Page 29 of Rum Sips and Salty Lips

“You should. Trust me. I want to be your friend, Carina. Fuck being friendly neighbors.”

I don’t know what he means. We stare at each other in the dark and I have a feeling he wants more from me than friendship. I need to find an escape.

“The stars are really bright tonight,” I say, pointing up to the sky. My eyes have adjusted, and I can pick out so many constellations.

He steps back. “I’ve seen better.” He sighs, not interested in the fight I want to pick.

He doesn’t walkme all the way to my door, like I hoped and feared he would. It would have been the worst temptation. Instead, he waits at the end of my driveway until I open the front door. He’s making sure I’m safe. It’s preservation for my heart. If he came to my door, I’d invite him in and then upstairs. We could be soft in the moonlight as we strip each other down.

“Be safe tomorrow,” I say. He’s an experienced sailor and has a capable crew. It’s silly. But so is making sure nothing happens to me between the sidewalk and the door.

He smiles under the light of the garage, and he knows he matters to me. I care about him, regardless of what I said earlier.

Once inside, I make my way up to my bedroom. My en suite bathroom is massive, with a large soaking tub and a separate shower with two showerheads. I have windows that face the gulf. I can soak in the tub and watch waves crash on the shore. I wantto fill it and sink into the water, thinking of Orion. I can’t do that. Instead, I will myself to let go of this stupid crush.

I move to my yoga room, telling myself some bedtime stretching will help me unwind. It happens that this window faces his house. Out the panes, I watch as Orion turns the lights on in his house and the waves they travel as he moves. On. Off. On. Off.

Then darkness.

I’ve been in his house plenty growing up. The Lawsons always had cold lemonade for Haley and me on hot days. The largest bedroom faces the water like mine does.

He’s gone to bed, not thinking about me. But I’ll be up late, unable to get him off my mind.

eleven

ORION

It’sthe crack of dawn on Monday morning and all I want to think about is how when Carina leans forward to reposition a cooler in my SUV’s trunk, the gap in her tank top gives me a perfect view of the swell of her breasts. I don’t even care that Haley and Alex are standing in my driveway and can probably see me staring.

I’ve been on edge all weekend and the fact it’s taking us forever to even get our gear in my SUV doesn’t help any of it. I wanted to spend this day with her, and her alone. Not with all her friends that she’ll be performing for.

“No, it would be more efficient if you put that there.” Carina points to one of the totes we’re taking to Egmont Key. She’s dug in her heels on something about optimal legroom for the people in the back seat and I hope to all hell she’s frustrated at the situation like I am, and not that she’s truly concerned with how much Alex can spread out on a five-minute drive. She’s pushing me to my wit’s end. So instead of her tits, I’m thinking about howif later today she fell off my boat, in what circumstances would I not jump in to rescue her.

“It’s packed fine, Carina.” Of course, in this imaginary scenario we’d be anchored, so it’s not like I’d leave her behind. And she’s a strong swimmer. There’s no reason why she couldn’t swim her ass over to the stern and hoist herself up.

Now I’m envisioning water dripping over her breasts as I reach for her hand to help her onto the swim platform.

Frustrated horny is the worst.

Haley decides to help. “Orion, couldn’t you?—”

I put my hand up to stop her. She’s also a capable swimmer and could easily rescue Carina if needed. I wouldn’t need to be involved at all.

Alex sips his coffee next to Haley. I’m surprised he’s not complaining again about having to be up this early. He’s a bartender, he asserted. He doesn’t exist before ten a.m. Andhewouldn’t jump in to save Carina if a shark was approaching.

For fuck’s sake, if a shark were nearby, I’d jump in to help her. I’m not a monster. But for the fight she’s giving me right now, she can flail for a few moments in a controlled environment.

“Look, it’s my SUV,” I say.

“We should take my hybrid,” she counters, one hand on her hip as she points to her house.

Of course, if there was any indication she was injured, I’d be there in a heartbeat.

“Christian just texted,” Haley says. “They’ve already parked.”

That’s another thing I don’t understand. Christian and Bristol can meet us at the marina fine. Why are Haley and Alex here? It’s something about efficiency and parking. But the group text planning this moved faster than I was prepared to follow.

“It’s less than a mile,” I tell Carina. “The gas savings don’t matter.”

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