Page 9 of Overachiever
He gives a wave to a group of people who are packing up their towels and stuff to leave. Everywhere he goes, Owen makes friends.
“Sounds good. Let me go rinse off the salt and sand.”
“Good idea.”
We walk to the outdoor shower, and the second the spray of water strikes my back, I know I screwed up. Owen glances over at the sound of my hiss, and his lips pull back to show his teeth. “You’re pretty burnt. Didn’t you wear sunblock?”
“Not enough, apparently. I’m fine. I’ll grab some aloe before we go back to the motel.” Ducking into the restroom to change into a tank top and shorts, I find Owen dressed and waiting when I return. We both look like a couple of bedraggled beach bums as we locate the restaurant, but so does everyone around us.
We’re seated at an outdoor table overlooking the ocean, and I can barely take my eyes off the horizon. The setting sun throws streaks of bright red, orange, and yellow across the sky in a way that feels almost violent. It seems to leak into the water, making it hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.
Owen flips his phone over when it keeps buzzing. “Marty. He’s drunk and telling me how much I’m missing out on the party he’s at.”
“Oh, totally. Why would you want to be by the ocean, eating crab legs and drinking margaritas when you could be in some frat guy’s house bonging beers and trying to get laid?”
“Right? Why not get drunk and laid somewhere much more tropical?”
“Serena was texting me earlier asking about the guys on our crew.”
“Did you tell her they all pale in comparison to me?”
Munching on a piece of shrimp, I shrug. “I told her there were a couple of prospects for the summer fling she insists I experience while I’m here.”
Owen sits back and covers his mouth in fake shock. “Remee, are you considering premarital sex with a Floridian? Scandalous.”
“Shut up.”
“It’s a one way ticket to damnation. Are you sure you’ve thought this through?”
His teasing makes me laugh despite the pain now growing in my burnt skin. “I’ll risk it. Come here, let’s send a picture to show them what they’re missing.”
“You want me to press my cheek to yours while we hold up margaritas like some cheesy BFF picture?” He scoots over to me and continues before I can answer. “I’m in.”
Our reflected faces are pink from the sun, and we both look ridiculously happy. After I send the picture to him and Serena, he forwards it to Marty. His lips tilt up at the sides when he gets a reply. “What did he say?”
“Just called me a dick. Are you going to eat that last crab leg?”
It’s still early when we get back to the motel, stopping along the way at a pharmacy for some aloe and vinegar. Owen swears the vinegar is some kind of miracle cure, and by the time I’ve showered, I’m willing to try anything to take away that heat. How stupid of me to get burnt on day one.
My legs aren’t too bad, but my shoulders, chest, and back are a misery. Owen shakes his head at me when I emerge from the bathroom wearing my other bikini top. No way I can stand wearing a shirt. I hope they have me working indoors and not out in the sun tomorrow.
“Wow, you might glow in the dark,” he quips, and I flip him off. “Come here.”
I take a seat in the chair he gestures toward, and he stands behind me. “That smells awful.”
He gently brushes my hair aside then dunks a towel in a container filled with water and vinegar. “Trust me. I had tons of bad sunburns when I was a kid.”
The shock of the cold towel on my radiating skin makes me gasp, but the relief is almost instant. The smell of vinegar is gross, but I don’t even care as he drapes another towel to cover the worst areas.
“Mmm…that’s better,” I breathe.
“We’ll have to rewet them a few times. They’ll warm up fast, but the vinegar pulls the heat out.”
He’s right. When he takes the towels off the first time, the heat surges. The second time isn’t as bad and by the third, my skin is barely warm. “Better?” he asks, patting my back dry.
“Yeah, much better.”
It suddenly strikes me how close he is. How personal this whole thing feels. It’s not like I’m naked, but he’s taking care of me. It doesn’t feel awkward, just…intimate when he coats his hands in aloe and slathers it over my skin.
