The Beat of Safiri Bay by Emmse Burger Read Free Book Online Page A

scared of me,” he says with a look that shows his hurt and it makes me want to reach out to him but I don’t. “I am not scared of you, why would you think that?” I whisper. I do not know how to handle this.
    “Then what is it?” he asks rather roughly. “Every time I accidently touch you, you pull away. Why don’t you like me?” I wish the sand would swallow me. I will have to tell him but now is not the time and that would mean the end of my little ‘let’s have fun looking at the hunk’ show.
    “I have an idea,” he says. I sit down next to him but not close.
    “Ye-e-e-s” I stretch it out.
    “Answer for an answer,” he says hopefully.
    “You want to play a game?”
    “Yes, I want to find out more about you and it could be fun.”
    “Dr Phil will have a fit” I joke and he laughs. It’s a beautiful sound, definitely an E chord, and my new favourite since a second ago.
    “You go first,” I say. Even though I want to find out more about him, I am nervous to start this game.
    “All right, let’s see. Your name is Lane, Surname is Rose, you are eighteen, almost nineteen, and your dad has a weird girlfriend,”
    I laugh, “Did I mention her?”
    “No but Lin did.”
    “Have you been asking about me behind my back?”
    He pulls up his shoulders and smile.
    I can’t help but smile too, a wide all teeth barred smile. This is so much fun and we haven’t even asked a single question yet. “You drive a silver Jeep,”
    “Um, correction, my dad drives a silver Jeep, I just use it from time to time,”
    “Thank you,” he nods at me, “one less thing I have to ask,” I pout.
    “You had it wrong so I just corrected you; anyway you shouldn’t make assumptions like that!”
    “Okay okay I’ll ask a question,” he lies down on his back and I envy him. I wish I could let go like that and just roll in the sand.
    “When is your birthday?
    “Ah, you know it is soon,”
    “That is not the correct answer,” he says and shakes his finger at me.
    “Okay, okay, April 30,” I roll my eyes at him.
    “Just a few weeks left of being eighteen, I better oil the hinges on that cage,” he lifts an eyebrow and I giggle at that.
    “Your turn,” he says with a much more serious tone.
    “When is your birthday?” I repeat his question. He relaxes.
    “It’s September 27,”
    “You now,” I urge, I am enjoying myself.
    “Where did you learn to play the guitar?” ooh, it’s getting a bit more serious now. “As soon as I could read I picked up a guitar chord book, borrowed a guitar from my mom’s friend and taught myself,” I say proudly. “That’s extraordinary,” he says with admiration.
    “Who is your favourite artist?” I throw at him as soon as he finished.
    “Off course,” he says, “music...” “Must be Britney Spears” he says it with a straight face.
    “Um...” I don’t know whether I should laugh or cry.
    “Bwahahahahaha” he bursts out laughing. “Got you,”
    “You...” I punch him lightly on the shoulder. Immediately I wipe my hand on my shorts and look down at them. “I’m sorry,” I whisper and I feel like crying. “Lane, hey, it’s okay, I mean I would prefer a gentler approach but you are welcome to hit me anytime.”
    “I don’t know why I did that, really. It’s just, I don’t get to spend a lot of time on my own with people I don’t know, out of choice.” He nods but he looks confused as hell.
    “I am a bit too hot now,” I say and he gets up immediately. “You’re right, we should get out of the sun now,” he wipes the sand from his arms and back and I wish I could help with that task. I try to remember how it was that I got comfortable with Matt’s touch so easily.
     
    I was sixteen at the time and at home for the holidays. We met again at ‘The Shack’ and he told me about an upcoming show of his. He asked if I was interested in playing rhythm. I agreed to it only if we practised before the time. He invited me over to his house and we