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I get what she means about the juice. It sprays on her bib and floods the plate.
And somehow, even wearing a ridiculous bib with lobster innards dripping down it, she’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.
CHAPTERTEN
NATALIE
Iroll over for what feels like the thousandth time. It’s shocking I haven’t fallen out of bed yet.
I can’t fall asleep. Can’t get comfortable and can’t get my mind to shut off. Finally admitting defeat, I climb out of bed—it’s not a far distance, I was close to falling—and pull on a sweatshirt before tiptoeing over to the door and into the hall.
Déjà vu churns in my stomach, warring with disappointment as I look at Liam’s closed door.
I descend the stairs silently, familiar enough with the cottage’s layout that I can fumble my way in the dark. I flip on the deck light and open the sliding door, same as I did the first night here.
The gust of salty air feels familiar and soothing. There’s a glimmer of moonlight that bathes everything in a silver, ethereal glow. The only sound is the crash of surf. Rather than linger on the deck, I walk down the stairs that lead right onto the empty beach.
Cool sand gathers between my toes as I head toward the water. A breeze blows straight in my face, sending my hair streaming behind me like a banner. I don’t stop until my toes hit the water. I glance down, the coral color I painted them on Thursday visible through the clear water.
I inhale deeply. There’s something about the scent of salty air. It coats my skin and fills my lungs, quieting the turmoil in my head. Each ebb and flow of the tide feels like it’s washing away anything and everything I’m worried about as I look out. There’s little to focus on, and that’s comforting.
“You shouldn’t be out here alone.”
The sound of his voice surprises and thrills me.
I turn, watching him approach with his hands in his pockets.
“I’m not. Now.”
He grunts an acknowledgment as he stops beside me, looking out at the ocean while I steal glances at him.
“Couldn’t sleep?” I ask.
Liam shakes his head, his gaze staying on the waves.
“Me neither.” Some reason—maybe how I was hoping he’d come out here—propels me to carry the conversation. “I’m not usually this much of an insomniac.”
“Yeah. I always wake up early but never this early.”
“Must be the ocean air.”
“I’m pretty sure it has more to do with you sleeping across the hall, actually.”
“Oh,” is the best response I can come up with.
Liam glances at me. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Just…dreading going home tomorrow.”
He sighs. “Yeah, me too.”
“What are you avoiding?”
“Football, mostly.”
“Don’t you have a few weeks still?”
“Officially, yeah. But I started preseason training months ago. You’ve got to work hard to get anywhere and work even harder once you do. And part of the reason Maeve and Weston—” He glances at me when he says Wes’s name. “Bothered me so much—aside from the obvious—was that I knew it meant there was a chance Cole could end up at Arlington. Maeve has talked about going there since we were kids. At the time, it sounded like the worst thing—Cole outshining me again. No chance I’d start on the same team as him. Not to mention treating him as a teammate instead of a rival. Now part of me thinks it would be an easy out.”
