Page 45 of Between Never and Forever
He growls and makes a lunge for me, and I laugh before pushing off on my board. When I’m a distance away, I pop a kickflip and flash him a grin.
“Show off,” he calls as he slowly and unsteadily closes the distance between us. I shrug.
“If you got it, flaunt it.”
He tries so hard to fight his smile. He wants to act irritated, but it’s the fact that he’s not that makes me take mercy on him.
“Ohhhhkaaaay. Take ‘em off. You can walk the rest of the way.”
“Bless you,” he breathes out, then falls to the ground.
As Levi takes off the rollerblades, I swing the backpack I’m wearing off and dig through it for his pretentious ass boat shoes. I toss them on the ground next to him and he slips them on. When he stands, I step off my board, stomp on the end and pop it up into my hand before slinging it under my arm. When I look at him, he’s staring at me with one eyebrow raised.
“What?”
“You just can’t help it, can you?”
I narrow my eyes.
“Help what?”
“Never mind.” He shakes his head, a small secret smile on his lips. “Let’s go.”
We talk as we stroll down the boardwalk, and I find myself wondering if we’d be holding hands if ours weren’t otherwise occupied. Him holding the rollerblades and helmet, me toting my skateboard. I’ve never really had a boyfriend, but this feels like something you’d do with one. Exploring the boardwalk together on a pretty afternoon.
I sneak glances at him from my periphery as we walk and a few times I catch him glancing back. My cheeks hurt from the number of smiles I’m trying to tame.
“We’ve got another show tonight,” I tell him after we get ice cream and settle at a table outside the shop under a big blue sun umbrella. “If you want to come, I mean. It’s at the same place.”
He takes a bite of his strawberry ice cream, and I watch as his lips close over the white plastic spoon. I lick my mint chip off the cone and wait.
“I’d love to come, but I don’t think I’m up for another after show beach trip.”
He locks his eyes with mine and I see the anger there. He’s still mad about last night. I think he might hate Torren and Sean. Honestly, I don’t blame him. I’d probably feel the same. But Levi is supposed to go back to North Carolina tomorrow night, and I’m not ready for him to go.
I’m trying to keep him with me as long as I can.
“No post-show rager, I promise.”
“Okay, Rockstar. I’ll be there.”
12
“Thank you so much,South Beach. We’ve had a blast playing for you guys this weekend.”
Clapping. Whistling. Cheering. It’s just a popular beach bar, but it feels like Hard Rock Stadium, and I can’t hide my happiness. I glance over my shoulder at Mabel, and she’s grinning just as wide as I am. I lean back into the mic slowly, panting to catch my breath. I’ve never been this full of energy, and I try to keep my cool when I speak.
“Once again, just so you don’t forget us, we’re Savannah Alt. That’s Mabel on the drums, Jonah on the guitar, Torren on the bass, Sean on the keyboard, and my name’s Savannah. Have a great night!”
This show was phenomenal. It was the best one yet. I’m bouncing with excitement at how well it went. The bar was at capacity, and the guy who has been talking to Torren and Sean about possibly putting us on a small tour up the coast sent some random guy to come and record bits of the show on his phone.
That’s got to be a good sign, right?
We played six originals. That’s five more than we usually do, but the crowd clapped so loud after the first that we decided to try another one. After the second, they kept asking for more. My songs were a hit.
Lyrics and musicIwrote.
SongsIsang.
