Page 69 of Spring Tide

“It depends on what you brought.”

“What if it’s tacos from that place you love?”

“Then I’d probably say I’m starving.”

I flip the lid open on our basket, lifting out the familiar foil packets and a set of paper plates. “That’s good, then, because I picked up a shit ton of chorizo and egg. They still feel pretty warm.”

“Oo, our favorite.”

I stifle a grin. “Yeah.”

She leans across my lap and fills her plate with a few wrapped tacos. “Hot sauce?”

“Don’t think I forgot,” I say, rifling through the cooler for the stack of plastic containers. “There’s also some beer here if you want. Dos Equis. Or wine since I already knew you liked pinot grigio. It doesn’t really go with tacos, but I wasn’t all that sure you liked this beer. Or water if you’re not into alcohol tonight. I know it’s our first ...date, so don’t feel like you need to—”

“I’ll take a beer.” She sets her full plate to the side, grinning as she pats the side of my thigh. “Thank you.”

I sort through the cooler for two beers, popping the tops off and passing one to Harper. She clinks hers against mine and takes a deep sip, smiling as she gulps back the cool liquid.

“Good choice,” she says, wasting no time as she unwraps her food and applies a generous heap of salsa verde. “I honestly wasn’t that hungry, but now I think I could eat like ten of these.”

I tip back my own beer, an easy smile stretching my face. “Go for it.”

“I will.”

We eat our tacos in relative silence, pausing here and there to chat about work and classes, crumpling up foil wrappers as we go. We’ve made it through a handful of tacos each by the time we’re on our second beer. In the distance, the sun has officially started to set.

“Sometimes I forget how beautiful it is out here,” she murmurs, stacking our dirty plates and empty beer bottles into the now-empty basket.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve actually stopped to watch the sunset in years. I’m out here four days a week, but I never take time to enjoy it.”

“Well, thank you for bringing me tonight. I’m glad we can enjoy it together.”

“Of course.”

Now that our little picnic is cleared out of the way, I spread my legs across the faded blanket. Harper pats my left thigh, hinting for me to make some extra room. With a contented sigh, she shifts herself between my open legs, crawling into the space and leaning her back against my chest.

“You know what’s kind of sad, now that I think about it?”

“What’s that?” I ask, wrapping one arm around her waist and propping us both up with the other.

“I only have two more weekends of lifeguarding left in the season. Come November, I’ll probably only come here to see Stell at work.”

“You think I could get you to visit me at the pier?”

Her fingers brush against the side of my thigh. “You’d want that?”

“Of course. Pawel would probably lose his mind over it.”

“Then yeah, I’ll visit you.”

I press a kiss to her hair. “Good.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask, how’s your knee feeling after the game last night? It seemed like you were completely fine out on the field.”

“I put on a good show, huh?”

“Really?” She shifts in my arms the slightest bit, neck tilted up to gauge my expression. “You’re not doing any better?”

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