‘Shoes and socks off?’
‘You want to paddle? In the sea? In December?’
‘It’s a scientific experiment.’
‘It’s only scientific if we go home and get in a cold shower straight afterward to compare.’
Olivier swallowed as his mind corrupted the thought. Both of them. Together. In the shower.
He dropped his gaze to his feet and crouched down, making a spot for his cup of tea where it wouldn’t fall over and then unlacing his shoes.
‘Oli, are you nuts?’ She laughed and he looked up at her, hair a tangle around her face and lips reddened from the cold. Now he was definitely sure. He wanted to keep that smile on her face. He wanted her to go on an adventure with him.
‘I very rarely get to go to the seaside. And you said I should do things I want more. Humour me?’
‘You could try coming in summer? Although even then it’s fairly cold.’
‘I think I’d like that. I can’t believe I’ve never been here in the summer.’
Ashleigh just smiled down at him and stuffed her hands in her pockets. ‘I guess you’d need to get the time off work.’
‘I wouldn’t need this long though. It really doesn’t take a very long time to get here. I could come to visit for weekends…’ He trailed off as their eyes locked. Even though she was standing over him, looking down, she somehow felt closer than when she’d had her arm linked through his, with the thought of his visiting and seeing her more often at the forefront of his mind. Imagining standing on this beach with her in the sunshine, a blue sky behind her as bright as her eyes. Did she get tanned in the summer or stay pale? How could he not know? It felt like a crime that he’d known her this long and yet he didn’t know summertime Ashleigh.
He cleared his throat, realising they were staring at each other and refocused his gaze on his feet, resuming the removal of his shoes. When he got to his socks, she came down and sat beside him.
‘Let’s do this then,’ she said, and started unpicking the laces on her boots.
They were giggling before they even got down to the water, the stones cold and gritty beneath their feet. The water rushed in, darkening the pebbles and they stood at the edge.
‘Go on then,’ she egged him on. ‘This was your idea.’
He turned and held his hand out to her. ‘Come on, Ashleigh, don’t chicken out now.’
She looked at his hand and then reached out and took it. His heart leapt in his chest at the feel of her slim fingers in his. Just like inside the aquarium. It was like having a jolt of caffeine injected straight into his chest whenever her skin touched his. He tightened his grip and tugged her gently. She came towards him easily and then the sea rushed in behind him, kissing his bare ankles.
He jumped at the shock and reflexively pulled her towards him. She fell forward against his chest, shrieking as the cold water rushed up over their feet, to their ankles. They both gasped and laughed, jumping out of the water, tugging the other back in as they tried to escape.
‘Ew, ew, seaweed.’ She unpeeled it from her toes. ‘Think it’s funny,’ she said in a deadly voice as he bent over laughing. And then something wet and slimy hit him in the face.
‘Argh.’ He pulled it away and shook it off his fingertips, but it clung to him stubbornly. He chased after her with it, as the wind stole her peals of laughter until a bigger wave than either of them was expecting crashed down and soaked them both up to the knees.
‘Crap.’ Ashleigh pulled at her jeans. ‘I think we should probably stop there if we don’t want to get hypothermia.’
‘W-w-hat d-d-you m-m-mean? It’s w-warm,’ he said through chattering teeth.
‘Yeah, must be all that salt.’ She shook her head and clambered back up the beach to where they’d left their drinks. They both sat down on the pebbles, shivering, their cheeks glowing from smiling and the cold. ‘Christ. We’ve both gone blue.’
He pulled his scarf off and leaned forward to rub at her wet feet. ‘It was fun though, wasn’t it?’
‘Crazy, but yes, fun.’
Once they’d both towelled off their feet, they pulled their socks and shoes back on and drunk their teas, which were now tepid. ‘I’ll treat you to chips, as it was my crazy idea.’
‘Least you can do.’
They shared an open bag as they walked along the beach, towards West Street. It was a long walk but moving helped to get the blood flowing again.
‘So, have you got that final bit of inspiration? For your chocolate display?’ she asked, as they pulled the last chips, soggy from vinegar from the bottom of the paper cone that was going see-through from grease.
