Tethered Hearts | ✓ | Books 1 & 2

Episode 21| In Reverse

Bryce's P.O.V.

Sophia refused to walk in the sand with her shoes on. She claimed that she would be finding sand for weeks if she didn't peel off her socks and shoes. "Aren't you going to take your shoes off?"

"No," I answered, sliding my hands into my pockets. The sun had fully submerged into the horizon since I got here, coating the sand with a layer of darkness. Above, the moon kissed Sophia's features with a stroke of alabaster. "Seeing sand for the next couple of weeks isn't a problem for me."

"Oh, right. You'll just buy new shoes, won't you?" She guessed and got up from the stump she was sitting on. She kept her shoes in one hand and stomped her toes into the sand, sighing. "I hate sand."

I smiled. Something about that made me want to laugh. "We don't have to do this. We can go someplace else."

Gradually, Sophia swept her eyes up to me. "You tell me this after I put my feet in the sand. That's cruel, Bryce."

"I thought you wanted to walk on the beach."

"Yes, I do. But I didn't know we were going to walk on the sand part. I thought we'd walk over there," she snickered and extended her arm, pointing at the pavement that curved on the sand. They lead to the lined-up houses that boarded the beach, acting as a sidewalk of some sort behind the homes.

Cyclists raced down the cement and mothers with baby-strollers powerwalked for late-afternoon strolls.

To me, it all seemed out-of-focus with Sophia in the frame. The world that inhabited all around us appeared as a static, blurry backdrop. Everything else was insignificant to what I was really looking at. And there was so much to see. It was as if each time I glance or gazed at her, I spotted something new. The pattern in which her hair curled at the ends, the curve of her smile, and the microscopic dimple that flashed - for only a moment - beside her chin.

Sophia wiped her hand on her denim shorts, wrinkling her button nose. "I hate sand so much."

"We've covered that already," I mused, gnawing on the inside of my cheek to hold back another grin. I didn't want to come off as if I was laughing at her - even though I was.

Sophia composed herself, sighing in a series of soft breaths and began walking. "Okay. I'll cover something different then. Tell me something."

I started walking next to her. "Like what?"

"I'm not sure - oh, I know." She snapped her fingers. "Tell me something about you that many people don't know."

"That's kind of hard. I'm not that closed-off."

"Yes, you are. You won't tell me what happened to your arm."

Why couldn't she drop it? If Conner couldn't tell Kelsey what went down last night, then there was no way I would reveal it to Sophia. There was too much of a risk factor.

I drifted my gaze elsewhere. "I told you it was an accident."

"Yeah - sure it was an accident. And my middle name is Consuela," she uttered. "How about this then? Tell me what your major is. That's a fairly tame question - eh? You can answer that."

"I'm majoring in Business and minoring in Anthropology."

"Are you any good with running a business?"

You have no idea.

I shrugged. "I guess. I wouldn't know. I haven't started any businesses. I'm good with financing. I do that for my uncle. I've always been good at math and using my money sparingly. Currently, I own half of the bar my uncle runs downtown. But it's only temporary."