Page 82 of Catch and Release

“Sorry, Charlie,” she said, wiping her eyes. “I doubt Shawn wants to let you touch his abs. He barely knows you.”

Charlie looked at Willa with narrowed eyes, then back to Shawn.

“Look, I don’t bite, I promise,” Charlie said. “And I won’t put the moves on you, either. I know you two are fucking. I just want to feel them. For research.”

“Research?” Shawn asked skeptically.

Charlie nodded solemnly. “I have a lot of sex. I see a lot of abs. I want to feel how yours compare to the others.”

Shawn looked at Willa, who shrugged as if to say, Up to you.

“Are you always like this?” Shawn asked.

“If you mean charmingly bold, then yes. Now lift your shirt back up.”

Shawn did as she asked, and she ran fingers along his abs. He didn’t love the way it felt; he’d rather it have been Willa caressing his abdomen, like she did most nights. But he didn’t mind it, either. He knew Charlie was harmless, and she obviously cared for Willa a great deal.

Charlie turned around suddenly and looked at Willa.

“You were right,” she said. “I’m impressed. Nicest abs I’ve ever touched. Kudos to you, my friend.”

She turned back to Shawn and gave him a wink.

“Thanks…?” Shawn’s voice trailed off.

“You’re welcome. Now, aren’t we supposed to be fishing or something?”

Willa rolled her eyes. “We are fishing, Charlie.”

She pointed to the fishing rods nestled in the holders at the edge of the wharf. The sun had set about 30 minutes ago, and Shawn came over as always with a bucket of shrimp. Willa had let him know that Charlie would be in town for the Bingo Ball, but she hadn’t given many details on what they’d be doing or what Charlie was like.

Shawn had been entertained by their good-natured back-and-forth since he got here.

“Wow, fishing is easy,” Charlie responded as she sat down.

Willa shared a look with Shawn over Charlie’s head and shook her head, a bemused grin tugging at her lips.

“We haven’t caught anything yet, Charlie,” she said. “You’re scaring all the fish away with your loud, invasive questions.”

“Who, moi?” Charlie pressed a hand against her chest in over-exaggerated astonishment. “So, what? You guys just sit in silence for hours until you catch a fish?”

“We don’t sit in silence. We just talk quietly.”

Charlie pressed her lips in a thin line.

“The only time I’m even remotely quiet is during savasana and you know that, Willa.”

Shawn chuckled, and Willa grinned at him.

“I should’ve known it would end up this way,” Willa said. “You barely even gave the cast net a try.”

“That thing was heavy!” Charlie whined. “And it made me all sticky with salt water.”

“Charlie, you can hold a handstand for a minute. You expect me to believe you can’t pick up a cast net?”

“Easy for you to say. You’ve been throwing that thing since you were, like, in diapers or something.”

Willa sighed and sat down. Shawn leaned against the side of the wharf and eyed them. They had the rapport of two people who’d known each other through the trenches of life, and it made his heart ache. He really needed to call Tucker back. Go to dinner. See Hanna. He needed to get over himself and just tell them the reason he’d stopped coming around was because he felt lonely—lonelier when he was around their happiness.

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