Page 86 of Tangled Up In You

"I'm not ready to go yet. Molly and I haven't had much chance to talk tonight."

"You should do that now," Lizzie said with a gleam in her eyes. "Have fun. And Molly, don't let him drive home."

"I can give him a ride," Molly said.

"Good."

As Lizzie left, following Chelsea, Brodie, and Justin to the parking lot, Molly gave him a pointed look. "Your sisters are going to get the wrong idea about us."

"What idea would that be?"

"That we're involved in some way."

"Is that really the wrong idea? We are involved."

"You keep telling me we can't be."

"I know. But here we are."

She gave him a thoughtful look. "Our relationship seems to be as complicated as you were afraid it would be."

"So, let's make it simple. I'd like to spend some time with you tonight. If you're up for it, we can walk out to the point. There's a cool cave you can see from there."

"That sounds like a line," she said with a smile.

"It does," he admitted with a laugh. "But the cave really does exist."

"Are you sure your foot is up for walking?"

"It's feeling much better," he said. "I don’t even need the crutch anymore. But if I need a little support, can I lean on you?"

"I doubt you would ever admit you need support, so sure," she said.

"Well, I am feeling like I might need a little help getting through the sand. Maybe you should put your arm around me."

She gave him a suspicious smile. "Of course." She came around the table, sliding her arm around his waist.

He put his arm around her shoulder, and they took the sandy cement path as far as they could before carefully making their way over the rocks to the outermost point of land. He didn't really need her support, but he liked leaning on her. He liked having a reason to hold her and for her to hold him.

"So, where is the cave?" Molly asked when they got to the point.

"See those rocks?" He pointed to the left of where they were standing. "Where it looks like there's a door?"

"Oh, yes. That does look like a door."

"It's just a natural rock formation. The water doesn't go in very far, so you can wade into the cave. A lot of kids have carved their initials into the rock walls. In the summer, we actually board it up to cut down on the cave parties."

"And the local kids don't have their own cave parties in the off-season?"

"They all know that this area is patrolled heavily on Friday and Saturday nights."

"No one is around tonight," she said.

"I think the festival tired everyone out. And it's Sunday." He let go of her to take a seat on a large flat rock. He patted the spot next to him, and she sat down. "I'm glad you came tonight. I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to hang out with you."

"You were the birthday boy; you had to make the rounds."

"I didn't expect such a large crowd. But I should have. I told you birthdays are a big deal in my family."

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