“You don’t know that. I might be a light sleeper now.”
Morgan started laughing as I shot her a look.
“I called to see what you guys were up to today,” Kevin said.
Silence fell on the phone call as Morgan looked at me with a curious eye.
“Um—we’re going swimming,” I said.
“Where at?” Kevin asked.
“Just off the pier,” I said. “Why?”
“Well, maybe the kids and I will see you guys out there.”
“Maybe,” I said.
I hung up the phone and dodged all of Morgan’s questions. My mind was still spinning the sound of his voice around like a song. I peeled off my pajamas and slipped into my bathing suit, then slathered sunblock onto my skin.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Ready,” I said with a nod.
The two of us dove into the water from the small porch of our hut and swam out into the ocean. I looked over and saw Kevin’s vacation home in the distance. I saw him bobbing up and down in the water while Daniel and Sydney were having a blast sliding down the waterslide. Soon the current was pushing us over to their side of the beach.
“Hey there, stranger!” Morgan said.
I shot her a look as Kevin whipped around.
“Fancy seeing you out here,” he said, with a grin.
“The kids look like they’re having fun,” I said.
“They love that waterslide. I knew they would when I found the house.”
“I wish I had a waterslide like that growing up,” Morgan said.
“You can go down it, if you’d like,” Kevin said.
“Oh, hell yes,” Morgan said. “See you losers later!”
I shook my head as my friend swam off to go indulge her inner child.
A cheeky grin slid across Kevin’s face as he looked me over. It was all I could do not to blush from head to toe under the weight of his gaze.
I utterly hated how he could do that to me.
“Did you catch the sunrise this morning?” he asked.
“I did. It inspired me to write a whole new paragraph in a book that’s going nowhere.”
“One paragraph is better than nothing.”
“But it isn’t nearly the kind of pace I’m used to. I haven’t been blocked like this since my freshman year of college.”
“What did you do then to get rid of it?” he asked. “Maybe it’ll work this time.”
“I don’t think drinking and fucking is really something I can afford to indulge right now.”