Page 350 of How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother
I swallow against the lump in my throat. “Well, we wouldn’t want that.” I lift myself out of the pool and sit on the deck beside her, then dry my hands on the towel she offers me.
I hold out my palm while she fills it with sunscreen, then rub my hands together before slowly sliding them across her shoulder blades. Goosebumps break out across her skin, and she sits up a little taller, almost like she’s trying to compose herself.
I smile to myself, glad whatever this feeling is goes both ways, and slow my movements, prolonging the contact as long as possible.
Audrey tilts her head, looking at me over her shoulder. “So, what? Are you one of the lucky ones who just turns brown in the sun?”
“Not at first,” I say. “But I got enough of a tan down in Costa Rica that I do okay now. If we were going to be outside all day, I’d probably put some on.”
“How long were you there?” she asks.
My hands move down her back until I reach the top of her swimsuit bottom. I let my fingers linger there, sliding around until my hands are on either side of her waist. I might be making things up, but it feels like she leans into me the slightest bit before I move my hands back to her shoulder blades and clear my throat. “Six months shooting on location,” I say.
“Sounds like a tough gig.”
“You might feel differently if you saw the spiders.”
She perks up, looking at me over her shoulder. “Goliath bird eaters? Did you actually see one?”
I chuckle. “I forgot who I’m talking to. Only you would get excited about a spider the size of my palm.” I rub in the last bit of sunscreen just under the strap of her top. “That should do it,” I say.
She turns back to face me. “Thanks.” She drops her feet into the water, swirling them around a little. “Iwouldbe excited to see one. I mean, I’m not saying I want to find one in my bed, but they’re fascinating. Theraphosa blondi. They’re a part of the tarantula family.”
“Are they the big ones the Costa Ricans roast in banana leaves and serve as a delicacy?”
Her expression brightens. “Please tell me you tried one.”
I sink down into the water, letting it lap against my shoulders. “Only because I had to. It was in the script. But we just referred to them as big-ass spiders. I never knew the official name.”
She grins. “We should petition for an official name change.”
“Trust me. It fits.”
“What did it taste like?”
“The only thing I tasted was the whiskey I downed before and after every take. There was no way I was eating one of those things sober.”
She rolls her eyes and kicks a little water toward me. “Come on. Was it really that bad?”
I lift my foot and splash her right back. “It tasted like seafood. Like shrimp, maybe? But lighter. Crunchier.”
She nods, not at all disgusted. “Man, I need to travel more.”
I shake my head. Who evenisthis woman? And when is she going to stop surprising me?
“So what’s the movie about?” she asks.
I drop back into the water, and turn, leaning against the deck right beside her, enjoying the warm sun on my shoulders. “It’s about an American named Paul who grew up in Costa Rica with his ex-pat parents. He’s working as a lifeguard and a long-distance swimmer and has these crazy goals of competing in open-water swims all over the world.”
“That’s you? Paul?” Audrey asks.
I nod. “So then there’s this woman on vacation—that’s Claire—who gets sucked into a rip current, Paul saves her, and they fall in love. But the movie is about more than that, too. A hurricane hits and decimates the community where Paul has lived his whole life, and he has to make some tough decisions about where he truly belongs, whether he wants to leave Costa Rica, for swimming,orfor the woman who just turned his life upside down.”
“I’m assuming you spent a lot of time in the water,” Audrey says.
“Both before and after we started filming. Apparently, I swam like an erratic helicopter before.” I grin. “My stroke needed some work.”
“But it’s better now?”
