Page 6 of The Catch

He shrugged. “That’s the third drink that’s been spilled on me tonight. I could probably sell this shirt with a straw at this point.”

She brushed her fingers over the wet spot on his stomach, and his skin prickled with electricity. “Does anything upset you?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You just seem very chill. Look at you.” She ran a finger over his brow. “You don’t even have any frown lines.”

He laughed, then captured the hand she’d just touched him with and held it. He’d learned not to sweat the small stuff a long time ago, but he couldn’t imagine getting upset about anything while he had her in his arms. “Well,” he said, pulling her closer. “My shirt aside, I’d say all in all, I’m having a pretty good night.”

She grinned, her nose scrunching adorably, her tongue pressed into the back of her teeth. When she rested her cheek on his shoulder, he was sure she could feel his heart beating. A pang of disappointment lodged in his chest. This beautiful girl had his pulse racing, but he was on vacation, hours away from where his real life took place.

“How long are you here?” he asked, bracing himself for the answer.

“We leave the day after tomorrow.”

“And then where?”

Cat let out a regretful sigh, as she blew out her answer. “D.C.”

“Really?” He stopped swaying for a moment to squint at the top of her head.

“Yeah. You?”

“Ferry Island. About an hour east of the city.”

Cat looked at him with the same cocked eyebrow she’d given Snake Guy, except with far less malice. “That’s not a Maryland accent.”

“It’s not, but that’s where I live.”

“So we both traveled two-hundred miles to end up at the same sweaty bar on the same little stretch of sand? How?”

He shook his head and huffed out a laugh. A lifetime’s worth of good fortune was the only explanation he could come up with.

Cat still looked floored. “Where are you staying?”

“Comfort Suites… Dylan picked it.”

“We’re two hotels down; The Tidal Inn. Tall one with the white balconies.”

“I saw it from the beach this morning,” he said, as the song came to an end. He prayed for another ballad, but the beat picked up, and the crowd filled in around them. Sonya appeared on the floor, pulling Emma behind her, and the two started dancing beside them. Emma playfully bumped into Cat with her hip, forcing Josh to loosen his hold.

Cat gave him a wistful look, and the air in his lungs started to thin. His heart took off in a sprint. “Can I see you tomorrow?” he shouted over the music.

“I assumed you were going to ask me to go home with you tonight.” She flashed a sexy smile that broke his forehead into a sweat, and his mouth dropped open, his words stuck like cotton on his tongue. “I would have said no,” she amended with a laugh.

“Right.” He nodded humbly and laughed with her. “Glad I went with my plan then.” Her two friends worked to surround her and take back her company, but he held tight to her hand until he had his answer. He wasn’t letting her disappear.

Cat looked him up and down, and her smile straightened like a spell breaking. “Like I said, we’re on the same little stretch of sand. If you want to see me tomorrow, you will.” With that, she allowed Emma to pull her into an intoxicated dance embrace, gifting him one more smile over her shoulder before turning away.

Josh felt a hand on his elbow, tugging him in the opposite direction of the hole that Cat had left in her wake, and he turned to see Dylan nodding his head towards the door. He reluctantly followed his friends, the three of them pouring out onto the concrete pathway that connected the bars and hotels on the water’s edge.

“Thought you were gonna get yourself some tonight, Josh,” Dylan said as they set off in the direction of their three-star hotel. Shawn snickered beside them, having had too many drinks to inject his usual wit into the conversation. “You had that intense look you get when you ain’t fucking around. I thought for sure Shawn and I would be getting ourselves some earplugs from the concierge and sleeping on the living room floor.”

“I’ll see her again,” Josh answered, not wishing to go where Dylan was headed with this conversation.

“All right, bro. Just remember what I told you. Vacation!” He simulated a sexual act with his hands and hips, laughing at his own humor.

“I got it,” Josh answered, glancing up as they passed Cat’s hotel on their walk.

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