Page 91 of Reel Love

“Yep. Dinner was good. Look at that smile.” Ben grins at me.

“It was. Then we walked to the beach. I uh …” Took off her sandals. Not saying that either. But I think she liked it when I did that. “Held her hand.”

“She let you?” Ben’s voice is like a doctor checking for symptoms so he can give a diagnosis.

“Yeah. She laced her fingers in mine.”

“Lacing of the fingers! This is good,” Ben says in that same tone. “That’s next-level hand holding. A good sign.”

Kai sighs heavily.

“Some dogs don’t potty train,” Bodhi mutters to Kai. “What can you do?”

“I heard that!” Ben shouts.

“And she wanted to see my house.”

Because I’ve seen hers, and it’s only fair. They would freak out if they knew.

Plus she joked about showing up unannounced. At least, I think that was a joke.

“So we walked to my place, and I gave her the tour.”

“Which included?” Bodhi’s waxing his board now, glancing up at me casually.

“I told her in advance how practical and small my house was. It’s just a place to live. Nothing fancy.”

“It’s clean and … Mila called it cute.” Kai shrugs.

“Yeah. I keep it clean. Match the decor. Whatever. It’s just a place to eat and sleep and hang out when the weather keeps me from being on my boats.”

“Or underwater,” Bodhi adds with a smile.

“Exactly. So, anyway, I made it fun. I was like, here’s the living room, family room, great room, entryway, and the library … You know, pointing around at that small front room and my bookcase.”

“That’s actually funny,” Ben smiles. “Good on ya.”

“What are you, Australian now?” Bodhi asks Ben.

“I’m a surfer, dude. I can speak Aussie or any beach language.”

“Aussie isn’t a language,” Kai corrects.

“What do you call, good on ya?”

“A saying.” Kai crosses his arms over his chest.

“In … Aussie. Which … is a language.” Ben crosses his arms over his chest.

“You were saying?” Bodhi asks me.

“Yeah. So I did that kind of exaggerating intro with each room of the house.”

“What did she say? What was her reaction?” Ben asks.

“She smiled and laughed. I think she liked it.”

“That’s great! Ya’ little ripper!” Ben affects an Australian accent, and he doesn’t even do it well.

---