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He felt amazing against me, warm and steady. He tasted good too, like mint and cool air. My entire body felt like it was being dipped in that barrel on his back porch. Both hot and cold tingles all over.

“Did you find it?” a voice called from behind me, and Theo pulled away. I wanted to pull him right back. I was breathless and lightheaded when I turned to see Alice walking toward us.

Theo shut off the hose and pointed to the board. “No, this isn’t the one we were looking for, but we thought we’d take it for a spin.”

I smiled at his words, the same ones Andrew had said to my grandma all those years ago.

“Please do,” Alice said, finally reaching us. “It probably misses the ocean.” She looked over Theo’s shoulder at my car. “You’re going to put it in there?”

“We are going to attempt,” he said, his brain obviously much more functional than mine, because as I was trying to think of responses to each of her questions, he was already answering them.

“We found some pictures,” I finally spit out. “Of my grandma and the board we’re looking for.”

“Oh?” she said.

I pulled the photos out of my bag and handed them to her. “Have you seen this board?”

Alice squinted. “You know, it does look vaguely familiar. I’ll ask my sister about it—maybe she’s seen it.”

“Can I…?” I gestured to the pictures. “Can I have those?”

“Yes, you can.” She placed them gently back in my hands.

“Thanks,” I said. “We didn’t quite make it all the way through the shed. Is there any way we can come back, maybe when you’ve emptied it out more?”

“Of course. I’ll keep you updated. It might take a while.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied, and then she was heading back to the house. Theo picked up the board, tucked it under his arm, and made his way to my car. I straightened my shirt, slid the pictures back into my bag, took a deep breath, and followed after him.

He was studying the trunk. “This board is longer than yourcar.”

“My back seats fold down,” I said, opening the trunk, then walking around to the side door to release the seat latch. “It’s definitely going to hang out, but I’ve seen people do worse.” It was a beach town; the roads were full of surfboards being transported in various ways. I once saw a guy riding a bike holding a board.

“True,” he agreed as he slid the board into my trunk.

I joined him to help with the task. Our eyes met over the board. My insides still felt melty and my brain mushy. We both leanedforward but were immediately stopped by the barrier between us. I tried to shove the board farther into the car, but it got caught on the front seats, not budging another inch, three feet still hanging out the trunk. Theo came around the end, and then my back was pressed against the taillight and my front was pressed against him.

“Do you know how long I’ve wanted to kiss you?” he asked before his mouth covered mine.

“Three weeks?” I guessed, against his lips, referencing the day in the bathroom. The day I’d realized how hot he was.

“Longer than that,” he said, his hands sliding around my waist. “And it was worth the wait.”

Chapter

twenty-seven

WE KISSED!!!!

I typed that into the group chat, and as I was about to hit send, I hesitated. I’d just dropped Theo and the surfboard off at his house, where we talked about going surfing in the near future, when the weather warmed up more. Before we could even get through that conversation we were making out. Me, stretched over the center console practically in his lap, his hands in my hair. He was such a good kisser.

Perhaps it was that giddy high coursing through me that had me typing those words into the group chat after he left my car and disappeared into his house. I was still parked on his street, my lips tingling from the kiss. But I hesitated. This wasn’t an over-text type of announcement. I had to tell them face to face. Especially when only one, possibly two, of them would be excited about this news. I wasn’t ready for my after-kiss high to disappear just yet.

There was a knock on my window, and I yelped.

Theo stood there, hand pressed against the glass.