The next day I had off, so I made the most of it. I went out, just me and my camera and Pearl Harbor. It was nice being out there while most people were at work, getting odd angles and unique shots of things that would’ve been way trickier had there been lots of people around. Although I couldn’t stop thinking of Cin.

Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and I called her up.

“Hey you.”

“Hey,” she said, sounding surprised and, was I imagining happy?

“Just been taking pictures and thinking how much better they’d be if you were in them,” I said, nearly groaning out loud at my attempt at a cheesy pickup line.

She laughed. “I’m flattered, but I do have to work.”

“After work, then. We can top everything off with a movie at Cineplex and grab some feed.”

A long pause, and then, as if she were choosing her words carefully: “I’d love to.”

I paused, waiting for the ‘but’. The tone she’d used wasn’t the one you used when you were agreeing to go somewhere.

“I already have a date with Jake.”

“Ah, figures.”

“Maybe tomorrow?”

“Maybe,” I said, “Hang on. I’m just going to put you on hold for a second.”

“Ok.”

I called up Jake. “You have a sparring session at the gym tonight at 6.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So you can’t go out with Cin then.”

Silence, then, “How’d you know?”

“I have my ways.”

“C’mon man, it’s one time.”

“Are you slipping?”

“Fuck you. Is this about missing a session or trying to cock-block me with Cin?”

“Both. I have a better idea anyway. One that benefits us both.”

“Oh?”

“That new Avengers movie is at Cineplex.”

“Your point?”

“We could all go at 9 pm, giving you time to go to the gym too.”

“So you’re saying that instead of me going on a date just me and Cin, I let you tag along.”

“The Cineplex movie was my idea,” I said dryly. “Or the other option is I just take her tomorrow.”

I could tell Jake was drawn to the idea of having both of us there for this first date, seeing once and for all who she liked better.

Finally, he said, “Fine. But this is the last time I let you hijack one of my dates.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said. “See you tonight.”

With Cin back on the line, I suddenly got nerves. Would she be upset about the change of plans?

“I want to run something by you,” I told her.

“Sure.”

“Jake is willing to go to the movie with us if you’re ok with that. Not to hijack your date or anything, but he did have an appointment at our gym with our coach, that he really shouldn’t miss.”

“That’s fine,” she said quickly. “Although there is something I’d like to run by you too.”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Would it be ok if my friend came along?”

“Sure,” I said immediately, although my teeth were clenched together. Was Cin trying to pawn me off on her friend?

My gaze was swept away by the sky, with its big fluffy clouds.

“Although I’d still like to come for that photography thing, if you’d like,” she said shyly.

I leapt up. “You mean now?”

“Well, I’m still at work, but I’m off in an hour.”

My mouth was suddenly very dry.

“Owen?”

“Yeah, sorry. I can pick you up.”

“You sure?”

“Yep.”

Seeing her in her nurse uniform, how she’d looked the first time I’d laid eyes on her, was a rush.

Cin smoothed a part of her top, smiling ruefully.

“Guess you’ll include only my face if you’re still planning on those shots of yours.”

“Not at all,” I said. “We could have a themed photoshoot.”

“Like ‘Nurse Plopped on Sand Not Knowing What to Do’?”

I laughed. “Exactly like that.”

Reaching my car, I was sure to open the car door for her before going in myself.

“I’m glad you invited me,” she said. “Lately I’ve been spending too much time inside, just going from work to home and back again. It’s easy to get in these ruts where you forget there’s things to do other than Netflix.”

I nodded. “Definitely. That’s what drew me to the harbor today. Feels like I’ve been too wrapped up in working and running errands, doing chores, sitting in front of my TV, that kind of thing.”

“I was actually glad about the movie cinema idea,” Cin continued. “I can’t remember the last time I went to one of those.”

“The way you say it,” I laughed. “Like it’s this old-timey thing. But it really is getting to be that way. Things are changing so fast these days.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” she said.

Pulling into a parking spot, I shrugged. “It’s both, I guess. Only with so much happening, sometimes it takes a while to realize basic things. Like when you asked me why I was single. I’d never really given it much thought, my instinctive avoidance of anything serious.”

“And?”

I cracked a grin. “Damn, you really don’t mind throwing punches, do you?”

She was biting at her thumbnail. “I should stop while I’m ahead. Usually I’m not like this, it’s just-”

“I feel comfortable with you,” I said, realizing that it was the same for her as soon as the words were out of my lips.

I felt a certain pride over it. Cin’s reserve when we’d first met her, and even that night after Jake’s fight, was melting away.

“I have to admit,” I said, turning so that our faces were inches apart. “This sassy side of you is pretty cute.”

She blushed, and I helped out of the car.

Outside on the sand, we took our shoes off and let our toes enjoy the warm granules.

Cin formed a shade with her eyes and squinted into the horizon. “Do I get to see the photos you’ve taken so far?”

“Sure,” I said.

Although it felt a bit like ripping out my heart and showing it to her. It was different with Jake, who had no eye for art and didn’t want one. He would just joke and ask why on earth I was taking a picture of a pebble, or what did I see in the lines of the tree? Showing him the picture, he’d kind of nod, but I could see that he didn’t get it.

With Cin, I sensed that we shared an understanding of sorts, that she had an artistic side too.

I flipped through the photos I’d taken this time, stopping when I reached my favorite. Although I didn’t tell her that. Instead, I handed over the camera, and waited.

A few nerve-wracking seconds and she exhaled, “Whoa.”

The word went through me like a bird soaring.

She cast me an impressed sidelong glance, turning to look at the source, an unremarkable pile of rocks.

“The way you make it look…” she said softly, tipping her head this way then that, smiling again. “You find the beauty in simple things,” she concluded.

“I like to try,” I said.

Although right now, anyone could’ve seen the beauty in her. Her upturned lashes and downturned lips, the high Victorian plane of her nose. She was all graceful curves, her face, but her body especially.

“What’s your favorite color?” she asked suddenly, her gaze beyond me.

“Blue,” I said immediately. Then, joking, “Why, you going to wear that tonight?”

She raised her brows. “Maybe.”

“What’s your favorite?” I asked.

“Black.”

“That’s not a-”

“Color, I know. I’ve only heard that ten trillion times.”

“Listen, about me and Jake, I don’t want you to feel guilty about it.”

She turned to look at me head-on.

“I mean it,” I continued. “We’ve both talked about it, and we just want to see where this goes. So no pressure, if you decide to be with him.”

“If I decide,” she said softly.

It then occurred to me, looking at her, that we’d never considered the other possibility. The one where, somehow, we both won. It seemed impossible and wrong and I didn’t dare ask. But, standing there, watching her and wanting to kiss her and wondering about Jake, I entertained it for two-thirds of a second. Maybe it could work.

--

When I drove her home, there was less conversation. We’d made a good run of the nurse photos. She’d posed and sprawled and crouched and laughed as I flit about catching all of it. Every angle provided new evidence of her beauty.

Pulling up in front of her place, a glance at my watch had me chuckling. “See you in an hour.”

Cin grinned. “See you in an hour.”

And then I leaned forward and kissed her.