Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 107673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
My love only nodded. Maybe his chest swelled with pride from the win.
“The high score was low. It wasn’t hard,” he said, downplaying his achievement. I fought my grin. My strong competitor.
“So how are you with everything?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but not bad,” he said, his fingers now held his attention as he fiddled with them. “I’ve been a private person for a long time, but I’m pullin’ out of it.”
If I interpreted his look accurately—his gaze said what Beau never did—I was his reason. Too bad Chae was there, or I’d jump in the backseat and make out with him for the next five hours with all the love and hope I saw in his eyes.
“So you have money?” she asked me.
“Yeah, I guess.” I hedged, worried about her direction. I didn’t have enough to save Sea Springs from financial ruin…
“There’s a new Chili’s in town. Wanna take me and Beau?” she waggled her brows, talking as if Beau and her were in on the secret. “They stay open until two so we have hours until they close.”
Okay, that sounded fun. It’d mess with my make-out time, but we’d be out in the world with Chae as our buffer.
“You in,” I asked Beau.
“Yeah, let me text my mom,” he said, reaching in his back pocket for his phone. “To see if I can stay out longer.”
“I’m in too.” I sat straight in my seat and started the ignition.
The small circle of people who knew about Beau had grown by one. A step in the right direction by my estimation.
In that minute, life was as right as rain as it could get. I walked along a path at Mud River’s edge, trying to balance myself along the rough terrain. Dash walked step by step behind me, complaining nonstop about every second of the trek we made. My guy was a city boy through and through.
“I’m carryin’ all the gear. Just walk in my steps, or stay here, I’ll come carry you on my back…”
“Ha. You’re so funny. Why do we have to come out here to fish? I don’t think I even like fishing. It seems really boring,” Dash complained irritably.
“Stop,” I said, and did that very thing, glaring at him over my shoulder. He came to a sudden halt too. His foot slipping off the rock I stood on, landing straight into the river. “It’s the opposite of boring.”
“I got my foot wet. How long is it gonna take to dry?” His frustrated gaze bounced between the shoe and my face then back down at the shoe again. His index finger pointed me in that direction.
My laughter rang loud. “Fishin’ isn’t boring. It’s one of the things I wanna do when I grow up.” Wet shoes were just part of the fun. I started forward again. We had about twenty feet to go to reach my secret fishing hole. “Fishin’s relaxin’ in a way I can’t explain. The most relaxed I’ve ever been.”
“I bet I could come up with a thing or two more relaxing,” he quipped, and I completely ignored him.
“A person unplugs around the water. It’s quiet and peaceful. No judgment or anger, just calm. When a fish takes your bait, you’re launched into immediate exhilaration as you try to hook the fish and reel it in without it getting away. I love everything about it. I wanna get some money saved then come back down here and figure out how to start a charter service. Well, I guess maybe not down here now,” I said, teasing Dash about the resort. “Somewhere that still has mom and pops.”
At the end of the rocks, I leaped to a patch of dirt, mixed with sand. My quiet place.
“I wanna be a UPS driver until I save enough money to buy a deep-sea boat. Ever heard of anyone wantin’ to do that for a livin’?”
I set the tackle box down and the poles against it. By the time I turned, Dash had gone past me toward the short, abandoned boat dock, with a row-style canoe tied to the end. “Does that work?”
“Work like rows itself? No. Floats? Seems like it.”
I believe he saw the humor in my answer, but instead of a silly reply in return, Dash gave his charming, maybe edged with hints of wickedness, smile. Oh man, that smile sent my toes curling.
“To answer your question, no, I’ve never heard of anyone ever wanting to be a delivery driver.”
“You’re not hangin’ out with a good crowd then,” I said, sauntering over to him.
“I’m not?”
“Nope. Doesn’t seem like it. In my world, that’s a great job. UPS is union.” He immediately shook his head.
“The world might swallow my father up whole if he heard your excitement.” Dash slung the backpack over his shoulder. He had a way of easily unzipping it without placing it on the ground, probably because he used it so much. As expected, he pulled out a towel that he called a blanket and a packet of bug repellent wipes. Two water bottles had to be in there. He always toted them around, but we never drank from them. “Wanna try the boat first?”