Finding My Way (21 page)

“I got lost,” I reply
sheepishly, taking a deep breath at the sight of him.  I think this must
be the first time I have seen him in such short sleeves and I can’t help ogling
his biceps, they’re even more defined than I’d imagined, and tanned too, the
sun obviously agrees with him.  His t-shirt is rather tight and I can see
just how fit he is.  There are little tufts of his brown hair sticking out
from under his hat in all directions making him seem more youthful too.

He calls out to his
sister who picks up her board and walks over to us.  She seems rather tall
for a thirteen year old, she’s wearing a hat similar to her brother’s, but
black and I can see her shoulder length hair is lighter than Seth’s.  I
also notice that amongst her mousey brown straight hair she has highlights of
bright pink, purple and blue.

“Hi,” she says her
bright smile lighting up her whole face.  I can see the family resemblance
in her smile and her brown eyes, although hers aren’t quite as striking as her
brother’s.

“Hey I’m Emma,” I
say, trying to even out my breathing, heartbeat, and hurricane.

“
Tahlia
,”
she says holding out her hand for me to shake, it takes me by surprise; is that
what thirteen-year-old girls do these days?  She has a firm grip and as we
shake she says, “Seth’s been going on and
on
and
on
about
you.  He won’t shut up!  I was thinking of getting him a
muzzle!”  I am gobsmacked, seriously.  She laughs and Seth grunts and
then he grabs a hold of her around the waist and starts to tickle her. 
“Okay, okay, I was joking!”  She giggles.

Seth looks flustered
as he lets go and tries to compose himself.  I notice the evil eye he
gives his sister.  She just laughs and punches him in the arm.

“Truly, I was
joking.  He didn’t mention you.”  She says more seriously turning to
me, “All I know is that he was in a bad mood all morning,
then
he spoke to you on the phone and cheered up.  So thanks!”  She winks
at me and rushes back to the skate ramp before Seth can grab her again.

“She’s a cheeky thing
isn’t she?” I ask laughing, hoping to ease Seth’s obvious discomfort, as
Tahlia
has just eased mine, at little at least.

“Yeah… sorry about
that,” he says stretching and scratching the back of his head.  His
t-shirt slips up slightly showing a thought provoking hint of his defined
stomach, I quickly divert my eyes.  “She loves to embarrass me
a lot
!”

“That’s what siblings
are for!”

“You have any
brothers or sisters?” he asks.

“One brother, Ethan,
we’re pretty close.  He’s three years younger than me, twenty.”  I
reply.

“So that would make
you twenty-three.”

“Good with maths are
ya
?”  I joke, surprising myself.

He seems taken aback
for a second then realises I was only kidding and smiles.  After a moment
he adds, “Yeah
Tahlia
and I get along pretty well
these days too.  It was harder when we were younger considering the twelve
year age gap.”  He pauses as if considering something.  “That makes
me twenty-five, in case you aren’t as good at maths as I am.”  He chuckles
at his own joke.  For some reason it makes me laugh, but not just laugh, I
mean hysterical laugh, a stupid laugh that eases my stomach.  Then he
joins in with his sexy belly laugh and it seems to put us both in a lighter
mood, more relaxed.

I return my gaze to
the skate ramp as Seth moves around to stand beside me. 
Tahlia
is good with the skateboard, back and forth, doing
all sorts of tricks I don’t know the name of.  She must know a lot of the
other kids because she is chatting and joking with them.  I notice that
she’s the only girl on a skateboard here.  She strikes me as a bit of a
tomboy, dressed in cargo shorts, converse sneakers and a black and grey stripy
long sleeve t-shirt.

“She’s really
good.”  I say to Seth.  “She must hang out here a lot.”

“Yeah she practically
lives here.”

I let out a small
giggle when she outdoes one of the older boys, he’s not so happy about it
though. 
That’s when, from the corner of my eye, I
notice Seth watching me.
  I glance in his direction and he quickly
turns his eyes back towards the skate ramp so I do too.

