Beach Side Beds and Sandy Paths (7 page)

If only I had superpowers. Something,
anything
, to make me disappear from the spot and take Lex with me. The perfect night, just what I needed, completely botched because my mom decided to spawn another child. My mind races to where Lex and I let our guard down. Was it her climbing in my room? Her tiny moan? Was it me stumbling out of the room and shutting the window a little harder than I meant to?

Does it matter at this point?

“What the hell are you doing here?” I spit at my brother, tugging Lex behind me.

He sighs, keeping his face in
a mock innocent expression. “Do you know how lame it is to spend the weekend with your
grandparents
? I was bored out of my mind.”

My fist tightens around Lexie’s fingers. She squeezes back, her silent way of telling me to calm down.

I clear my throat and loosen my grip. “So, you followed us here?”

He shrugs. “Yeah. Hope you don’t mind.” A big grin flashes at Lex
, and my stomach lurches. He’s got the same stupidass smirk I do. “Think you could show me around this place?”

Damn, he’s even got the same brown eyes. Same puppy dog expression I give Lex when I’m teasing her. Suddenly, I hate my own face.

Lex’s gaze shifts to me, but I keep mine locked on Brett. I feel her eyes burn a hole in my cheek before she finally answers.

“Sure. But I’m not going inside the funhouse.”

He laughs, and my fist tightens again.

“We’ll skip that part of the tour, then.”

Lex smiles and waves him to follow us. She has to pry me from where I’m standing.

My brain fuzzes. All I hear is this hot ringing as I drown o
ut Lex and Brett “playing nice.” I don’t say a word, and every time we move, Lex has to drag me.

It’s at the Tilt-a-Whirl when my ears finally catch some of the conversation.

“I can’t go on these.” Brett laughs, pointing at the shut down ride. “One time I did, I puked all over my date.”

“Oh, yikes!” Lex says through a giggle. “What did she do?”

“She threw up too. It wasn’t a pretty sight.”

“I’ll bet.”

“Worst date ever.” His eyes flick to me for a second, and I turn so my back is to the ride and lean on the railing, hoping the ringing in my ears comes back.

Brett takes a step toward Lex, and like a possessive tool, I pull her toward me.

“So,” he says, “you have a worst date story?”

My eyes squeeze shut
, and I pinch the bridge of my nose. How long has it been since he got here? Feels like ten years.

I feel Lex cock her head next to me, hitting my shoulder. “Hmm… not sure if I can think of one.”

Lex is the best girlfriend in the world.

“Really?” Brett pushes. I can tell his gaze keeps going up to me. “Lucky girl.”

She takes my arm and wraps it around her waist. “I think so.”

Okay, my chest is getting looser
, and I open my eyes to give Lex the “thank you” look. She’s not watching me though. Her eyes shoot over to the deserted balloon stand, and her mouth turns down. The hand I’m holding twitches as she tries to twist the ring on her pinky.

“Should we go?” I ask, first time I’ve used my voice in about an hour.

She smiles and nods, tucking into my side. Brett shifts on his other leg, and I get a sick satisfaction that he seems uncomfortable.

I walk Lex’s bike back with us, while they talk about what classes Brett’s taking and how long his Dad will be overseas. I’m pretty sure if it wasn’t for her, we’d both be in the ER with busted limbs by now.

The house is dark, minus the light in my room. Brett walks up the lawn, and I stay back, leaning the bike against the railing. Lex floats between us.

“Thanks for letting me stick around,” he says, flashing the smile I swear I’m never going to use again. “Maybe
spring break won’t be so bad with you guys.”

I wrap my hands around the back of my neck, interlocking my fingers, keeping all the retorts I want to throw at him in my throat. Lex does not need to see me like that.

“We’ll be at a beach.” She laughs. “It won’t be bad at all.”

He nods, keeping that grin on his fa
ce, and turns to me. “You coming in?”

“I’m going to walk Lex home,” I answer, straining to keep my voice steady.

“Yeah, don’t want to bring her inside again.” He winks and flicks his gaze to Lex. “Paper thin walls, you know.”

Lex’s cheeks burst red, so much I can feel the heat rolling off them
. Without another thought or word, I grab the bike, grab her, and pedal us away from the asshat as fast as I can. I hope he gets stuck in the window.

