Chapter 7
While the rest of the board went to the restrooms to change for the casual photos, David and I found our way back to his car to nurse our wounds.
There was a heavy silence between us that I’m only used to experiencing with people I want to like me.
Whenever we accidentally made eye contact, we both looked away.
“Great,” I grumbled under my breath as I searched through my bag for the thousandth time for a pair of socks. I was more than ready and willing to abandon my heels for sneakers.
“What?” David didn’t look up from the cooler he’d been reorganizing in the trunk.
Apparently, he had enough forethought to pack us cold drinks and sandwiches for the day.
He was taking his honorary member role seriously.
It almost made me want to thank him. But since he was only doing this because of the dare and his burning desire to one-up me, I wouldn’t waste gratitude on forced attendance.
“I forgot my socks.” I sighed and tossed my things back into the bag.
“Check the glove compartment,” David said without looking up.
I made a face. “Are you confessing to having a sock fetish and stealing mine?”
He chuckled. “Maybe. Maybe I have all kinds of things in there just waiting for you to see and hold against me till the end of time. You know how I adore giving you the power to neg.”
“I knew you were a kinky guy,” I teased and opened the compartment. Inside, there was a neat stack of notepads and pens, a box of tissues, hand sanitizer, a copy of his car registration and insurance,… and a pack of unopened black ankle socks.
“Well, aren’t I a lucky girl?” I asked, grabbing the pair in awe and rueful appreciation. “First, you swoop me into your arms like some comic hero, and now, you’re offering me your just-in-case socks.”
David shut the trunk and came before me with two water bottles in hand.
“You take care of me so well,” I teased, accepting the water.
He didn’t respond, cracking open his own bottle to take a few sips. We both were well aware that it was best to strike while the others’ defenses were down. And for some reason, David had lowered the bridge and opened his iron gates.
“Are they one of my members?” I asked.
David frowned. “What?”
“The person you’re seeing.” I waved the socks around. “First, opening the doors, helping them down the beach, and now, you have a woman’s pair of socks?”
“They’re unisex.” His tone was flat.
“They’re small,” I said. “Too small for you.”
“Now who’s the one with the fetish?” he teased. “Been checking out the size of my feet, Daredevil? If you were curious, you could have just asked.”
“You wish.”
“This is the second time you’ve inquired about my love life,” he said. “Doesn’t seem like I’m the one doing the wishing.”
“Just making conversation,” I mimicked his tone. “My questions are meaningless, like most.”
He laughed. Silence settled between us once more as I pulled on the socks. He watched me shrug out of my blazer and take my twists out of my hair tie.
“What is it?” I asked, pulling on my blue Westbrooke University sweatshirt.
“Nothing.” David blinked and turned to look at the ocean. I figured we’d leave it there, give ourselves a brief break to recuperate from being in one another’s faces for so long. But he turned back to me with a question in his eyes and hesitation on his lips.
“Are you good?” I asked, studying him with a mix of concern and suspicion.
“Definitely,” he said, voice low with defensiveness.
“‘You sure? I saw how hard it was for you to get all that attention.” I gave him a look. “You do realize people like guys who play football? It doesn’t make sense to me, but they do. And somehow you’ve stumbled into recognition and easily earned awe, and yet, you act like you’re some socially inept eighth grader with a body odor problem. ”
“I seem to remember that was once the case,” he said, self-deprecation infused in his smile.
“I figured your bleak outlook on existence shunned the idea of being stuck in the past,” I teased.
“It does,” he confirmed.
“So why are you knee-deep in it?”
“How do you figure I am?”
“Because of our entangled history. I know what you looked like in middle school.” I stood up and shut the car door.
“I know what mini David Evans looked like when people realized you weren’t so weird after all.
You get red when you’re nervous. A cliché, bright, burning red, that makes your nonchalance shed like the farce it is. ”
“I wasn’t nervous,” he said. “I was…”
I raised a brow. “Was?”
“Worried,” he mumbled and took another sip of water.
“Worried? About what?”
He shrugged. “How were you going to manage not being the center of attention for more than a few seconds? My heart was in utter shambles for you because I know how much you need it to survive. I remember what you looked like in middle school, too.”
I laughed and bent down to check my reflection in the car’s side mirror. “You’re an ass.”
“Need help walking over this gravel?” he asked. “It gets a little hairy the closer we get to the sand. And, well, you’ve proven to be delicate.”
“Nice try, but you’re not going to get another excuse to touch me today. Sorry, I know you were looking forward to it now that you’ve got a taste.”
“No worries. I’m sure you’ll come up with something for me soon enough.”
“Always piggybacking off my labor,” I teased. “You know, post-college, you’ll have to do your own work. I’m not going to be around to offer you lecture notes.”
“From experience, I know if I ask the right way, you’ll give them to me anyway.”
My expression darkened at the mention of how easy it’d become for him to get what he wanted from me. “I’ll be thousands of miles away. No matter how much you ask, I won’t hear you.”
“Going somewhere phones don’t work?”
“Nope, just losing your number. I’ve had my share of David Evans. Enough for a lifetime.”
He stepped closer, making the air between us dense with his warmth. “I’d like to see you try to stay away from me.”
“Is that a dare?” I cocked my brow.
“Oh, wouldn’t that be interesting?” he said, pausing for a second as if he was actually considering. “It is my turn, after all.”
I swallowed when he moved even closer. His water bottle grazed the back of my hand.
I didn’t dislike the chill; it was a strange sort of connection to him.
The cold was disconcerting and tempting at the same time…
like David. He was an arrogant man whom I knew I shouldn’t want to touch again, and yet, I still couldn’t seem to stop picturing it.
“So?” I asked, realizing that if he did this dare, it could be the end of this. And part of me pre-maturely mourned because we hadn’t even figured out a name for us yet. Surely he’d want to stick around long enough to do that at least.
David's gaze scanned my face, and I knew he picked up on my concern. He sensed my dread. I cringed, bracing for him to use it, to point out that, yes, I indeed wanted this, and in some ways, I wanted him.
“Maybe later,” he said. “For now, I’m working on something a bit more entertaining. Since you plan on moving someplace unreachable by modern technology, I’ll have to take advantage of the present and get all the fun I can out of you.”
I tried not to sigh too loudly, to keep my face neutral as relief warmed my skin.