Page 73 of Summer Ever After
“Home.” I move the throttle forward into idle. “It was good to see you.”
There’s nothing good about how good it is seeing Walker, let aloneshirtlessWalker.
“Whoa, whoa, wait.” He leaps from the side of the dock to the padded deck on the back of the boat, then hops inside.
My gaze whips to him. “What are you doing?”
“Coming with you.”
“Why?”
His giant shoulders lift. “Because I don’t want to go home.”
“Well, you can’t come with me.”
He glances at the cooler and the bag of snacks tucked under the chair. “Are you going on your date right now?”
“No.” I turn back to the water in front of me. “Something came up, and Phoenix had to cancel.”
I expect Walker to laugh, but he doesn’t. “I’m sorry. I know you were looking forward to it.”
I wasn’t looking forward tothisdate specifically. I was just looking forward to falling in love. Now, I’m not even sure I’m looking forward to that anymore.
Walker sinks into the passenger chair across from me, scanning his eyes over the water. My gaze shifts from his face to his dark hair and how the breeze lifts his curls at the nape of his neck. My ogling travels down his arm, stopping for a brief moment on the line the shows his slight farmer’s tan before I move my eyes to his chest and the effortless way herelaxes into the chair while still managing to look cool. If coolness came in dollar bills, Walker Collins would be a billionaire.
His head turns, and a smug smile covers his mouth. “Look who’s caught in 4k now.”
I hate that he saw me checking him out.
“What? I don’t even know what that means.” I jerk my head forward, focusing on the vast water in front of me, as any good captain would do. “I was just wondering if you were getting your sweat all over the leather chair.”
“Eh, the breeze will dry it off.”
“So does this mean you’re bumming another ride home from me?”
“Nah, let’s do whatever you and Phoenix were going to do.”
Everything inside me flutters at the thought of hanging out with Walker all day.
“What? No.”
“Why not? I know your day is wide open since he canceled on you.”
“Because…” Valid excuses don’t come fast enough. “What would be the point?”
“To hang out together.”
Again, what would be the point of that? Us hanging out can’t lead anywhere.
His expression turns somber. “I was being honest earlier when I told you I didn’t want to go home. It’s the final round of the U.S. Open, and I don’t want to end up watching it all day. Hanging out with you seems a lot better than feeling sorry for myself.”
“Is that really what will happen if I take you home?”
“Hours and hours of wallowing in sadness. If you take me home, you’ll be responsible for my despair.”
He’s really laying it on thick—so thick that I’m considering saying yes. It’s not like us hanging out would be sneaking around behind Capri’s back. We are literally together in broad daylight. And Capri is not even in town anymore. She left two days ago, so it’s not like she’s going to see us together and get her feelings hurt. We’d just be two friends keeping each other company so we don’t go home and feel sorry for ourselves. There’s no harm in that.
I squint at the horizon. “I would hate to be responsible for your despair.”
