One Summer

Chapter Sixty-Six

Sixty-Six

Snot

A few days later, on my morning walk with Ted, I bump into Joshua on the way back from a surf, who says, gallantly, ‘You look beautiful today,’ glancing very obviously at my legs.

I want to ask him about the tortoise comment, but it’s hard to know how to work it into the conversation. I wait to see if he’ll mention going for a drink, but he just tells me about the waves he caught this morning and the quality and length of his rides, in great detail. I’m happy he had such a great time, but being a non-surfer, I don’t really know how to respond.

As he’s talking, he wipes a drip of salt-snot off his face, and something about the gesture makes me feel a bit queasy. Do I fancy him, or do I just think I should?