It made her incredibly happy that he was laughing along with her. The vibe she’d got from him earlier was less than a happy one and at least she was just some bone-headed stranger who could put a smile on a man’s face when it was needed. At least without resorting to flashing him and she wasn’t about to do that again.
“Oh yeah, you’re a total open book, Ernest,” she replied, not without a tone of sarcasm in her own voice. “But hey, we’re drunk and running from a fight with a bottle of rum in our possession so at least that’s a shared experience I’ll be able to remember tomorrow morning. I think.”
When they found the beach, miraculously with nobody around, Abi just looked out over the surf and the sea, wind whipping her hair just a tiny bit. She had never seen the Gulf of Mexico, had never been near Florida or the Keys, but she swore she could see the very end of the earth on the horizon. It didn’t even bother her when he disappeared, she was just standing there and felt truly free and unafraid.
“Sorry, I was off in my own world there,” she muttered as he offered a hand out to her, which she took without hesitation. Abi clambered a little over the rocks, gripping his hand tightly for stability. “Jesus, don’t let go…”