Page 75 of Slapshot Kiss

I look up at him. “Do you regret tonight?”

“What? No.” He stops walking and turns toward me. “Quinn, I don't regret a damn thing. I just don't want you worrying about it all night.”

My chest warms at that, and I smile as we start walking again.

A little farther down the beach, Wyatt leads me toward a sheltered spot near a low ridge of rocks.

There's a small fire pit set up in the sand, with a stack of wood beside it and a folded blanket resting on a nearby rock.

I stop walking. “Wyatt.”

He turns around, looking pleased with himself. “What?”

“You did all this?”

“Yeah.” He looks at the fire pit. “Well, I haven't actually lit the fire yet. Figured that might be a bad idea if you decided to stand me up.”

I laugh. “You thought I might stand you up?”

“Hey, I've been rejected by you enough times to know better than to get too confident.”

“Oh my God.”

He crouches beside the fire pit. I watch him arrange the kindling and pull a lighter from his pocket. It takes him a couple of tries, but soon a small flame catches.

“Look at you,” I say. “Very outdoorsy.”

“I'm a man of many talents.”

“Apparently.”

“Stick around. I might show you a few more.”

I roll my eyes, but I'm smiling as he gets up and spreads the blanket over the sand.

“Come here, Princess.”

I sit beside him, and he settles close enough that our shoulders touch. The fire is already starting to warm us, and I tuck my legs beneath me as I look out at the water.

“This is really nice,” I tell him.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I love it.”

He smiles, and I lean against his shoulder.

We watch the waves, talking about nothing in particular. He tells me about something ridiculous Cole did at practice, and I tell him about the customer at work who spent twenty minutes arguing with me over something that wasn't even our company's responsibility.

Eventually, the conversation slows.

I turn my head to look at him. “Can I ask you something?”

“Depends. Are you about to ask where we're going next?”

I laugh. “No.”

“Then shoot.”