Page 38 of Family Bonds: Coy & Angel

The lights went down and the movie started.

If this felt like a teenage date of her dreams she was keeping it to herself.

This was supposed to be keeping each other company in Coy’s mind.

Nothing else.

Only it was something else to her.

Two hours later, their popcorn was gone. Her candy bar too.

The lights came on and she stretched.

“That was great. I need to run to the bathroom. I’ve been holding it since I didn’t want to miss anything.”

“I could have paused it,” he said, laughing.

“That takes the fun out of it,” she said. “You need to hold it like if you are in a normal movie theater to get the full effect.”

“If you say so,” he said. He looked at his watch. “Not sure if you wanted to go down to the beach or head home.”

She saw it was nine. “The beach sounds nice, but I’m sure it’s dark down there. And cold. How long does it take to light a fire? Probably not smart to do it and then have it only for a short period and have to put it out.”

“It’s fine,” he said. “It doesn’t take long to start it if you really want to.”

“I’d love to,” she said. “It’s not as if I’ve got any plans tomorrow so if I sleep in, then I do.”

They grabbed their empty water bottles and wrappers and the bowl with the popcorn in it and went upstairs. He shut all the lights off.

“If you want a glass of wine, go ahead and get what you like and grab me a beer and I’ll go down and get it lit.”

“I can do that,” she said.

This felt more like an adult date in her mind than them watching a movie together.

She grabbed her jacket to put on and then walked the paving stone path down the slope to his beach where she saw the fire lit. She had his beer and her glass of wine and tried not to spill any of it or trip.

“Good timing,” he said. “It’s starting to burn well.”

“I can see why Spencer would love this,” she said. “Is this whole beach yours or does your neighbor have some?”

“My neighbors have some of it. No one worries about the property lines. The neighbors on my right don’t have a clear path to come down here and aren’t sure about it. On the left, it’s a vacation home. They aren’t here much so I don’t see them this time of year. Thankfully they don’t rent it out.”

“Sounds like the best setup you could have,” she said. “I’m glad I got to share it with you.”

“Me too,” he said. “We’ll have to do this again. It’s fun.”

She smiled and took a sip of her wine, the flames casting shadows on his handsome face. “I’d love that.”

12

SMOOTH AND EASY

“How much candy did you buy to hand out tonight, Coy?” Mandy asked him.

She was one of his part-time dental assistants.

“I’ve got a ton,” he said. “You know me and my sweet tooth. But what doesn’t get handed out will come in here.”

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