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“Why should I trust you?” I ask. “This could be some scheme to lure me to, like, your bat-cave or something.”
Eric leans closer to me, cupping my cheek with his hand. “Don’t say things like that. What we feel is pure. It’s real. And it certainly isn’t laced with evil intentions.”
I pull my bottom lip, fear pumping in my heart. “Then why can you find me? Why can you hear my call?”
“We don’t know, but we’ll help you find out,” Kai says. “You want answers, let’s go get them.”
Crew raises an eyebrow. “You mean once the boat is fixed, and once the sponsor makes a decision?”
“What happened to your boat?” I ask.
“The storm today fucked it up,” Crew says. “We brought it in to see if the damages can be repaired.”
“And your sponsor, they’re not happy?” I frown. “That doesn’t seem fair—it’s not your fault you were caught in a freak storm.”
“Well,” West smirks. “We are pretty far off course from where they expected us to be. Which means they’re pissed.”
I run a hand through my hair. “Why were you off course? I thought you were some elite racing team?”
“We are,” Kai is quick to say. “But we were also following... something.”
I narrow my eyes. “Some force was at work to get you off track, is that what you’re saying?”
The guys nod. West reaches across the table, taking one of my hands in his. “We know it sounds crazy, but we couldn’t help it. Our boat was determined to go a different direction and we let it.”
My lips are suddenly dry, my throat parched. “And it led you to me.”
They nod. “I know it sounds intense,” Eric says softly. “But Harlow, --what we feel for you, is intense.”
I drop my shoulders. “And what am I supposed to do with that?”
Kai’s eyes meet mine, and my body tingles when he looks at me. “Let’s find out if you feel the same way about us as we do for you.”
I laugh awkwardly. “How are we going to do that? It sounds like a lot of pressure.”
“It doesn’t have to be high pressure. You could show us your town,” Crew says. “You already introduced us to your friends.”
“Yeah, sounds fun,” I groan. “But I have to work tonight. I’m taking a group out on a sunset cruise.”
“When?” Eric asks.
I look at the clock on the wall. “In about forty-five minutes.”
“Can we get a shaved ice and walk you to work?” West asks. His smile is infectious.
There’s no way in hell I could resist that grin. So, I don’t.
14
Harlow
Walking with the guys down the strip makes me a little self-conscious. People here know me. This is where I was raised--though not born, obviously--and the island isn’t that big. I pass Carlos, one of my dad’s oldest friends, at the hot dog stand and I wave, knowing he’s making a mental note to ask my parents who I’m out with.
And when we stop for the icees, Sandy, a girl I had a class with at the community college with last semester, scoops up our ice into cones, dousing them with fruit syrup, I know she’s biting her tongue. Which I’m grateful for--I don’t want to field anyone’s questions right now.
“These guys are just coming through town,” I tell her, to ward off any rumors. “I met them on the beach.”
“Sounds fun,” she says as she swipes Kai’s debit card. “If you guys are bored later, there’s a bonfire on the south beach.”
The guys don’t pay her any attention though. Instead, they grab napkins for me, ask if I want anything else, and smile adoringly as I answer for us. “Thanks, but I have to work tonight,” I tell her.
The guys just wave, making it clear they only have eyes for me.
It’s exciting, this attention. My shoulders lift as I walk with them, and I recognize the feeling is pride. It feels good to be in their company.
“You look so pretty in that dress,” Eric says, taking my hand in his as we walk.
“Really?” I look down at the pattern of the fabric. It’s geometric and feels a little busy. “I wore it to cover my legs. They’re still, um...”
“Sparkling?” Crew asks with a light in his eyes.
“Pretty much.” I smile, feeling lighter than I have in so long. With these guys, it’s like there is no reason to pretend to be some outgoing person. I can just be myself.
“You look so happy, Harlow,” Kai says. “I’m usually in a bad mood when I have to go to work.”
West cracks up as we cross an intersection. “Right, since you know so much about a hard day on the job.”
We laugh at this, from what the guys tell me, Kai has a trust fund and an angry father who wants him back in law school. Crew grew up in an urban city, with a single mom, and Eric is from the Midwest, a Kansas City sweetheart.
