coming out...well, young adults anyway.
“You ready?” Toby asked when he came back.
Jay was wearing the wet suit her dad used when he came to visit, and he had Toby’s spare board tucked under his arm. He tossed his sunglasses in her bag and gave her a rakish smile.
“I like the way you look in that wet suit,” Jay said, giving her a hot once-over with his dark chocolate gaze.
She blew him a kiss. “You look good, too, hot stuff.”
Toby made a gagging sound, which was typical of her brother. Alysse laughed, thinking how perfect this moment was with her brother and Jay and the waves at their toes. She was so afraid to believe that things were good. And that worried her because with Jay she was always going to be waiting for him to leave.
7
J AY HAD SURFED off and on since he’d been stationed at Pendleton. Growing up on a ranch in North Texas he hadn’t ever thought of surfing or the ocean much at all. Put him on a horse and point him toward some cattle and he felt at home.
But as he watched Alysse on her board catching the waves he was in awe. He caught a glimpse of how natural she was in this setting. This was a side to her he’d never seen before and he just sat back and lapped it up.
Toby had put on a friendly face in front of Alysse but in private had told Jay he was watching him. And Jay had to respect that.
He didn’t have any friends or close confidantes that he’d mentioned his brief marriage to, but she had
family—close family and friends. People she socialized with today who knew he’d married and left her.
Thinking on that made him wonder if he should just leave now. Alysse was way too good for the likes of him and the burden of being accepted by her friends was a high one. But then she paddled her board over toward him and sat up and smiled. Really smiled all the way to her soul, he imagined.
“Are you having fun?” she asked. The sun was behind her, casting her face in shadow, but he knew that she was enjoying herself. Her body language and easy laughter were all indications.
No, he wasn’t having fun. But he did enjoy watching her enjoy herself and that made it worth it. He’d wiped out twice and even though it was just water swirling around him he felt as if he’d gone ten rounds with Lucien in a mixed-martial-arts match and gotten his ass handed to him.
“I’m a bit rusty,” he said at last.
“Ah, that’s not a big deal. Last summer we were slammed at the bakery, lots of weddings and special events, and I didn’t get to surf once all summer. Come September Toby ‘kidnapped’ me from work and made me come out. I wiped out three times before I got out of my head. Maybe that’s your problem...you seem to be weighing something very heavy.”
He shrugged. There were a lot of positives about the Corps to him and one of them was that he didn’t have to think about what to do next. If he reenlisted he’d have everything just the way it had always been.
If he didn’t...he might have Alysse, a new job, a house... “There’s a lot to think about.”
“Of course there is. But this is a moment when you can let go and just for these few hours forget everything else and have fun with these people.”
“There is only one person on this beach I’m interested in having fun with,” he said.
“Me?” she asked, giving him a sultry look.
“Hell, yes,” he admitted. “But you know that already, don’t you?”
“I do,” she said. “I am very interested in you, too, Jay but I don’t want to make the same mistake I did before.”
“It did sort of work for a while,” he said.
“It didn’t work at all. It was nice until reality started closing in. This time I want to know the real Jay. Who is the man with his clothes on?”
“And here I’d rather let you see me with my clothes off,” he said.
“I like that, too, but today I learned that you don’t own a home... That’s huge.”
“Is it?”
“Yes,” she said, riding the swell of a wave that bobbed
“You ready?” Toby asked when he came back.
Jay was wearing the wet suit her dad used when he came to visit, and he had Toby’s spare board tucked under his arm. He tossed his sunglasses in her bag and gave her a rakish smile.
“I like the way you look in that wet suit,” Jay said, giving her a hot once-over with his dark chocolate gaze.
She blew him a kiss. “You look good, too, hot stuff.”
Toby made a gagging sound, which was typical of her brother. Alysse laughed, thinking how perfect this moment was with her brother and Jay and the waves at their toes. She was so afraid to believe that things were good. And that worried her because with Jay she was always going to be waiting for him to leave.
7
J AY HAD SURFED off and on since he’d been stationed at Pendleton. Growing up on a ranch in North Texas he hadn’t ever thought of surfing or the ocean much at all. Put him on a horse and point him toward some cattle and he felt at home.
But as he watched Alysse on her board catching the waves he was in awe. He caught a glimpse of how natural she was in this setting. This was a side to her he’d never seen before and he just sat back and lapped it up.
Toby had put on a friendly face in front of Alysse but in private had told Jay he was watching him. And Jay had to respect that.
He didn’t have any friends or close confidantes that he’d mentioned his brief marriage to, but she had
family—close family and friends. People she socialized with today who knew he’d married and left her.
Thinking on that made him wonder if he should just leave now. Alysse was way too good for the likes of him and the burden of being accepted by her friends was a high one. But then she paddled her board over toward him and sat up and smiled. Really smiled all the way to her soul, he imagined.
“Are you having fun?” she asked. The sun was behind her, casting her face in shadow, but he knew that she was enjoying herself. Her body language and easy laughter were all indications.
No, he wasn’t having fun. But he did enjoy watching her enjoy herself and that made it worth it. He’d wiped out twice and even though it was just water swirling around him he felt as if he’d gone ten rounds with Lucien in a mixed-martial-arts match and gotten his ass handed to him.
“I’m a bit rusty,” he said at last.
“Ah, that’s not a big deal. Last summer we were slammed at the bakery, lots of weddings and special events, and I didn’t get to surf once all summer. Come September Toby ‘kidnapped’ me from work and made me come out. I wiped out three times before I got out of my head. Maybe that’s your problem...you seem to be weighing something very heavy.”
He shrugged. There were a lot of positives about the Corps to him and one of them was that he didn’t have to think about what to do next. If he reenlisted he’d have everything just the way it had always been.
If he didn’t...he might have Alysse, a new job, a house... “There’s a lot to think about.”
“Of course there is. But this is a moment when you can let go and just for these few hours forget everything else and have fun with these people.”
“There is only one person on this beach I’m interested in having fun with,” he said.
“Me?” she asked, giving him a sultry look.
“Hell, yes,” he admitted. “But you know that already, don’t you?”
“I do,” she said. “I am very interested in you, too, Jay but I don’t want to make the same mistake I did before.”
“It did sort of work for a while,” he said.
“It didn’t work at all. It was nice until reality started closing in. This time I want to know the real Jay. Who is the man with his clothes on?”
“And here I’d rather let you see me with my clothes off,” he said.
“I like that, too, but today I learned that you don’t own a home... That’s huge.”
“Is it?”
“Yes,” she said, riding the swell of a wave that bobbed
Similar Books
