Page 67 of The Mistakes I've Made
“You forgot?” I echoed her words like they were just too ridiculous to be heard. “Who forgets to swim?”
“I don’t know,” she laughed. “I mean, you saw the tattoo. I’m an indoor girl. Books and Netflix—”
“Now, I understand why you forgot your bathing suit,” I said with a chuckle.
“I didn’t forget it,” she fessed up. “Up until today, I didn’t actually own one.”
“You’re the worst Hawaiian I know.”
Her arms wrapped across her chest. “Oh? And how many of us do you know?”
“Well, just you. But you’re really ruining the stereotype I had.”
She laughed. “And you’re ruining the stereotype I had of Southerners.”
My brow lifted. “Oh, yeah? And what exactly did you envision a Southerner to be when you flew all the way over here?”
Her eyes roamed down my body, like they often did, giving me a giant dose of confidence. “Well, I expected more of a Southern drawl,” she said.
I shrugged. “You’re going to have to go inland for that. I’ve got what’s called an Ocracoke brogue—or what’s left of it. It’s a dying dialect, but if you want to hear it all out, come over to Sunday dinner with my mama.”
“Is that an invitation?”
“I believe it is.”
“Good.”
“Now, about that swimming hiatus,” I said, rising to my feet.
“What? No!”
I held out my hand. She warily eyed it.
“Why do you think I made you buy a bathing suit?” I asked.
“So, you could gawk at me while I tried it on?” she fired back.
I let out a chuckle. “That was, by far, the best part of my day.”
“You’re breaking the rules again, Taylor.” She grinned.
“You’re changing the subject, Leilani.”
“Do I have to?”
“Of course you don’t,” I said. “I’d never force you. But don’t you want to?”
Her eyes fell to the waves breaking just feet from our picnic, and finally, she reached up and took my hand.
Success.
When she rose to her feet, I heard her exhale a large breath from her lungs, like she was expelling nervousness from her body. I kind of liked that I set her on edge.
“We need to get undressed first,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
Staring down at her, I managed to blink several times before answering, “Sorry, what?”
A slow grin stretched across her face. “Water,” she said before adding, “Swimsuits?”
