I typed back:I’ll be there.
I closed the laptop and picked up my phone. I was only going if she was. She answered slightly breathless, which told me she was either between lessons or about to start one.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey.” Just hearing her voice had my cock stirring. “You busy?”
“I’ve got about four minutes before my next lesson starts. What’s up?”
“Bonfire tonight,” I said. “South end. Nine o’clock. You in?”
A pause. I heard the sound of the ocean behind her and the distant shout of a kid somewhere down the beach. “Whose bonfire?”
“Bodhi’s.”
Another pause. “Bodhi invited you.”
“He did.”
“Huh.” I could hear the smile in it even if she was trying to hide it. “Okay. Yeah. I’m in.”
“Great. Want me to pick you up?”
“It’s on the beach. Are you suggesting giving me a piggyback ride?”
I laughed. “I could do that.”
“I have to go,” she said. “I’ll just meet you there. Nine o’clock.”
Summer hung up.
“You’re smiling at your phone,” Cody said, sliding into one of the chairs at the table.
“I’m going to a bonfire tonight,” I said.
“Yeah?”
“Bodhi Callahan invited me.”
Cody’s eyebrows went up. “Surfer guy? The one who was sniffing around Summer?”
“The same.”
He considered that. “So either he’s being genuine or he’s setting a trap.”
“He’s being genuine,” I said.
“You need help picking out an outfit? I know how long that process takes you.”
“I will end you.”
“Keep it simple.”
“I know how to dress myself,” I muttered. “What about you?”
“Poker game with a few of the guys that aren’t trying to run us out of town,” he said.
The south end of the beach was a different animal at night. The fire was already going when I came down from the dune path. They had a good-sized blaze throwing orange light acrossthe sand and the faces gathered around it. Someone had a speaker going. I immediately recognized the song as one from just about every bonfire on this beach,Banana Pancakes. It was kind of a staple. There were maybe twenty people spread out in loose clusters. Coolers. Folding chairs. A couple of dogs chasing each other at the edge of the firelight.