Page 16 of Hot Stuff

“And I felt something. Like… something inside me came to life.”

“That’s called getting an erection, man. Physical attraction and lust can fuck you up. It’s been a minute since you’ve gone out and got you some.”

“It’s not that. I mean, it was, but no. Abel, I didn’t even see her face. All I saw was the back of her sitting on the sand while painting shit.”

“Rocks,” he corrected, and I frowned. “She paints rocks.” I’d guessed that, but she’d confirmed it when she told me about how she liked to paint them and drop them off at random places. I had the proof of her hobby in my pocket. With my free hand I reached in and took out the small flat rock and looked at the word she’d painted. Believe.

“Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “Then I saw a shooting star...”

“What?”

“I know I sound like a fucking crazy person, but?—"

“There has been crazier shit said before,” he mumbled. “I get what you’re saying. You saw her and suddenly, everything made sense, right? All while up being down and down being up.”

“Right.” How did he know? I didn’t get an opportunity to ask before he kept talking.

“Despite the fact you’re way too fucking old for her and have to leave town and we’re both messed up like hell?—”

“We?” I cut him off. “Wait, you sound like a guy who’s talking from experience.”

“Man, if I told you, you wouldn’t believe it.”

“Is it… is it Karol?”

“Nope, but small towns mean we’re all fucking connected.”

“How’s that?” I asked.

“Her sister,” he shared, and I blinked. What the hell? What were the chances my best friend would be interested in the girl who had put a spell on me’s sister?

“Wanna talk about it?” I asked, and he chuckled.

“Not right now,” he sighed. “Look, I’m just saying, sleep on it. Don’t go making any rash promises. At the end of the day, you’re leaving soon and trying to figure out your own shit. I mean… she’s a nice girl, but you think it could be a forever, and if it was, do you think she’s going to follow you around while you figure out whatever your calling is?”

“Maybe I don’t need one.” I shrugged, and I knew he would call me out before he did it.

“Maybe you’re just trying to convince yourself of that,” he pointed out. “You know you could always move here, and I’d have a job ready for you, even though we both know neither of us needs a gig. We just aren’t good sitting on our asses. It’s all good and well for some R&R when we were between missions and shit, but civilian life is different.”

“You’re right.”

“I’ll talk to you soon. We should get together. Grab a beer and go to town, watch a game.”

“A game?”

“Baseball. There’s a minor league team in town. Poppy Seahorses. The stadium is small, but the food's fucking fantastic, and the beer’s cheap.”

“Sounds good to me. We will set it up.”

“Good,” he muttered and then sighed. “You know I wasn’t being a Debbie Downer on ya, right? I’m happy you met someone you connected with, and if it was any other circumstances, I wouldn’t be telling you to take it easy… It’s just… the Rivas girls are good girls. They’ve been through a lot.”

“You mean her sister’s accident?” I asked.

“You two really have gotten to know one another. I thought you just got into town a couple of days ago?”

“I’m telling you, Abe, this thing with Kare Bear, it’s nothing like I’ve felt before. She’s…” I paused because there wasn’t a right enough word to describe how great she was. How fucking perfect.

“Okay, Cassanova, breathe.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “She’s great, I get it. Just don’t get in over your head. Be smart.”

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