Page 33 of The Flirtation

I would love to make you feel like this everyweekend.

She finally looked at me again, as though she knew exactly what I was thinking. It felt like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t. Instead, she suddenly wrote something down on the piece of paper, folded the paper up and slid it inside the shell. She smirked at me. “I beat you,” shesaid.

“I didn’t realize it was arace.”

She stood up and stretched her arms in the air, taking in a deep breath, staring out at the ocean. I tried my best not to stare at her legs. “I’m going to go dip my toes in the water,” she declared. “You may use my paper and pen. No peeking at mine. When I come back you better be done with yourpresent.”

“You’re on,” I said. “I may not have finished first, but I will finishstrong.”

She kicked off her sandals and dragged her feet through the sand, away from me. I watched her go. I watched her step into the ocean without hesitating. She took five steps out, stood still, bent down to let her fingers dance along the surface of thewater.

I knew what I wanted to write. I’d known for awhile.