CHAPTER 39

"I miss the ocean," I utter my inner thoughts, lost in my own trance as the afternoon stretches its wings under the blue sky.

I miss home.

"It can't be a perfect summer without some salty water, right?" Malik slides his mobile on the table and graces me his full attention.

"Exactly.” Smiling, I glance up at him. "I mean, Montana is really nice, but I still miss L.A. I want to get tanned at the beach, hearing the sound of the waves, the swimming . . . I miss that.” Nostalgia blankets me.

A long silence takes a reign, Malik's now-calm eyes pitching me some kind of avuncular concern. Did I say something unfitting? I feel like an incorrigible kid on the wait for the parental judgment. I hold my cooled drink once again.

And suddenly Malik's face lights up and forms his infamous grin that never leaves anyone indifferent. He seems decided. What is he up to, though? My subconscious raises awa