Page 28 of Sailor's Delight
Jenn paused, the water bottle halfway to her lips.Interesting? The hell does that mean?
“Oh, yeah?” she asked, taking another long pull of the bottle and nearly emptying it. “How’s that?”
Casey wordlessly handed her his own water bottle. Jenn accepted it without acknowledgment, making it clear that this unrequested favor was not significant enough to warrant any reciprocation. She dropped both bottles back into her basket.
“You don’t seem to care what anyone thinks about you, you put yourself out there for the world to look at, but not touch, yet, when that monk—,”
“Priest,” she corrected without thinking.
Casey shook his head and smiled. “—Priest shushed you, you retreated quicker than a cat on a hot tin roof!”
Jenn squinted behind her shades. A southern boy, huh? She wouldn’t have guessed that.
“The church and I have what you might refer to as a fraught relationship.”
“Yeah?” Casey waited.
Looking up at the front of the building before them, Jenn took a long breath and let it out slowly. When she turned away, it was with a whole lot of intention. “Casey, if this is going to last at all longer than it already has, there are two rules I’m going to need you to abide by and respect.”
Jenn unclipped the helmet, switching it with her sun hat. “First, I don’t talk about life off of the cruise. I’m here to forget about life for a while, not to hash and rehash old memories, mmkay?” She buckled the strap, careful not to pinch her neck in the device. “The second: nothing takes away from my bliss.”
“Got it.” Jenn noted with equal parts annoyance and eagerness that Casey was putting on his own helmet. “So, how thick are you and that guy from the library?”
Jenn squeezed the handlebars at Trey’s name. “You know, Casey, you’re really bad at this.”
Casey turned his bike to follow her as she stepped through the frame and started pedaling. “I just want to know whether I have a chance, is all!”
“You don’t have a chance, Casey. I feel like I’ve been pretty clear about that from the beginning.”
“None at all?”
“Absolutely none.”
“Why is that, exactly? Do you have history or something?”
Jenn turned to check the traffic and started pedaling circles around the block, waiting for Benjamin and the rest of the group to finish up inside the church and continue on.
“I’m done, Casey!” she called behind her, hearing his bicycle bell sound in her wake. “Company is all I’m interested in!”
To Jenn’s surprise, when they finally reached the next destination, Casey was still behind her and chose to walk quietly beside her across the sprawling plaza before the government buildings. And the next, the next, and the next. At every stop Casey was there, never saying a word more about life outside the cruise, Trey, or his chances with her. He simply pointed out photo opportunities, pushed new flavors of ice cream, offered to hold her shoes while she waded into the ocean.
When Benjamin signaled the last and final stop of the tour, Jenn invited Casey to sit beside her at the table as they sampled a variety of tacos.
Jenn closed her eyes as she took a bite of the taco in her hand. The meat was spiced to perfection, the flavor savory and deep in a way that made her jaw tingle as she bit down. A bitof the sauce dripped from her lip, tangy, spicy, and just enough hint of lime. She didn’t care.Why couldn’t food in the US taste like this?A quiet moan escaped her throat.
A quiet snigger reminded her she wasn’t alone.
“You doin’ okay over there?”
“Shut up, Casey.” She spoke the words before she realized it. She glanced at him to check his reaction. She relaxed when it became apparent that he wasn’t offended in the slightest. He was watching her, a few crumbs all that were left of his last serving.
“Have you tried the carne asada? This stuff is to die for!” Without thinking, Jenn turned and held out the taco.
“Just to be clear, you’re asking me to taste your taco?”
“Ugh, enough! Men.” Jenn dropped the unfinished taco on her plate, then stood and walked to her bicycle.
“Señora?” Benjamin called out. “Leaving already?”