Read The Other Guy for Free Online

sit somewhere else and not talk to him; at the same time, I wasn't sure if the nature of our acquaintance was such that my presence and idle chatter would even be welcome. I didn't want to be presumptuous, after all.
    Hedging my bets, I took the table immediately adjacent to his. "Morning," I said carefully, setting my breakfast down.
"Hi," he said.
His wide smile assured me that I hadn't committed a heinous social faux pas, and I felt my shoulders ease. He picked up his coffee cup and, just as he had done the day before, came over to my table to sit opposite me, apparently suffering absolutely none of the same reservations I'd had about where we stood with each other on the friendly stranger scale.
"Sleep well?" he asked.
I made a side-to-side motion with my head. "Yeah, it was all right. Still fighting the jet lag a little," I said.
In fact, I hadn't been able to fall asleep until past two, idly flipping channels, once in a while landing on something I didn't mind passing the time with, but mostly thinking that I should have stayed on the beach a little longer, at least for the scenery. Television was so much less interesting that late at night, to say nothing of its paling in comparison to the panoramic view of the night sky.
"You?" I added.
Nate's face screwed up, abashed. "Kinda fell asleep on the beach for a bit. I wouldn't recommend it," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "Got a crick in my neck. And I woke up to a little sand crab heading up an expedition inside my shorts."
I couldn't help it; I laughed.
He shook his head, smiling behind the coffee cup he'd brought to his lips. "No sympathy at all. It's your fault, you know. You left me there."
"Okay, hey," I said, lifting my hands. "In my defense, I didn't think you'd be so useless out in the wild."
Nate shifted in his chair, relaxing into its back. "I thought I might rent a scooter and explore today. You want to come make sure I don't get eaten by wild dogs or anything?"
"Oh, uh," I said, slightly startled but, more distinctly, pleased at the invitation. Rather than talk myself out of it, I seized on the feeling and added, "Yeah, sure. But if there really are wild dogs, I'm just letting you know now that I'll be running. You're going to have to fend for yourself, buddy."
"You're a good friend, Emory," he said, facetiousness fairly dripping from his words.
"Yeah, I know. I try."
A corner of his mouth tilted upward. I'm not in the habit of making people laugh, but he seemed to find me endlessly amusing, and something about that made me want to try harder at it. For some reason, he thought my company enjoyable, and I wanted to be worth the thought.
He drummed a couple of quick fingers on the table, getting up from his seat. "Okay, I'll let you finish your breakfast in peace. Meet me by the entrance in half an hour, let's say?"
I nodded, and he flashed me a grin, walking off with his hands in his pockets, humming something identifiable only to himself.
Finishing up what I had left on my plate, I then drained my cup of Earl Grey and headed back to my room to swap out my flip-flops for sneakers. I grabbed my backpack, making sure all my travel essentials were safely tucked in there, and swung out the door again. If I didn't know myself better, I might even describe my footfalls as jaunty.
Nate wasn't at the hotel entrance yet when I got there, so I hung around, idly leafing through pamphlets near the front desk.
"Can I help you with something, sir?" the clerk at the front desk asked, when she noticed me taking and putting back several tourist brochures.
"Ah, no thanks. Just waiting for someone," I said, and she nodded in understanding, returning to her work.
"Hey," Nate called out, as he approached.
I secretly wished Alak was there to witness this. So I had arrived on the island with a wife conspicuously missing, what of it? I had a new acquaintance now, with whom I could get up to all kinds of shenanigans. Who needs a wife when you have a new best acquaintance? Who