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We’re both silent once more as my mind drifts, and I find myself thinking about that day on the beach again. Before she officially came into my life. Only now I’m seeing it in a new light, because I know what she was thinking about. How much she was hurting. I still can’t imagine how she’s coping with all the things life is throwing at her but—
“Logan.” Dani giggles, breaking me from my thoughts. “Where are you?”
“Huh?” My eyes flash to hers to find her looking up at me with an amused expression.
“It’s like you were asleep and dreaming, but your eyes were open.”
I cringe. “That can’t have been attractive.”
“It’s okay; I’ve never found you attractive,” she says with a blank expression.
I throw my wet towel at her face and laugh when she squeals. “You deserved that for your lies.”
Dani nibbles on her lip, unsuccessfully trying to bite back a smile, and I know I’m right. She’s definitely attracted to me. She may have been able to hide her past and her pain, but that’s not something she’s kept secret.
“What were you thinking about?” she asks again, obviously not going to drop it.
“You,” I say honestly. “More specifically, the last time we were here.”
“You pulled me out of a deep funk that day, and I never really got to thank you. But I didn’t expect to ever see you again.”
“Ouch.” I flinch like she’s physically attacked me, and she laughs.
“For reasons we discussed earlier. I’d come here to work through my thoughts of Eric and never expected to find someone. Especially you.”
“You pulled me out of something too. Well, you and the surf."
“Yes, that will always be your first love.”
“Maybe not always,” I say seriously, even though I’ve never really contemplated falling in love before.
Not that I’m contemplating it now. But—
“Maybe one day you can teach me how to surf?” Dani says, cutting off my thoughts.
Sitting up, I raise an eyebrow as I scan her face for signs that she’s joking. “You better not be messing with me right now, because I think I just fell in love with you.”What was I just saying about love?
“Shut up,” she says, playfully shoving my shoulder, making me fall back down to the sand. “And I’m serious.”
“Then I would love nothing more,” I say, unable to hide my grin.
Chapter Sixteen
Dani
Aftertossingandturningall night, I drag myself out of bed early Monday morning. Logan and I packed up shortly after I asked him to teach me to surf yesterday, so I could still spend the afternoon with Liam. But before we parted ways, he somehow managed to convince me to have the surfing lesson today. On my day off. “Nothing like the present,” he’d said and he had a point. But I’ve been a nervous wreck since I got home, and I don’t think it has anything to do with the water.
Thankfully, I suggested we meet there instead of going together, giving me time to think things through, even if I’m not entirely sure what those things are.
I’ve been living on the divide of wondering if I’m ready to move on or not, and after talking to Logan yesterday, I think I want to take that step. Even if it’s not with him, I finally feel like I need to firmly place myself in one camp. And that scares the hell out of me.
I still don’t trust my feelings for Logan, or his for me if I’m really being honest. But for the first time in what feels like forever, I want to put myself out there and see what happens. To take a chance. To risk my heart. Because the alternative is to live in this torturous limbo. And I don’t want that.
But then I get these moments of dread. These seconds where my stomach fills with unwelcome butterflies, the kind that cause unnecessary anxiety. Because what if I take that step and it backfires, leaving me worse off than I already am?
Opening my music app, I hit play on my favorite playlist and lose myself in the music as I get ready for my day. As I’m walking to my car, Logan messages me, and when I open it, my heart soars.
Logan: Thought we could share the tunes even if we can’t share the ride
