Page 21 of Between the Boards
My throat tightens but I swallow through it. “I think he stood me up.”
There’s a long pause before Colton speaks again. “Where are you?”
“Across from the main beach. Heading toward the town square.”
There’s rustling on his end. “Meet me at The Kooky Coconut. I’ll be there in five minutes,” he says, hanging up before I can reply.
I let out a heavy sigh and cross the street, heading toward The Kooky Coconut—the only beach bar in town—but the second I step inside, I do a double take because Brandon is at a pool table with three guys, all of them huddled around his phone just as mine buzzes again.
I know it’s from him before I even open the message, bracing for the worst.
Brandon:
You really thought I’d go on a date with you?
A cold feeling settles in my chest as a burst of laughter cuts through the noise of the bar, and I look up just in time to see his friends high-fiving him.
“I bet she’s still sitting there waiting for you,” one of them says, sneering.
“We should go check,” another adds.
I type back a response without thinking, fuelled by anger.
Kairi:
The joke is that you think I actually showed up.
I hit send before I can second guess it and watch as they all lean over Brandon’s shoulder, their faces dropping one by one. I smirk to myself as I take a seat at the bar, satisfied to have witnessed their reaction with my own eyes.
“Is this chick out of her mind?” Brandon mutters, glaring at his phone.
The bartender, Jazzi, slides a beer in front of me, following my gaze toward the pool table.
“She’s bluffing,” one of his friends says.
“Am I?” I say, loud enough to cut through the noise.
Brandon looks over and I lift my bottle in a slow toast before taking a sip. His expression goes from shocked to enraged within seconds.
“Who’s that?” one of Brandon’s friends asks, looking over my shoulder.
I glance behind me and find Colton standing at the doorway, recognition flashing across his face when his eyes land on Brandon. For a second, I think he’s going to go over there and start a fight, but instead he walks up to me, cups my face, and kisses me.
Like,reallykisses me.
My mind completely blanks, and my hands find his wrist instinctively, holding on as the world around us disappears into static.
It’s just him.
Just us, floating together in nothingness.
Just this kiss.
And it ends before I’m ready for it to. I blink up at him, completely breathless.
“Sorry I’m late, babe,” he says easily, pressing a quick kiss to my forehead as he takes a seat on a stool beside me. “The car wouldn’t start.”
Babe?