We get two blocks before Lex says, “Wait! Stop, Ryan.”

I pull the brake slowly so she doesn’t go flying off the handlebars, and we ease to a standstill. A stupid prickle zaps up behind my eyes, and I pinch my nose to push it back.

Lex swings around so she’s facing me. She scoots her butt across the bar and slips into my arms. She’s laughing
, and it makes me laugh because I know having a bar up your ass can’t be the most comfortable position in the world. I shift her so she’s on one of my legs, and I balance us with the other.

She sighs and pulls a finger across the scar on my eyebrow. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“Because I know you’re having a hard time with this whole brother thing.” Her b
ig brown eyes drop to our laps.

I tilt
her chin up. “What brother thing?” I tease, then blow the brown flyaways from her face while the corner of her lip tugs upward. I can’t help myself—I kiss her mouth softly, then hold her. We’re awkward on the bike, but I don’t care. Neither does she. We hold each other till my leg goes numb. Then longer than that.

“Ry?” she says over my shoulder
.

“Hmm?”

“Will you promise me something?”

I loosen my grip on her so I can see her face. “Sure.”

“Whatever is going on between the two of you… it won’t come between us… especially on our trip.” She points a blue fingernail at me. “Promise?”

My automatic smirk s
ticks into place, then I quickly stop it. Guess it’ll take practice to get rid of it. “I promise, you goof.”

“Good. Because I have another
surprise for you. For the trip.” A blush creeps up her cheeks and she drops her gaze again, twisting that ring on her pinky.

“Oh?” I ask, running my hand up the sleeve of her—well,
my
hoodie. “Is it Fun Dip?”

A big gust of laughter flies from her mouth
, and we wiggle a bit on the bike before I balance us back out.

“What? Am I right?” I smile.

She shakes her head. “No. Nothing, you wouldn’t get it yet.”

I press my forehead to hers. “Tell me. I can keep a secret.”

“Nope.” Her arms swing around my neck and I fumble on the bike again. “You’ll have to wait. But…I’m hoping it will be fun.”

The blush hasn’t left her cheeks, and she’s smiling and lo
oking so damn beautiful, I wish we weren’t sitting on a bike in the middle of the road. But it’s a good thing we are, because my resolve to keep myself in check would’ve flown out the window, along with the condom wrapper.

I pull away from her mouth, desperate to kiss her, and yelling at myself not to. Clearing my throat, I try to change the subject and not hurt her feelings at the same time.

“Thanks for tonight.”

She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, sorry we couldn’t make out in the bumper cars like I wanted to.”

“Next time.” I laugh and hoist her up on the handle bars. She swings around and leans against my chest.

I pedal
her the rest of the way home, smelling her hair and thrilling in the feel of her so close to me. If I could keep her attached to me wherever I go, I’m pretty sure I can deal with any shit that flies my way.

I tuck my apron under my arm, step outside and lock the door to the coffee shop. As of tomorrow I am officially on vacation. For an entire week I don’t have to worry about a thing. No coffee shop. No dog walking. No schoolwork. No Mom. Well, let’s face it, I’ll still be worrying about her. But I talked to Roger, and he promised to stop by the house at least once a day. Seemed a little
too
happy to offer if you ask me.

A week with Ryan on the beach
! I’ve been to the ocean once. Years ago. Mom was on one of her binges. Pop-pop and Grams scooped me up and took me away on their family vacation to Florida. From that moment on they were my family too.

Closing my eyes
, I can still feel the warm sun against my cheeks and the way the sand felt between my toes. The way Ryan’s small body held me up when I cried in his arms. And I can still remember exactly how his breath felt, hot against my ear when he whispered, “You have me, Lex. Always.”

“I’m too late, huh?”

I turn at the familiar voice. “What are you doing here?” I ask Brett.

“Couldn’t sleep.
” He shrugs. “Thought a cup of tea might help.”

“Grams
keeps plenty of tea in the house.”

“Yeah, but what’s the fun in that?” He winks
and it’s eerily similar to Ryan. Even though Brett has a striking resemblance to his brother’s he doesn’t have the same effect on me. It’s like Nate winking at me. Nothing.

