Page 30 of That Kind of Guy

“You’re so in love,” Miri sighed wistfully.

Avery nodded with pressed lips. “Mhm. We’resoin love.”

Scott looked at Avery. “Avery, you’re from Vancouver, right?”

“Yep, moved here about five years ago.”

“Do your parents live there?” Miri leaned forward and rested her chin on her palm. “Are they still together?”

“They still live there, but they divorced years ago.”

Miri gave her a sympathetic look. “Aw, I’m sorry to hear that.”

Avery shook her head adamantly. “Don’t be, getting divorced was the best choice they ever made.”

Huh. Interesting. I had never really thought about Avery’s family before, but now my curiosity was piqued. Maybe this had something to do with her never having anything long-term, relationship-wise, in town. I watched her for a moment.

“I have a pitcher of Bob’s Margaritas,” the server said as she placed it on the table.

Avery gave the server a grateful look. “Thank you.” She poured out four glasses.

Miri clasped her hands together with excited eyes. “Tell us the story of how you got together.”

Avery and I looked at each other with uncertainty. We hadn’t covered this when we hashed out the details.

“Well,” Avery started, clearly at a loss for words.

I said the first thing that came to mind. “She was surfing.”

She blinked at me, and I held back a laugh. I would bet my yearly salary she had never been on a surfboard in her life, despite it being one of Queen’s Cove’s major tourist attractions.

She nodded, holding a pleasant expression but boring into me with her eyes. I’d pay dearly for this later. “Exactly. I was surfing.”

I turned to Miri and Scott. “I was with my brother Wyatt at his surf shack, and we noticed the wind picking up.”

Scott’s head was tilted in interest, and Miri nodded with wide eyes, leaning forward, hanging on to every word. She looked to Avery. “Were you alone out on the ocean?”

I put a hand on Avery’s upper back, wincing and nodding. “She was. Classic beginner mistake.” Under my hand, her shoulder muscles tensed. “Wyatt was busy with customers, so I grabbed a board and ran out there to make sure she was okay.”

Scott nodded with approval. “Good man.”

“That’s so sweet,” Miri cooed. “I hope you put a wetsuit on, that water is so cold.”

I shook my head at them with awhatcha gonna doexpression. “There was no time, and I had to make sure she was okay.”

Avery made a choking noise in her throat, and I turned to her, rubbing her back. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

The look she gave me could have burned my corneas off. “I’m great, honey. So great,” she managed. She tensed her shoulder muscles again, and I knew this was her way of sayingget your fucking hands off me.

“Anyways,” I said, turning back to Miri and Scott, leaving my hand on her back. “I got out on the water, and it was really choppy. The wind was picking up, the swells were getting bigger and there were some gnarly waves coming in, as Wyatt would say.”

Miri chewed her lip, and Scott frowned with concern.

I leaned in towards Miri. “I spotted Avery just as a wave knocked her off her board.”

Avery dropped her head into her hand in exasperation.

“Oh, no,” Miri breathed. She was leaning so far towards me that she was practically lying on the table.

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