Page 14 of Quiet Longing

I was in the middle of removing his hoodie and had gotten a little tangled up in it. He chuckled softly before stepping forward and gently tugging it off over my head. His fingers grazed my back and shoulders, and I found myself shivering, just a little. When I was finally free, I realised just how close we were standing. Rhys’ gaze trailed over my face before darting back to my hair. I patted at it self-consciously, imagining it wasprobably a mess after struggling to get the hoodie off. Rhys’ hand came forward, and my breath caught when he touched my ear. I belatedly realised he was fixing an errant strand of hair back into place. God, I must’ve looked crazy.

Swallowing back my self-consciousness, I moved away from him and asked, “The beach?”

Rhys rubbed his jaw. “Yeah, uh, the lads and I are heading to Portmarnock tomorrow. That’s the next town over. The beach there is better for swimming. I thought Derek or Tristan might’ve invited you.”

“They haven’t mentioned it yet, but I suppose I’ll go if Nuala’s going.”

“Cool,” he said, nodding and running a hand through his hair as he glanced away. “Well, maybe I’ll see you there.”

“Maybe,” I replied, unsure what I was doing when I reached out and touched his hand. His eyes flickered to mine, curious. “Thanks for today. It was a baptism by fire, for sure, but you were easy to work with.” I let go and stood back, lifting his hoodie. “Um, I’m going to wash this for you, but I’ll return it during my next shift, if that’s okay?”

“Sure, of course,” he said, his throat bobbing as he swallowed.

Turning, I left the staff room, my heart racing for some strange reason.

Ugh, please don’t tell me I was developing a crush already. I’d only arrived two days ago, and I certainly didn’t need to start complicating things by liking one of my cousins’ friends. Not to mention, Derek had warned them all to keep their hands off me, which I still intended to talk to him about.

I wasn’t some weak-willed damsel whose virtue needed protecting. But I also wasn’t seeking romance or the inevitable heartbreak.

Even if that potential heartbreak had the most provoking, ocean-blue eyes.

4.

Charli

I was lounging on Nuala’s bed flipping through a photo album. There were lots of her and her friends. I recognised a few from the group that showed up at the party the other night. Nuala hadn’t mentioned them since. In fact, she didn’t mention any of her friends, which I found strange since, from what I’d gathered in our emails, she was popular at school. It made me wonder what exactly had gone down with the blonde Tristan had ordered to leave the party.

“I can’t decide which swimsuit to wear,” Nuala said, distracting me from my perusal of the photos.

Glancing up, I saw she held two options. A plain black one-piece and a bright pink bikini. They were so opposite I hardly believed the same person owned both.

“Which would you be more comfortable in?” I asked.

“Well, obviously the one-piece, but …” she trailed off.

“But?” I prodded.

Nuala cast me a look like she was being indulgent. “I’d feel prettier in the bikini.”

“So, wear the bikini.”

“There’s just the hazard of my boobs slipping out. And Derek won’t be pleased.”

“Derek shouldn’t be looking at his own sister in a bathing suit,” I said, still a little peeved about the whole warning his friends away from me thing.

Nuala sighed. “It’s not like that. He just knows what teenage boys are like because he is one, and he wants to protect me. Well,us. Now that you’re here for the summer, he’s taken you underhis wing of brotherly protection as well. There’s not much you can do about it.”

“I don’t need a protector,” I grumbled. “I should talk to him.”

“You can try, but he won’t listen. Anyway, never mind about my overbearing brother, which swimsuit am I wearing? You pick for me.”

“The pink,” I said with a smile, and Nuala grinned.

“The pink one it is, then.”

I didn’t have the same dilemma as Nuala since I’d only packed one bathing suit. It was dark blue and functional, though I planned to wear a maxi dress over it since I was still undecided about swimming in the sea. It was summer, and the weather was nice—by Irish standards—but I still suspected the water was going to be very cold.

There was also the fact that I was sometimes a little self-conscious about my body. If only I’d taken after my mother’s side of the family. The Balfe women were naturally slim and waifish. Delicate. Me, on the other hand, well, I had big boobs, a definite belly, and a butt that often struggled to fit into jeans. Let’s just say, if I were to don Nuala’s tiny pink bikini, it would be considered downright indecent.

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