Page 65 of Catch and Release

“Immediately, yes. I’m so into this plan. Sending our RSVP now.”

Willa quickly sent an email to the contact listed letting them know she’d be coming with a guest, then texted Shawn.

Just RSVP’d yes. Can’t wait for this nonsense.

He responded almost immediately.

Don’t let them hear you call it nonsense, either.

“Alright, I found perfect flights. Gonna book these and I’ll send you the details later. This means I get to see you in a month!”

“Can’t wait,” Willa said, then in an exaggerated British accent, she added, “Bring your finest gown.”

“But of course, darling,” Charlie responded in kind.

19

How soon was too soon to text Willa for another hookup?

It took everything in Shawn not to text her immediately when he got home from the chartered fishing trip he took a group of tourists on yesterday. But he didn’t want to seem overly eager, and he’d already told her he wouldn’t be back in time to fish off the wharf like they usually did.

By Sunday morning, he was already counting down the seconds until the sunset so he could go to her place and see her. And those seconds ticked by agonizingly slowly.

Grams didn’t typically go on her walk on Sundays, opting instead to go to church, so Shawn knew there was little chance of Willa coming over. He tried to keep himself busy.

He’d already been kicked out of the kitchen by Grams for hovering. He went to the bait shop to check in, but things were always slow on Sundays and the kid who was working today seemed a little confused about why Shawn was there. So he came back home, cleaned his room and bathroom, mowed the lawn, read a few chapters of the book sitting on his desk, and checked on all his crab traps.

All the while, he tried not to check his phone every few minutes to see if she texted him back. Each time he pulled up their thread, all he saw was the text he’d sent her yesterday after she texted him to see if the Bingo Ball was real. She’d left him on read, so he knew she saw it.

After Willa told him she’d be going to the Bingo Ball, Shawn asked Grams if he could go with her.

“You usually hate things like that,” Grams said. “Last year, you told me you’d rather let crabs eat you alive than be my date to a Black tie event where all the old ladies would try to set you up with their granddaughters.”

Most days, Shawn was grateful for Grams’ memory. Unlike most people her age, she was still sharp as a tack. She still told stories about the early days of dating his grandfather with the same charm and wit as she did when he was a child, and he knew that wouldn’t last forever. He knew eventually her age would catch up with her, and she’d start forgetting little details she typically remembered.

Most days, Shawn was grateful. Today, he wasn’t.

“You’re right,” he responded, turning his back to her so she wouldn’t see that he was messing with her. “Maybe I shouldn’t go.”

“Now, wait a second,” Grams said. “I never said that. I was just wondering?—”

“How about this, Grams?” Shawn grinned, turning back around. “I go with you as your date to the Bingo Ball, and you don’t ask any follow up questions.”

“Hmmm.”

Figuring he’d won this round, Shawn started heading back to his room.

“You’ll wear a tux?” Grams asked.

Shawn turned around and gave her a curt nod, then left before she could ask any other questions.

He was a goner. That much was sure. He hated dressing up. Anything more than his swim trunks and a t-shirt was outside of his regular dress. Shorts and a button-up were often pushing it for him, but a tux? He’d never worn one and didn’t have a particular desire to start now.

Except Willa.

She’d be there, and he wanted to be where she was. Even if he had to wear something that was bound to make him look like an idiot. Even if his agreeing to go made Grams suspicious.

It wasn’t just Willa’s beauty or the way she tasted—and fuck, she tasted so good. It was her—how she was so at one with the water, how she knew this bay almost as well as he did, how fierce she was, a spitfire. She was fearless, but emotional. She was strong, but vulnerable. She was powerful, but soft. She was walking contradictions that he wanted to know better.

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