Page 27 of Sea La Vie (The Outer Banks #1)

“What do you mean?”

“I had big plans of getting out there today and catching something, anything, to sell and keep us afloat. The weather looked so promising all day yesterday but then I woke up this morning to a monsoon. Some days I just want to throw it all in the bucket.”

“You can do that, you know? You don’t have to be the glue that holds every little piece of everyone’s life together,” I say as gently as I can.

“You don’t understand,” she says softly.

“I have to keep this business afloat until Dad can get back out there, because if I don’t, everything my parents worked so hard for goes up in flames.

Dad’s got competition out there that’s ready to fill his spot as soon as they can.

Some long time customers have already started buying from other boats.

I just need to get him through this season. ”

“I understand that,” I say. “That’s tough, Lain. I’m sorry. I wish there was something I could do to help.”

She gives me a shy smile. “Honestly, you just being here is a big help. I feel like we slipped right back in time, and I don’t know what I’m going to do when you’re gone.

I haven’t felt like this in who knows how long.

” Her cheeks and chest grow pink, and she pushes her Ray-Bans up into her hair.

“I feel like I’m a kid again, living one day to the next in an endless summer with you. ”

I take her hand in mine and smile when she squeezes back. “I’ve enjoyed being here, Lainey.” I bend down and pick up a piece of blue glass worn smooth on the edges and show it to her. “Is this what we’re looking for?”

Lainey squeals and takes it from my hand. “Yes! Look. If you flip it this way, it almost looks like a heart. It’s a little broken but still beautiful.” She admires it for a second more, then tries to hand it back, but I shake my head and close her palm around it.

“No, it’s yours.”

“No, it’s not. You found it,” she insists, trying to force it back into my hand.

“I want you to have my heart, Lain.” She snorts through a smile, and I realize the way it sounds.

I start walking backwards, facing her and she picks up her pace until she’s chasing me.

I’m mesmerized by her smile and her laughter that floats above the sound of the waves, when my foot gets caught on something.

Lainey doesn’t stop in time and topples over me in the sand.

“I am so sorry,” she giggles, her face buried in my neck.

“This wouldn’t have happened if you’d just taken my heart,” I tease. “Don’t you want it? It’s a little broken, but still beautiful.” I repeat her words, and suddenly the mood shifts.

She lifts her head, and her waves tumble around her face only to be picked back up again by the wind.

When her eyes meet mine, the world stands still.

I can’t hear the ocean in the background or the seagulls flying around us.

All I hear is her when she says, “Yes, I think I’d like that very much, actually,” so softly I almost miss it.

“Me too,” I say. My eyes trail down her face until they land on her lips. She tugs her bottom one in between her teeth and gives me a nervous smile. “Is it okay…” I trail off. “If it’s not, it’s totally fine and we can pretend this never happened.”

“You know, you really need to work on your skills. You’re not very smooth,” she says through a smirk I’d love to kiss away. “The octopus, the jellyfish, running into Eden’s display and knocking all the books over—”

I hold a finger to her lips. “You want smooth, Lainey? I can show you smooth.” I hook an arm around her waist and flip her over.

“Do you want me to kiss you?” Lainey smiles underneath me and nods. I lean down next to her ear. “I can’t hear you,” I tease, softly.

“I’d really like for you to kiss me,” she whispers then pulls my chin closer to hers. Our lips are only a fraction apart, our foreheads pressed together. “Please.”

Our lips meet softly at first, a kiss to test the waters, before we’re crashing into each other like the fierce waves behind us. Lainey hums softly, and I can feel her smile when I brush a strand of hair back from her neck and pepper kisses there too.

I never thought I’d be able to feel someone else’s smile but it’s a sensation so completely foreign and wonderful; it’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” I say, when we break apart.

“I think I do, actually,” she says. “I’ve thought about kissing you like that for a decade.”

“Well, did I live up to your expectations?” I ask, as if it were a joke, but honestly…I need to know.

Lainey pretends to think and taps a finger to her chin. “I guess it was alright,” she says. “But we better try again, just to make sure.”

I want to feel more of Lainey’s smiles—when I first wake up, when I go to sleep, and all throughout the day. I want to drink coffee with her at Mugs and Memos in the mornings, learn how to garden for her, and fall back in love with this town—all for her.

I’d do anything for her.