Don't Say You Love Me

Chapter NINETEEN

"Oh, hey," Cohen says when he sees me. "It's only quarter after one."

"Yeah. I was bored," I tell him. "I don't mind waiting."

"Okay. Well, come on in?" he suggests

I nod and go around the back and slip into the half open door. Since I'm not working, I squeeze into the little space off to the side - where customers won't see me - and then I put my feet up.

"Busy today?" I ask him, trying to sound casual.

But geez, his hair looks so soft and his tank top is showing off a tattoo of some sort on his shoulder. He's trying not to stare at me, I can tell, but there's no customers.

"Not really," he says, looking out at the beach. "Glad you're here to keep me company."

"Yeah?"

"Mmhm."

I don't know what else to say so I pull out my phone and snap a photo of him. It's a side profile and he looks so... good. The very last thing I thought I'd do was get a crush on a boy this summer. But here we are. He's not my type. He's skinny and tall and has messy, long hair. He also makes my heart beat too fast, so there's that.

"Did you just take a picture of me?" he asks with a laugh.

"Yeah. I need a photo to go with your contact info," I say, and then hold out my phone for him to take.

"Cute way of asking for my number," he says, but I see that he's already typing in his info.

I smile. "Well, we're friends right?"

"Right."

Two teens come up to the window and ask to rent a boat, just as Cohen is passing my phone back to me. They have ID and cash and the transaction goes smoothly. Cohen is polite and friendly. I like watching him talk to people. When he turns back to me, he's grinning.

"What?" I ask right away.

"Nothing."

"Okay. So, is Rex going to be hanging out with us today?" I ask him.

Suddenly Cohen's smile fades. "You want him to hang out with us?"

I shrug. I'm testing him, but he doesn't know that. "He seems cool. And two friends is better than one friend."

"Well, if I'm your friend, he's your friend. But I don't know if he's hanging out today," he tells me.

"Okay."

"You ever been to Smuggler's Cave?" he asks a minute later, and waits eagerly for my reply. His hands are on the counter, flat.

I shrug. "Nope."

Cohen's face lights up. "It's one of my favourite places. My dad used to take me there. It's like thirty minutes away, walking."

"You don't have a car?" I ask, without thinking. He seems pretty excited about this place.

"No. I took a bus back here from San Diego," he replies, but he didn't seem embarrassed about that at all.

"Ahh. So... we walk?" I suggest.

"You want to go?" He seems surprised.

"Well, when you're done your shift," I remind him, then toss him a smile.

He nods and turns back around, his back to me again.

I hear the key in the door at about 1:45P.M. but I don't think anything of it. Whoever is here to close this evening is here. I don't think there's a problem until I hear my mom's voice. My stomach drops and she's so surprised to see me that I know I have to explain myself. I didn't think she'd be here this early, so I wasn't thinking of this happening. Like, at all.

"Teegan, what are you doing here?" she wants to know.

She's standing there just two feet from me, her hands on her hips.

I pull my feet down and sit up straight, then swallow hard. I can't lie. I can't make up some story. I have to tell her the truth. But why does it feel so hard?

"I just came to meet Cohen. We are going to hang out when he's done work," I manage to say.
    The silence for the next thirty seconds is so loud. Cohen's eyes are wide and I look at him and back to my mom. She's thinking. Processing. She knows something.

"You two met here?" she asks.

"Yeah. We both work Fridays," I say quickly. At least that's mostly true.

"Alright. Well, get going then. Can you still get the kids from daycare?" she asks, but seems unsure about us leaving together.

"Yes. I'll be there."

She nods and then basically shoos us out of there, after talking with Cohen for a minute about the day. He tells her about what rentals are currently out. I barely have time to get my flip flops on, before I slip out the back door to wait for him.

And I know my mom is watching as we walk down the beach together, away from the rental hit. I will have to explain this to her, later. But for now I have two hours with Cohen, and I don't have to worry about that.