Island Girls (and Boys) by Rachel Hawthorne

Author:Rachel Hawthorne [Rachel Hawthorne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780061756788
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2007-04-05T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

By the time we got to the house, Dylan and Zach were already there, in the living room, drinking beer, watching one of the Sopranos DVDs with Noah. Chelsea plopped down on the couch beside him. He swung his arm around her, drew her up close, and started kissing her like they�d never stopped.

Yeah, right, Chels. He�s going to find someone he likes better.

�Sorry we�re late,� I announced.

Dylan stood. It always made my heart thud when I saw all of him. He was so in shape. He grinned.

�We have a surprise for you.�

I followed him into the kitchen. Holding Tiny, Amy was standing beside a large bucket, looking inside.

�There are crabs in here,� she said.

�Yeah, Zach and I caught them this afternoon. We were hoping for fish, but they weren�t biting. Lots of crabs, though, stealing the bait off our hooks, so we decided that we�d show them.�

I glanced in the bucket. The crabs were huge, with blue backs and giant claws. I couldn�t see exactly how many there were because they were piled on top of each other, making little hissing noises.

�Do you know how to cook them?� Dylan asked.

�Sure,� I said, smiling. �Just boil some water, season it, and toss them in.�

�But they�re alive,� Amy said.

�Well, yeah, that�s how you have to cook them. Like lobsters.�

�It seems mean.�

�They�re crabs, Amy.�

She held up a hand and began to back away. �I don�t want to have anything to do with cooking something that�s alive.�

�Fine, I�ll do it.� Alone, since Chelsea was still busy on the couch.

�I�m not going to eat them,� Amy said. �I�m sorry. I just can�t. I�ve looked into their eyes.�

�You can barely see their eyes.�

�We connected.�

I couldn�t believe this. �Fine, fine, fine.�

I opened a lower cabinet and pulled out the large pot that I�d seen my grandma use to cook the crabs that Granddad caught. It clanked when I dropped it into the sink. I turned on the water.

�I�m going to go take a shower. I smell like hot dogs,� Amy said. �I�ll fix a salad when I�m done.�

�Okay.�

I turned off the water, went to grab the pot handles, and found other hands there, arms that had reached across in front of me. I went completely still, barely breathing. Dylan was so close that I could smell the cologne he was wearing, something spicy and rich.

�I�ll get it,� he said.

I looked up into his eyes, and my heart started hammering. �It was really sweet of you and Zach to catch us some supper.�

�We drank your beer and used your shower. Noah said it was okay, since we were already over here, dropping off the crabs. The using-the-shower part.�

He�d been in my shower? That seemed so intimate.

�Yeah, that�s cool. Not a problem.�

I stepped back, and he lifted the pot out of the sink. The muscles in his forearms flexed. It was a huge pot and with all the water I�d put in it, it was heavy. I�m not sure why I�d thought I could lift and carry it to the stove.

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