Page 39 of Fragile Hearts

She tips her head to the side. “Is it weird we’ve never seen each other on campus?”

I laugh, shrugging as I say, “I don’t know, maybe. It’s a big campus though.”

“True. What time’s your class?”

I blow out a breath, sinking into my chair as I say, “I think I’m like two till four.”

“Huh, me too,” she says.

Smiling, I look over at her. “You wanna go together?” I ask. “We could surf this morning, maybe grab some lunch, and then head to class?”

Asking her to go surfing or grab lunch or dinner is exactly the sort of thing I used to do when I was trying to get Sloane to give me a shot. Ninety percent of the time, she turned me down, only saying yes when our friends were also coming along, so it was not a date or anything.

It used to be a gut punch every time she did, but I still didn’t stop asking, wanting her to know that I wasn’t that easily put off. Now though, this is the first time I’ve asked her since she’s been living with me, and while there is no denying we’ve grown closer, already surfing together with no one else around or having dinner together here, this somehow feels different.

Sloane watches me, a tiny smile on her face as she holds her mug in both hands, the steam rising in front of her face.

“Yeah, okay, that sounds good,” she eventually says.

“Yeah?” I ask, surprised.

She laughs now, nodding as she says, “Yes, Owen, surfing, lunch and class sounds good.”

“Alright then,” I reply with a nod, turning back to the ocean, a huge fucking grin on my face. Beside me, Sloane laughs again, and I glance over at her. “What are you laughing at?”

She smirks, an adorable little grin on her face. “The look of surprise on your face when I said yes.”

“I wasn’t surprised!”

“Oh yes, you were,” she says, still grinning. “It was actually really fucking cute too.”

I roll my eyes playfully. “Cute. Pfft.”

She laughs again, nudging my leg with her foot. I grab it, lifting it onto my lap, and Sloane follows with her other leg so they are both resting there. “Nothing wrong with cute,” she says as my hand curls around one of her feet.

“Mochi’s cute,” I say, gesturing to the dog with my coffee.

“Yeah, and Mochi’s adorable,” she says, groaning a little as I press my fingers into her sole.

I glance over at her. “You’re adorable.”

Sloane blushes now, hiding her smile behind her coffee as she takes a sip. I don’t say anything more, just take a sip of my coffee before putting the mug on the armrest. Then I grab her foot in both hands, slowly working my fingers along the heel as I massage it.

Beside me, Sloane is silent, and when I finally risk another glance at her, she’s staring at me. “You okay?” I ask, not stopping my fingers.

She nods. “Yeah,” she whispers, a secretive little smile on her face.

I lift her foot, pressing a soft kiss to her calf before moving my hand to her other foot, a smile on my face that I can’t seem to wipe off right now.

Fuck, things are definitely changing between us, and I am so here for it.

We surf for a couple of hours, but the swell isn’t the best, only catching a few small waves. Then Owen looks over at me, signaling that we should head in.

Paddling in together, we reach the shore and pick up our boards. I love that the house is so close to the water. Not that my place with Alana and Daisy wasn’t, but it wasn’t out the back door like Owen’s place is, and the break here is better too.

“So, where do you want to get lunch?” Owen asks me, and I shrug.

I don’t go out to eat often, the cost being a huge factor, and it always feels wasteful, or I force myself to make two meals out of whatever I order. There’s always this constant fear that I’m going to run out of money or that I’ll lose my job out of nowhere. I hate that feeling.