I bend down and unclasp the latch to my heels, slipping them off and then dipping my bare feet into the cool sand. I shiver as the wind picks up, blowing my hair astray and getting goosebumps across my skin. It’s even colder down along the waves than on the balcony.
“Here,” Prince Charming says, stripping off his royal tunic and wrapping the extra-large jacket over my shoulders.
“Thanks,” I say with a small blush, pulling the jacket tight against me. “But what about you?” I ask.
“Don’t worry about me. Plus, I should have realized it would be colder down here.”
The waves crash along the shore, providing a soothing backdrop.
I smile down at my bare toes as we stroll step-by-step.
“I want to know everything about you,” he exclaims.
“Everything? That sounds like a lot.” My hands are shaky, and there’s a knot in my stomach.
“How about a game of twenty questions?”
“Twenty? How about ten?” I offer instead. “And I get to ask ten questions of you as well.”
“I’ll take it,” he says with a grin.
He taps his finger to his chin, and after a minute, he asks, “So, you are a student at Bristol Bay?”
“Yes,” I chuckle. “That’s your first question. We met in a Bristol Bay student chat, and we—”are in the same class.I’m about to say it, but cut myself off before I realize my mistake. I know who he is, but he has no idea that I’m snack bar girl or the loner girl in the back of his biology class. I’m nothing like the girls I often find him with. “And we chat all the time about school stuff.”
When I say school stuff, I kind of mean hockey and our love of the game. I didn’t realize thathewas a hockey player himself, as I figured we were both just rabid fans. I’m kindof embarrassed now about some of the things I’ve said to him before.
“I can’t believe you wasted your first question on that!”
“I was just checking! Plus, I have nine more!” he protests.
“Okay, make it a good one then.”
“Will do.” He pauses and then asks, “Were you disappointed when you found out it was me? You know as SoloSurfer?”
I take a minute to think about it and then answer honestly. “No, I wasn’t.”
“Oh.” His eyes perk up. “You clearly knew who I was. Have we met before?”
“Yes.”
“And I was a jerk to you.” It comes out more as a statement than a question.
I mull over this question.HasDallas Dawes ever been a jerk to me? Some of his other teammates and friends have, for sure, but Dallas has never been cruel.
“No.” I pause, drawing my toe in the sand. “We haven’t interacted much.”
That’s the truth. I’ve just crushed on him from afar, like every other student at Bristol Bay University, and probably others, too.
“Okay.” He nods. “Good.”
“Have you ever been a jerk to anyone?” I ask my first question.
“I’d like to think I haven’t, but you never know.” We are quiet for a moment, and then he speaks again. “Okay. Next Question. If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?”
“Hm.” I tap my chin. “Probably a burger and fries. How about you?”
“Probably the same. Add some bacon and all the toppings on there, too.”
