Page 43 of Seeking Two Lovers

“Then let’s go.”

It took us fifteen minutes to decide on the flavors we wanted, but I ended up bypassing all the unusual ones that sounded decent in favor of my favorite.

Mint chocolate chip.

He did the same.

We sat licking our cones while overlooking the Pacific, shoulders and knees touching. Golden rays glanced off the water, and I kept my sunglasses firmly in place. People strode along the walk behind us, and dozens littered the sand in front of us, lounging or playing.

A volleyball game ran at high intensity a bit off to our right, but not loud enough to be interrupting more than the rest of the din surrounding us.

“Do you like the beach?” I asked and flicked out my tongue to catch a drip of melting ice cream about to hit my thumb.

“I’m not a fan of salt water or thoughts about what lingers beneath the darkness out there, but I like the sounds of waves crashing on shore.” I’d finally gotten him comfortable enough that he spoke in full sentences, no stumbling or stuttering.

That fact gave me hope for getting him into bed at some point.

“Me and Haley are down here all the time—or we used to be before I started working at the cafe. I’ll nap in the sun on my days off. You should come with me sometime.”

Blaine didn’t respond, and I glanced up to find him watching me, his own melting dessert smearing over his fingers.

Snickering, I slapped the napkin in my free hand around the one he clutched his cone with.

“Shit.” He muttered a few more curses while cleaning his fingers.

“Were you staring at me?”

“I like watching you eat,” he repeated what I’d said to him about the pizza chowing-down.

Laughter rippled through me, and holding his gaze, I slowly licked around my ice cream cone.

Blaine gulped audibly, and I nodded toward his hands. “It’s gonna drip again.”

“Shit.” His turn to lick.

My turn to stare.

We were a couple of horny twenty-somethings, one too shy to do jack shit, the other afraid of sending a good thing running before she got a chance to sample the goods.

“I like you, Blaine.” I bumped his shoulder and kicked my sandaled feet back and forth since my legs were too short to rest my heels on the boardwalk.

“I like you too, coffee girl.” His voice teased just enough to send heat flushing through me.

We sat quietly while finishing our dessert, the sun slowly sinking on the horizon. I thought about watching sunsets back home, never once seeing the ball of gold disappear behind anything but houses.

My parents had been so involved in the church that we’d never gone anywhere on weekends, never took any type of vacation out in the country.

While the West Coast wasn’t the sticks with the solitude and serenity nature offered, it held a beauty of its own. Smiling people, laughter as they enjoyed the ocean. Others jogging along the water’s edge, driven to better themselves and their health.

So much…life when all I could remember from back home was coldness—more from the lack of emotional warmth I’d felt outside Levi’s friendship.

“How did you end up out here?” I asked without really thinking about the consequences of a heavy conversation.

Blaine stared out over the water, his hands resting on his thighs. I wondered if he would answer, expand on what we’d touched upon when we’d gone to lunch. “It’s a long story,” he finally said, his tone quiet but not guarded like I’d expected.

“It’s still early,” I suggested.

I wasn’t looking for something serious, but the stirrings of desire for more with him didn’t agree. I wanted to know if the connection I felt with Blaine was more than just the physical attraction that simmered between us.

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