Page 85 of At First Catch

I expect teasing.

Maybe deflection.

Hadley

The way you looked at me before.

Something in my chest physically tightens.

Because I know exactly what she means.

That moment right before I kissed her, when every ounce of restraint I had left was hanging by a thread.

The terrifying thing? I’d still been trying to hold back. Even then.

Me

Hadley.

Three dots appear. Disappear.

Hadley

Don’t make me say embarrassing things tonight.

I chew over her message from earlier again: I think I’m more scared of how much I already trust you.

The words hit differently now, sitting alone in the marina office while dusk settles across the docks.

Trust.

The thing I’ve spent most of my life struggling to believe in from anyone. And Hadley gave it to me anyway.

I close my eyes briefly. Somewhere along the way this stopped being casual. Stopped being just attraction.

I picture her laughing barefoot at Otter Creek Farms. Walking the docks beside me. Arguing over paint colors. Stealing fries. Leaving sticky notes. In every version of tomorrow, she’s already in it.

I sit very still because I don’t think that’s normal anymore.

Yet I picture Hadley laughing in Bailey’s bookstore. Standing barefoot at the farm with wind in her hair. Walking the marina docks beside me like she already belongs there.

My chest aches. I’m already in trouble.

By the time twilight begins settling over the marina, I’ve spent most of the afternoon pretending to work.

Outside the office windows, dock lights glow gold against the bay while distant laughter drifts from tourists wandering the boardwalk farther down Main Street.

I suddenly don’t want to sit in this office alone anymore.

I want Hadley on the docks beside me.

Hadley stealing fries at lunch.

Hadley looking at me like she did after I kissed her.

My phone buzzes again.

Hadley