Page 25 of Reality With You (Arden Beach #1)
As the sun blazed brighter near its apex and the air warmed to a sticky heat, the clean-up came to a close.
The organization’s team instructed everyone on the final steps of the process while the production team packed the film equipment, though some camera operators continued capturing footage.
The cast helped dump the sacks full of debris onto a large blue plastic sheet to be sifted through and reorganized by material.
Dylan remained busy with the guys, hauling heavier debris and supplies.
After Lennon finished up, Darius—the sound coordinator who turned out to be as lovely as his husband, Bruno—removed her mic pack so she could clean off the sand and grime at the beach’s outdoor shower station on the upper level of the boardwalk.
She bothered him with some more questions about capturing clean audio outdoors without all the ambient interference, and he graciously indulged each one until duty called him away.
At the showers, Lennon kept her shorts on, only removing her jacket and shoes to wash her legs and torso.
As she rinsed off her sneakers, voices drifted from a lower level of the boardwalk.
She peered through the wild foliage surrounding the shower area, catching Chad and Trey splitting off to reunite with their partners while Kelsey and Dylan remained together on their own, talking.
They stopped to get their mic packs removed.
Kelsey placed a hand on Dylan’s bicep as she threw her head back, laughing. Lennon’s blood pressure spiked.
They finished with Darius and started up the winding boardwalk a level below Lennon, their voices traveling. Lennon caught some of their conversation as they moved closer.
“Thanks for coming out today,” Kelsey told him.
“No problem. It was fun.”
“It’s so hard to get people to do these things. A lot of them need priority checks.”
“I can’t judge,” Dylan admitted. “Mine were pretty messed up for a while. The accident made me reevaluate a lot.” His voice lowered. “Pretty much everything.”
“Crazy how life will do that to you, huh? Give you a major wake-up call and have you rethinking your whole life.”
“Yeah. Just wish it happened sooner.”
“Everyone makes mistakes,” Kelsey said. “I don’t judge people for things that happened in the past. I care about who you are now. But it must be hard being around people who can only see your mistakes when they look at you.”
Lennon’s heart skimmed her stomach. She stilled as the water continued running over the sole of her shoe, washing off the sand.
Dylan didn’t say anything. Lennon couldn’t see his expression, the backs of their heads shrinking until they rounded the corner.
Lennon looked away as though she hadn’t been eavesdropping on them, turning off the water and hooking her sneakers on her fingers.
She grabbed a towel from the pile Seas the Mission had set out for them.
A cameraman followed Kelsey and Dylan up the boardwalk.
Even though their mic packs were gone, they weren’t off the clock yet.
Lennon imagined there were probably others around, hiding in the trees.
Listening. When Dylan made eye contact with Lennon, he smiled, and she smiled back with a casual tug at her earlobe: We’re being watched.
He gave a small nod of understanding.
“Thanks for your help, Strickland,” Kelsey said as she approached one of the vacant shower heads.
“No problem, McCroy.”
Lennon inwardly gagged at the use of the last names. Like they were already buddies.
While Lennon toweled off her arms and legs, Kelsey peeled off her shorts, leaving her in a hot pink string bikini, and began to rinse off her body.
Dylan left one of the shower heads open between him and Kelsey, slipping off his shoes and then stripping off his dirt and sweat-stained shirt.
Lennon did a double take at his tanned, well-defined torso, his back muscles flexing as he spun the valve on and rubbed the stream of water over his arms, then turned to get his back, giving her a glimpse of the ridges cutting across his chest and abs.
“Hey, can you check my back and tell me if I missed any spots?” Kelsey asked Dylan.
Her question was like a dump of cold water. Lennon glared at Kelsey, who had angled her nearly naked backside toward Dylan, gathering her blonde hair away from her neck.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me . Lennon suppressed another gag but didn’t bother suppressing an eyeroll. She could only do so much.
Dylan passed a quick look at Kelsey, then returned his attention to rinsing the sand from his swim shorts. “You’re good.”
“You sure?”
“Yep.”
“Thanks. This stuff gets everywhere . I’ll probably find it in all sorts of places later.”
As Lennon swallowed the sharp comments burning in her throat, Tana and Trey approached the shower area. “Wow—you two are hot ,” Tana remarked. “Should we give you some privacy?”
“You’re such a horndog, Tan,” Kelsey remarked with a smirk, arching her back as she focused the stream of water on her chest.
“Hey, I’ll see you up front,” Lennon told Dylan.
Dylan glanced over his shoulder. “OK. Be right there.”
Better to walk away before she said—or did—something she’d regret.