Swell (Complete)

Chapter Seven (Part Two)

"This is my world
You are just living in it."
....

Adora swung her legs on the end of the pier. She had taken Tom from Captain's Cove, to the tourist boardwalk along the beachfront. They'd walked along the beach, and talked about music interests, sports teams, what it was like moving, what it was like growing up in Wheeler Falls.
She felt she had a pretty good grip on who Tom was, and he was a nice guy, but he reminded her too much of Iain, and she was trying to ignore that feeling for the time being.
"So, there's surfers, and comps and festivals here in summer; has there ever been a shark attack?" Tom was sitting on the end of the pier beside her, very closely beside her.
Adora looked from her old runners kicking over the water below to Tom with a frown. "Erm, not attacks. We get some apparent sightings every summer, they usually turn out to be someone crying wolf when they see a bit of floating seaweed or get too close to a rock."
Tom's eyes were piercing through her; it was both flattering and unnerving. She could see an intense emotion behind the beautiful hazel colour, but she couldn't shake the feeling that he was undressing her as much as he was just listening.
She looked back down to her feet, the small waves rolling underneath the wooden pier and rare white lines broke up the blue as the waves split around the pier's supports. "You're more likely to see dolphins, or whales around here. Not too close mind you, but when the storms out at sea get really bad, sometimes the pods swim closer." She smiled as she thought about the first time she saw a pod of dolphins.
She was coming home with her Dad from the city and she was watching the clouds from the windy road. The contrast in the storm front had shown how electric the storm was going to be, let alone the clouds against the blue ocean below them. She remembered her Dad joking about lightning parting the waves and so she had been focussing on the water when she saw the first curve shimmering out of the water. They rounded a bend on the road and sure enough, a couple of other cars had pulled over to watch the dolphins dance closer to the cliffs. She had so many memories with her father she treasured.
Tom nudged her gently with his elbow. "Did you want to go to the pub for dinner? Or is there somewhere else you'd prefer?"
Adora smiled and looked to her side at Tom. "The pub is fine, they have some really great meals there." And Brett and Tara would be there tonight; Saturday nights always had the siblings teaming together to manage the pub. She shimmied back on the wooden pier, pulling her legs back onto the surface before she pushed herself up to stand.
Tom turned his body around before he stood up. "Yea, I've had a glance at the menu when I've gone to chat to Brett."
Adora started to lead Tom back towards the shore. Her wisps of hair still blew around her face, but now there was a chill in the breeze from the ocean behind them. The sky had started to get cloudy during their boardwalk along the beach and she was glad it hadn't rained on them yet.
"Should we go back and get your car from the cove car park before we go have dinner?" She looked over her shoulder and saw Tom following close behind. Their footsteps made hollow noises on the wooden beams of the pier. She knew the sound well, and she knew that footsteps made echoing sounds if you were underneath the pier in the water.
"That's probably a good idea, wouldn't want to be walking along the beach at night, the breeze is cold enough for me now." Tom pretended to shiver and grinned at her as he wrapped his arms around himself.
"Yea, and it gets pretty dark at night. I'd be more worried about stepping wrong or slipping in the dark. Do not want to slip off the cliffs, ever." Adora explained.
"Well, I guess there's that too. I'll make sure I don't get stuck wandering around town after dark." Tom lowered his arms and made a few longer strides to close the space between them. He reached his hand across and brushed hers. "I've enjoyed exploring the shore with you today." He said.
Adora swallowed a lump as she felt his warm fingers brushing against her. She remembered Gus doing that a few times over summer, right before he took her hand. "That's good."
"Do you think you know me well enough now to maybe plan a second date?"
Her heart jerked and she forced a small smile. "Maybe."
His fingers touched her wrist, closed around it and then moved down to her fingers. He entwined his fingers with hers and she instinctively felt her fingers close around his.
Her heart was racing as she tried to keep their pace, but he slowed down and pulled her to a gentle stop.
They faced each other, her fingers were cold compared to his, and his other hand moved to her chin. Her stomach twisted and she took a deep breath as he lifted her chin to look at his face.
So friendly and kind looking as his eyes gazed into hers.
His lips had a small smile on them and he leaned down and kissed her.
She closed her eyes as his fingers squeezed hers gently. She felt his hand moving from her chin to her shoulder, down her arm to the small of her back.
He deepened the kiss, pushing her body softly into his.
She pulled her head back in surprise at the touch of his tongue.
"Sorry." He whispered, pulling back and dropping all physical contact. "Too fast." He looked down and away from her.
She bit her lips and nodded slowly. It wasn't that it had been bad, it had felt nice and warm being so close, but the force of his tongue had surprised her.
He had been used to kissing girls, of course a guy who looked like him would have had girlfriends from the time he knew what they were.
Experience. Tom was experienced, Adora wasn't; not really.
"A little, I just... Gus has been my only relationship, so..." She heard herself laughing awkwardly at her confession and tingles ran through her spine. "I'm not really that experienced."
Tom looked back at her and nodded. "I get it, sorry, again."
"It's ok, let's just go get the car so we can go have something to eat." Adora started to walk again, Tom followed, but he kept a step between them until they reached the boardwalk.
She felt awkward, guilty. She hadn't really led him on, at least, she hadn't felt that way, but she should have known Tom would like to at least hold her hand on the first date, after all, it had only been his second day in school when he'd been brave enough to ask her out.
"Have you had a lot of girlfriends?" She asked him quietly.
That was something they hadn't talked about yet.
He smiled boyishly, and it melted Adora's resolve a little. "A few, in case you didn't notice, I'm not really the shy type." He laughed at himself.
"Oh, I noticed." She nodded and couldn't stop herself from laughing with him.
"I'll try and go slower, I don't want you to feel forced or to scare you off at all." He took her hand again and looked into her eyes, his face asking permission to hold her hand.
Her eyes flickered from his face to their hands and then back up to his eyes again. "Thanks." Was all she said as she turned and started to walk again; she didn't take her hand away, and he closed his warm fingers around her cold ones and walked beside her.
"Are your hands always this cold?"
"Mostly." She laughed.
"Geez..." He snorted and shook his head. "Remind me to buy you some gloves."
Was this the start of a relationship? Was that how fast they started? With Gus she had known it wasn't a real relationship, they'd both known that it was only for the summer.
But this... Tom was different, Tom lived here now; he wasn't just visiting to be a summer fling.