Page 6 of Liberty

I nodded. “Yeah, I was. Did you have fun watching the sun rise?”

She smiled. “I did. Oh, um. I’m Libby. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Cooper.”

I held my hand out to her. She smiled and took it, shaking lightly.

Her touch was so warm and I couldn’t help but imagine her hand touching me elsewhere.

I wanted her even more.

And she didn’t rush to let go.

A moment passed, and we were still holding hands.

I chuckled and released her. “I, uh. I oughta look at that AC.”

“Oh! Yeah. Yeah, go for it.” She pulled away, smiling shyly.

I turned to the thermostat. The room was reading 78—pretty hot—but it looked like it hadn't even been turned on.

I flicked the switch.

Cool air started to flow into the room. I stood in front of it, closing my eyes.

Libby spoke behind me. “What did we do wrong?”

“It was off.”

She gasped. For a second, she was silent.

Then she started to laugh.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! We’re so tired from driving all night.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Hey, it’s okay. At least you were nice about it. A lot of people flip out when stuff like this happens. They start yelling, acting like I called them stupid.”

“I mean, you’d have every right to call us stupid! Thanks for, you know, not.”

I chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal.” I looked at her for a moment. “Are you staying through the Fourth?”

Libby nodded. “We are. And then it’s back to Mississippi.”

“Oh, nice. Well, there’s a lot of fun stuff planned. The barbecue tonight, and the Cruise-In on the Fourth.”

“The what?”

“The Cruise-In?” I chuckled. “All the classic cars in the lot do a parade down the main strip. It’s really fun.”

“Oh! That sounds neat!”

“You’ll like it.” I smiled. “Well, I gotta get back to work. See you around, Libby.”

“See you.”

I turned to go.

As I did, the door opened. The other girl from the beach, the brunette, walked in. She was already in a swimsuit, wearing a sheer cover-up over her bikini.

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