Page 30 of Tide Over

“Just like someone else we know,” Grandpa says with a chuckle.

I lift my eyes to him. “Guess it works out well then.”

He laughs, and then thankfully changes the subject, asking Isla about her next dance recital.

As she excitedly commands the attention of the table, eager to share every detail of her butterfly dance routine, I quietly pull my phone from my pocket. And my own excitement stirs as I see a missed text from Liam earlier — a photo of several dolphins in the water beneath the rig.

With a smile, I tap out a response.

Damn, that’s crazy they get that close.

I slide my phone back into my pocket, knowing Liam won’t see the message until he’s off tonight. Still, I can’t ignore the familiar rush I get whenever I get a text from him, which has been daily this past week. We’ve been keeping in touch over small things throughout the day, such as Miss Bobber updates, swapping photos of the rig and some chairs I built, and talking a bit about tile for the bathroom. It’s been a steady, ongoing conversation as we trade messages whenever we can, and most nights, in those couple hours before bed, we get some uninterrupted time to text. And despite what my family may think, we’re actually getting to know each other a bit more.

Once dinner is over and I’ve helped clean up, I say my good-byes to everyone and head home a bit earlier than usual to tend to Miss Bobber. As soon as I open the door, she trots over to me with a soft meow.

“Hey, Miss.” I bend down to pick her up, and she immediately starts purring. “You hungry?”

I carry her into the kitchen as she purrs into my ear and rubs her face against mine, making me chuckle.

“Here we go, gotta do these first,” I say as I pull out her eye drops.

She squirms as I put them in, and as I set her down and toss out the now empty bottle, I think we’re both relieved that’s over. For good. And thankfully, her eye is looking perfectly healthy now.

“There,” I say, looking down at her. “All done.”

Just as I put some food in her dish and she starts eating, my phone buzzes. And that rush flows through me once again as I pull it out to see Liam responding to my text from earlier.

Liam

They stuck around for a while underneath me as I was working on the platform.

I drop down to sit beside Miss Bobber on the floor as she eats, tapping out my reply.

Not a bad view while working. Done now?

Miss Bobber happily crunches her food beside me in the quiet kitchen, and I look down to take a photo of her as I wait for him to text back. And curse myself for being so eager.

Yeah. And bowing out of ping-pong tonight.

I huff out a breath of laughter. Apparently the guys on the rig play every night, which makes sense… what else do they have to do on a rig in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico when notworking? But from his replay of their matches the other night, it sounds like it can get pretty intense.

Afraid of losing?

He starts typing immediately, and I smile.

I’ve won more than I’ve lost.

May have to challenge you when you’re home then. See what you’re so afraid of.

Fuck no. No ping-pong on land. I can’t take any more.

I laugh, pushing to my feet as Miss Bobber leaves her dish and starts playing with her toy mouse.

Fair enough. We’ll stick to fishing then.

Which is also not on land…

So ping-pong on the boat?

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