Page 56 of This Could be Love

“Well, now you know whatI’mthe best in the world at,” he mumbled.

“What’s that?”

“Buzzkill.”

“Yeah, you really are.”

He looked at me regretfully. “Can we rewind a bit?”

“How far? The point where you question my goals, or the point where you doubt my love of tennis?”

His expression said as much asI deserve that. After a short pause, he said, “To the point when I’m really happy that you’re here with me.”

He smiled so adorably that I lasted all of two seconds before breaking out in a smile myself. We finished up our shrimp in amicable silence.

“Let me throw this away,” Vince said, standing up.

While he was walking over to the trash cans, I stole a glance at my phone and realized with a start that it was going on seven. I wrote Kay to tell her that I’d be coming home later. After shoving my phone into my pocket, I looked around for Vince but didn’t see him anywhere. Did he go to the bathroom?Wasthere even a bathroom around here? I got up from the table and felt the beginnings of muscle aches throughout my arms and legs. That was no good. No good at all. Training in the morning would be tough. And I’d be subjected to Kay giving me a tongue-lashing when she found out why. Surfing. Deviating from my nutrition plan. And on top of it all, both thanks to Vince Greenfield who atthat very moment was coming around the corner with two cups full of juice.

“Mango-papaya-pineapple or strawberry-kiwi-I-forget?” He held the cups up in turn. “I figured you might want to balance out your meal with something healthy.”

It was such a sweet gesture that my heart skipped a beat.

“I’ll take the first. Whenever I eat kiwi, my tongue starts to tingle.”

He handed me the cup, and our hands brushed. And suddenly it was like my fingers had eaten kiwi.

“Hmm.” I sighed ecstatically after taking a sip. The juice was simply heavenly. Fresh and fragrant.

“So…there’s something we need to talk about,” Vince said, his voice serious all of a sudden, and I was afraid he wanted to talk about our kiss. Or kisses. I could feel myself turning red to the roots of my hair, so decided to take another sip of my juice. “What all did we do in that dream of yours?”

I choked and began to laugh out loud.

* * *

By the time we were on our way back, it was already dark. After enjoying the wind for a while, I pressed my cheek against Vince’s back and took in the smell of his T-shirt. Suntan lotion, salt, and a light, not unpleasant hint of sweat. There wasn’t a lot of traffic, but Vince drove at a leisurely pace, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was because, like me, he didn’t want the trip to ever end. But it did. Vince turned on his blinker and turned into his driveway.The light over the door went on as we got off the scooter and took off our helmets. A light breeze came off the water to tousle his hair, and I was gripped by the thought of how others have to stand in front of the mirror for hours to pull off that kind of look.

“Thanks. For the surf lesson. And the food.”

He nodded and mumbled, “Anytime.”

Was he talking about surfing or food? Or…something else entirely? Something that we had successfully avoided until now. I stretched and took a deep breath. “Well…”

“Louisa?”

Our heads spun toward the door where Laurie was standing, staring at us like we were ghosts. “I heard voices and…” She didn’t finish and simply blinked. “Is that mine?”

It took me a second to figure out she was referring to her helmet, which was dangling off my wrist. Vince beat me to it.

“The one I bought you, yeah.”

“That’s not what I meant,” she snapped, and I believed her. Even in the dim light I could tell she wasn’t at all angry, just a bit confused. And I couldn’t blame her. She still thought her brother and I merely tolerated each other.

“We drove to a food truck,” I said clumsily, which explained the scooter and the helmet. But what it couldn’t explain was…

“Together?”

Bingo.