We were both quiet for a few minutes, engrossed in our own thoughts. “Well, aren’t we just pathetic?” I mused, just to break the heavy silence.
Theo narrowed his eyes and set his jaw and let my sentence hang for a moment. “No, we aren’t. There’s nothing wrong with either of us.”
“Except the lack of romance, you mean?” I arched an eyebrow.
“Maybe that’s fixable. I mean, we’re both available, we’ve already seen each other half-naked at the gym —”
I made a strangled sound in my throat. Where was he going with this?
“Let me take you out this weekend,” he said, catching me off guard.
I looked at him, flustered. I hadn’t really gotten that vibe from him, like he was interested in me that way. He couldn’t quite meet my eyes and the tips of his ears were red. “Look,” he started. “Maybe I’m not who you pictured yourself with, but I like you. I feel comfortable with you. Maybe it’ll turn into something, and maybe it won’t, but either way we’ll have a good time. We can catch a movie then grab some ice cream on the boardwalk. It’ll be fun. Whaddaya say?”
He looked at me hopefully, and I found myself grinning back at him. “Sure.” Why not? What did I have to lose? And it’s not like I had anything better to do.
“Saturday at seven?”
“Sounds good. I’ll text you my address.”
“It’s a date!” He winked at me then shoved the rest of the doughnut in his mouth, licking his fingers. Such a guy.
After playing phone tag all week, Rue answered my call Thursday night. She’d left early the morning after we went to Anchor for her trip, so we hadn’t had a chance to debrief yet. I rehashed my previous weekend with her. She about died laughing when I recounted my run-ins with West. “West is such a player,” she said, when she caught her breath. “I don’t think I’ve ever known him to have a girlfriend. Although he is gorgeous, I’ll give you that.”
“Tell me about it,” I said.
Rue had spent her summers at Reynolds Island growing up, so I wasn’t surprised she knew who West was. She recounted a few rumors she’d heard about girls doing stupid stuff to get his attention. He sounded like an arrogant horn dog with attention span issues. Figured. The hot ones always were.
“So, any other prospects out there? I take it Jared is gone.”
“Yes, thank God. What about Eric?”
“Eh, nothing to talk about there. He had hairy toes. It was weird.” Rue found something wrong with every guy, whether it was a date or a hook up. She was searching for the perfect man and refused to stop until she found him.
I paused. “Why were you looking at his toes that closely? You know what, never mind, don’t tell me.”
“You going out this weekend? Or do you want to have a girl’s night when I get back?”
“Actually, I have a date Saturday,” I announced.
“Oooohhh, with who?” she squealed with delight.
“Theo, from work. Do you know him?”
“Yes! Aw, he’s a sweetie! I wouldn’t have picked him for your type, but he’s a step up from Asshole.” My ex was never mentioned by name anymore. He didn’t deserve such kindness.
“Sweet isn’t my type?” I was a little offended.
“No. You like to argue too much.”
“I do not!”
“See what I mean?” she pointed out.
I huffed. “We’ll see.”
“Just remember,” she warned, “He’s a local. No hook ups. Dating for real, yes, casual sex, no.”
I rolled my eyes, even though she couldn’t see it. “Yes, Mother.”
She giggled. “I’ll see you Sunday then. Have fun!”
On Saturday night, the doorbell rang promptly at seven. Two points for him, I thought, as I moved across the living room to the front door. I loved our house. It was a quaint little three bedroom place with an open floor plan, so the kitchen, living room, and dining room were one big space, with driftwood gray walls and nautical blue and white furnishings. We had a screened sun porch off the back of the kitchen and a big hammock tied between two live oaks dripping with Spanish moss in our small yard. Since the whole cottage was on stilts, we just parked under the house.
I’d slipped on my favorite green sundress and wedges for the date, leaving my hair to fall in its natural partly curly, partly wavy riot around my shoulders. My make up was subdued, just mascara and lip gloss. Checking my reflection in the entryway mirror one last time, I smoothed the front of my dress, took a deep breath, and opened the door.
Theo was leaning against one of the porch columns while he waited. He straightened when he saw me and came forward, giving me a hug, and my nerves vanished. This was just Theo. “You look really nice,” he said, grinning at me, one of his dark curls falling over his eye. He pushed it back, a movement I could tell was habit for him.
“You’re looking pretty good yourself,” I returned, smiling. He was wearing the standard island guy uniform — a polo, plaid cargo shorts, and leather flip flops. I locked the front door, and we were ready to go. Theo held my hand as we walked down the steps and opened my car door for me, waiting until I slid inside before closing it behind me. A perfect gentleman.
At the theater, we picked a comedy with Jason Segel, and he held hands with me during the movie too, lacing our fingers together. The connection felt warm and easy, but that was it. My palms didn’t sweat, and my heart didn’t race. I tried not to let that bother me, tried not to remember the tingle I’d felt when my skin had connected with West’s out in the water. I definitely didn’t relive, in slow motion, that endless slide down his body when he’d set me back down on the shoreline, the way he’d kept his hands on me a beat too long after I was steady. It never even crossed my mind.
After the movie let out, we meandered along the boardwalk that the north half of the island was known for. “So, Sadie, has lifeguarding always been your dream job?” he teased me, as we interrupted a group of seagulls picking at spilled popcorn, their loud caws berating us.
“Of course!” I said with fake enthusiasm. “And haven’t you always wanted to be a bartender at a frozen daiquiri bar?”
“What higher calling is there?” he agreed, before turning more serious. “No, really, what do you want to do here?” He seemed genuinely interested in my answer.
“Photography,” I said, a hint of wistfulness creeping into my voice. “It’s what I was doing back in Nashville. Wedding photography, mostly. But ever since that mess with Asshole, I’ve wanted to change my focus. Portraits maybe, or more commercial stuff.”
“Have you talked to Grady about maybe doing some work around the resort?” Grady was our manager and Rue’s friend who’d gotten me the job.
“No. I barely know the guy, and I already owe him for the lifeguarding job. I didn’t want to push my luck by asking for any other favors.”
“Nah, Grady’s cool. Actually, he was surfing with us that morning you met West too.”
I groaned. “Great.”
“Well, he doesn’t know it was you,” Theo assured me.
“Hopefully, we can keep it that way.”
“I’ll talk to him for you. I bet he can come up with something.”
“Theo, you don’t have to do that!” I protested.
“No biggie. Just leave it to me.”
I stopped walking and wrapped my arms around him, giving him a big hug. Maybe there were still some good guys left in the world. “Thank you,” I whispered, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.
Whistles and catcalls interrupted our embrace and had me pulling back in embarrassment. A group of guys were strolling up the boardwalk toward us. “Benedict!” one of them called out.