“Want to walk on the beach? That’s a fun date thing to do.”
“Yeah, okay,” she says, standing. I hold out my hand closer to hers and she eyes it before sliding her palm into mine. “First time for everything,” she says softly as we walk away.
I stop right in the middle of the sand. “Wait, what?” I hold up our clasped hands. “Is this your first time holding hands on the beach?”
She nods meekly. “Kind of?”
My brows pull together. “What kind of guys have you been dating?”
She shrugs. “First of all, not very many. And secondly, guys who don’t like being seen with me.”
She looks away and I start walking toward the water, keeping her hand grasped in mine. “Now why wouldn’t a guy want to be seen with you? You are totally beautiful and very much rocking those jeans, by the way.”
When she glances up at me, there’s a spark in her eyes I haven’t seen before. Something tells me she doesn’t get complimented much. I make it my personal mission right here and now to tell her how unbelievably cute she I at all times.
“Let’s not talk about … that stuff,” she says after a moment. “It’s just—awkward.”
I gaze at her, trying to figure out what insecurity she’s hiding behind those brown eyes. But I come up empty, because the girl is adorable in every way.
On the sand, the water rushes over our feet and then sweeps back out to sea. “Tell me something about you,” I say.
“Not much more to tell,” she says quickly. “I go to school, and I work at the daycare. I have exactly zero hidden talents.”
“Hidden talents are overrated,” I say. “Do you like working at the daycare?”
She nods. “The kids are so sweet. I’m pretty sure I want to be a kindergarten teacher, but my mom says those kinds of jobs are more stressful than they seem.”
“You’ll never know unless you try it,” I say.
“What about you?” she asks, nudging me with her elbow. “Some kind of rocket scientist? Brain surgeon?”
“Do I look like a rocket scientist?” I ask.
She laughs. “No, but you’re in all those AP classes.”
“Sojealous of my mad school skills,” I tease her. “I wish I could take the credit for it, but school stuff just comes easily to me.”
She pokes me in the stomach with her free hand. “I’m not jealous of a nerd.”
“I’m not a nerd,” I say, pretending to look offended. “I’m a star soccer player.”
She rolls her eyes. “You soccer guys are on my shit list right now.”
“Why’s that?” If I had taken even two seconds to think before I speak, I would have remembered why. But of course, I didn’t, because I’m caught up in the smell of Clarissa’s shampoo, the quirk of her lips every time I tease her. I’m also kind of checking out her cleavage in a way that’s turning me on but making me feel like a dick about it. It’s not my fault that she’s so captivating that I can’t think clearly.
Her expression darkens. “Because two of your teammates ruined my greenhouse.”
“But it’s going to get rebuilt, though, right?”
She sighs. “I have no idea. Probably not.”
“Why?”
She turns away from me, letting her gaze drift over the ocean. “I’d rather not talk about it.”
She’s told me she loves kids and she liked the greenhouse, but I can’t see why she’d be so damn upset about it. But she clearly doesn’t want me to push the topic, so I don’t.
“I’m sorry someone ruined it,” I say, feeling a tightness in my chest. This lie is so deeply buried in my heart now that evenI’mstarting to think I didn’t actually do it.
