What Lies Beneath the Tide by Daphne Parker

Author:Daphne Parker [Parker, Daphne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Otter House Publishing
Published: 2024-04-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Maeve

The sun peaked out from behind puffed clouds, causing the intense heat to feel more brutal. The humidity was unbearable, a parting gift left behind by last night’s rain. A thin layer of sweat settled over my skin as I heaved a large trash bag into the dumpster.

Sarah sat on the concrete steps, watching me while she huffed on a cigarette. “He’s cute,” she said.

“Who?” I asked, waiving away the plume of smoke as I sat down beside her.

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what?”

“That thing you do where you pretend not to know what I’m talking about.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I insisted, giving her a playful grin. “I guess I didn’t notice.”

“Well, I did.” She took another long drag from her cigarette, causing the ashy end to fall between us. “I asked him out.”

A flash of green envy rushed through me. “What did he say?”

Sarah scraped the butt across the cement, then tossed it into an empty tin bucket at the bottom of the stairs. “He turned me down. Something tells me he has his eye on someone else.”

“Who?”

She flashed me another knowing look. “Don’t worry, I took care of it for you.”

“What do you mean you took care of it?“ I asked, my voice wavering. The last time Sarah took care of something, it ended with her screaming at a man whose intense staring was due to a seizure and had nothing to do with me at all.

“I let him know you weren’t interested.”

I frowned. “I didn’t ask you to do that.”

“No, you wait until after they’ve already hit on you. Then you send me in like some kind of bulldog to clean up the mess.” She wasn’t wrong. It was how things usually went. Still, part of me felt angry at her for stepping in without asking.

“This time, I took care of it before it became a problem. Unless. . .” Sarah cocked her head.

“Unless what?” I challenged, folding my arms across my chest.

“Unless this time is different, and deep down, you’re dying to know what he looks like naked.”

I rolled my eyes. “Um, no.”

“No, you’re not into him, or no, you don’t want to see him naked?”

“Neither!” I insisted, turning away. “Now can we drop it? I’m not interested in him or anyone else.” The tips of my ears were reddening, and I let my hair loose to cover them.

“Exactly, you never are. And why is that?” She pressed.

I fiddled carelessly with the hem of my apron. “I guess it’s just not my thing.” It was a lazy reason, but it was all I felt comfortable offering her.

“Because. . . you’re into women?”

“What?” I choked.

Sarah threw her hands up. “Hey, no judgment. I tried it once in college—too much drama for me. But if that’s what you’re into, I respect it.” She was being sincere, and I didn’t know whether to laugh or be insulted.

“I’m not a lesbian,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “I just. . . I don’t know. I guess I haven’t found the one worth hurting myself over.

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