Chapter 26
Alex
Like a proper gentleman, Tenny escorts me by his elbow down the handful of steps that lead to the beach.
I let go as we turn north, casually striding up the packed sand.
The beach stretches on for miles, to the point where it seems endless, even though it eventually ends at the gaping Chesapeake Bay.
Tiny sandpipers scurry in front of us, racing back and forth to avoid the waves.
Tenny’s dinosaur friend squeaks with every step, and it doesn’t take long before I’m laughing.
“What possessed you to create this ensemble?”
Tenny exhales a contented sigh, smiling into the distance.
“I was going to tell you that it was for a disguise so no one would recognize me, but honestly, I wanted to make you laugh.”
I chuckle. “Mission accomplished.”
As I watch a group of pelicans soar over the waves, I’m genuinely shocked that I’m not breaking out in a cold sweat.
I hadn’t been able to stomach breakfast or coffee this morning because my intestines were too busy stewing with dread.
Other than the time I chased Tenny onto the soaked beach, the last time I’d been this close to the ocean had been during that fateful training session.
My lips downturn, thinking about how lucky I’d been that the jet ski guys were watching over us that day. They are literal angels, always keeping surfers safe. Nalu—the man who rescued me—even visited when I was in the ICU.
Tenny bops the inflated stegosaurus on the head. “Plus, I’m ready for an unexpected tsunami.”
I nod absently, lost in memories I’d rather not relive.
When Tenny beams that dimpled smile at me, I fail miserably at mirroring it.
“Hey.” He reaches out like he wants to touch me before thinking better of it. “Remember what you told me Friday? It won’t be easy, but it’ll be worth it.”
When I don’t respond, Tenny releases a nasally exhale. “Since my over-the-top outfit isn’t enough to keep your mind distracted, what if I tell you something that makes me uncomfortable? Will that make you feel better?”
My eyebrows lift as I perk up. “I generally enjoy seeing you taken down a notch.”
“Of course you do.” The glare he sends me has no malice in it.
Pushing his goggles up on his forehead, he draws in a deep breath. “As much as I’d hoped this get-up would make you laugh, I was worried about it. I only ate one breakfast instead of my usual two and a half.”
My brows bunch as I look him over.
I love what Tenny is wearing. The sweetness of him wanting to distract me from my own anxiety makes my chest ache. He really needs to stop being so darn considerate all the time.
“Why would you be nervous about helping out a friend?”
The last word pops out naturally. We might have had a few rocky moments in the past, but I consider Tenny my friend now. After all he’s done for me, I’d be foolish not to.
He rubs at his jaw, pausing for several beats. “Because my ideas can be a lot. I can be a lot.”
I stop walking, forcing Tenny to face me. With the ocean silhouetting his eyes, they’re a deeper blue than normal.
“You’re enthusiastic about everything, but that makes you fun to be around.” When he averts his gaze, I shift right back into it. “Seriously, Tenny. Your energy is infectious. I never know what to expect from you, and it’s…”
Like sunshine during a rainstorm. Like a snuggly hug at the end of a long day. Like you’re the person I want to tell all my stories to, because I know you’ll be excited to hear them.
Before I can finish my sentence, a high-pitched voice interrupts me.
“Oh my gosh, I told you!” Two women in sports bras and very short shorts jog up to us.
“You’re Tenny Jackson,” one says, her gaze darting all over his body in a way that makes my blood boil.
“I’m Emma.” The other one extends her hand, wrist bent like she expects him to kiss it. “Nice to meet you.”
“Um…” Tenny rubs the back of his neck, accidentally bonking himself in the head with a floatie.
It’s the first time I haven’t seen Tenny overjoyed to meet a fan.
He looks like a startled deer, and a surge of protectiveness makes every muscle tense in awareness.
Tenny is clearly not in the right headspace for fan interaction right now.
The tight tick of his jaw is all I need to solidify my decision.
Maybe it’s time that I act a little more like Tenny.
Sliding my hand into the woman’s outstretched hand, I shake it heartily.
“Hi, Emma! I’m Bethany, but you can call me Beth.
Sorry for the confusion. My boyfriend, Bruce, gets this all the time.
” I laugh, leaning against Tenny’s shoulder—or as close as I can get with his middle wrapped in an inner tube.
“I honestly need to get you and Tenny Jackson in the same room so we can get some doppelganger pics. Wouldn’t that be funny? Your mom would love it.”
I’m so ardent in my delivery that both the women blink, one of them sliding her sunglasses on top of her tight ponytail.
“But—”
“I know,” I tell her, nodding. “I see it too! Except, beneath Bruce’s sweats is nothing but flab.
Sorry, babe.” I give his bicep a little squeeze, mentally sending Tenny an SOS.
Outlandish, on-the-spot fabrications are his thing, not mine.
“It’s the truth, but luckily, I don’t like men with rock-hard abs. ”
I cover the side of my mouth to stage-whisper to the women. “Muscles like that aren’t good for snuggling. You need a man built like Bruce to really get cozy. Forget couch pillows; all you need is—”
When I move to slap Tenny in the abs, he snatches my hand, interlacing our fingers and kissing my knuckles.
“If accepting you as you are isn’t true love, I don’t know what is,” he says, his voice artificially high and raspy.
Finally! Tenny has joined the chat.
However, he should never talk like that. It’s like nails on a chalkboard, and it’s taking everything in me not to put my fingers in my ears.
I gaze up adoringly, like Tenny using the L-word while kissing my hand didn’t send my insides into a confused tailspin.
Rein it in, body! We’re acting, remember?
“Oh…well.” The two women look at each other, perplexed. “I guess…have a nice day?”
“You too!” I beam with an exaggerated wave as they start to jog away.
“So much for your disguise working,” I say, bumping his shoulder into mine as soon as they’re out of earshot.
“I have to say. I did not think you had that in you.” Tenny doesn’t look at me, but his full-dimpled smile makes my jumbled stomach relax.
“I had to do something. They were going to ruin our…our session.”
“Is that what we’re calling it?”
I slap him in the abs with my other hand because he still hasn’t let go of my fingers.
Tenny mutters a soft Ow sound before saying, “Sorry. It took me a minute to find my character motivation.”
“You do that a lot, you know?”
His gaze finally finds mine. “Do what?”
“Talk like you’re in a movie or something. Why is that?” I’m voracious for details about Tenny—like he’s a puzzle I need to solve.
“Ah.” He grins off into the distance, squeezing my fingers like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
“That would be a remnant from when I was Georgia’s scene partner.
I spent so many years helping her learn lines from everything from Annie to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Eventually, her theater-speak snuck into my vocabulary.
” We walk for a few paces before he adds, “I actually miss running lines with Georgia. I should ask her to send me a script.”
A rope snaps tight in my chest.
Tenny does everything big. He plays each baseball game like it’s his last time on the field. He loves his sisters, unbothered if that kind of blatant familial affection might make him seem weak to others. He cares, and he lives out loud, and darned if there isn’t something admirable about that.
I want to be like that again, not this shadow version of myself. After years of guarding my body and my heart, I’m almost desperate for Tenny’s technicolor way of living.
So, instead of listening to the little voice that’s telling me I’m unsafe near the water, I let Tenny’s warm fingers be my safety net as we laugh and chat for miles.