Page 36 of Soulmates

I stayed in the cave for a very long time, a part of me hoping Miles would walk in at any minute, assure me everything was fine, and make love to me again, but he never showed. Finally, with the sun at its zenith, I made my way back home.

It was well past noon when I got back, and there was no sign of Miles. I wanted to ask dad if he saw him, but he was busy chatting with the guests. My phone buzzed, a friend of mine asking if I wanted to swing by the sandbar and hang out. He owned a tour boat and he would occasionally shuttle tourists to the bar.

I was halfway through sending the decline message when I thought, why the fuck not? At least that would hopefully keep my mind off Miles for a time. I deleted the original reply and text a new one:

Shoots, will meet u at the bar

I went to my room, changed to my white bikini, and put on my cutoffs and t-shirt on top of it.

When I stepped out Miles was sitting in the lobby.

“Hey,” he said, standing up.

“Hey,” I replied.

“So, uh, can we talk?”

“I’m about to go kayaking.”

“Oh,” he said.

I knew he would never go with me, not with his phobia of the water, so I was already walking past him when he held my arm gently, forced me to look at him, and said the words I never thought he would say.

“I’ll go with you.”

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