Page 16 of Her Wild Ride

“I’ll walk with you.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m walking you home, so don’t try to argue.”

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JOHNNY

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SHE HUFFS A loud sighbut smiles as we walk to the door. Outside, the cool October air is refreshing from the stuffy bar. The salty ocean scent fills my nostrils.

We walk along the shoreline and pass theNo Trespassingsign at the Redstone Yacht Club.

It’s Saturday night, and voices and music echo from the clubhouse.

“It seems some things never change.” I nod at the roaring firepits up the small incline. Dozens of boaters gather around the flames on lawn chairs.

“Most things change.” Bexley sticks her hands in her sweater pockets.

“Like you?”

“Like you.”

“You think I’ve changed?”

“You’re old.”

A hearty laugh burst out of my chest. “You’ve aged as well, but I like everything I see.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t like what I see.” She doesn’t look at me. “But some things change on the surface, like the tide line. But that doesn’t mean the sand won’t wedge up your butt crack if you sit bare naked on the beach.”

I stop walking. “Hold up.” I catch her arm and force her to look at me. I can’t keep the smile off my face. “Did you just compare my decision to move back to town to a sandy butt crack?”

She shrugs, but there’s no smile on her lips. “You’ll always be the guy looking for the next best ride.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I wouldn’t want to be the girl to stick around and discover it’s true.”

“Ouch.”

“The truth hurts.”

“I suspect not as much as a sandy butt crack. Which is a terrible metaphor. That was a terrible comparison.”

Finally, I get a smile. “It was terrible.”

“So bad.”

“So bad.” She laughs. “So bad.”

We walk to the yacht club's private beach. Over the dunes, across the sand.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you when I left. That hadn’t been my intention.”

She sighs loudly. “I’d always known you were going to leave. You said it every opportunity you got. I just didn’t realize it would be the day after you slept with me.”

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