Page 59 of Goldilocks
Fionn repeated his words back to him in a mocking high pitch. Sam tipped his face up to the sky, the juvenile response grating on his nerves. Was he a child? Seriously? Sam was interrupted forthis?
“Are you praying? What for? Fish? Why don’t you come over, huh? You can clean up after me, and I’ll let you sail with me for the day.”
“Get away from my boat.”
“Don’t be such a loner, Sam,” Fionn called back.
Sam bit back a frustrated groan. “You’realsoalone, you know.”
Fionn walked along the outer edge of the yacht, staying as close to Sam as he could. “I have beer.”
“I don’t drink.”
“I have coke too. And lunch.”
“I don’t eat.”
Though it was too far to get a read of Fionn’s facial expression, Sam sensed his hurt feelings charge the air. Sam copied what Fionn had done, walking along his boat to keep him closer. He quickly ran out of space, and Fionn wasn’t moving to adjust his sails to bring himself about again.
“I have schoolwork,” Sam called. “Midterms. I would otherwise.” Why was he trying to soothe imagined hurt feelings?
No mocking jeer rebuffed Sam. The distance between them grew; Fionn’s complicated scowl pointed right at him until he was too far away to make out clearly. Then his blond head turned away, and the sails shifted, turning the yacht about and catching the wind to take him east along the coastline.
Sam hesitated, but with a sigh, put away any notions of trying to catch up to him. Fionn would be fine. Sam went to the cabin and tidied up. He folded and put away the blankets and set the soiled ones aside for washing. Would putting the fur into a washing machine ruin it?
Sam’s phone began ringing at the same time as Goldilocks hauled himself onto the side of the boat. Sam answered without checking the caller ID. “Hello?”
“We’re meeting at Sally’s to study, remember? Abby has our table saved out the back,” Mary said.
Study? Had they arranged something like that? Sam had no recollection of it. But he’d missed so many arranged meet-ups with Mary lately that he didn’t want to give her an excuse and miss another.
“I remember,” Sam lied. “On my way right now.”
Sam turned in time to see Goldilocks frown.
“Good. See you soon.” Mary hung up, not mentioning if she knew he’d lied or not. She probably did and wasn’t bothered fighting about it. Not over the phone, anyway.
“I have to head in. Mary will skin me alive if I ditch her again, and I do need to get studying done,” Sam explained.
An unhappy rumble hummed from Goldilocks’s throat. Wordlessly, he turned and slid off the railing into the water. Sam bit the inside of his cheek, feeling a stab of guilt prodding at his ribs. Honestly, it was probably a major dick move on his part to leave Goldilocks hanging after he’d gotten a blowjob. Sam vowed to make it up to Goldilocks later.
Chapter Twenty-One
As Sam locked the cabin door, the boat rocked. Sam turned to see Goldilocks had lifted himself onto the side again. He looked right at Sam, and Sam hesitated before leaving, still feeling guilty for the abandonment.
“My cousin is at Sally’s pub.” He gestured towards it. “I’ll see you later?” Sam asked. Should he be making plans with Goldilocks, or would the merman simply show up whenever Sam visited the sea? “I’ll come by before I go home. I had meals prepped for my dad for the day anyway, so technically I could spend the night out again if I wanted. Which I might.” Last night was the best Sam had slept in weeks. Usually, even if he went to bed late, he woke up at 6 a.m. on the dot regardless, and not well past lunchtime. He didn’t even care that he’d missed his classes.
Goldilocks nodded.
Sam pressed his lips together, not knowing if that was a simple acknowledgement, if Goldilocks was pleased that Sam would be coming later, or if he was pissed off that Sam didn’t reciprocate earlier. His face was back to that indifferent expression, and given that Sam had seen what happiness looks like on Goldilocks last night, it was a safe bet to assume Goldilocks wasn’t pleased.
Sam couldn’t let Goldilocks monopolise all of his time, even though he rather enjoyed what that entailed. Other things needed his attention too, like letting Mary see his face so she wouldn’t work herself up in a flurry of worry. “See you later,” Sam said.
He shouldered his schoolbag and walked across the wharf to the bar, finding Mary out back with their cousin Abby. It was warm enough that they had the umbrella opened to use as shade, not needing the sunshine to battle chills.
“Got you here.” Mary tapped the spot next to her.
She didn’t even look at him as he sat down, too busy glaring over his shoulder. Sam turned to see what had her attention, and a familiar face at a high table caught his eye. Gary.