I figured after the way things ended that night, my chances of another date were pretty slim. The word “date” even sounded hollow as it bounced around and echoed in my mind. Whitney and I were way past formalities, and not seeing her for almost two whole days felt jarring, like a whole half side of my heart had been yanked out and hidden under a rock somewhere. I missed everything about her: her bossiness, her feistiness, the elusive tenderness beneath that sometimes abrasive exterior of hers, and of course, her body.Good God, did I miss her body.I found her at her usual lunch spot on the dock, chomping away at whatever was packed in her paper bag. I’d been getting a hang of her schedule. Even though it changed from time to time, the places she tended to frequent were becoming more and more predictable. For such a free little bird, she was proving to be a creature of habit.“Hey you,” I said, coming up behind her. “What’s for lunch?”She smiled up at me, but it was empty.
