Page 43 of Caught Stealing

Andrew lowers his face closer to mine. He nuzzles my ear and whispers, “Playing with my friend.” And he tosses me back in the water again before I can appreciate the warmth of his breath on my face.

Only this time, I’ve got him tightly enough that he can’t escape and he goes down with me. The deep timbre of his laugh forces a feminine giggle from my lips. I try to escape, but he captures me and drags me closer to him in the water with his arm wrapped tightly around my waist. I couldn’t escape if I wanted to, but…I don’t want to. His warmth draws me nearer as the cold water tightens my muscles. We repeat this routine several times—I pretend to attempt escape and giggle and he drags me back into his warmth—until my teeth begin to chatter.

The sun has almost fully set behind the tree line on the other side of the parking lot, but there’s still a light orange and pink glow on the water. I’m not ready to go home yet, not when I’m having so much fun with Andrew, but he’s noted that I’m cold.

“We should get you warmed up.” He takes my hand and leads me from the water. Once on the sand, I tug him back.

“Wait, let’s watch the last of the sunset.”

“East coast sunsets aren’t all that great on this beach.” He furrows his brow and scoffs. “What am I saying? Who cares?”

He doesn’t continue arguing but wraps his arms around me from behind, keeping me warm as best as he can. Though it’s too personal for friends, he rests his chin on my head and sighs.

This is perfect.

“It’s beautiful,” he murmurs.

Tight in his arms, wrapped in coziness, I can’t think of anything better at the moment. I know all I have to do is tell him I’ve changed my mind, that I want to see how great this can be and he’ll sweep me right off my feet. But I’m too scared to say so. I’m still not ready to dive into it with my heart so bruised.

Once the beach is plunged into darkness except for the moon’s glow, Andrew rubs his hands up and down my arms, signaling it’s time to head home.

“Uh, where are our shoes?” He glances around and we realize at the same time that we’ve left them behind during our antics.

“Guess we better walk back and try to find them.” I run my hands through my salty, wet hair. I’m a mess, and I still don’t know how we’re getting home without ruining Koa’s car.

Andrew offers his hand again, and this time I take it. “All right, let’s hope they didn’t end up in the ocean.”

Chapter Seventeen

Charlotte

“I can’t believe we lost our shoes.” I hide my face as we walk barefoot back to the car.

“No offense, but I’m a little more concerned that I lost Koa’s keys. He’s going to kill me or throw me back into the ocean to find them.”

“I’m sorry. I started it all by throwing seaweed at you.” My cheeks warm as we trudge the last few feet to a vehicle we can’t move or even get into.

“We both got carried away. It’s not your fault. I should have been more careful, but I’m not sure what we’ll do now.” He stares down the road then back in the opposite direction. “I’m not crazy about walking without shoes.”

“I’m not crazy about walking at all. It’s creepy out here at night.” The breeze from the ocean is less relaxing now and borders on downright bone-chilling. We both left our phones, his wallet, and my purse in the car, which makes the situation even worse. We could knock on a random door and ask to use a phone, but I’ve seen too many true crime documentaries to contemplate that idea any further. Nobody needs to be murdered after such a romantic evening.

Andrew squeezes my hand. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Lottie.” It’s true. Definitively. Even his tone is final. He’s going to protect me no matter what happens, and it eases a little of the anxiety building in my chest. I believe him, but there’s little he can do if they murder him first.

The rumble of a motorcycle echoes in the distance, getting closer. Andrew perks a little and tilts his head as if it might help him hear better. “I think that’s my bike.”

“How do you know that? They all sound the same to me.”

“Eh, I can’t explain it. I just know how she sounds.”

The bike turns down the small side road where we’ve parked and sure enough, it’s Koa. He pulls up to us and cuts the bike before removing his helmet.

“What happened to you two?” Koa asks. “It’s way too dark to be out here.”

“How did you find us?” Andrew asks. “What are you doing here?”

“I waited at your place for a while and when you didn’t show up, I got worried. I called a few times and after a while, I figured I’d come look for you. I have a GPS tracker on the car.” Koa looks us over and his lip curls at the sight of two sopping wet heaps with no shoes. “What happened to you two?”

“Uh…” I don’t know what else to say but Koa and Andrew make eye contact that says enough. He chuckles again.

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