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When I forget to formulate words my mom says, “In case you were wondering, I’ve narrowed down the selection to the ones that I think you’d go for.” Then she mumbles, “I know who I’d be going for.”
“How’s dad?” I ask her sharply.
She laughs. More key tapping. “If you’re staying in hiding then you may at least have some fun. Please.”
I do some rapid blinking, trying to work out if that was thoughtful or weird.
“LA is messing you up,” I say to her. Mitch’s thumbs are now tucked behind his belt, his rippling forearms on full display.
“Don’t I know it,” she mutters back. The line crackles as she moves the phone from one ear to the other. “You know what, maybe you were right in leaving for a while. Has the change of scenery given you any creative inspiration?”
I get to my feet on shaky legs, my eyes blacking out as I look at my source of inspiration.
“It’s been…”
Mitch cocks his chin at me from across the site and the pool in my belly is suddenly throbbing.
“I’ve got to go,” I say quickly, and I can almost hear her eyebrow raise through the line. I’m stepping backwards towards the latch, my head feeling heavy as I watch him watch me. “I’ll call you tomorrow, mom – bye.”
I hang up before she’s finished talking, my feet already racing down the steps, slipping into my flip-flops, and then out of the front door, chest rising and falling in double-time as I make my way down to the cabins.
When he sees me approaching Mitch pushes himself off the railing and starts heading towards me, his friend looking at us curiously with an amused glint in his eyes.
“Hey,” he says as he stops a few inches away from me. I’m eye-level with his chest and feeling very lightheaded.
“Hey,” I breathe back, my voice the ghost of itself.
He gives me a brief once-over.Fuzzy jumper, denim shorts, flip-flops. I try not to pass out.
“It’s been a busy week,” he admits, running his hand across his forehead. “Sorry I’ve been AWOL.”
I tear my eyes away from the thick column of his throat and move them upwards to meet his icy gaze, gorgeously striking against his tan skin.
“That’s okay,” I say.
I don’t know what’s going on anyway so don’t worry about it, is what I don’t say.
He’s watching me intently, jaw flexing as he decides how to take it from here. I lace my hands behind my back so that I can fidget. His eyes narrow as he follows the movement.
It was the incentive that he needed.
“I want to take you out tonight, Harper,” he says, and my heart hitches in my chest. He watches me cautiously, both of our cheeks beginning to blush. “I wanna, um… I wanna take you to one of the places in town. There’s a couple nice restaurants, cafés, and, um, there’s a country bar too–”
“A country bar?” I ask, intrigued.
He pauses, his brow furrowing a little. “Yeah, there’s a country bar,” he says slowly, “but I was thinking that a restaurant might be more–”
“I’ve never been to a country bar before,” I admit, and my mind begins concocting images of Mitch swapping his uniform for a pair of denim jeans and a tight-fitting shirt, muscles bulging beneath the cotton as he dons himself a cowboy hat.
“Uh,” he says, laughing slightly and shifting his bodyweight. “You, uh… you want to go to a country bar?” He gives me a prolonged look. “Instead of a restaurant?”
“I mean…” I toe my flip-flop back and forth in the grass. My silence screamsYES. He hears it.
“Okay, yeah, sure. We can go to the country bar tonight. If that’s what you’d prefer,” he adds on, eyes burning into mine. I think that he’s trying to get me to change my mind but I’ve never been able to indulge in small town novelties before, what with never living in a small town. I want the full-blown IMAX experience.
I glance over to the guy on the railings, his eyes still trained on us, and I give him an eyebrow raise.Look away, Smokey.After he chuckles and turns to give us some privacy I look back up at Mitch, a warm sensation spreading in my chest. I love that he’s willing to compromise, to facilitate whatever he thinks will make me the happiest.
I watch him work the muscles in his throat as he waits for me to give him the green light, stoic and patient even when he’s still on the clock. I give him my best girl-next-door smile and his eyes drop to my lips, colour flushing up his neck. His chest swells even larger.
