Page 108 of Every Beautiful Mile

He rests his hand on the counter and gives Marlene a smile that even she can’t resist blushing at. His effect is universal.

“Two soft shells, please, and…” he turns to look at me, holding up two fingers. “Two beers?”

I nod.

He waits for the food while flirting relentlessly with Marlene as I walk around.

There’s a large screened-in porch with a yellow canvas roof that shoots out over the bay. People sit happily snapping tails and claws off lobsters and making a mess with corn on the cob while wearing silly bibs that say Pound It! in red loopy letters at brightly painted picnic tables.

The smells of butter, seafood, salt water, and fryer grease remind me of Key Largo and all my hours in the restaurant. The scene is as familiar as my own face. Only it isn’t. I’m on an island a world away from my own.

I ache as I think about how far away my real life is.

I walk toward the picnic table where Ethan is putting the tray down, and stop in front of a shelf of t-shirts. Pound It! is written in the same loopy letters as everything else and has a lobster holding a hammer. I smile. I think of Travis.

As fast as the thought comes, it’s gone. Without tears. Without guilt.

When I sit across from Ethan and tie on my own ridiculous paper bib, I grin.

“I feel so Maine right now.”

The spread of food is so simple yet completely novel. A whole lobster lays next to an ear of corn on the cob with a ramekin of melted butter on a big metal pan.

He holds his lobster up like a puppet and makes it dance.

“Let’s teach Nel how to eat a lobster.”

I never stop laughing as he walks me through the entire process.

I snap the tail off as he does, clean the meat like him, and dig through the claws and other secret spots of the body to get the rest out. The sweet and salty taste is ecstasy to my taste buds.

“Oh my God,” I groan between bites. “This is the best thing I’ve ever had in my mouth.”

I know the mistake I’ve made the instant I look at him. Elbows propped on the table, there’s a look in his eyes that could have melted the butter.

“Oh really, Nel? That you’ve ever had in your mouth?”

“Okay.” I hold my butter-covered hands up. “Don’t be so literal, Ethan. Or… intense. God, you’re like some kind of walking… walking… stick!” I stutter.

“A walking stick? Is that what you call it?” He drops his head back and laughs.

“No, that did not come out right. I don’t even know why I said that.” I huff out a flustered breath. “All I meant is, you are an attractive man, and women notice it. Hell, I’m sure you’ve had men notice it. And as if that’s not enough, you have this smolder that makes women say stupid things because it gets too hot to think straight when you get all smoldery and sexual. So put on some sunglasses or something. And maybe a Halloween mask. I want to enjoy a meal without getting third-degree burns from you.” I throw an empty claw at him.

“Ethan?” a female voice calls from over my shoulder. “Ethan Mills, it is you. Must be officially summer if you’re on the coast.” The voice giggles.

I turn to see a beautiful blonde in a sleeveless dress with shiny hair and clear porcelain skin that glows in the sun. Her perfect looks seem photoshopped.

“Hey Rachel, good to see you.” He stands up and gives her a hug. “Rachel, this is my friend, Nel.”

“Hi!” I wave my butter-covered fingers towards her perfectly manicured hand. “I would shake, but I’m probably contagious.” I laugh.

She doesn’t.

Ethan bites back a smile. Looking at Rachel look at Ethan, there’s an obvious look of longing on her face. Like she’s spent her entire life in the dark, and he’s the first rays of light she’s seen. She looks how I feel—something I’m not prepared for.

My eyes bounce from him to her as I ask, “So, Rachel, how do you know my friend Ethan here?”

She smiles as though she has a million secrets to share as Ethan shoots me a look with an unspoken stop talking that I fully ignore.

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