A part of me wants to tell him to go home, but then there’s a small piece of me that wants to find out about him. Understand what makes him tick
, and maybe find a way to end the war. He did just move into a new state, into a new home with people he never met, including a brother he didn’t know he had, he deserves a little slack. So I put the key back in the door and smile. “I did just start my vacation, but I guess one cup of tea won’t hurt. Come on. I’ll make you my specialty.”

I unlock the door and step aside to let Brett in. I shut the door behind us and lock it. Just because I’m feeling generous for one person doesn’t mean I want to be feeding anyone else their caffeine fix.

I put down my purse behind the bar, and Brett sits across from me. I take out two mugs, place a tea bag in each and when the water is ready I pour it in. Two sugars and a little bit of milk later I slide it across the bar in front of Brett.

He takes the mug into his hands and cocks an eyebrow at me. “Black tea? That’s your specialty?”

“Decaf. Grams used to make it for me when I couldn’t sleep. Sometimes there’s something special in the simple.”

“You used to stay over at the house?”

“Before Ryan and I started dating, he was my best friend. Still is. His grandparents were like my own. Had a lot of stuff going on at home, and they would let me stay to escape.” I look down into my tea, thinking of how many times they were there for me. How many cups of tea Grams made me. “But enough about me. I’m more interested in you.”

“
Really
?” A stupid smirk pulls at his lips and the same flash of sin Ryan gets flashes through his eyes.

“Not that type of interested
, buddy. Besides, I’m a one man kind of girl.”

He lifts his hands up. “Enough said.
Ryan might not trust me.” His eyes burrow in on mine. “But you can. Scout’s honor.”

“You were a Boy Scout?”

“All through elementary school and part of middle school.” He shrugs. “We moved around a lot. Scouts was something that could go with me. Different people, but the concept was the same. It was all I had most of the time.”

“Why’d you give it up?”

“Have you seen those uniforms? If I ever wanted to get a date I had to ditch it.”

“And did you?”

He takes a sip of his tea. “No. I kept the uniform for when I’m feeling sentimental.”

“Not the uniform. A date.”

His eyebrows rise again with a cocky tug of his lip. “Many.”

I roll my eyes at his confidence, though it doesn’t take a genius to realize he uses that confidence as a front. There’s
a sadness in his eyes. Something he’s harboring. Guilt maybe.

“So you’ve moved around a lot?” He nods his head and I continue. “Like where?”

“California. Texas. North Carolina. Washington. Nevada. Virginia. Oh and Hawaii.”

“Oh and
Hawaii
!”

“It was only for a few months. My dad had to do a
leader’s training class.”

“Take it?”

“Teach it.”

“Wow, you’re dad’s pretty badass.”

His eyes blink from me to his tea. “He only had to sacrifice fatherhood to get there.”

There I go again with my big mouth. I rest my hand on his and squeeze. “Sorry.”

He shrugs again.

“You should talk to
Ryan.”

His hand rests on the back of his neck. Back and forth. Back and forth. “And why would I want to do that
?”

“
Despite what you think you two have a lot in common.”

With a roll of his eyes he downs the rest of his tea.

“You know how you said I can trust you?” I ask. He places the cup back down on the bar and nods. “I do…and you can trust me too.”

***

Ryan lifts my suitcase and places it in the trunk. “Okay now that your suitcase is in how are we supposed to get my stuff next to it?”

“And mine.” Brett comes down the porch steps and drops a duffel bag at Ryan’s feet.

Hands clench at Ryan’s side, and I step in front of him. “We’ll make it fit.” It’s not like we have Kaylee and Nate’s stuff too. They’re driving up in Nate’s two-door Escort.

I slide my fingers through Ryan’s
, and I can feel the tension leave. He tickles my sides. “Well maybe if you didn’t bring your entire closet with you.”

I hop up and kiss him on the cheek. “Not my closet just my nail polish collection.”

“That’s a lie. The suitcase isn’t big enough.”

Brett holds his green Nano up. “Any last minute requests for songs. I filled my iPod last night. I wasn’t sure what you guys liked so I tried for a variety.”

“Do you have any Justin Bieber?” I ask pulling the iPod out of his hand.

“You’re kidding right?” Brett asks and I wait for Ryan to jump in with one of his many comments about the Biebs, but he stays quiet.

