Read Still Waters for Free Online Page A

side of his hips, just above the waistband of his shorts. He flinches
slightly at the contact and moves closer. The difference is nothing, but it
changes everything when it comes to the pressure of his mouth on mine. I try to
speed up the kiss, but he pulls back, slowing the pace back down. My head is
spinning, and I dig my fingers into his hips to try and steady myself, but it
only intensifies everything. And then just as suddenly as it began, his mouth
is gone. I feel the loss of it immediately. My lips are cold and tingling, and
my breath is coming in short, sharp bursts. I open my eyes, looking up at him
wildly, and he stares down at my mouth for a second before gently taking his
hands out of my hair. He takes two steps backward and walks over to the railing
next to me, leaning his elbows on it as he looks out to the sea. To the right
of me a woman is dragging her reluctant dog along the observation deck; she has
her head down against the wind and is pulling on the lead. When she passes by,
she looks first at me then at Crew and mutters something that I can’t hear.
After a moment, I lift myself off the stool and stand next to him. Down below
us a surfer is paddling out towards the waves.
    “Hartley,”
he says, turning his head to the side to look at me. “I want to use my second
question now.”
    I
smile at that, grateful for the change in atmosphere between us. He stands back
upright and pulls my hand so that we’re facing each other.
    “Let’s
have it,” I say. “What will it be? Ex-boyfriends, family secrets, most
embarrassing moment?”   He shakes his
head.
    “Do
you remember the rules?”
    “Remember
them?” I say, “I invented them.”
    The
corner of his mouth lifts slightly as if he's about to smile, and I find myself
willing it to happen. Go on, Crew, I think to myself. Just smile. But he thinks
better of it, and his face is serious again.
    “Your
answer has to be the absolute truth,” he says. “I mean it.”
    I
nod slowly and wait for him to speak. He looks out over my head to the ocean and
then back down into my eyes.
    “Hartley,”
he says quietly. “Tell me honestly. Did you feel it, when I kissed you?”
    I
know exactly what he means, but I don't speak for a second because I'm trying
to gather my thoughts. Usually, they’re pretty obedient; if I want to recall
something that happened ten years ago or find a piece of useless information I
learned about in college I know exactly where in my brain to find it. But in
this moment I can't think of anything at all, other than, “Yes.”
    So
that’s what I say.
    He
looks into my eyes for a moment as if he's trying to see if I'm telling the
truth. Whatever he sees there seems to satisfy him because he smiles. It's not
his mega-watt heart-breaking smile. This one is quieter and tinged with
sadness. He nods a couple of times and kisses me once on the forehead.

Chapter
Eight
    Crew

 
    As soon as my lips leave her mouth I wish I
hadn’t kissed her. I was stupid for not running in the other direction as soon
as I saw that first curl escape from her ponytail and blow about in the wind.
Even back down on the beach I knew that if I took just one step towards her I
would end up kissing her. I hate myself for doing it anyway.
    “Should
we head back down?” she says, her eyes glinting with excitement and new
possibilities. I really am an asshole.
    We
walk down the steps to the sand and continue side by side for a while, not
talking. She picks up a long piece of driftwood and drags it in the sand behind
her, making wiggly lines.
    “Are
you in town for long? Or is that a personal question?” she laughs, and I realize
that it’s what she does when she’s nervous.
    “You
can have that one for free,” I say quietly. “Three or four days. A week at the
most. I’m heading down to South America for a few months to supervise a
project.”
    She’s
looking the other away so that I can’t see the expression on her face, but I’m
guessing she’s