Page 38 of Bean

Bean sagged with relief, though he looked a little angry. “Sorry. I’m just…this is so…” He knocked his knuckles against his temple, and I quickly caught his hand, kissing his fingers. I was pushing it, but the look on his face said he didn’t mind. “It’s frustrating.”

“I can’t imagine.” I glanced toward the water and saw a guy wearing a slim titanium prosthetic leg walking toward us. The graphic on the flier made sense now. The guy’s face was…angry? Protective? Was this an Army guy? It was hard to assume with his long blond curls. He was definitely fit enough to have been in the military.

Bean followed my gaze and he burst into laughter. “That’s Heath. Don’t mind his resting murder face. He’s a good guy.”

“One of your Army buddies?”

“He’s dating one of them,” Bean said. He took a step back as Heath stopped beside us. I couldn’t see his eyes behind his sunglasses, but his face said enough. “Heath, this is…” He frowned in confusion, then shook his head like he was getting it back. “Jarek.”

“Hey,” I said, offering my hand. “Bean and I met a couple of times at Eddie’s Bar.”

Heath’s body shifted immediately, and he extended his hand. “Oh. You’re Jarek. Nice to meet you.” He eyed my shorts. “You here for lessons?”

“I was thinking about it. I know I’m super late.”

“Yeah, actually. We got started a while ago.” Heath rubbed the back of his neck, looking apologetic. “Can you come next week? I don’t want to stop these guys.” He thumbed over his shoulder at a group of people who were mostly teens.

“That’s totally no problem. This was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

Heath stared another second, then walked over to a backpack leaning against the cabana pole and dug in. He came back with a phone and shoved it at me. “Give me your digits. I’ll text you a reminder for next week if you’re cool with that?”

I was. I put in my number and handed it back. “Appreciate you.”

Heath nodded, then side-eyed Bean for a second. “Maybe you two could go grab some lunch? There’s a couple spots nearby and you were saying you were hungry.”

Bean bit his lip, then looked over and stared at my stomach for a long beat before moving his gaze to my eyes. “Do you have a shirt? Not that I’m complaining, but I think even the spots around here have rules about no shirts.”

I couldn’t help a small, pleased flush. “I do. But I don’t want to take you away from your lesson.”

Bean laughed. “Oh gosh,no. I’m not surfing. I’d probably have an episode out there and drown. I like watching, and it’s good for me to get out of the house when I’m not working. I’ve spent a long time moping and feeling sorry for myself.”

My heart ached for him. I wanted to give him so much more than this, but I was terrified. I hadn’t been nearly enough for Gio, so how could I be enough for a man who deserved more? “Lunch sounds like a good side quest.”

Heath perked up. “Gamer?”

“Another failed hobby,” I confessed. “I’ll explain later,” I added when Bean frowned.

Heath chuckled and waved us off. “I’ll see you in a bit, yeah?” Then he was out of earshot, and it was just me and Bean again.

“You totally don’t have to come with me anywhere,” I told him. “I don’t want to cross lines.”

He looked confused for a moment, then his eyes widened. “Oh. No, uh…unless it is for you. This is new for me, so I don’t know the rules.”

I stepped a little closer and let our elbows brush. “There are no rules, Bean.”

He squared his shoulders, then carefully reached between us. His warm, slightly calloused hand found mine, linking our fingers together. “Okay. Let me treat you to lunch.”

My ego said no. My need to be around him said yes. I squeezed his hand gently before bringing it up and kissing his knuckles. I felt half drunk on the way his cheeks went pink. Fuck, if my townhouse was ready and Andrei wasn’t there, I’d take him home. Instead, I gave him a little tug, and we started toward the path to the road.

I had no idea what this afternoon would bring or if this could possibly change things. But I did know that right now, there was no chance in hell I was letting go.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

BEAN

I had little experience in dating and even less with hooking up, but the difference between those two wasn’t hard to tell. Dating meant going out with the same person multiple times, exclusively, with the intention of moving toward a relationship. Hooking up was a one-time thing, a way to blow off steam, or however you wanted to word it.

So what was the correct label if you hooked up with the same person more than once and now went out for lunch? Was that a date? A hookup? Some term I had never heard of?