I’d texted Maddy on the way to ask her to get me at the dock. I wasn’t ready to go home when we pulled up in front of Neil’s house. I couldn’t tell if it was because I wasn’t ready to face my best friend, or if I just didn’t want to leave Justin.
Maybe a little of both.
I’d liked the docking station. I wanted to see what else I liked.
By now with most guys, even one date in, I was already starting to lose interest. But every time I saw Justin, I was only getting more interested, which was unusual for me.
But I didn’t love that he had kids.
I never dated men with kids. Ever. It was a hard, hard rule for me. And while they weren’t technically his, for all intents and purposes they were. So, realistically our relationship would just be our fun four dates and maybe, possibly breaking an imaginary curse.
I told Justin he could just drop me off, but he insisted on walking me to the dock. He left Brad in the car and escorted me to my pickup spot.
It was after 11:00. The mosquitoes were long gone. The sky was crystal clear and the stars were out. The air was perfect. One of those nights where you couldn’t even feel it on your skin. The water lapped quietly on the shore and lightning flashed in the distance, some far-off storm, beautiful and ethereal, like the horizon of a different world.
When we got to the sand, Justin gazed at the moon over the water and shook his head. “This view doesn’t suck,” he said.
I turned to look up at him and his eyes settled on me. “Thanks for dinner.”
“Yeah. I’m glad you came.”
The lights of the pontoon pricked the distance. Maddy was coming. Slowly, but she was coming. We had a few minutes. A soft wind blew a lock of hair across my cheek and I dragged it off with a finger. I watched his eyes follow the movement before they came back to mine.
“So when do I get to see you again?” he asked.
“I start full-time tomorrow. I work three days straight, twelve-hour shifts, so I probably won’t see you until next week.”
He frowned. “You said I can’t meet you for lunch or anything, right?” “No.”
He nodded. “Okay. Well, if you have another dinner emergency, call me.”
“I will.”
Then we just gazed at each other. A comfortable silence. A safe one. And for the second time tonight Justin was inside my personal space.
I didn’t mind him there. At all.
“What are you thinking right now?” he asked.
“I’m thinking that you’re supposed to kiss me,” I said. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking I’m supposed to kiss you.”
“Do you think it still counts if you kiss me on a date that’s not one of the dates?” I asked.
“I don’t care if it counts.”
His eyes dropped to my mouth, my heart picked up—and then the lights on the balcony turned on over the pool.
Mom came out and leaned over the railing. “Emma, Justin! Is that you?” The moment was shattered. A flicker of disappointment flashed across
Justin’s face. He turned and waved. “Hi, Amber.”
Neil came out onto the balcony in his robe and Mom hugged him from the side. “Neil and I are going to goat yoga on Saturday,” she called. “Do you two want to come?”
Justin glanced at me. “Goat yoga?” he said, too low for them to hear. “They climb on you,” I said. “Baby ones.”
“Hmm.”
We gazed at each other. “Well?” Mom called.
I snapped out of it and turned back to her. “I have work Saturday, Mom.”
“Thanks for the invite,” Justin said.
“Okay, let us know if you change your mind!”
They went back inside, there was giggling, a playful shriek, and then the balcony door closed.
The motion sensor light stayed on for a few seconds, then doused us back into soft darkness. Maddy was almost here. Too close now for a kiss to be anything but rushed. Oh well.
Justin put his hands in his pockets and looked around the yard. Then he gave me a playful glance. “You know what this feels like?”
“What?”
“A zombie movie.”
I snorted. “I was just going to say that. That dark, eerie night, the moon’s out and zombies start ambling from the bushes and you have to run for your life.”
“We would be pretty screwed if we had to run from zombies here,” he said.
“Why?”
He nodded at the lake. “We’re trapped on one side by water.” “You just run around them back to the car.”
“You can’t outrun a zombie horde,” he said.
“Yes you can. They’re dead, they’re not fast.”
“Yeah, but they never stop. That’s how they get you.” “Uh, I promise you I can outmaneuver a zombie, Justin.” “Well, if you can’t, I promise to run slower than you.”
I smiled and so did he. He was really cute.
Two seconds later the pontoon pulled up to the dock. Justin stepped away from me to go catch it. He said hi to Maddy and secured the boat. Then he hugged me and whispered “Next time…” in a quiet voice that made my stomach do summersaults. He helped me onto the platform, pushed us off, and stood there watching me until he was too small to see while Maddy steered us back to the island.
