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“No, it was good, thanks. I needed to hear that.”
I sat up and she followed me. I gave her a hug.
“If all else fails, I will help you come up with a new identity and you can flee to a fabulous foreign country and be someone else,” I said.
“Now, that idea I like. I can have a tragic backstory that I tell. With just enough tragedy and mystery that I’m irresistible.” She struck a pose with one hand on her head.
“See? You’ve got a backup plan,” I said.
* * *
I wokewith jitters on the morning of my beach day with Esme and I couldn’t figure out why. It wasn’t like this was a real date, in any sense of the word. Right? I would have known if it was a date. I mean, I’d planned the whole thing. This was my idea.
I checked myself in the mirror dozens of times before I said goodbye to Potato and grabbed my beach bag that had a towel, snacks, water, my portable phone charger, sunblock, and a bunch of other things in it.
I got out of my car and searched around for Esme in the packed lot. Not a single cloud dotted the sky, and it was due to hit nearly eighty degrees, which drove everyone out of their un-air-conditioned homes to find a bit of relief with the sea breeze and cool water.
Esme drove a rusty blue truck and I quickly found it in the lot. She got out and glanced around before spotting me and waving. I walked toward her on wobbly legs, only stumbling once, which was all I could really hope for.
“Thanks for thinking of this, I am in dire need of sand and sun,” she said, smiling at me from under a massive black hat. Her sunglasses were black. Her one-piece suit was cut to like it came from the 1950s, and she’d covered it with a translucent black robe. Even her sandals were black. She looked so sexy, I couldn’t even swallow.
“You ready?” she asked, after I was rendered speechless by her presence.
I unstuck my throat. “Yeah, I’m good. Let’s go.”
She put her tote bag on her shoulder and I realized it was one of the reusable canvas bags from her dad’s store. Cute. It made her look less like a goth heiress. We paid at the ticket booth and walked down the wooden ramp toward the sand. Since we’d come relatively early, the sand wasn’t completely covered by towels and other people.
“Where should we go?” she asked, looking left and right.
“Doesn’t matter to me. I’m not picky.” I was still too fluttery to function.
Esme walked toward the right side of the beach and I followed along behind her, trying not to fall in the sand as I tried to keep up.
“What do you think?” We’d had to go pretty far to find a clear area. I never liked to sit too close to anyone else. I liked my space.
“Looks good to me.” There was at least a ten-foot radius in every direction. That was just about as good as it was going to get.
We set our things down and spread out towels. Esme’s was black with little stars all over it. Mine had a picture of Potato on it. Linley had gotten it for me a few birthdays ago.
“I wish I brought a beach chair, but I haven’t had one in years,” she said, smoothing out the sand under her towel.
“Oh, sorry. I have two. I should have brought them.” Shit. Why didn’t I put them in the car? I hoped I hadn’t ruined beach day already.
Esme touched my arm. “No, it’s fine. Relax.” The place she’d touched tingled even after she’d removed her hand and went back to fixing her towel. I did the same as she pulled her robe off, took off her hat, and beamed at me. There was so much skin to look at. So many horny thoughts in my head.
I didn’t think I’d be doing much relaxing today.
The wind blew Esme’s hair toward me, and it brushed against my arm. She twisted the strands together and put it behind her back before laying down and tilting her face up to the sun.
Whenever I went to the beach, I could never just lay there. Either I was listening to a podcast, or an audiobook, or reading something.
I tried copying her and closed my eyes for a few minutes, but then I heard Esme sit up probably less than a minute later. I opened my eyes.
She looked down at me. “Okay, so, I’m not really good at sitting still? I mean, I can watch a movie or read a book, but just sitting here is not working for me. Do you want to take a walk?”
It was as if she’d read my mind.
We got up and made our way down to where the water met the sand. The tide was coming in, so we didn’t have to walk far to reach it. Esme stopped just out of reach of the waves.
