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“So, you work for Arrow. But I noticed boxes stacked in the second bedroom. And it looked like a postage machine on the table. Do you run your side business from home?”
He tilts his head, then switches sides, positioning me on his left. “Say that again.”
I repeat the question.
“Mostly we ship through a fulfillment location, but some items I fulfill. Until the volume warrants me outsourcing shipping. Part of the side business hustle.”
“I get it. I have a side business too.”
“You do?”
“Don’t look so surprised.” I playfully push his arm, which is a bad idea because the burst of energy from touching his skin sets butterflies loose in my belly. He just grins and I shove my hand into my shorts pocket. “An Etsy shop. It was easiest to set it up that way. Jewelry.”
“Oh, what’re you doing while you’re out of town?”
“Actually, I, ah… with Etsy, you can set yourself on vacation. Halting orders kind of thing. Before I turned off my phone, I logged in and set it on vacation mode. It’s more of something I do when I have the time, anyway. But I’m building up a pretty good following.”
“What kind of jewelry do you make?”
“Well, like this.” I finger my necklace. The beads form the image of the heart chakra.
“That’s really cool.” The pad of his thumb runs over the beads, and I wonder if he can feel my heart pitter-pattering away. He swallows, and my breath catches when his gaze focuses on me.
We continue walking until we reach the end of the pier on the promenade. The temperature over the ocean is noticeably cooler. The long, broad pier holds restaurants and shops. There are surfers working waves perilously close to the pilings, but out here, we’re far beyond them. Which is a good thing because I don’t like watching people risk their lives needlessly. There are miles of ocean nowhere near a barnacle clad pier.
“One day,” Knox says, his tone deep and wishful, “I’d like to do more with woodworking. Maybe I’ll get good enough you can help me sell some stuff on Etsy.”
“Absolutely,” I tell him. “I’ll help in any way I can.” That should be obvious. I showed up out of nowhere and am camping out in his apartment, taking up half his bed.
“I figured you would. You’re good like that. Always have been.” I’m not sure how he can say that. Given our age difference, we didn’t hang out like friends.
“Do you still keep in touch with anyone from Rocky Mount?”
“Not really, no, I don’t.” He scratches the side of his neck thoughtfully. “I think if I had my social media accounts, I probably would’ve. But we tend to cut those in our line of work.”
“And I guess high school was a long time ago.”
He grips the railing, looking out over the white-capped ocean, breathing in the crisp, salty wind. “That, it was.”
“I still remember your senior prom.”
He cocks his head with a questioning smirk. “What, exactly, do you remember?”
“Well, I wasn’t there, obviously. But I remember you dropping off Sam at about six or seven in the morning. He got out of the car still in his tux, but his shirt was undone at the collar with one of his shirt tails hanging out, and he was barefoot, carrying his dress shoes.” Knox grins wide again, perhaps remembering. “I always imagined you guys partied all night and that you must’ve had the absolute best time.”
“That was a pretty wild night.” He leans against the railing. “Good times.”
“And Caroline…she was your date, right?”
He nods slowly, as if he’s digging into the recesses of his memory bank. “Yes, she was.”
God, I’d been so jealous. I’d really wanted that experience, too, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“What about you?” I glance sideways, hoping he’s not about to ask me about my nonexistent prom experience. “Who took you to prom?”
I’d planned to go. Bought a dress. But I spiked a fever a couple of days before and, given the gym would be packed, didn’t go. “It was…” Inadvisable. The word from some adult at the time pops in my head. “Not in the cards.” I force a smile. It’s fine. I’d been hugely disappointed, but it was a really long time ago.
“How was college? Did you make up for lost time?”
