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The words fall from her lips, much like the ones that fell so easily from mine earlier.
We both pause, the air charged between us. It’s as if time slows down, and damn, do I want to kiss her.
If I move a little closer…
“Mozzarella sticks?” The server interrupts, and the moment is gone.
ChapterThirteen
Chloe
As we walk along the shore, the cool Atlantic water rushing over our toes and our bellies full of delicious, greasy food, my heart feels lighter. My body is more relaxed. Dare I say I feel happier than I have in months?
And maybe it’s my company. Or the night we’re having. And the yummy food we devoured that I truly missed.
Could we actually be friends? Is it possible to ignore the attraction still lurking beneath the surface?
I don’t know, but I’m tired of thinking. I want to enjoy the present moment and not think about what it all means or what might happen in the future. Because we don’t know. So why worry about it?
The sky is gorgeous tonight. It’s full of pinks, oranges, and purple hues mixing with the clouds. The sun begins its descent, and I stop walking when we make it to the stone jetty, our usual place to sit.
“Want to climb up for old times’ sake?” Tyler asks. His face glows from the colors of the sunset. The longer pieces of hair on top of his head sway in the warm breeze, and I notice I like his hair longer. I picture running my fingers through it, tugging on it gently…
Desire coils hot and fast in my stomach, and I try to ignore it. Yet when Tyler holds his hand out to me as I nod to his question, I know I’m doomed if I take it.
I take it anyway.
His huge hand engulfs my hand as soon as I place mine in his. His skin is more calloused and his hand stronger than I remember.
All that working with his hands…
Dammit, Lo. Get out of your head already!
“I forgot how slippery these suckers are!” I giggle as Tyler helps me up, and when we finally make it to the top, we’re awarded a beautiful view with no one else in sight.
I drop his hand and move ahead of him, pretending nothing is awkward or weird about our hands just being entangled.
About halfway down before the jetty narrows to where we can’t walk any farther, I stop. Memories of all the time we spent up here last summer come rushing back.
“I forgot how pretty it is here,” Tyler says from behind me. I sit down, hanging my legs off the side, and he joins me.
I turn and give him a funny look. “You don’t come down here anymore?”
He glances at me but sets his eyes on the water. “No. Not since you left.”
The words hit me square in the chest, and it feels like I can’t breathe. I swallow hard and fix my eyes on the water instead of him. Anywhere but him.
Otherwise, I might just bust open and spill my emotional goo everywhere.
He hasn’t come back here?
Silence descends on us, and we sit there for a while, the minutes slipping by.
We watch as the sun sets over the horizon, the sky colors slowly darkening. The waves crash peacefully along the shore, the sound of the ocean soothing.
I steal glances at him and wonder what he’s thinking. It’s weird being here with him again. Hanging out, eating dinner together, and it’s been... easy.
I planned to avoid him at all costs, embarrassed with myself in hopes I could work up the courage to finally apologize. But the universe had other plans—also known as shitty car problems.
