She was kidding, of course. But then again, she wasn’t. Paisley was the curviest of the girls on the island. She had the body of a real woman as she liked to call it. Plump thighs, big, soft tits, and a roundish face that was cute as a button. She and Rickshaw made the perfect pair since he was the largest of the men, big and muscular but more like a strongman kind of body.
Hailey and Jagger approached hand in hand, leaving Oliver and Kino to chase each other with the football while Ruby and the children cheered. Oliver was not about to give up that football now that he finally got his hands on it.
“Fuck you and your monkey in the middle!” Oliver yelled.
“Good afternoon, children,” Kane yelled from the boat.
He looked to have no intention of climbing down, which was a good thing in Kalina’s opinion. She didn’t need to speak to the man and having him anywhere near actually dampened her mood. Seeing Rafe splashing through the water overpowered her dark cloud though, and she found herself giddy, smiling at him, wanting to accept him with open arms, like a lonely wife seeing her soldier return home for the first time after years in a faraway warzone.
If there were ever a more hopeless romantic than me, God help her.
“I’ll get there eventually,” Rafe said. “Just wait a second.”
She laughed.
“Take your time.”
She wished she could go out there to him and walk back with him, and she almost did without thinking of the consequences. Shifting in front of him and dropping down into the shallow water would have been not only horrifying, but downright embarrassing. She would have flopped around like a fish desperate for water.
“You could meet me half way, you know?” he said.
“Oh, but the scenery is so great from here,” she replied.
Finally, he stepped out of the water and approached her, panting. He removed his soaked polo and draped it over one shoulder. The sight of him covered in beaded water had her biting her bottom lip. He was exquisite.
“Put your damn shirt back on!” Kane called from the boat.
“I will in a second, geez,” Rafe replied.
He turned to Kalina and said, “He’s like a disgruntled father sometimes. I swear.”
“Guess we should leave you two alone,” Faith said as she grabbed Paisley’s hand and pulled her toward the guys on the other end of the beach.
As Rafe reached out and took her hands, Kalina was glad that touching saltwater removed from the ocean didn’t trigger her abilities. If she took one step into the water she’d begin to turn, but touching his body coated in the liquid did nothing to her. Horace had once explained that it was more than the water itself. It was the magic of the ocean, the power, the spirit of the water. The souls that had perished there, human and creature, that combined to give her the ability to change between two-legged woman and fin-sporting shark. This was her blessing and her curse. He once told her there were lake creatures as well, who would be able to go into a sea of saltwater and not be fazed, but once they waded into a freshwater pool, they’d immediately change into a gator or whatever their spirit animal was. Listening to the old sea turtle’s stories always fascinated her. He’d been a major part of her upbringing, like a grandpa helping young ones learn the tales of their ancestors.
“You look unbelievable,” Rafe told her as he reached up to touch the side of her face.
They’d yet to have a real romantic moment other than a conversation before the gang of hoodlums showed up at the bonfire and the fleeting seconds after. Yet, it almost felt as if they’d been dating for a long time. She wanted to kiss him, to welcome him the way a girl should welcome the boy who takes her breath away.
“Thank you,” she said. “I knew you’d find me.”
“Dad back there in the boat didn’t want to bring me out here,” he said, “but I convinced him.”
“You should tell him to leave,” she said. “Let you hang out here for a while and come pick you up later.”
“Do you think he looks like the type to swing back around and offer me a ride?”
She looked onto the boat where Kane was holding a hand up to his temples, shielding his face from the sun. He didn’t look the slightest bit happy about being here.
“We do seem like teenagers,” Kalina said with a chuckle.
“Yeah,” Rafe said. “Me asking for a ride to come see my girl.”
He said his girl. Oh my God. He said his girl.
Kalina’s knees knocked as soon as she heard the words. Nobody, not a single person in her entire life had ever called her their girl. Nobody had called her their anything. She’d always been on her own. Sure, she had an island full of people to hang out with, but even in that crowd she knew she was a loner.
“Is that what I am?” she asked.