“Yes.” She beams at me. “It’s been a long time since I was able to sit and read.”
“And you finished.”
“Yes.”
“It’s only lunch time.”
She laughs softly. “I’m a fast reader.”
“Understatement.” I take a bite of the turkey and cheese, my stomach growling as I do. Since I wanted to get an early start, I skipped breakfast, opting for coffee only when Anastasia woke and brought me some.
The more distance we put between Stormwatch Landing and us, the safer she is.
“What was the book about?” I ask, curiously. Since I’m not a big reader myself, I have absolutely no clue what books are popular right now.
“Do you really want to hear?” she asks.
I glance over at her. “If you’ll share.”
“Of course. I just—you’re the first ‘friend’ I’ve had who cares enough to ask.”
I grin. “I’m one of a kind, baby.”
“Isn’t that the truth?” she replies.
Our gazes hold a moment. Has she always been this beautiful? Of course, I know the answer: Yes. Anastasia is the kind of beauty that knocks the breath from your lungs. Because her beauty also radiates from the love she carries in her heart. It’s far deeper than the surface.
I love you. I long to say it. How am I supposed to keep it to myself?
She looks away. “It’s a romance. Super sappy, absolutely adorable. Guy falls for girl, breaks girl’s heart, then fixes it.”
“Sounds dramatic.”
She laughs. “It is, but I like it.”
“Why?” The question isn’t meant to offend, I’m just genuinely curious. Thankfully, Anastasia doesn’t seem to take it as anything more than the inquiry it is.
“Honestly, I love the fall. You know, that moment when two people realize they’re absolutely perfect for each other?”
“It’s a feeling I know quite well.”
She smiles. “Well, in books, they don’t have to pause their relationship because a crazed psycho is after them. At least not in the one I finished this morning.” Her smile falls just a bit, and we’re left with only the muted sounds of the boat to keep us company.
I can’t help but love being out here on the water. It’s a wide-open canvas of blue, glittering beneath the bright sunlight. And while the circumstances certainly aren’t great, the company is absolutely perfect.
“Tell me something about you that I don’t know,” Anastasia says.
“I think you know most of it now.”
“Well, take a minute, and think on it. There has to be something I don’t know.”
I consider her question while running through my life. There’s plenty she doesn’t know, little things here and there that I’ve done. But I don’t think she actually cares about the time I tripped in the seventh grade because Tracy Walkins was grinning at me and I didn’t see the curb.
“I only started running because I wanted to be able to outrun the bullies.”
Anastasia’s gaze widens. “You were bullied?”
I laugh. “I wasn’t always this exemplary paragon of a man.”
