Island Vibes

4. loops

I didn't take kindly to him messing up my up-do. I frowned and ducked back, giving a "Hey!" of protest. Tendrils of my hair fell loose, and I blew them back off my face with a scowl.

I officially put my previous fluttery feelings down to exhaustion. I was clearly having an off day. Noah was as annoying as I'd been imagining from the minute he no-showed me at the airport.

It was just as I'd thought all along, really. I'd merely been briefly distracted by the surprisingly enticing gun show he was putting on. But whatever – I wasn't superficial. I wouldn't let a killer set of abs distract me from the real reason I was here: to fix up my parents' newly-acquired café business.

"I gotta dash, but we'll get to work tomorrow. I'll pick you up, the café is amazing," he beamed, before dipping in hurriedly to kiss my cheek as he brushed past me, hurricane fast.

I blinked twice, barely able to follow what was happening. Did he just-- how did-- oh no, was I blushing?

Yikes. Maybe I was rejoining the queue for the gun show. I was super glad no one else could pry into my thoughts, because this was beyond embarrassing. Why couldn't I make my mind up about him? Why did I even care? He was some guy I had literally just met.

And sure, okay, he was unreasonably cute, but he was also clearly unreliable. I couldn't put up with that. Work, Callie. This is strictly about work.

Eventually, I managed to collect my thoughts enough to stammer out a few words. "Um, sure!" I began, as brightly as I could manage. "See you tomorrow!" He'd left me at the airport, I'd insulted him to his sister, and here we were, about to start working together in the morning. Maybe if I met his energy, we'd be a powerhouse duo and get the café fixed up in record time. Then we could spend the rest of my stay just... you know, relaxing.

"Bright and early," he added, with another wink that should've really been embarrassing for him, but somehow wasn't.

I still felt like I'd been thrown for a loop. Several loops, really.

He blinked down at his watch, "Man, my girlfriend's gonna be pissed. I'm so late," he chuckled. "Catch you tomorrow, Cal!"

You know what? Add, like, another dozen loops or so. I'd been thrown for many, many loops.

Girlfriend.

Cal.

He did not just drop that information on me and sprinkle an overly-familiar nickname in on top.

For the millionth time: who was this guy?

Like, this super charming, super weird surfer-looking island boy thought he could play me this easily? Not a chance. That had to be what this was – he was trying to sweeten me up. He was probably angling for a raise.

I shook my head vigorously the second he slammed the door behind him, frustrated with him and with myself. I covered my face with both of my hands, totally shaken up. I kind of wanted to scream, just to get out all the mixed-up energy that was swirling around inside me, but the house did not look well-soundproofed enough for that. The last thing I needed was to meet my neighbors by way of potential murder investigation.

I settled for flopping down onto the couch and staring holes in the ceiling for a long few minutes. I was barely one day into my adventure and I was already exhausted. Noah was exhausting. I'd been doing some serious mental gymnastics trying to work out his whole deal. The worst part was, my current conclusion was that he didn't have a deal. He was just Noah.

My sandals dropped off my feet and I hunched my knees up. I was probably so drawn to Noah because he was literally my lifeline here. I was friendless, parentless, partnerless. It would've been a cool fantasy scenario, to have a cute summer fling with some hot boy I'd never actually have to see again after moving back to Philadelphia.

Clearly, that wasn't going to be the case. I could live with that. I took a deep breath in, held it in my lungs for a steady moment, then exhaled it all. Purifying. Fortifying. He was just a boy, after all. I'd met thousands of them. Noah might've been the oddest one yet, but he was still just a boy. Who needs 'em?

I decided to grow up. I knew how to deal with the bizarre pang of disappointment of finding out that he was taken: some of the contents of the fridge would be the perfect salve, namely the chocolate and the beer.

My parents would've been so proud to know their baby girl was taking care of herself on her first night alone on the island.

Two cans and a few blocks of chocolate found themselves lined up on the glass coffee table, and I settled in for an evening of trying to work out A) why I'd liked Noah in the first place, B) all the reasons why I didn't like Noah, C) why it even mattered to me, considering he was almost a total stranger, and D) why him having a girlfriend was such a hardcore downer.

I went to bed early when I realised there wasn't anything good on the old-fashioned TV set my parents had inexplicably furnished the place with, but perked up a little when I found that restarting my phone a few times actually got it to pick up signal again.

A few notifications pinged through, three of them from Noah.

not gonna make it on time, emergency at the bar.

can u get a cab?

or wait two hours haha

I left the phone on the bedside table and snuggled down into the bedding, trying to push all thoughts of Noah out of my head and remember how temporary this whole situation really was.

I mean, so he had a girlfriend. Big deal. I'd get over it in a mature, responsible way.