“Well, it’s…” She sighed and looked at me. “I don’t like to talk about it.”
So I was right. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed of. Can I take you home?” She shouldn’t stay after having an attack like that. “Do you need your inhaler?”
She shook her head, rolling it along the box behind her. “I already took my meds. Just…sit with me for a minute while I catch my breath?”
Everything in me clamored to drag her ass to the doctor, but I couldn’t exactly force her to go. “Yeah, sure thing.” I dropped down next to her so we sat side by side, and the restlessness that had plagued me the last three weeks faded away.
“Questions?” She half smiled over the bottle.
“Already? I’ve been in the same room with you for less than five minutes, you have me sitting on the floor, you’ve stolen my drink, and now you want my deepest secrets?”
“Yes.” Her eyes threatened to crack me open to the center of my soul.
She didn’t make excuses or play coy. It was her most addictive quality, the brutal honesty she leveled on me. “Fine. How long have you been sitting here?” She glanced at her purple watch.
“Twenty-seven minutes. I was actually about to go in search of a drink, so you had pretty perfect timing.” She took another long pull of the Gatorade. Lucky fucking bottle. “How long have you been home?”
I glanced down at my Breitling, the one piece of him I kept. “Three hours forty-two minutes.”
She laughed, the sound stronger, and my smile was an automatic response. “Miss me?”
I shook my head.
She shrugged. “A girl has to try.”
“Did you miss me?”
Her smile fell, any trace of levity gone from her pink lips. “Yes,” she whispered like she was admitting she’d committed a crime.
I rested my forearms on my raised knees, mostly to keep my hands off her. “Yeah. Me, too. It’s a little ridiculous, actually.” Silence stretched between us, and I fumbled for a question, trying to haul us out of the deep end. “So if you’re not a swimmer, why were you at the beach that day?”
“Working on my tan.”
“No lies. This is no fun if there’s lies.”
“It was on the list.” She took another drink. Good, her color was returning.
“List?”
She ducked her head, a gorgeous blush lighting her cheeks. “I have a list of things to do before…you know.”
My eyebrows drew together. “Before…you graduate college?”
She bit at her lip. “Something like that. So when do we start lessons again?”
“When do you want?” Now.
“I have class this afternoon.” Her face fell. “Actually I have to leave right around now. Walk me out?”
I stood and then pulled her gently to her feet. She swayed, but her color was returning. “Are you sure you should be going?”
“You have no idea how hard I had to beg to get classes on main campus.”
I bent down and grabbed her open purse from the floor. A panicked look crossed her face, so I handed it over without so much as zipping it shut. Girls were weird about what was in their purses. It’s not like I was going to freak at the sight of a tampon. She took it eagerly, slipping it over her shoulder. “You go to Troy?” It was the only local college.
She nodded. “I take one class at main campus and the rest down here. Today is main campus, which is why I’m not skipping it. Not when it’s a battle just to get that one.”
“Grades?”
She shook her head. “Overbearing parents.”
“Ah, right. I remember now. They’re not big fans of college?”
“They’re not big fans of me being out of their sight. It’s a work in progress.”
“So why don’t you tell them that you’re an adult now and live your life?”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s not exactly how it works in my family. I respect my parents, and I pick my battles.” Her drawl was almost as intoxicating as her smile.
“Would they approve of our swim lessons?”
Her smile quirked up higher on one side, seeming mischievous. “I haven’t exactly given them a chance to weigh in.”
She seemed steady, but I still walked slowly. I held open the door, and she glided through.
“So you’re from here?” I asked.
We crossed the patio to the small path that led to the parking lot. “Yep. Mama was born and raised here. Peyton and I were both born here, too. We moved around a lot growing up, but we always came back to Enterprise. Even when Daddy had to work somewhere else, we came every summer. Mama made sure that we both graduated from high school here, like she did. She said she wouldn’t stand for southern girls to graduate north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Couldn’t have our accents corrupted.” She laughed. “I hated it at first, being away from Daddy so often, but I have Morgan because of it.”
“Ah, Morgan. I wondered how she fit into your story.”
“She’s my best friend. She didn’t bat an eye when I had to stay here for college, just gave up going to Alabama so she could be with me. I don’t know what I would do without her.” She sighed. “So, what’s the story with you and the guys you work with?”
“Walker’s been my best friend for a couple years now.” My only real friend. “We’ve been roommates since we were in college in Colorado. Masters moved in with us right before I met you.”