When Will said nothing, Ronnie went on, “Cute, sweet little feathered creatures, flying toward their little duck pond, just minding their own business? And you blow them out of the sky?”
Will considered the question. “Only in the winter.”
“When I was a little girl, my favorite stuffed animal was a duck. I had duck wallpaper. I had a hamster named Daffy. I love ducks.”
“I do, too.” he said.
She didn’t bother to hide her skepticism. Will responded by counting on the tips of his fingers as he continued, “I love them fried, roasted, broiled, with a side of sweet-and-sour sauce—”
She gave him a shove, knocking him off balance for a step or two. “That’s terrible!”
“It’s funny!”
“You’re just a mean man.”
“Sometimes,” he said. He motioned toward the house. “So if you don’t want to go home yet, do you want to come with me?”
“Why? Are you planning to show or tell me about yet another way you kill small animals?”
“I’ve got a volleyball game soon and I want you to come. It’s fun.”
“Are you going to spill soda on me again?”
“Only if you bring a soda.”
She debated for an instant, then fell into step with him in the direction of the pier. He nudged her and she nudged him back.
“I think you have problems,” she told him.
“What problems?”
“Well, for starters, you’re an evil duck killer.”
He laughed before catching her eye. She looked down at the sand, then up the beach, then finally toward him. She shook her head, unable to suppress a smile, as if marveling at what was happening between them and enjoying every moment.
14
Ronnie
If he weren’t so damn cute, none of this would have happened.
As she watched Will and Scott scramble around the court, she reflected on the series of events that had brought her here. Had she really gone fishing earlier today? And watched a wounded turtle swim around a tank at eight o’clock in the morning?
She shook her head, trying not to focus on Will’s lean body and visible muscles as he chased the ball across the sand. Tough to ignore, since he wasn’t wearing a shirt.
Maybe the rest of the summer wouldn’t be so terrible after all.
Of course, she’d thought the same thing after meeting Blaze, and look how that had turned out.
He wasn’t really her type, but as she watched him play, she began to wonder whether that was such a bad thing. She hadn’t had the best luck when it came to choosing guys in the past, Rick being the prime example. Lord knows Will was smarter than any of the other guys she’d dated, and more than that, he seemed to be doing something with his life. He worked, he volunteered, he was a pretty good athlete; he even got along with his family. And even though he liked to play things off in an “aw, shucks” sort of way, he wasn’t a pushover. When she tested him, he called her on it—more than once, in fact—and she had to admit she sort of liked it.
If there was one thing about him that gave her pause, it was this: She didn’t know why he liked her. She wasn’t anything like the girls she’d seen him with the night of the carnival—and in all honesty, she wasn’t even sure he’d want to see her again after today. She watched him jog back to the service line, then glance in her direction, obviously pleased she’d come. He moved easily through the sand, and when he got ready to serve the ball, he signaled something to Scott, who seemed to play the game as though his life depended on it. As soon as Scott turned toward the net, Will rolled his eyes, making it plain that he found his friend’s intensity a bit over the top. It’s only a game, he seemed to say, and she found that heartening. Then, after tossing the ball in the air and serving hard, he raced toward the side of the court to keep the volley going. When he sacrificed his body by diving for the ball and sending a plume of sand in the air, she wondered whether what she’d seen a moment earlier had been only an illusion—but after his shot went wide and Scott threw up his hands in frustration with an angry glare, Will ignored him. After winking at Ronnie, he readied himself for the next shot.
“You and Will, huh?”
Mesmerized, Ronnie hadn’t realized someone had taken a seat beside her. Turning, she recognized the blonde who had been hanging out with Will and Scott on the night of the carnival.
“Excuse me?”
The blonde ran a hand through her hair and flashed her perfect teeth. “You and Will. I saw the two of you walk up.”
“Oh,” Ronnie said. Her instincts told her that it was best not to say much.