I gave her a little wave, my mouth too full of food to talk.
“What are you doing here?” She had a gleeful look in her eyes as her gaze darted between me and Trenton. “You said you wanted to bury your head in the sand. I didn’t think you meant it literally.”
“Ha ha. Real funny.”
“Who’s your friend?” She plopped down next to me, feet flinging bits of sand onto my towel.
“This is Trenton.”
Callie shoved her hand in his direction, gladly accepting his. “I’m Callie. And this is my boyfriend Calvin. Are you the one she spilled all over today?”
Trenton laughed, and the sound was infectious, making the worries that’d been dragging me down all day disappear.
“One and the same. I guess I was hoping it’d happen again.”
“Hey!” I snatched some rice and corn from my burrito and lobbed it at him, laughing as he dodged the wrong way and it landed in his hair.
“See? See what I mean?” He pointed at me, but snagged my hand as I batted his away, his fingers curling around mine and holding me tight. “I'm a glutton for punishment.”
My cheeks heated as Callie grinned, and Calvin chuckled where he stood behind her.
“You two staying for the band?” Calvin asked, gesturing toward the small stage and the crowd that was gathering inside the orange fencing.
“Yeah,” I told them, trying to hide my laughter. “Trenton got us tickets.”
Callie’s brow furrowed, but Calvin didn’t miss a beat. “You’re lucky. Those are pretty hard to come by.”
“I know, right?” Trenton grinned my way, laughing as I rolled my eyes and beamed the biggest smile.
“You all are crazy.” Callie pushed herself to standing and brushed sand off her legs. But the whole time, her eyes were shining, her gaze dipping between me and Trenton. “Here I thought Calvin was bad, and you two are talking the same way.”
“Maybe it’s you who’s crazy,” Calvin said with a chuckle, tugging Callie toward him with an arm around her waist. He pressed a kiss to the side of her throat, and I tore my gaze away.
Trenton stood, extending his hand toward me. “You ready?”
Nodding, I slid my hand into his. When I was on my feet, he pulled me close, wrapping an arm around my shoulder like he was staking a claim.
“Want me to put your things in my Jeep? I can give you a ride home after the concert.”
“Oh.” I glanced toward the fenced off area, where the crowd was already thick. Carrying around a beach bag stuffed with smelly clothes would be near impossible with that number of people. “Yeah, that’d be lovely.”
Trenton nudged my chin up with his knuckle. “You’re lovely.”
Heat flooded my body, and I didn’t stop him when he tugged me closer. Instead, my hands drifted over the thin fabric of his tank top, coasting along a set of washboard abs. “You’re sweet.”
“Mmm, more than you could ever know.”
After I tossed on my borrowed clothes, we packed up my things. He took off with my bag, and Callie bounced my way. She grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the concert area. “Oh. My. God! He came back?”
The smile that ripped across my face was so big it hurt. “He did!”
“Tell me everything.”
I told her and Calvin how he’d been waiting for me at the diner when I got off. How he’d swept me off to the beach, how our hands had touched and his had settled upon my knee as he drove the last few blocks.
I told them how crazy it was—this sweet man I never thought I’d see again, seeking me out. Buying me dinner. Spending time with me.
But I couldn’t tell them everything. I couldn’t tell them how completely right it felt with him by my side. How it felt like a missing piece of me had come back. How now, his absence tugged at me, as if something could somehow go wrong without him here.