Chapter Sixteen #2
“Sure.” Noelle’s pulse hammered as she grabbed the sunblock from her bag.
She squirted dots along Jeremiah’s back and began rubbing in the lotion.
His skin was hot and smooth. She felt his deep inhale and exhale as she moved her hands across the top of his back.
She continued down his spine, and his lower back muscles contracted beneath her palms. The longer she touched him, the harder her heart pounded.
She was enjoying this way too much. She remembered their contract and her bank account, and she snatched her hands back.
“All done,” she said.
“Thank you.” His voice sounded deeper, gruff. Had he been just as affected as her?
“Look, they’re out parasailing today,” Amara said.
Noelle leaned to the side to see past Jeremiah and looked where Amara was pointing. Out in the ocean, a boat was pulling two people who soared up in the air. Their feet dangled freely.
“What did you say that was called?” Noelle asked.
“Parasailing.” Jeremiah looked at her. “You ever done it?”
She shook her head, still staring at the people being pulled by the boat. It looked fun. “I’d like to, though.”
Jeremiah suddenly hopped to his feet. “Let’s do it.”
“Wait, really?” Noelle glanced at Amara, who’d opened her book again. “Now? All of us?”
“We’ll stay, but you should go,” Amara said. “Everybody should try parasailing at least once.”
Noelle looked up at Jeremiah. He stood, arms akimbo, waiting patiently for her to join him on her feet.
“What about our stuff? I don’t want Amara and Robin to have to worry about carrying it back.”
“Percy and my mom will be here later,” Amara said. “We’ll bring your stuff back for you. Don’t worry about it.”
“Thank you, sister.” Jeremiah saluted Amara, and she snorted and shook her head, returning her attention to her book.
Jeremiah pulled Noelle up. She grabbed her cover-up and flip-flops, and she and Jeremiah walked across the hot sand, maneuvering through the other beachgoers.
As Jeremiah drove them through town to the other end of the beach, Noelle once again admired their charming surroundings.
They drove by an ice cream shop and a surfboard store.
A restaurant called the Cluck House boasted that it had the best chicken tenders in New Jersey.
Soon, they pulled up in front of Hang High Parasailing.
As they walked inside, an older man with dark brown skin and graying hair glanced up and adjusted his wire-framed glasses.
“Jeremiah Smith!” The man beamed. “I didn’t expect to see you here today.”
Jeremiah smiled. “Hey, Mr. Drake. How are you?”
“Great, great. I love the busy season.”
“This is my girlfriend, Noelle. It’s her first time parasailing,” Jeremiah said. To Noelle, he explained, “Mr. Drake is the owner of Hang High Parasailing.”
“Jeremiah came here all the time when he was younger,” Mr. Drake said. “He begged his grandfather nearly every day to take him parasailing.”
Noelle smiled and sent a cautious glance to Jeremiah, gauging his reaction to the mention of his grandfather. His smile didn’t slip. Actually, his smiled looked a little genuine.
“Well, we have something special for our first-timers.” Mr. Drake dug around behind the desk and produced a bright orange sticker that said I Went Parasailing at Hang High! “Around here, people parasail for the first time as kids, so they usually love the stickers.”
Noelle smiled and placed the sticker on the back of her hand. “Thank you. I love it.”
After Jeremiah paid, Mr. Drake instructed them to head out back toward the beach.
“Grady and Ben will get you situated,” Mr. Drake said. “Jeremiah, will I see you next weekend at the gala?”
“For sure.”
Jeremiah had told Noelle about his family’s yearly fundraiser gala that they hosted in Heart Beach.
It was a fancy affair, which meant she’d need a fancy dress.
Jeremiah said he’d take her to shop for one, and she was grateful that he’d be available to offer a second opinion because Tati and André would be vacationing in the Dominican Republic this upcoming week, and Tati wouldn’t have time to help Noelle pick out a dress.
On the beach, Grady and Ben were waiting with Jet Skis.
They greeted Jeremiah with warm familiarity.
When he told them that it was Noelle’s first time parasailing, Ben explained that he and Grady would use the Jet Skis to take her and Jeremiah out to a boat waiting farther in the ocean.
She and Jeremiah put on their life vests.
Noelle had never ridden a Jet Ski before, and she was eager to see what the hype was about.
In her haste to climb on, her foot slipped on the platform and she fell sideways into the water, swallowing a bunch of it in the process.
The next thing she knew, she was being lifted upright.
She blinked, eyes stinging as Jeremiah’s face came into focus.
He was holding her tightly. But unlike when he’d saved her from the wave earlier, neither of them were laughing.
“Fuck, you okay?” he asked, staring at her intensely.
She coughed and tried to breathe. Jeremiah patted her back and she coughed again. “I’m okay,” she sputtered out. “Thank you.”
He guided her back onto the Jet Ski, frowning as he rubbed her back.
