Page 26 of Out Of Time

This time he took the real donut he was excited about, the maple bar. He loved syrup and any kind of food you could add syrup to. He even loved the movie Elf because of Buddy’s childlike love for syrup. He took a bite and before he even finished chewing, Remi grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet.

“Get in the water, Mr. Miller,” she demanded.

“What?”

She pointed to the ocean firmly. “Go.”

“But we still have two more to try.”

Remi looked down at his feet and kicked a bit of sand at the nice dress loafers he was still wearing from the game. “It doesn't matter, because I know, right now, in this moment, that you loved that maple bar more than maybe anything you've ever eaten.”

She wasn't wrong.

Was he that obvious?

They say gingers give everything away with how easily they blush, so could people also see when they fell in love too? Because heabsolutelyloved this donut.

He dropped his head. She had won. No chocolate round or crumb donut would compare. “And what about you? Was it the twisty glazed one?” he asked.

“How’d you know?”

“The happy dance gave you away.”

“It always does.” She grinned, and before he was ready, Remi lifted the loose-fitting tank top over her head and pushed her jean shorts from her hips.

She wasn't wearing much less than her jellyfish costume, but the very idea of this being her underwear—her bra and panties—caused his body to betray him, as he felt all the blood in his head rush instantly to his lower regions.

Cold waterhe thought.

Cold water would put a stop to that. He removed his shirt, kicked off his loafers, and before he had a chance to remove his pants Remi bolted to the water. This left him an ounce of privacy as he pulled his slacks down and bound for the ocean wearing only what he wore the day he met her—black briefs.

Remi screamed as she dove into the waves, and he knew that was the scream of someone taking a cold plunge. The beaches were never that warm in California, not like Florida beaches. She watched him run towards the water, and then before he could talk himself out of it, Remi yelled, “Do it!” and he crashed into the next wave.

Coming up for air, he was greeted by the sight of her bobbing in the water next to him, her hair slicked down to her face and her smile one of regret. She still managed to look beautiful like this, wet, cold, and filled with bad choices in the name of donuts.

“This was an awful idea.” She laughed.

“Your worst idea yet,” he agreed, through chattering teeth. The vast ocean in the dark was nothing more than a blank space to him.

“It’s kind of scary, huh?” she asked, looking out at the blackness that surrounded them as waves rolled into pillows of white foam closer to the shore.

“The ocean? It’s terrifying,” Max admitted.

“And yet here we are.”

“Pretty stupid of us.”

Remi swam closer, and Max thought this was it. She was going to kiss him.

“A bet is a bet,” she said, her face close enough that he could make out droplets of water clinging to her long dark eyelashes.

“A betisa bet,” he agreed, his voice sounding heavier than usual.

“And besides,” she said, her face a little more serious than it had been just a second earlier, “it’s good to do things that scare us.”

Remi was right. Maybe this was her trying to convince him to tell his team about his health issues, and maybe it was her hinting at him to see the doctor, but maybe it was her letting him know that it was okay to kiss her, because that was scary too.

He was going to do it.

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