Aamar placed a hand on my shoulder, as if indicating it was understandable if I stayed with Bane. “Why don’t you park down there so Bhanu doesn’t have to walk?”

“I’m fine, really,” she began to say as I replied, “Was planning to.”

She watched me, her expression pleading with me to go with my friends. Instead, I told Aamar, “Text me when you’re ready to go and I’ll drive back over.”

“That’s okay. We should walk down to the beach. Didn’t realize one was so close.”

“I know!” Maya added. “Would be so nice to get into the water.”

“Maybe we can make this quick?”

She grinned at him. “They don’t need us, right?”

“Don’t forget your waters!” Bane called after them and then said to me, “I forgot I needed to use the restroom. Be right back!”

“Be careful!” I called after her, not wanting her to pass out in the heat between the car and the restrooms.

Aamar waved at me from the sidewalk as Maya walked with Bane to the restroom and back.

She plopped into her seat. “You guys act like I’m still in danger.”

“We don’t know.” I shrugged and found a spot in a shaded area closer to the ocean.

I followed Bane to the beach, letting her pick out an area. She sat down right on the sand, covered in shade, and a few feet from lapping water. The breeze, paired with the shade, was enough to stay comfortably cool. And isolated. The crowds had sectioned off into clusters of couples, families, or small groups.

“Are you going to sit? The ocean won’t snatch you from here.”

“Haha,” I replied dryly and sat beside her.

She removed her shoes and dug her feet into the sand, water lapping closer and closer to her feet.

“You’re fine now?”

She nodded. “So tell me about yourself, Mr. Sunshine.”

I groaned. “Why?”

She looked at me from over her shoulder. “We shared shave ice. We’re practically one being now.”

“Tell me more about your family.”

“Do you really want to know, or are you just wanting me to fill up time so you don’t have to talk about your family?”

“Both.”

“I’ll tell you something, and you tell me something?”

“No.”

She turned to the water. “Then may the ocean swells snatch you whole.”

“Oh my god.”

“And may you suffer in your watery tomb.”

“Fine. But just so you’re aware, you’re breaking the first rule.”

“What are my consequences?”

I looked skyward before replying, “Being bored.”

She grinned, moving windblown hair from her face. A wave hit farther up her leg than before and she yelped. “My shoe!”

I jumped to my feet and stomped into the shoreline, grabbing it before the current snatched it away. Water was frighteningly powerful. In another second, her shoe would’ve been gone. Imagine if that were a pet or a child! This was why I didn’t mess with the ocean.

I jogged back, thumping her shoe in the air to get the water out, and sat in front of her. She’d moved away from the water’s reach, her cheeks flushed in anticipation of her nearly lost shoe…or from the sun.

“I thought you put on sunscreen?”

“Is my face red?” Bane gently touched her cheeks, frowning. “I better not peel.”

“Beautiful imagery.”

She stuck out a red-stained tongue. I bet it still tasted like cherry syrup.

“Careful with that tongue.”

She pushed my hip with a foot. “Or what?”

“Or put it to use.”

We both stilled with nothing but a stare in between us. Her cheeks flushed redder than before and mine grew hot. Hmm. Shit. That was definitely not something I’d meant to say aloud, and now all I could think about was what the hell her tongue tasted like. Cherries. Cherry like the color of her plump lips, like the sweet flavored shave ice. And ube. A potato dessert. Why? Because I was beginning to like something that I’d never thought I’d like.

“You’re so full of it. Can’t even think of a better comeback,” she snickered, breaking the tension.

“Like you have one?” I watched the waves.

“Yeah. Watch it. Or I’ll put it to use. Ha!”

I looked Bane right in the eye, cocked a brow, and asked, “How would you like me to put my tongue to use?”

Her mouth hung open. A strangled stutter.

I smirked. “Checkmate.”

Except now my entire thinking capabilities were drowning in images of using my tongue on her. How would Bane like me to put it to use? Kisses? Licks? A lot of licks? On her mouth? Her neck? Her chest? Her stomach? Lower?

No. Oh, hell no. Brain, get your act together. We are not going there. Not with Bane.