Page 89 of Sunsets & Slow Dances

“Hi.” A lopsided grin curled on his perfect mouth, and it made the tiny hairs stand up on my arms.

It had only been a little over a week since I’d seen him, but he looked so much sexier. His beard had grown in, and the extra scruff made him appear even hotter. He also looked tired. But that probably came with the territory of caring for three sick people.

“How are you? How’s everybody feeling?”

“Good.” He looked down at the ground and then back up again. “Everybody’s good.”

“Good.” I’m not sure why the word good kept getting repeated. I took a deep breath. “Um?—”

“Okay! If everyone has a partner, then get ready, get set, scavenge!” Miles shouted.

“Do you want to be?—”

“Yes,” I responded before he could even finish the question. Of course, I wanted to be his partner. Who else would I possibly want to be partnered up with?

“Should we stay here or drive to the pier?” he asked.

“Oh, good idea! Let’s go to the pier!”

The pier was a quick two-minute drive, but there would be way more tourists, and if we stayed in the downtown area, then we’d be competing with the same pool of people.

“I’ll drive,” he offered.

“Where are you parked?”

“Just around the corner.”

As we both hurried to the truck, Callum placed his hand on my lower back and guided me along the way. I loved not only the warmth that I could feel radiating from his palm but also the heaviness of it against my back. He had a way of making me feel so safe and protected, yet at the same time, reckless and in danger.

I knew that I would always be safe with him and he would protect me from anything, but the greatest risk of all is giving yourself to someone completely, letting them in, and showing them all of you because if you do that, the danger is they have the power to destroy you.

32

CALLUM

“I forgot how competitive you are.”I had to pick up the pace as I trailed behind Nadia, who was laser-focused on winning. She was moving down the pier like a hunter in the woods, searching for its prey.

“What’s the point of playing if you don’t play to win?” Nadia glanced over her shoulder with a mischievous gleam in her eye. “Second place is just the first loser.”

A wide smile spread across my face, reaching from ear to ear. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had this much fun or felt this young and carefree. Of course, I knew that a big part of that was because of what Nadia represented to me. We’d been together at a time in my life when I hadn’t had any responsibilities when Iwasyoung and carefree. We were together at a more innocent time.

Although I didn’t feel very innocent right now, I’d been doing my best to keep my mind out of the gutter, but I couldn’t help but notice how incredibly hot Nadia looked tonight. Her outfit reminded me of when she’d dressed up as Cher from Clueless, who had been my childhood crush. I’d grown up watchingCluelessa dozen or so times a year because it was my mom’sfavorite comfort movie. Her job as a nurse and midwife could be stressful, and whenever she needed a “cinematic hug,” she put it on.

“Yes! Sixty-nine!” Nadia shouted, drawing quite a lot of attention from the crowd around us.

I turned to where she was pointing and noticed that the next number on a white ticket to pull for a pickup at the Crab Shack was 69. Nadia quickly snapped a pic.

“Cross it off,” she commanded like a drill sergeant.

She’d tasked herself with taking the photos, and I was on admin duty, making sure to keep track of the items we’d collected and what we still needed to get. I placed an X next to "Find the number 69” only a second before she pulled the list toward her so she could look at it. After a brief once-over, she lifted her head and went back to Terminator scanning mode.

I glanced down to see what we still needed. It looked like we only had a few more things to collect.

Selfie Scavenger Hunt

5 Heart-Shaped Things 1111

Something Starting with the Letter Z

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