Page 30 of Love Always

“Cory, get away from the waves, come back!”

I can’t give them anything that involves Kevin because I don’t want all the skeletons in my closet dancing around. Then I remember Professor Cruz. But I don’t want to go into his weirdness with me either. Not with Mateus. All these security guys are so possessive and paranoid.

“There’s something, isn’t there …” he says.

“How do you do that?”

“I’m not going to ask personal questions—did it involve a little package?”

I stop again. “Now it’s just getting weird.” I look at him, so handsome, standing a foot and a half from me. Every single muscle in my body tells me to be with him, go to him. My crotch is warm, and every time he speaks, there’s a little gush between my legs. This guy is such a turn on, even his voice sends shivers down my back. But he also knows something is off and can practically read my mind. I take the bait. “Yes my English comp professor asked me to deliver a small package,” I try to make a square with both hands to give him a sense of size, “to another student from another section of English comp.”

“Do you know what it was?”

I shrug. “No. He said the kid left it in class, so he texted him and told him I’d deliver it in the Student Center.”

“And that’s it?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“No, there’s more.”

My “well,” comes out more exasperated than I want it to. “Professor Cruz is just a little friendly.”

Mateus puts a hand on my jacket and turns me to face him.

“He’s making advances?” His face is dark.

“Oh, that sounds so formal.”

“Does he text you?”

I dig into my pocket and hand him my phone. “See for yourself.” I don’t know when I decide to share this with him. Mateus just manages to extract information.

He stops for a moment and reads through the texts, swiping up to get back to the original one.

“There’s nearly two dozen of these. That’s harassment.”

“I know, but I don’t think he knows,” I say.

“This is not a tepid response from him. Have you ever met him or gone out with him?”

“Oh God no. Eew.”

“You need to make a formal complaint.”

“I don’t want do that,” I say shaking my head. “He’s married and he’s got two little kids. Honestly, he’s harmless. I don’t think he knows how he’s coming off.” I raise my voice, “Cory we’re going to the caves!”

Dancing near the sea foam, he can’t hear me. It’s not until I steer Mateus across the sand and near the bluffs that Cory sees we’re near the cave entrance. He gives a yip of excitement and zooms ahead, his pants wet from skipping too near the water.

There are two entrances to the caves in Echo Bay, but they join into one larger chamber. When the tide is in, you can’t get to them. If you hike in and forget about the time, there are rocks you can climb on to keep yourself out of the water, but you have to wait six hours before the water recedes enough to make it out on foot. When Echo Bay became a destination spot thirty years ago, the town elders decided to take away the signs telling sightseers where to go. There were just too many rescue operations.

“This is awesome,” says Mateus, looking above at the dark granite. I’m glad he’s shifting his focus from me to rock formations. The two openings are quite large, about half the size of a house, and the light falls pretty far inside. This area between light and dark at the entrance of a cave is called “twilight.” I learned this from a spelunker who stayed at The Inn years ago when I was a little girl. I relate this to Mateus.

“How far back does this go?”

I shrug. “Not far. Maybe a hundred yards or so. It just ends in a ton of rock. It’s not a true cave. It’s been carved out by the sea and the sea used to be higher. There’s some cool fossils in here though.” My son rushes by. “Cory, we don’t have big flashlights. Don’t go too far,” I call out and then instantly regret it. My voice ricochets in echoes.

Mateus laughs and puts an arm around my shoulders giving me a quick squeeze. “Thus, the name.”