“How could you possibly suck at kite flying?”
“Wait and see. It’s the kind of suckage that’s spectacular.”
“Oh,” he grins, saying, “the best kind of suckage, then.” Sean takes the kite from my hands and walks a few steps back, after kicking off his shoes. The wind blows his dark hair out of his eyes. For the first time I get to see his face without that brooding look he always wears. Sean has a boyish grin on his face as he moves away from me holding the silliest kite that I’ve ever seen. “Ready?” he asks, and holds the kite over his head.
I nod. “Yup.”
Sean releases the kite and I turn and run forward. The wind catches the kite quickly, pulling it higher and higher. I yank the line and let out more string and stop running. Then, I yank it again as the piggy kite swerves in the air. The wind pulls it hard and the kite changes direction. Sean is still standing in the same spot, looking up at the kite when it happens. I have no idea why it happens to me, but it does. The kite seems to get caught in a little vortex, swirls, and plummets—and I mean drops like a speeding vulture—from the sky. Sean’s eyes grow wide. He runs at the last second and the kite crashes into his hip. He yelps and rubs his thigh.
I try not to laugh, but I can’t hide the smile on my face. “I told you that I’m cursed. I can’t fly a kite worth a damn. It doesn’t matter where you stand. It will hit you.” The wind catches my hair and tosses it behind me.
“I don’t believe it,” Sean says shaking his head as he walks toward me. “There is no way in hell you could hit me like that twice.” Sean is standing next to me, winding up the string. He hands me the roll back and takes the kite. “Ready?”
“Hell, yeah. I’m fine. The kite isn’t going to hit me. Maybe you should put on your helmet?” I tease him, grinning. I know how this is going to go. Sean’s blue eyes lock with mine. A shiver runs through me and it has nothing to do with the crisp air.
“If you hit me again, I’ll wear my helmet.”
“Is that a challenge, Mr. Jones?”
“Are you doing it on purpose, Miss Smith? Were you a professional kite flyer or something?”
I laugh and shake my head. “No, it’s just my natural awesomeness manifesting itself.” I smile at him for a moment. “You know it’s going to crash into you, right? I mean, this seems like we’re tempting fate way too much.”
“Fly the kite, Smitty.” Sean steps away from me, spooling the string out as he walks. When he’s a few feet away, Sean asks me if I’m ready.
I nod and he releases the kite. I tug the string hard and run a few steps. Sean moves this time and walks toward me. He watches the kite climb higher and higher.
I yank the string and the give it more slack. The piggy kite flies higher. Sean has that arrogant grin on his face, like he thinks he’s won. He stands in the sand next to me and folds his arms over his chest. He’s wearing jeans with a charcoal colored sweater. That color makes his eyes look like topaz.
Sean makes a pleased noise in the back of his throat. “The kite’s still in the air.”
“I didn’t say that I couldn’t keep it up,” I grin at him. “That would be a totally different problem. I said that it will crash into you. To crash, the kite needs to come down. And it will hit you.”
“That was a fluke. You can’t honestly tell me that you’ve flown a kite in the past few years and it crashed into someone every time?”
“I could say no, but it’d be a big fat lie. Have a seat Mr. Jones and wait for it to happen.” I tug the kite string and watch the piggy in the tutu dance against the sky.
Sean settles onto the sand next to me. He pulls up his knees and wraps his arms around them. “I used to come here a lot. It didn’t matter what the weather was like.”
I nod and glance at him out of the corner of my eye. “The best time to be here is—”
“Right before a storm,” we say in unison.
Sean gives me a strange look, which I return. Smirking I tug on my piggy kite. A prickly feeling covers my skin and is gone in a flash. I tuck my hair behind my ear, but the wind keeps whipping it in my face. “Well, that was creepy. Most people say in the sunshine.”
“You aren’t most people.”
“Neither are you,” I say. My heart is pounding. I don’t turn to look at him. I can feel his gaze resting on the side of my face. I tug the kite. “I like how the air feels thick and the waves crash onto the sand. I like to put my toes in the sand when it has that damp chill. I’ve come out in the rain, and just sat on the shore. There’s something about the ocean, about the waves and watching a spring storm roll in that’s soothing.”