Page 5 of Cheesecake
“Yeah, I watched it.”
“And?”
“And…it was kind of cool,” she admits. “For a film in color.”
Laughter bubbles out of my chest, and I’m thankful for the calm and easy return to our normal selves. “You’re such a film snob.”
Penny shrugs. “I like the simplicity of black and white. I like the dialogue and those over-the-top accents they used. But I did likeThe Lost Boys. It was fun. I might even expand my repertoire a little.”
“Dude, if you want more 80s and 90s classics then I’m your guy. Those decades were my time. There’s a lot of great stuff from back then. And it was all before cinema became more about effects than about a good story.”
She giggles, and we hit knee-deep water and jump on our boards. “Did you just call me ‘dude’?”
I hold the side of my board as I go over a whitecap before answering. “I sure did,dude. Are we surfing, or what?”
She paddles gingerly at first then with more sure movement. “Yeah. We’re surfing. Let’s see if I remember how to do this.”
“You will,” I call out. “But if you struggle, I’m here to catch you.”
She turns her head to me and beams, making my heart jolt then beat rapidly in my chest, letting me know that no matter how logical my reasons for keeping us in the friendzone are, my heart and my body are the ones in the driver’s seat.
Penny
“Daddy!” We’ve barely gotten out of the water when a small boy comes barreling into Corey as an older woman with wispy blonde and gray hair stumbles across the sand calling after him.
“Billy! Slow down!”
“Daddy!”
“Hey, buddy,” Corey says with a smile, dropping his board and squatting to pick up the sandy-haired boy and spin him around in the air. I get a warm and fuzzy feeling as Billy wraps his arms around Corey’s shoulders and hugs him tight.
“I missed you, Daddy.”
“Missed you, too,” Corey says, just as Billy looks over at me while I dry my hair with my towel. I smile, and he watches me a second before he scrunches up his face.
“Who’sthat?”he asks as if I’m not even here.
“Her name is Penny,” Corey says with a soothingly deep chuckle. “She’s one of daddy’s friends.”
His fingers play with Corey’s wet hair. “She’s real pretty.”
I totally blush. A little kid is paying me a compliment and I’m blushing.
Corey’s eyes meet mine and my belly heats. “Yeah, kiddo. She is. But she’s out of our league, I’m afraid. She’s heading off to the mainland in a couple of months to go to college and be someone really important.” All of a sudden though, all I really want to do is stay. It’s a crazy feeling for me, though, because I’ve been working long and hard for the chance to get off the island and finally start my life. But something about the change in the dynamic between me and Corey has me wishing we had more time. More time to explore this tension instead of just surfing together or trading movie recommendations. For the first time in my life, I want something moreonthe island. I want Corey…
Billy’s eyes widen. “Really? Important like someone on TV?”
“Maybe.” Corey sets him down on the sand before he glances up at me. I want to be the one putting my arms around his broad shoulders next… Although, I shake that little fantasy off.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Billy,” I say, holding my hand out to shake his tiny one. He places his palm against mine and gives my arm a hard pump.
“Nice to meet you too, lady!” he shouts, making me laugh before he runs off to the woman I assume is Corey’s mother. She’s keeping her distance by sitting a short way away in the sand.
Billy throws himself at her, and she catches him in a flurry of flying sand.
“He seems like he never runs out of energy,” I say.
Corey reaches behind his back and undoes his wetsuit, pulling it down his arms and revealing a ripped torso that secretly may, or may not have been part of the reason I found myself getting to the beach so early in the morning. My mouth goes dry.My god, he has a good body.
