The moment the sun began to creep up over the palm trees, Tanner held me tighter. I knew that feeling. The sunrise was one of my favorite things, and I saw it practically every day, so for him to see it like this for the first time, it had to feel pretty special.
“I’m falling in love…” His voice trailed off as he took it in.
“It’s pretty incredible, isn’t it?” I said as I angled my head to look up at him.
“It really is, this whole place is amazing. You’re fortunate to live somewhere like this.”
“I wouldn’t trade it for anything, I might not have a lot in terms of tangible items, but I love everything about my life here.” It was true, Pahokee was my world, and I couldn’t see myself living anywhere else.
“I can see why; it’s so laid back. It makes me never want to leave.”
“Well, Canadia, that’s illegal.”
He laughed. “I’m aware, and don’t panic your pretty little head. I’m not moving here.” He kissed the top of my head. “You’ll be getting rid of me in less than a week.” He chuckled softly.
“I wasn’t worried, you ass.” I reached back to smack his arm.
“Sure, you weren’t.” I needed to change the subject, so I jumped up. “Ready to run back and grab the boards to get out into the water?”
His face said all I needed to know; he wasn’t ready for another run. “If you can’t hack it, I can run back and grab the boards and meet you back here.” I put my hand on my hip, daring him to get up and run.
“Like fuck. I can handle it.”
I slowly started jogging backward. “All right then. What are you waiting for, Canadia? Let’s do this.”
He got up sluggishly with a groan and bent over, stretching and then took off after me. We tore down the beach as fast as we could and didn’t let up until we got back to my place. I finally slowed down as we approached the house, but he didn’t. He grabbed me by the waist and tackled me to the ground.
“I let you win.” He could barely get out the words as he was so winded from running.
“You’re kidding, right? You can barely talk. Are you going to have a heart attack?” Is that what I have to look forward to at the ripe old age of twenty-one?”
He pulled back, looking at me in mock horror. “I’m not old; I’m barely legal to drink in this country.”
“Yeah, yeah, you keep telling yourself that Grandpa.”
The sound of someone clearing their voice had us both craning our necks to see who it was.
Rhian stood there with a smirk on her face. “Are you two having fun over there, rolling around in the sand?”
Tanner stood and put out his hand for me to take before pulling me up.
Rhian walked over, still smirking. God, she was never going to let this go. I don’t think she’d ever seen me with a guy outside of picking one up.
She turned toward the house and called out, “Sade, come on out here and meet East’s new friend.”
Sadie burst through the door, and the moment she saw Tanner, her face lit up. She practically ran over to us.
Tanner had one hand on the small of my back as he reached out to shake their hands and introduce himself. My mind told me to pull away, but my body wouldn’t cooperate—it wanted his touch. I guessed I’d just deal with their Spanish inquisition later.
Both of my best friends were googly-eyed over him. I was trying to avoid eye contact, but I could see them checking out his hand on my back. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but they knew me, and the wheels in their heads were spinning.
I rolled my eyes internally; I liked the guy, so sue me. “All right, you nosey bitches. What do you want?”
Tanner turned to look at me questioningly.
“What? They’re just out here because I’m with a guy.” I threw my hands toward them. “Both of you are standing there, smirking and dying to ask me a million questions. Do you want to do it right now with Tanner standing here? Maybe you have some questions for him, too?”
Sadie smacked her lips. “That was rude. We just wanted to meet your handsome friend.”
I scoffed. “Like fuck, that’s all you’re doing. Don’t forget, I’ve known you since middle school.”
“Anyways…” Rhian turned her attention back to Tanner. “So, what are you two love birds up to today?”
Something equivalent to a growl escaped my throat, but before I could chew Rhian’s ass out, Tanner pulled me in closer and started rubbing small circles on my back to soothe me. It worked, which was a miracle with how bad of a temper I had.
“Easton is going to take me surfing. I’ve never been. Do you guys surf?”
I decided to let him do the talking to avoid any further outbursts from myself. I wasn’t angry; I just had my back up. I knew I’d have to face their questioning and either lie to my best friends or say the truth out loud. And although the latter scared the shit out of me, lying to them wasn’t an option.
Sadie eyed me again. “That sounds like fun. Well, we won’t keep you. We just wanted to come to introduce ourselves. Easton’s a great teacher, so you’re in good hands.”
“Nice to meet you,” my friends said in unison.
“You too.” Tanner smiled at them then turned toward me. As soon as they turned around, he kissed me, and the last bit of tension melted away. “What was that all about?”
Debating between the truth or not, I huffed and decided on the truth. “Remember when I mentioned I don’t do relationships?”
He nodded.
“Well, I wasn’t exaggerating. I truly don’t. They’re probably inside watching through the window and squealing like little girls. I don’t think they’ve ever seen me with a guy in this manner.” I shrugged like it was no big deal because it wasn’t; I just had never done it before.
“What do you mean by this manner?” he questioned.
“Ummm…” I wasn’t sure how to explain this without sounding like a complete whore. “I don’t hang out with guys; we just kind of hook up.” I looked down suddenly feeling ashamed but clarified, “I don’t sleep around, I just—”
He lifted my chin to meet his stare. “I didn’t think you did, and how you live your life is none of my business anyway. I enjoy spending time with you, and I feel kind of special that you seem to enjoy spending time with me as well.” He smirked.
“Well, you should feel special because this is definitely new to me. You Canadians must have magic powers or some shit because I’m way out of my comfort zone with you.”
Most likely recognizing my uneasiness with the conversation, he kissed me senseless, taking away my breath. When he pulled back, I kept my eyes closed and my head still tilted up toward him, smiling like a lunatic.
I opened my eyes to find him smiling back at me. “How do you do that to me?”
“You feel it, too? You know what, don’t answer that. It’s not important.” He stepped back and looked around. “So, we going to surf or what?”
Thank God he changed the subject as that one word yes was on the tip of my tongue, and now, I was glad that it wasn’t going to come out. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with me, but I didn’t need to have more talks.