I sit down on the
grass and Seth sits beside me.  Our legs are aligned with each other but
not touching.  I feel that familiar pull towards him, like there is a
magnet between us or something.  We continue watching in silence for a
moment more then he nudges me with his shoulder.  I turn to him and he’s
smiling so I smile back.

“So you
gonna
use that thing?” I ask motioning to his skateboard on
the ground in front of us.

I can’t believe how
embarrassing my sister can be!

‘Seth’s been going on
and on and on about you.  He won’t shut up!  I was thinking of
getting him a muzzle!’  I can’t believe she said any of that! 
That
is so not true!
  I’ve barely spoken about Emma! 
Tahlia
laughed at my obvious discomfort so I had no choice
but to tackle her.  I grabbed her around the waist and tickled her until she
took it back.  I also gave her a death-stare to let her know to
behave.  Of course
Tahlia
just laughed and
punched me in the arm.  I just hope that Emma knew that she was
joking.  She said she understood because she has a younger brother, so I
hope so.

Luckily, after I
embarrass myself further by telling her how old she is, Emma cracks up at my
lame joke about being better at maths than her.  Her laugh is angelic, and
highly contagious.  It feels good to have a big full-belly laugh for the
second time in a week.  I know my joke wasn’t even very funny, but
laughing with Emma is like the best thing I’ve done in a really, really, long
time.  And the fact that she’s made me laugh like this twice now, makes
her even more appealing.

Emma turns her
attention to the skate ramp.  She’s looking at the kids but they can’t
hold my attention when she’s beside me.  Emma is stunning.  She has a
perfect profile, a cute button nose, and slightly plump lips.  I notice a
small amount of freckles dotting across the bridge of her nose and her cheeks.

Emma giggles at
something then glances at me and I quickly avert my eyes back to the skate
ramp.  After a moment she sits on the grass so I join her.  As soon
as I sit I feel that
pull
in the air between us again.  We sit in
silence, eyes forward and I feel the tension leave my body. 
A calm
washes over me as I feel myself drawn to her.  I
remember how it felt when I touched her hand when she fell from her chair at
work.  It felt like a zap through the heart and I wonder if I would feel
that again, if I were to hold her hand right now.  I have an overwhelming
urge to touch her, but the best I can manage is a nudge with my shoulder. 
I can’t hide my happiness that she is here, beside me.

“So you
gonna
use that thing?” she asks waving her hand towards my
skateboard.

“
Tahlia
looks like she’s having a good time without me.”  I shrug.

“Do you come here
often?”

“Is that a
line?”  I smirk at her.

“Ha
ha
, funny…” she blushes.

“Nah
not so much, not since I was a teenager, anyway.”
  I say after a
moment.

“Well you looked like
you knew what you were doing.”

Looking at her I know
what I’d
like to be doing
.  I give my head an internal shake and
smile at her.

“Seth, come on, show
your girlfriend what you’re made of!” 
Tahlia
embarrasses me yet again.

“Apologies for my
sister,” I say to Emma.  “She doesn’t know when to shut her mouth.”

“It’s okay, I get
it.”  I can’t help but notice the smug look on her face.  She’s
totally enjoying my embarrassment.  I just know I must be bright red by
now.

“Butch you can’t
impress her if you’re sitting on your arse!  Plus I won the bet remember?”

“I’m
gonna
kill her,” I mumble.  I look at Emma.

“Bet?”
She asks, one eyebrow slightly
raised
.

“Oh she beat me in a
game of pool which meant that I had to skate today.”

“I see, well you
better go do as you’re told.  I don’t think she is going to let up on you
if you don’t.”  Smart girl, she already seems to have
Tahlia
pegged.

“I’d rather sit with
you-”

“Besides, I want to
be impressed-” we both say at the same time and then stare at each other for a
moment.  Emma giggles and I just wish I knew what I could do to
impress
her.  I’m sure that skateboarding with a bunch of kids isn’t it.  But
I don’t think I have much choice in the matter.

“Well I better try
extra hard then,” I mutter as I stand.

