Page 21 of The Tides Between Us

Mark nodded. “I will see you then.”

We both ended the Zoom call and my screen went momentarily black. There was movement from behind me. I saw the reflection of my brother standing off to the side, hovering in the doorway. Turning around in my seat, I glanced at him, feeling like I had just been caught doing something I wasn’t supposed to be doing.

He stepped out onto the deck in silence as he walked over to where I was sitting and took a seat across from me at the table. “What was that about?” He had a mug in one hand and a glass in the other. He had brought himself his morning coffee and a glass of orange juice for me. He knew me well enough to know I was never a coffee drinker.

I put my laptop in sleep mode and slowly shut it. I took the glass he was holding out to me and took a sip of the tangy liquid. Hesitation lingered, but I admitted what I was doing. “I’m taking sign language lessons.”

A confused look washed over Adrian’s face as he set his mug down in front of him. “For what, exactly?”

“So I can talk to Giana.”

He raised his eyebrows at me with a devious look in his honey-colored irises. “Is that the girl with the turtle?”

I rolled my eyes at his words. “Yes.”

My brother stared at me for a moment. It was as if he were studying me or lost in his own thoughts. His face instantly lit up with a touch of curiosity lingering in his expression. “Wait. What is her last name?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted, suddenly feeling guilty for not knowing it. Was that something I should have known by now? “I didn’t ask her what it was and she didn’t offer it up.”

“I’m pretty sure I know her.” He paused as he pulled out his phone. “Well, I know of her. We’ve only met a few times, if it’s the Giana I think it is.”

He handed me his phone which he had opened up to some hockey player’s Instagram account. It was a picture of the guy sitting down with Giana leaning over his back. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and she was smiling brightly at whoever took the picture of them. I glanced at the Instagram handle.Nico Cirone.I hated him instantly.

I didn’t even think to ask her if she was seeing anyone. I just fucking assumed like a dumbass. She never mentioned anyone, not that it ever came up in conversation. Although, if she had a boyfriend, she wouldn’t have just gone along with some of the things I had said to her. I literally told her I wanted to know everything about her. That wasn’t exactly something you said to someone you weren’t interested in on a deeper level.

“Well, fuck,” I muttered as I handed him his phone in defeat. I couldn’t help but feel completely blindsided and stupid. “I didn’t know she was seeing someone. Who is he? Does he play for the Vipers?”

My brother stared at me for a moment before he let out a loud laugh and smacked the back of my head. “That’s her brother, you idiot. He plays for the Vipers. Giana has come with him to some of the different family functions.”

My mouth instantly formed an O. I took his phone from him again and looked at the picture. The color of their hair was almost identical. Their eyes both shimmered blue like the ocean. Their bone structure was even similar. I should have noticed it at first, but I was blinded by the thought of her having a boyfriend. It made sense now. They looked like they were brother and sister.

I let out a breath of relief, taking back the thought in my head of hating him. He was a bit of a threat, considering how protective he seemed to be of his sister, but he wasn’t a threat in the way I had first pictured him.

“So, she is single then?” I questioned Adrian as I held his phone out to him again.

He took it from me and shrugged. “That wasn’t something you ever thought to maybe ask her before you decided to become obsessed with her and take ASL lessons?”

I choked out a laugh. “Nope. The thought never honestly crossed my mind.”

“Sometimes I wonder about you,” Adrian mused out loud, his mouth twitching. “Have you taken too many spills into the dangerous waves while surfing? Or maybe all the salt water you’ve been living in has begun to dry out your brain.”

“Fuck you,” I mumbled as I attempted to keep a straight face. It didn’t last long and the two of us broke out into a string of laughter. “I told you, bro. She has my head all sorts of messed up.”

“Clearly,” he agreed as he shook his head at me. His expression was a mixture of confusion and amusement. “I still can’t believe you’re really taking these lessons right now. Who are you and what have you done with my brother?”

Silence settled around us as I directed my attention out to the beach beneath where we sat. The sound of the ocean slid against my eardrums as the water lapped the shore. Maybe learning ASL was the wrong move. I didn’t want to come on too strong. I just wanted to be accommodating to her. I wanted to be able to really talk to her.

Adrian was right. This was completely out of character for me. I never gave much effort before because relationships were always so fleeting. It was hard for me to invest time in people with the way I lived my life. Giana Cirone, though… she was completely different.

“Is it too much?”

Adrian cocked a questioning eyebrow. “Is what too much?”

“Learning ASL. She’s not going to be weirded out by it, is she?”

My brother laughed again and I wanted to push him over the railing of the deck. “This is quite amusing. Mr. I’m So Sure of Myself is really questioning everything lately.”

“Don’t be a dick,” I said as I pushed my fingers through my wavy hair. “I just don’t want to scare her off.”

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