Page 42 of Reel Love

I nod and follow him through the shop and out the back door.

“So, you’ve been MIA this week,” Kai says.

I pull the first tank over to the air compressor and start to work.

“I’ve been working some per diem jobs, privately. And I had an assignment in Avila checking radiation impact from the Diablo plant over the past two days.”

“You’re such a stud,” Kai says casually. “And you don’t even know it. Do you?”

I study his face to see if he’s teasing me. He looks sincere. “I guess not.”

“It’s impressive—all the things you know. We need to find you some nerdy woman who likes to talk about marine life and play word games in her spare time.”

I instantly think of how Alana Graves reacted to the photos of the slime eel. Of course, she’s not nerdy—not in the least. And she’s also obviously not the one for me—not at all, considering I nearly lost my mind when I first met her. Besides, according to my mom, Alana’s got some celebrity romance rekindling, anyway. I always take all of that kind of information with a grain of sand.Rumors need to be substantiated by proof, and not merely an image in a tabloid which could mean anything.

My mind shifts to SaturdayIslandGirl. If she didn’t live in Bora Bora …

“You’re thinking of someone,” Kai says—perceptive as ever.

“It’s no one.”

“Oh, no. No one is someone. Who is this girl?”

“Really. It’s inconsequential. Basically an impossible situation.”

“You think you get to say, impossible situation, and then take off for a dive tour without filling in the blanks on that? No. Just tell me about her.”

“She’s a woman on the word game I play. We compete regularly. Sometimes we’re on there for hours together.”

“You’re spending hours playing the equivalent of online Scrabble with this woman?”

I nod.

“Like, once a week? Or more often?”

“Four or five nights a week, and then we leave games open for one another to play on when the other person isn’t available.”

“Four or five times a week? You’re spending eight to ten hours a week with this woman. Do you two chat?”

“We do. But we just recently started sharing significant details about ourselves. Before that it was just banter about the game. Smack talk.”

Kai laughs hard. “Smack talk over a word game. Oh, man. That’s rich.”

“It’s cutthroat.”

He laughs some more.

He doesn’t get it. He’s physical—an ex-pro surfer. Competition for him involves his body. For me, it’s my mind—and hers.

“She calls herself Saturday Island Girl. I think she lives in Bora Bora or the Caribbean.”

Kai raises a brow. He knows the oceans of the world. He’ssurfed over half of them. “Dude. That’s a broad range of possible locations.”

“I haven’t narrowed it down.”

“Obviously.” He chuckles.

“I’ve gathered data. I’m still in need of more information before I can determine anything conclusive.”

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