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She waved her hand. “Oh, geez, please don’t feel bad. It was a million years ago and we were both totally different people. Besides, doesn’t everyone have at least one unrequited crush? It’s basically a rite of passage. Were you even a teenager if you didn’t listen to some R&B on repeat and cry in your dark bedroom?”
“I was an emo girl, but yes, I totally agree. If anyone has managed to sail through life without the agony of crushing on someone who doesn’t know they exist, they should appreciate the rare gift they’ve been given.”
Jesse appeared behind Astrid and kissed the side of her head, like he couldn’t stop himself. He dropped down onto the towel beside her. “You’re my rare gift,” he told her.
Astrid giggled.
Edwina swallowed hard, feeling somehow like she was intruding on an intimate moment, even though she’d been talking to Astrid first. It was like when Jesse and Astrid looked at each other, the entire world melted away.
After Astrid kissed him lightly on the lips, she put her hands on his chest and held him at bay. “Honey, have you ever had a crush on someone who didn’t feel the same way?” she asked him.
“Selena Gomez.”
“Have you met Selena Gomez?” Astrid asked.
Edwina imagined it wasn’t impossible, given he did play pro hockey. They might have been at some random event or party somewhere at the same time.
“Nope. That’s why she didn’t feel the same way. If she had met me it would have been totally different.” He grinned.
Astrid rolled her eyes, but she looked amused. “Okay, honey. I’m just glad that never happened then or we might not be together.”
“We’d be together. You’d just have to fight her for me.” He gave her another loud smacking kiss on her cheek, wrapping his arms fully around her chest and squeezing. “I believe in you.”
Astrid laughed. “That’s absurd and I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Sullivan was approaching their group with Licorice on his leash, but he paused and winced, looking at Edwina. Finn was wandering around the sand behind him. “Have you just been sitting here suffering through watching all their love fever?”
That was a great way to put it. They did look flushed and feverish with happiness. “Jesse just got here. So I’ve only been suffering for a minute or two.”
Astrid was leaning on Jesse’s shoulder but she did manage to turn away from her fiancé and face them. “Hey, Sullivan, question of the day. Have you ever had a crush on a woman who didn’t return those feelings?”
He looked taken aback and uncomfortable by the unexpected question.
As uncomfortable as Edwina suddenly felt. She shot Astrid a warning look. If she told Sullivan about her ancient crush, she wasnotgoing to be happy. None of that mattered at this point, not even for cute nostalgia’s sake.
“What kind of a random question is that?” Sullivan asked.
“A super random question,” Edwina said, fishing for a way to change the subject. When her mind remained blank and she started to panic, she decided to just stand up. “I’m going to take a swim.”
She could feel Sullivan’s eyes on her as she took a couple of steps toward the water. If he was going to watch her, she might as well look good. She straightened up, put her shoulders back, and added a little sway to her hips.
“Holy shit,” she heard him say under his breath.
It was because her bottoms showed a lot of skin. An extensive amount of skin. She was sure of it, because that was lust in his voice. Which she shouldn’t enjoy but did. He might have hooked up with half of Beaver Bend, on this very beach apparently, but her middle school crush thought she was hot. It made her feel absurdly triumphant. Enough so that she wanted to catch him in the act.
When she turned around quickly and gave him a questioning look, he visibly swallowed hard, immediately bringing his gaze up. He coughed into his hand.
“What?” he asked.
“Is something wrong?”
“No. I just kicked over the sunscreen, that’s all.” His foot snaked out and he knocked the still very much intact canister over with his toes.
That’s what she thought. Edwina adjusted the strings that sat high on her hips. “I see.”
She did.