“Sorry, no Justin Bieber, and I’m not putting that on my iPod.” Brett stretches his arms out. “What about you Ryan? You a rock fan?”

“Yeah whatever,” Ryan grunts and then smashes his duffel into the trunk.

“Let me help.” Brett steps up to the car and lifts his bag.

“I don’t need your help.” Ryan pulls it toward him
, but Brett doesn’t let go.

“I didn’t say you need it. I was just offering.” Brett pushes the bag into Ryan’s arms and bumps shoulders with him as he walks away. He looks back at me, pain shining bright in those dark iris
es. “I tried,” he mouths before he flings the back door open and slams it behind him.

Frustration runs through me
, and I slap Ryan upside the head.

“What the
—”

“What is wrong with you?” I rest my
‘
Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It’
nails on my hips. Shock widens his eyes like he has no idea he was just a complete and total ass.

“Wrong with
me
?” The shock runs through his arms until he’s rubbing his damn neck.

“Yes you. He was just trying to be nice. You on the other hand acted like a total jerkhead.”

He cocks a dark brow at me. “Jerkhead?”

“Yes
, a jerkhead. And news flash buddy.” I poke him hard in the chest, causing him to stumble back. “We have a ten hour drive today, and then a full week with him. This is my vacation too, and I do not want to play refer-freakin-ree the entire time. Got it?” I poke him again.

“
All right. All right.” He holds his hand up in defeat. “I got it. Jeez.”

His words say one thing
, his body language and that look in his eyes say something totally different. These two really need to work it out. I just hope it doesn’t turn into a UFC match. Kaylee and I are too small to help, and I don’t think Nate can take them both on.

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Good. Now can we get out vacation started? Please?” I give him the puppy dog eyes, pout the lip and when his hardened face cracks and a smile
shines through, I wrap my arms around him and crush my lips to his.

“Eh
-hmm.”

Ryan pulls away from me, but doesn’t let go of my waist. I turn to Gram
s and Pop-pop, and I don’t need a mirror to know I’m brighter than a just picked apple.

“Hi guys,” Ryan says all innocent, no sign of embarrassment.

I look away. “We just wanted to wish you safe travels.” Pop-pop moves towards Ryan and pats him on the back. “Call when you get there. And don’t wait till you’re on E to get gas.”

“I baked a few snacks for the drive.” Grams hands over three huge
gallon size freezer bags with homemade cookies, brownies and scones.

“Brett
, you okay, son?” Pop-pop asks. “Damn kids and their headphones,” he says when Brett doesn’t answer him. “Back in my day we were aware of our surroundings. We couldn’t drown it out. If I didn’t want to hear what someone was saying I had no choice. You kids today—
Umph
!”

Gram elbows Pop-pop in the stomach. “Dear
, we don’t want to hold the kids up. I want them off the road by dark.”

“Right. Here
…” Pop-pop hands Ryan a hundred dollar bill. “Now that’s for the three of you. And I don’t want to hear about any fighting going on.” He directs his statement directly at Ryan.

“No fighting,” Ryan says and kisses Gram on the cheek then hugs Pop-pop.

I move in and do the same. Gram wraps her arms tightly around me, pulls back and gives me an awkward smile. “Just in case, dear,” she says, and I feel her hand slide into my purse.

Ryan wraps his arm around me and turns me away from Grams. “Come on, Lex let’s get out of here.”

We wave our goodbyes as Ryan opens the passenger door for me to get in. His nose scrunches in that cute way it does, and all the tension from earlier is completely gone.

“I love you,” I say well aware that Brett’s headphones are in and his eyes are closed.

“I love you, too.” Ryan rests his hands on the roof of the car and leans in until his mouth is on mine. This kiss is different than the ones of late. It’s more tender, sweeter and the reason why I’ve fallen so head over heels in love with my best friend.

He kisses my forehead and shuts the door. I reach down for my bag to get my
Chapstick and…Oh you have got to be kidding me.

I pull out the square piece of foil. Ryan gets in the car, eyes bugging out of his head when he turns to me.

“Uh…Lex?”

I look to him, eyes so widened in shock no matter how hard I try to pull them closed they won’t go. My cheeks are up in flames, hand suspended in
the air.

“Your grandma just gave me condoms.”