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.
