In This Moment(35)

And glancing over at Aimee, I think that’s probably why I searched online for the best arcade near campus and drove us here.

We stop near the ticket exchange counter and I point out a scrawny boy with an unfortunate overbite and a bad case of acne. Understanding my intention, Aimee smiles and takes the tickets from me. She walks over to the kid and taps him gently on the shoulder. From where I’m standing, I can’t hear the exchange but I see the way his mouth falls open and his eyes widen—first at the tickets and then at the beautiful girl handing them over.

I’m laughing when she returns to me.

“What?” Her blue eyes are amplified.

I shake my head. “You do realize that you just gave that kid a year of wet dreams?”

Two little frown lines pull between her eyebrows making her look unbelievably cute. “What do you mean?”

I don’t try to hide the fact that I’m looking at her—all of her. She’s got on a pair of loose jeans rolled up to mid-calf and this vintage looking shirt that hangs off her shoulder exposing her collarbone and the thin scar that climbs up her skin like a vine. Her hair is loose and snakes around her arms like it’s moving to music. Jesus. Who is this girl?

I smile when our eyes catch. “You don’t see yourself clearly at all, do you?”





Aimee



Cole and I end up getting gyros from a food cart that’s set up outside the arcade.

He hands the guy money and I want to argue and pay for my own food, but something about his face keeps my lips closed and my hand from going to my purse. Instead of a thank you, I simply take the aluminum-wrapped gyro and follow him over to a nearby wooden bench that’s been worn to a dingy grey from the wind and the sun. About fifty feet in front of us the parking lot gives way to sand. Sighing, I lean against the bench and let myself look out at the water.

I’ve been back in Florida for weeks, but this is the first time I’ve been anywhere near the beach, and, God, I’ve missed it. Our townhouse is only fifteen minutes away and I’ve thought about asking Mara to drive me almost every day since the start of school, but something has kept the words shoved inside my mouth. Now that I’m here, I don’t understand why I waited so long.

It’s better than I remember. My hair and my lungs are full of salt and the breeze is burning my eyes, but I don’t care. I want to absorb all of it.

Cole and I don’t talk while we eat. We both stare out at the changing landscape of white beach and blue water as darkness drips steadily down the sky. The juice from the gyro runs over the foil onto my fingers and my legs drift back and forth beneath me like I’m sitting on a porch swing.

The moment is strangely perfect.

I know that it all sounds romantic—the beach, the water, the quiet—but it’s not. Not really. It’s comfortable and I can’t even think of the last time that I felt comfortable.

Once—no—twice, I look over and catch Cole watching me. The second time, my eyebrows go up and he drops his face.

“So…” I say, swallowing the last bite of my gyro.

Cole’s head comes up. He squints out toward the water. “Blue. Inception, Caddyshack, and Total Recall. The original one, of course. Mainly rock, but sometimes I mix it up with rap.”

I feel like I’ve been dropped center stage and I’ve forgotten what my line is. My bottom jaw is bobbing. “Did I miss something? What are you talking about?”

Cole laughs at my expression. “Last night you said that you wanted to know a few things: my favorite color, what my three island movies are, and the type of music I listen to before a race.” He shrugs his shoulders. “I just told you the answers.”

“Okaaaay…” I scrunch up my face. “I haven’t seen Caddyshack or Total Recall.”

Now it’s time for Cole’s mouth to hang. “What are you talking about? How is that even possible?”

“I don’t think it’s that strange. Those movies were made before we were even born, right?”

“Um, yeah, but you were actually born, weren’t you?”

I roll my eyes. “Obviously.”

“Then you should have seen them by now. No excuses,” he says in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Fine. I should have seen them and maybe I will eventually. I guess that I’m not really a movie person unless it’s got Ryan Gosling or Chris Hemsworth in it.”

Cole grins and nods his head. “Ah, so blonds are your type, yeah? Lucky me.”

Wow. I stepped right into that one.

I chuckle and flush furiously as I reach to the ground for my bag. “If, um, we’re jumping right into the interview questions, let me just get my notebook and a pen so I can keep track. I wanted to ask you if—”