Friendly Dating 2 - Ethan

Chapter 26 - Mudflats

I always laugh when I see her in that shirt now because it has a washed-up-looking Barbie fairy on the front, waving her wand with a cheeky grin. Kinda like she's lived a life of drunken debauchery and now, in old age, is still trying to look cool.

It's really cute. I got my mom to buy it for Kicks as a joke a couple of years ago and thought she would growl at me and tell me that she's not a little girl who wants to wear Glitter Barbie on her chest, but for some reason, Kira loved it. She wears it almost as often as her roaring turtle one, which is why it became a bit stretched and washed out. Most of the glitter is gone.

Delia winks at me when she sees me at the door. She is really enjoying this new adventure Kira and I have embarked on... sometimes a little too much. She is being super supportive, though, which is great. I was worried that Kicks would invite her along today, which would turn it into one of our normal kind of outings where Kira and I were not together. I love Deli but don't want this to be a normal outing.

Delia assured me that she would make sure to have plans with Simon this afternoon that will not involve mud... or me and Kira.

"Ready, Kicks?" I ask, wincing when she glares at me. What did I do?! I'm pretty sure I wasn't thinking out loud about how much I wish my lips were the rim of that coffee mug she is sipping from... or any of the other fantasies flooding my brain when I saw her sitting at the table with the sunlight spilling through the window, painting her hair with fiery sparks.

The smirky look on Deli's and my mom's faces gives me a few ideas about why Kicks would be glaring at me, so I pass that glare on to the two of them, and they just laugh. What have they been up to? I don't resist when Kira says goodbye to Mom and Deli, loops the strap of her satchel crossways over her shoulder, grabs my arm and drags me to the door.

"Where are you going?" I ask when she drops my arm and marches towards the gate, and, stopping, she turns to give me a questioning look. I see her eyes grow wide when she notices the two helmets I'm carrying. I put one on the seat of my motorcycle, parked and ready near the back door and pull the other one onto my head.

"No way!" she exclaims, backing away towards the gate. Kicks doesn't like riding on my bike. I've given her many lifts through the years, and afterwards, she always said weird things about wishing her legs were shaking less so she could kneel down and kiss the ground. I don't know what she's on about; I drive extremely carefully when I have a passenger... especially when it's her.

Deli loves catching rides with me, she doesn't throw her hands in the air, scream at me to go faster or whoop the way Wendy does, but she doesn't cling to me like she's trying to become part of me the way Kira does, either. Actually, that is part of the appeal of giving Kicks a ride. It's like being hugged really tightly from behind. Though that is a great incentive to give her rides, it is not why I'm opting for the bike today.

The area near the mud flats doesn't have much in the line of parking; I usually ride my bike right down to the beach or walk there from home. We never go by car, it is too much of a hassle and the street taking us there doesn't have a shoulder, it would be extremely dangerous to park the car there. The closest safe parking spot is quite a walk away from where we'll be going.

The bike is the best option.

"Way," I say, taking Kira's wrist and drawing her towards me. "Come on; the tide is going to start coming in; walking there takes ages. We could miss..." - this is not even the weirdest thing I've said today - "your mud."

She knows it's true. The window for exploring the beach right now is narrow; once the tide comes in, we could get trapped in the middle of high water, cut off from the beach. It happens faster than one realises. We've been called out to help get people to safety more times than I can count.