“Are you sure?” he said. “We don’t have to do this today.”
“I’m sure.” The truth was that she felt like she might puke at any second and her eyes still stung from the salt water; however, Amara had said that everyone should go parasailing at least once, and Noelle didn’t know when she’d get the chance again. She didn’t want to miss out.
Jeremiah looked at her, and seeming to notice the determination in her eyes, he slowly lowered his hands from her waist. “Okay, just please be careful.”
Once Ben was satisfied that Noelle was secured in place behind him on the Jet Ski, they zoomed toward the awaiting boat. Noelle wasn’t someone who tended to get seasick, but nausea brewed in her gut thanks to the salt water she’d swallowed.
When they reached the small boat, two more people helped Noelle and Jeremiah climb off the Jet Skis. Then they were hooked up into the parasailing contraption.
“How are you feeling?” Jeremiah asked.
“Great.” Noelle forced a smile and gave him a thumbs-up. She was supposed to be his fun, fake girlfriend. Not the girl who got seasick at the beach.
Despite her confident answer, Jeremiah reached down and threaded his fingers through hers.
Holding his hand helped steady her erratic heartbeat.
She tightened her grip as the boat started moving slowly at first, but soon picked up speed.
Then she and Jeremiah were released into the air, and they rose higher and higher as the boat drove faster.
Wind whipped past Noelle’s face. Staring at the ocean below made her feel only more nauseous. Eventually, they stopped rising higher and hovered at the same height, way up high.
“Parasailing used to make me feel like the king of the world when I was younger,” Jeremiah said.
He was still holding her hand. He rubbed his thumb back and forth on the inside of her palm in a calming motion.
“And it was relaxing. My brain went quiet whenever I parasailed. That’s why I asked my grandpa to take me so often. ”
Noelle tried not to outwardly react at Jeremiah mentioning his grandfather unprompted, although it definitely hadn’t escaped her notice. She closed her eyes and tried to let her brain go quiet too. Gradually, her muscles relaxed, and the nausea receded.
“You should open your eyes and take in the view,” Jeremiah said softly.
Noelle slowly opened her eyes. From here, she could see the entire Heart Beach boardwalk.
The people below looked like little dots in the sand.
She could see the roller coasters and the Ferris wheel.
And when she looked up, all around them the sky was a stunning, clear blue.
When she looked down, the ocean seemed to go on forever.
It reminded her that the world was big, and she still hadn’t seen much of it.
She hadn’t even been to Heart Beach before she met Jeremiah, and it was right here in New Jersey.
“I’ve never been out of the country,” she blurted.
Immediately, she wished that she could shove the words back in her mouth. She didn’t want Jeremiah to think that she was fishing for sympathy. It was just that being this high above the ocean made her consider the world and her place in it.
Maybe he hadn’t heard her over the wind.
“Where do you want to go?” he asked.
Okay, so he’d heard her.
She looked down at her dangling feet and swung them back and forth. “I read a book once that took place in the Scottish Highlands. It sounded like a beautiful place. So, Scotland maybe.”
His face lit up. “You and I can—”
He stopped abruptly and cleared his throat.
Her stomach tightened, wondering what he’d stopped himself from saying.
You and I can what? But it was for the best that he’d cut himself off.
They weren’t going to see each other again after this summer.
And the only reason that she was here right now was because he was paying her.
“I haven’t been to the Highlands either,” he finally said. “But I’ve seen pictures. It looks dope.” He pointed toward the beach. “Do you like seafood? There’s a really good seafood spot right on the water called the Oceanfront. I’ll take you there.”
“I’d like that,” she said.
“And that building right there is the casino,” he said, pointing again.
“Me and Danny snuck in there when we were seventeen. The security guard saw us and kicked us out. He threatened to tell our parents, but we begged him not to. Oh, and Danny’s parents’ bookstore is over there.
I definitely have to bring you by. Amara goes a lot too, so I’m sure she’ll want you to go with her one of these days.
Maybe we should make a list. Things for Noelle to do in Heart Beach. ”
She smiled. “First on the list: parasailing. Check.”
“Second on the list, Jet Skiing,” he said, smirking. “Check. I think we’ve seen all we need to see there.”
She swatted his arm and laughed. It was only then that she realized they’d never stopped holding hands. But she didn’t let go because holding hands with Jeremiah felt…nice.
“I was excited, and I slipped!”
“I’m just glad you didn’t break something.” He grinned and slunk away as she tried to swat him again. “Tonight I’ll take you to get funnel cake from Marty’s. They have the best funnel cake on the boardwalk.”
She perked up, but then her shoulders deflated. “I told your family that I don’t like sweets. I can’t eat funnel cake in front of them.”
Jeremiah leaned back and closed his eyes as the wind whipped by. “Don’t worry. They don’t have to know. I’ll cover for you.”
She liked when he said that. It made it seem like they were on the same team.
She had to remind herself not to get too used to it.