Page 6 of Opening Hearts

Chapter Three

Hannah sipped her Dr. Pepper, wrapped in the warm cotton of her favorite hoodie. Matt had fished a bottle of beer out of the cooler first, twisted off the top and handed it to her. She’d never had beer before, but didn’t want to tell him that. He could already tell that she wasn’t used to having a guy pay this much attention to her, touching her as much as he did. He didn’t need to know that she’d never had any alcohol before now, especially since he obviously assumed she had with the casual way he passed her the beer, expecting her to want that over a can of pop.

She’d taken a sip and wrinkled her nose at the bitter, fermented taste of the beer. Ugh. Why did people drink this stuff? It was awful.

Matt had laughed and taken the bottle out of her hand, setting the other bottle in his hand back in the cooler. “Not a fan of beer, huh?”

She shook her head. “No. That’s gross. How do you drink it?”

He took a swig, his eyes dancing in the sunset. “Acquired taste, I guess. Sorry. Would you rather have a pop? It looks like there’re a couple bottles of water, too.”

She could make out different colored cans floating in the icy water of the cooler. “Yeah. A pop would be great.”

He fished out a Dr. Pepper, offering it to her with a raised eyebrow. Now they stood chatting with some of his friends, Matt standing on her left, occasionally brushing against her, guiding her to the different groups with his hand on her back, making sure to include her in conversation. She was quiet, only chiming in when someone asked her a question, but laughing along with everyone, enjoying the easy way Matt had with his friends. He was like a chameleon, fitting in with each group, moving easily between his former football teammates and his surfing buddies, changing his tone and demeanor slightly with each one. It was impressive watching him slide so smoothly between groups, and she could see that he was well liked by everyone.

Finally, he tangled his fingers with hers, tugging her behind him closer to where the music was playing. “Let’s dance.”

She smiled and nodded, draining the last of her Dr. Pepper. He took her can and stuck it in a big black garbage bag by one of the coolers. It made her happy that they had those, because she was not okay with littering, especially on a beach like this.

He caught her wide smile when he straightened up from getting rid of their trash. “What?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. I’m just having a good time. And I’m glad you guys don’t litter.”

“Oh?” He took her hands, pulling her into the mix of swaying bodies, wrapping her hands behind his neck before reaching for her hips. “You an environmentalist?”

She cocked her head. “Sort of. I mean, I guess so. I feel like we should take care of the environment. It’s not right for animals to get caught in plastic rings or choke on trash because people are too lazy or stupid to clean up after themselves. I mean, that’s something you learn before kindergarten, right? Cleaning up your own mess? I guess some people’s mamas didn’t do such a good job with that.”

He chuckled. “I guess so. So our mamas must’ve done an okay job, huh?”

“Must’ve. You guys are cleaning up after yourselves.”

“Well, most of us are surfers. We don’t like surfing surrounded by trash, so we do what we can to keep our beaches clean. Plus, like you said, it’s not fair to the wildlife. Tell me more about your environmental streak.”

“Really? Are you sure? Most people get bored when I talk about this kind of stuff.”

He shook his head, his eyes on her lips. “I don’t think I could get bored with anything you decide to talk about.”

She blushed. Again. The sun was so low now, that she hoped he couldn’t tell. But with the way a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, she thought he probably could. “Okay. Well, I’m in an environmental club at school. We organize roadside cleanups and stuff. We spend a lot of time picking up litter, it seems like. We go out once a month or so, and I try to get us down by the river every other time we go out. The pollution of the waterways seems more awful to me than some roadside trash. I mean, I know it’s all bad, but the roadways are already kind of polluting everything. There’s more animal life at risk in the river.”

Matt’s eyes were intent on her face, and he nodded. “I get that. I care more about the litter on the beach than even in the parking lot, much less on the highway.”

“Yeah.” She nodded, licking her lips. His eyes zeroed in on the movement. “Um, so, anyway. We also do fundraisers when there’s a major natural or environmental disaster. Like, with the tsunami in Japan, we raised money for victims and to help with the Fukushima cleanup.” She shook her head, her enthusiasm for the subject taking over. “I don’t get why people don’t care more about the environment, you know? I mean, it affects everyone. If the ocean is polluted with toxic waste, it affects the food supply, and where do people think we get our water from? I mean, I know it goes through a cleaning process in the city, but it comes from rivers and lakes and underground aquifers. If we pollute the groundwater, what do people think we’re going to drink? We can’t exactly live without clean water.”

One corner of Matt’s mouth was pulling up like he was suppressing a smile, and she stopped, realizing she’d been talking fast and loud about it. “Yeah. Sorry, I’m getting carried away. I’ll stop now.”

He chuckled again and shook his head. “No, I like it. I like how passionate you are about it. It’s good. People should be passionate about things they care about, and it’s great that you care so much about the environment. Someone needs to care about it.”

“What about you? Do you care about it?” She held her breath waiting for his answer while their bodies swayed to the slow music. She was glad it was slow so they could still talk while they danced. She liked talking to him.

He shrugged one shoulder, the movement lifting her hand slightly. “As much as a normal person, I guess. I agree with you that people should clean up after themselves and that polluting the water supply is stupid.” A smile split his face. “I’m not nearly as passionate as you are, but that’s okay.”

She nodded. She was used to people not caring about things as much as she did. At least he didn’t think she was stupid and respected it, even if he didn’t fully share her passion for the environment. “Yeah. Okay. Good.” She paused, and his fingers flexed on her hips, pulling her against him more, so his hips pressed into her belly. “What about you? What are you passionate about?”

His smile fell off his face, and his jaw clenched, the easygoing expression on his face replaced by an unreadable mask. He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s talk more about you.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but then the music changed to something with a faster, driving beat, and Matt pulled her tightly against him, moving them to the music, and neither of them spoke anymore for a while.

Matt held Hannah close, enjoying the feel of her body against his, the way the sweet scent of her shampoo mingled with the smoky smell of the fire and the salty tang from the ocean. He had a feeling that any one of those scents would now trigger this memory the next time he smelled them. Acting more on instinct than thought, he dipped his head toward hers, one hand traveling from her hips up to the base of her skull, tipping her head back. He pressed his lips to hers.

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