I watch Seth as he
walks over to the ramp and the other kids.  He pokes
Tahlia
in the side and says something to her that I can’t make out.  She just
laughs and jumps back on her board shaking her head.  He follows her lead
and they make their way around the various bumps and ramp
thingys
all over the park.  Seth looks right at home hanging with his sister, just
like any other teenage boy here.  I have to remind myself that he isn’t a
teenager, but older than me, and my
date
.

I enjoy watching
them.  It reminds me of when I was
Tahlia’s
age,
when hanging down my local skate park was the cool thing to do.  Kat and I
would spend entire weekends ogling the boys.  It’s funny but I don’t feel
like I am on a date at all, but rather I have just gone back in time, the only
thing missing is Kat giggling beside me.

After twenty minutes
or so, it starts to get a bit old though.  Seth has been that involved
with his sister and his skateboard he’s hardly looked in my direction. 
Yep this afternoon has definitely lost its
date
feel.  I don’t want
to seem bitter but I can’t help but feel neglected and bored.  I start to
fidget and play games on my phone.  Seth must realise because a few
minutes later l notice a shadow over me and when I look up he’s standing there.

“Impressed enough
yet?” he smirks down at me, looking extremely sexy.  He sits beside me on
the grass.  “I mean what’s more impressive than a twenty-five year old on
a skate board, right?”  He shrugs.

“Yep I’m super
impressed!” I say trying to sound cheerful, but it comes off kind of fake.

“Sorry-”

“No it’s fine,” I
interrupt him.

“But boring,” he
says.  He looks at me apologetically.  When our eyes meet I can see
that he’s genuine, but possibly regretting asking me to come here.  “Are
you thirsty?  I’ve got a couple of bottles of water in my bag.”

“Sure, thanks.”

He jogs over to a
nearby tree and collects a black backpack, bringing it back to me.  He
sits closer to me this time as he looks through the bag and pulls out two
bottles of water, handing one to me.

“Ta,” I say and
immediately open and take a soothing gulp of the cold water.  He does the
same.

“So,” he says,
nudging me with his leg.

“So,” I say
back.  It seems like this is going to become a habit with us.

I notice that his leg
is still leaning against me.  How could I not?  The touch of his bent
leg against mine sends shock waves through my body.  I turn to him and our
eyes meet making my heart race.  I forget that I was bored just a moment
ago, I forget that we’re in a skate park… hell I forget my name.  How can
just looking at his eyes totally derail me?

He breaks my gaze and
takes another drink.  I’m sure he can hear my rapid heartbeat from there,
that and my heavy breathing, because that’s all
I
can hear.  I’m
struggling to look away, noticing his hands, the way he holds the bottle, when
the bottle touches his lips… when he swallows –

Thwack!
  I get a thump in the back of my head. 

I really do want to
impress Emma her and after a few minutes, I kind of get in the zone, with all
the kids and their boards.  It’s like I stepped back in time to when this
is how I did actually spend my weekends.  I find that I’m actually enjoying
myself even with Emma watching.

I see her take her
phone out of her bag and wonder if she got a text or something.  She said
she didn’t have plans for the rest of the day.  Maybe she’s organising
something now.

It’s only when I
notice a while later that Emma isn’t watching me at all anymore but is
still
playing with her phone that I realise this is probably boring for
her.  I’m probably like the worst date ever.  She’s possibly texting
her friends letting them know that fact right now.  I have a heavy feeling
in my chest at that thought so I rush over to her hoping I can redeem myself.

As we sit drinking
from our bottles of water all I can think about is the contact of our
legs.  My heart is pounding fast.  From the corner of my eye, I
notice her turn her head in my direction.  I meet her gaze and it’s
intense
. 
I wonder if she feels the same thing I
do?
 
That
pull
.
  I force myself to look away
to take another drink.  But I feel her eyes on me still.  I see a
sudden flash of yellow and her head lurches forward as a sickening thump sounds
from the back of her head.  I see the football bounce in the other
direction.  I barely pay attention as a boy loiters offering an
apology.  My only concern is Emma.