obsessing over how to word it perfectly, that I kind of froze and ended up saying nothing. Would Beck have felt a similar pressure to say the exact right thing to me, too?
“Yeah,” Juniper encourages, her bright blue eyes kind as she squeezes my hand. “Maybe ask him when you can see him again?”
My refusal is quick, the little bit of courage I felt left on the dock in Cape Easton. “I wouldn’t want to bother him.”
From his spot at the helm, Viggo bounces on his toes, his eyes twinkling with excitement as he guides us out of the harbor. “Oh, it won’t be a bother, believe me. A woman likeyougivinghimattention, he’d be rolling over and asking for belly pats if given the chance.”
The thought seems preposterous to me, but I decide not to voice it. Despite my clear attraction to Beck, I’m under no false pretenses that someone as cool as him would be interested in me. They also don’t need to know that I gave him my number when he took me back to Cape Easton, nor that he never called me. My pride can’t handle that level of embarrassment.
Though, if I do have the opportunity to see Beck again, I’m going to try my best to talk to him. I want to know why he disappeared all those years ago and never even bothered to say goodbye. And if I’m feeling extra brave, I might even ask why he didn’t call me this time. Having answers would be so muchbetter than being stuck in this unknown I’ve been in for so long. I can always nurse my wounded feelings later.
After all, there is the possibility that we might have gotten our wires crossed last time, and perhaps there was some miscommunication. And maybe, just maybe, we can try to be friends again.
