Page 19 of River
“Sounds like the perfect job for me.”
Walking down the beach, I watched Noah catching a wave and getting up on his surfboard to glide across the water. He’d said he wasn’t very good, but he looked like a pro to me.
I stood in the water until he was done surfing and looked inward to the beach. Waving my hand, I got his attention, but he didn’t smile back.
“Hey,” Noah said when he came closer.
“Peter said that you’re in a bad mood today.”
Noah pushed his wet hair back. He was in the same shorts that I’d seen him in at the bazaar, and his body looked ripped and gorgeous.
“I know who you are.” He said it while staying in the water, watching me.
My eyebrow shot up. “Is that so?”
“Mhmm. You’re River Robertson.”
“And?”
“I overheard Maximum say that you used to date Storm Johnson, so I looked up his girlfriends and found your picture.”
Not sure why his tone and energy were so negative, I raised my chin feeling defensive and said the dumbest thing I could have possibly said. “We were voted the sexiest couple in the world.”
Noah trotted out of the water and came close enough that I felt how large his body was next to me. It didn’t escape me that he gave a smack of his tongue like he wasn’t impressed.
“What?” I asked and turned to look after him as he walked up the beach.
“How can you be voted anything as a couple when you both like men? Isn’t Storm gay?”
I paled and felt stupid. “I didn’t know at the time.”
Noah stopped and looked over his shoulder. “You really didn’t know that he was gay?”
“No.” My shoulders sank, and I regretted coming to talk to Noah. Why had I?
“At least your new boyfriend isn’t gay, that’s for sure.”
I squinted my eyes and blocked the sun with my hand, wishing I’d brought my sunglasses.
“You have a strange taste in men.” It came out sounding accusatory and hit home like a dart thrown to sit perfectly in the little red dot.
Noah had only known me for two days, and I’d told him almost nothing about myself, and yet he knew that crucial detail about me. I was lousy at attracting decent men.
“Just because you’re having a bad day doesn’t mean you should take it out on me. At least I was friendly enough to come by to check up on you.” Wrapping my arms around myself, I turned and walked back in the direction of my group.
I heard a distinct groan behind me and running footsteps, and then Noah was pulling me around to face him.
“I’m sorry!”
Looking up into his dark eyes, I saw sincerity and something else. “You’ve been too long in the salt water. Your eyes are all bloodshot and puffy,” I remarked.
He let go of my arms. “I haven’t slept much.”
“No, I heard that you and Peter had a long night with the ladies.”
A micro expression of something close to confusion ran over his face before Noah nodded to some beach huts nearby. “Come. I need something to drink.”
I looked back to my group. “I really shouldn’t stay away for long.”
