Just One Kiss novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: Rydell Takes the Dock

The clip went up on Thursday at noon.

Colt posted it to the Port Clement Community Board, where my mother's marina gets reviews and old women trade recipes.

It was less than a minute long.

It was dark and shaky, with rain on the lens.

It showed Ansel's truck with the windows fogged, a hand wiping a clear patch in the glass, and my face behind it, lit white, with my shirt falling off one shoulder.

The caption said, "Marina girl isn't as pure as she looks."

Nine hundred people saw it before Gail did.

She read it standing at the register with her glasses on her forehead.

"Lottie," she said.

"I know."

"Is that you?"

"It's me."

She looked at me for a long time.

I waited for the speech.

"Is the boy in the truck Ansel?" she said.

"Yes."

"Did you want to be there?"

"Yes."

"And did that Rydell kid know he was filming you?"

"He did it from the road, in the rain, through the window."

Gail took off her glasses and folded them very slowly.

"Then I know who to be mad at," she said.

That was all.

She went back to the register.

At two o'clock I texted Perry Teller that I thought he was wonderful and I didn't want to waste his time.

He wrote back in under a minute.

"Thank you for being honest. Also I think Ansel might die of happiness. The sunflower was a good idea though."

I laughed so hard I had to sit on a bucket.

Friday was the fish fry.

Ecklund's Marina has held it on the middle Friday of August for thirty-one years.

By six o'clock, a hundred and fifty people stood in the lot with paper plates of perch and coleslaw, and the smoke from the fryers rolled out over the dock.

There was a big old television bolted to the side of the bait shed for the Tigers game.

Bea had connected my phone to it before anyone arrived.

She had also brought a lawn chair, an enormous soda, and an expression of pure joy.

← Chapter 8 · All chapters · Chapter 10 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend