We Were Strangers| Completed

part 32

I made it to the shore and stood on the wet sand. As I approached the bench, I untied the back of my sandals and continued to dig my feet into the sand, watching as the water splashed up, submerging my feet and a portion of my legs in the cold water that streamed up. Nico stood above me; his eyes glued to the setting sun on the horizon.

It wasn't long before he moved and sat down next to me. We sat silently, staring out at the sea, mesmerized by the view. It had put my mind at ease, and in a way, all my worries had been washed away as my feet touched the cold water.

Several phone calls later, neither Tory nor Mason had returned my calls. I had given up.

A group of birds suddenly flew over our heads, landed close to us, and began pecking at an open bag of chips. The birds squabbled over the last chip.

Nico let out a laugh.

"What?"

"Nothing," he said, trying hard not to laugh. "It's just that if Enzo were here, he'd probably run away." And then I remembered his fear of birds; the thought brings me back to when Enzo and I first met.

"Why is that?"

"He didn't tell you?" I shook my head, "no."

"Before our mom passed away, she had these two pet birds she adored. She left each of us with our own bird. And um-" He paused. "His bird absolutely hated him and attacked him every single day."

"Really?" "I had no idea you guys had birds."

"Because he avoids talking about what happened to those birds." Hearing him say that piqued my interest.

"And what happened?"

"One day, the cage magically opened, and they flew away."

I furrowed my brows. "Are you kidding me? Enzo, let them out."

"Yeah," he murmured, looking down at his hands and wiping away the dusty sand from them.

He turned to face me after he finished, his eyes darkening into mine and flickering down to my lips. As we exchanged glances, time stood still, and my heart somersaulted within my ribcage.

"Hey!" Tory's voice called out from above the boardwalk, and we both snapped out of our trance to see the boys and Tory staring down at us. As they waved, I gave them a half-smile.

I slid my sandals back on after getting up from the bench and wiping any sand from my butt before heading up the little old stairs and over to the group.

"Finally!" I exhaled.

"Girl, I saw that." "Were y'all eye-fucking or something?" My eyes widened as I slapped her arm and placed a finger on my lips, signaling her to keep it down.

"No, are you crazy?"

She raised her hands in defense. "OK, but I saw what I saw." I rolled my eyes, shaking my head in disapproval.

"We're going to some games and then leaving." I overheard Enzo and his brother conversing as they walked in the far back.

Tory dragged me around to this one specific game, a balloon blast game. We gave up after several attempts and moved on to the next, where we looked at the prizes, the most appealing of which was this 6-foot-tall stuffed brown bear.

Tory went first, grabbing her four rings and tossing them across the scattered glass bottles of the game. She let out a groan as she missed a bottle and failed to get at least three in.

After another round, she failed again and handed me the rings, saying, "Your turn." I took my time throwing the rings and watched them land around two bottles, with the rest missing and falling out of bounce.