“Don’t forget the liquorice wands,” Brenda said while drying her hair, seated atop her bed with her robe cinched tight. “If they have raspberry that’s fine, too.”

“Got it,” I replied, straightening and grabbing the door. “See you soon.” The door closed as Brenda shouted her goodbye just as David Bowie proclaimed her favourite line of all for you — and I’d never ever had chills from hearing that line before, but now, I fucking hoped Hans would say words like those to me. I cursed myself for the involuntary reaction and thought.

I rolled away from the motel as the clock struck nine in the evening after yet another day without any Germans showing up. I’d deluded myself into thinking I’d seen the white Cadillac a few times the past two days, but every time I did a double take, it had been a mistake. Not to mention how I felt yesterday on the beach… Shaking my head, I tried to focus on getting down to the walkway by the beach. “I’m losing my mind,” I mumbled and picked up speed while turning a sharp corner, greeted by the ever-stretching ocean with the setting sun and squawking seagulls gliding on the breeze above the glittery waves.

With a look to the lighthouse, I set off along the edge of the grassy strip separating the road from the beach, and eventually stopped in the exact spot where I’d first encountered Hans. I looked behind me, finding a little sandwich deli with leather chairs in yellow, red, and blue around freshly wiped tables that reflected the low light of the sun. I rolled over and took a seat, the lighthouse in view as it had begun its spinning for the night despite the lack of darkness.

“Hi there,” came the bright voice of a young boy. “What can I get you? I recommend the pastrami.”

“Oh, hi, straight to the point here, huh?” I said, smiling up at the boy as he nodded and his eyes flicked about. “I’ll take the recommendation, with a cherry Coke if you have it?”

The boy, perhaps nineteen years old, nodded and smiled again. “Coming right up, miss.” He made a beeline for the inside of the deli and appeared no more than a minute later with the food and drink. “Here we are, freshly grilled,” he announced as I undid the laces of my roller blades and tugged them off.

“Thanks, here,” I replied and paid, with a word about him keeping the change before he left me alone to enjoy the pastrami double with some lettuce and melted cheese within the slices of a wide baguette. It hadn’t been the plan, and I’d grab the candy for Brenda soon, but for the moment I just wanted to quietly enjoy some time to think and eat something that Brenda would have never approved of.

I watched the people passing by, remembering how Hans’s attention felt when he placed it on me, how his arm was so utterly steady when I wrapped mine around it, and how those lips had pressed so perfectly roughly against mine on an evening just like this one a mere few days ago. My finger graced my bottom lip at that, and there was no stopping the somewhat coy smile playing on my mouth as the memory of his cushioning beard with the slightest hint of a tickle against my jawline sprang to the forefront of my mind.

The cold Coke slipped down my throat, and as I set the can down, a happy couple passed, and I sighed. There’s no use wishing for him to come find me, and I can’t even go look for him. I rubbed at my forehead, trying for the umpteenth time to remember what hotel he’d taken me to, but all I remembered was him and how my stomach had been tied in warm knots. It’s useless. I can’t remember anything about the fucking hotel. Just the private area, and the cooler temperature of the garage. Ugh, useless brain… I’m smart, usually. He makes me lose my senses wo wholly, it’s almost insane.

I cleaned up the table and stepped into my rollerblades again, readying to head off to a nearby kiosk to get Brenda her candy when a set of expensive loafers stepped in front of me, and I looked up only to lose my breath at the smirk greeting me. “Hans,” I said, nearly exhaling his name while he tilted his head and my heart did a somersault.

“Hello, Zuckerschnute.”

My shoulders softened, and my lips widened in a far too obvious smile — partly relieved and partly overwhelmed with a need to kiss him from the memory I’d just been deeply reliving a minute ago. “You’re here.”

He nodded. “Yes, I wanted to thank you for heeding my warning, abrupt as it was. I imagine you’re…confused—” I opened my mouth to interrupt, but he kept speaking “—and I can’t tell you the ins and outs regarding it all right here and now.”

I clamped my mouth shut. “Hm,” I hummed, and he chuckled before gracing my chin with his finger to lift it ever so slightly until we were holding each other's gazes firmly. “I was beginning to wonder where you were,” I confessed.

“Understandable.” He stepped closer, wrapping an arm around my waist and with the roller skates on my feet, we were almost eye to eye. “Will you permit me to explain over dinner, tomorrow?”

“Yes.” No hesitation, no delay; I barely had time to take a breath and much less think when he asked to spend time with me.

Hans smiled with one side of his mouth tilting upwards, chuckling in a deep manner that had me tingling all over again. “I shall see you tomorrow, then. Seven o’clock, by the entrance to the pier. Don’t stay out late.” His eyes hardened slightly, his words a tad harder toward the end.

I nodded, that delectable tingle of him being so utterly decisive — protective — unfurled in my gut like a blooming flower. His manners warmed me; there was something so special about him specifically behaving as he did. The harshness blended with his flirty manners was what Brenda would call swoony.

Hans leaned forward, kissing me on the cheek teasingly before whispering in a purr: “You make things exciting, Charlene. I’d very much like to keep you…” He leaned back slowly, his gaze unwavering, while I couldn’t find my words with an utterly misfiring brain riddled with hormones like never before and consumed by thoughts of him; in so many ways, places, and with varying amounts of clothes on.

Hans’s finger pushed lightly under my chin, and my mouth closed; to my complete embarrassment, he had me in an ogling daze — where the hell is that false confidence when you need it the most? Or real confidence for that matter?!

“Tomorrow, then,” he said, nearly speaking as if he had a longing as strong as mine growing within him. “Guten Abend, meine Zuckerschnute.”

My toes curled, my knees wobbled, and he kissed my knuckles before backing away. And as if I’d been totally blinded by the man, I didn’t notice the white car until Hans literally opened its door. But there was no Karl in the driver’s seat; no, it was the other man I’d seen on that very first night close to the very spot where we were now. But I didn’t care who drove; all I cared about was the unruly smile Hans sent my way right before closing the door; his face hidden by the reflection in the glass as my core turned to heated mush with fireworks of uncontrollable excitement shooting through my veins…

LINKTREE // AO3 // MASTERLIST

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A/N: To be honest, this bit feels a bit flat..? I’m a tad bit stuck as I’m so goddamn stressed and I need to get everything written today that’s going up, well, today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow… send help, pleaseeee 😩 (I love writing, not complaining about that, but the stress is eating me up and I wanna do this series justice.)

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