Page 3 of Opening Hearts

“Hey.” His smile matched hers. Maybe the guy was with her friend.

She came to a stop in front of him, and he was vaguely aware of the other two stopping beside her, the guy still a little behind the girls. Hannah motioned to her friend. “This is Elena. I don’t think you guys introduced yourselves earlier today.”

He shook his head, turning his attention briefly to the friend. “Hey. I’m Matt.”

She huffed a laugh, her lips tilted in a private smile. “Yeah, I know. Nice to meet you.” She was pretty, too, curvy and stacked, long dark hair and a deep tan. He’d noticed her this morning, too, thinking either girl was a nice possibility. But it had been Hannah who’d ultimately captured his attention. When her green eyes had locked with his on his way into the water something had passed between them, and he found himself drawn to her. Given that she’d approached him on the beach, the feeling seemed to be mutual.

Elena hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “This is my little brother, Tomás. He’s the reason we’re late.”

Matt turned a quizzical look on Hannah. She nodded. “He begged to come. I’m here with Elena’s family for the summer. Her parents weren’t going to let us come if we didn’t bring him along.”

“Okay. No big deal. We have pop and beer in the coolers by the fire. Everyone’s cool, though. It’s fine.” He gestured toward the growing group of people surrounding the fire. More of them were dancing now, and the noise of everyone having a good time was loud enough to reach them where they stood. There were probably twenty or thirty people there now, all their old friends from high school that were home for the summer gathering by the Jetties like they always had growing up. As long as they didn’t get too loud or rowdy, no one bothered them down on the beach.

He led the way, wanting to reach for Hannah’s hand, but stopping himself. He’d get her to dance with him, then he’d have an excuse to touch her. The orangey quality of the light made it harder to tell, but she still seemed to be blushing half the time he talked to her. He didn’t want to scare her off by being too forward too soon.

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