Page 41 of Meet You in the Waves
“Must have been too much sun yesterday out on the boat,” I shrugged, trying to laugh it off.
“And that is exactly why I stay planted on terra firma,” Dane quipped. “Well, that and a variety of reasons too many to enumerate. So, you want to come or not?”
“Ah, yeah, sounds good,” I agreed if only to give my mind something to dwell on other than that kiss that I could still feel tingling on my lips, swirling in my stomach.
Dane had put on a nice shirt and dressy chino shorts, about as fancy as you could get in a small surfing town like this so I ran back upstairs to change into something nicer than the boardies and tee combo I had settled into really fast down here. I noticed Dane was wearing a pair of nice boat shoes too but I didn’t own anything that classy. I assumed my Vans would be preferrable to my flip flops though.
Dane gave me a quick once over as I descended the stairs, making me feel a little self-conscious but he didn’t say anything as I followed him out to his BMW.
“You ever ride a motorbike?” I asked him as I rolled down the window, wanting to feel the fresh air on my face.
Dane scoffed. “Hell no. I don’t have a death wish.”
“They’re actually kind of fun,” I muttered, some weird part of me wanting to stand up for the motorcycling community. Or at least, one particular member of it. “And great for the whole parking issue.”
“Yeah, not for me, thanks,” Dane replied as we were directed by the parking rangers into the paddock on the outskirts of town. We made the long walk into town and I tried to enjoy the scenery instead of thinking about how a motorbike would have gotten us right to the front door.
The day was hot and humid and I was a little sweaty by the time Dane and I arrived at the Beach Club. It was just as snooty as I remembered and I tried not to laugh as I thought of whatNick would say if he was here beside me. In fact, I knew for sure that Nick would have taken one look at the place and turned right back around.
I probably would have followed.
Hector was already there, sitting out on the deck under one of those blue and white striped umbrellas. He looked as cool and sophisticated as Dane with his slicked back brown hair and a pair of aviators over his navy shorts and white, short-sleeve linen shirt.
“Dane,” he enthused, standing to hug his friend. Hector’s eyes drifted to me and I did not fail to notice the way they grazed all the way down my body to my feet. Why? Why did I notice that Hector was checking me out when I hadn’t picked up one tiny little hint from Nick? He’d flirted with me for the past ten days and I’d still not realised.
“And you must be the friend, Ajay?” Hector asked, holding his hand out to me to shake. I had to admit he was really nice to look at but he was way tooneatfor me. Not that I’d had a chance to think about guys in that way for more than thirty seconds but I already knew this at least.
“Nice to meet you,” I replied.
“You too,” he returned, holding my hand for slightly longer than necessary. Dane and I took our seats and I tried to ignore the way Hector’s eyes still lingered as I flicked open the vast drinks menu and pretended to peruse.
“What do you boys want?” Hector asked, sitting back in his seat like it was a throne. “My shout.”
“That’s not necessary,” I replied.
“I insist,” he returned. “It’s not every day I get to sit out in the sunshine with two gorgeous boys at my disposal.”
“Whatever, dude,” Dane laughed while I shifted in my seat. “But seeing as you’re paying, I’ll have a whisky gimlet.”
“Ajay?” Hector asked, leaning on his elbows towards me.
“Ah, just a beer please,” I ventured.
“Really? You can have whatever you want,” he returned, and no, I did not miss the innuendo. What was wrong with me? Two days ago I had a feeling this flirting would have gone straight over my head. Was I really that oblivious?
“A beer would be great,” I repeated, closing the menu with a finality as I smiled tightly at the two guys who were watching me closely.
Hector waved down a passing waiter and ordered our drinks. He and Dane picked up on a conversation that must have started yesterday while I listened in with half an ear. I was pretty sure that was all I’d be able to give to anyone today. Anyone who was not Dane’s brother at least.
I wondered what Nick was doing, whether he made it to his safety course okay. Was he thinking about me the same way I was thinking about him? Was he thinking about our kiss? Or the way his hand had felt when he gripped my hip, so large and firm and …different.
“Guitar, right?” Hector was saying to me. I looked up to see both him and Dane looking at me, waiting on an answer to a question I hadn’t heard.
“Yep. Guitar,” I confirmed, taking a punt.
“I’d love to hear you play sometime,” Hector returned, grinning down his aviators at me.
“Ajay is amazing,” Dane said. I shot my friend a pleased smile. “Way better than me at any rate.”
