Chasing Forever Down (Drenaline Surf Series) (26 page)

But headlights sweep around a curve in the road and Vin retreats. The car turns onto another street and fizzles into the blackness. Damn them for ruining this moment. Unlike Colby, Vin’s breathing is steady, unfazed by the headlights. With Vin there’s no need to hide behind trash cans.

“
We should go before all the old people out here call the law thinking someone’s trespassing. You have North Carolina plates. They won’t know it’s me,” he says. He pulls my keys from his pocket, and I surrender to the passenger side.

“Want me to walk you in?” Vin asks. We’ve been sitting in my car for a few minutes, right in front of the guest house. I don’t want to go inside. I don’t want to deal with Linzi asking questions about where I ran off to, and I definitely don’t want to talk about Colby Taylor tonight.

“
Please,” I say.

I need to sneak past Linzi’s room without alerting her that I’m back. But the guest house is empty when we get inside. She’s probably cuddled up next to Alston in his bed. I can’t imagine that silly little argument from earlier stopping them from enjoying their last few nights together, even if they do know she’s leaving. Vin lingers in my room, like he’s waiting for me to tell him once I’m okay enough to be alone tonight.

“I don’t want to stay here,” I finally say.

“
Want to stay at my place tonight?” Vin asks.

My brain flips into montage mode, flashing all the pictures of Horn Island from my day with Miles. The dying, yellow apartment complex where Vin lives. The prisonlike barred window. The pit bull. The old liquor store. Ugh…the murky water and seaweed and collapsed pier that’s just rotting away in the ocean and poisoning the sea creatures. A night in Horn Island?

“Yes.”

Vin waits in the car while I grab the few things I’ll need for tomorrow – change of clothes, makeup bag, toothbrush, phone charger, the basic essentials. I grab that lime green competition shirt as a last minute thought and run for my car. No one will ever know I came back here tonight. And by tomorrow, maybe I’ll be ready to face the Colby Taylor questions.

I toss my beach bag full of junk over my shoulder and double check to make sure Vin locked my car doors. He glances around the parking lot then motions me to follow him.

“Topher must still be at Kale’s. He’ll be exhausted tomorrow for competition. The kid ain’t got his head in the right place, I swear,” he says. He points ahead. “Five-B.”

My head turns to Four-A when a dog barks. That chained up pit bull is on all fours watching us. I lock my fingers around Vin’s arm, and he stops en route to his apartment door.

“Sit, Rosie!” a voice calls out. The pit bull flops back onto the concrete outside of Four-A. “Sorry about that, Vin,” the man calls out. His porch light flickers on, and I see the wheelchair before I see him. He’s an older black man with two amputated legs.

“
No problem, Luther. I know her bark is worse than her bite,” Vin says. “Come with me.” He grasps my hand and heads across the grass to Four-A.

The dew reaches up from the green blades and leaves its mark on my flip flops. Vin doesn’t let go of my hand until we’re under Luther’s porch light.

“Luther, this is Haley,” Vin says. “And this is my favorite neighbor, Luther. And Rosie.” He nods toward the dog.

He wheels closer to me and reaches out to shake my hand. His arms are buff, and his grasp is tight. Whatever happened to him didn’t steal his strength.
“About time you found someone special,” Luther says. “Pleasure to meet you, Haley.”

“
Same to you,” I say.

But ohmygod I can’t even think of anything better to say because he seriously thinks I’m Vin’s someone special, and three seconds have passed and Vin hasn’t corrected him.

“Sorry I woke you…and Rosie,” Vin says, reaching back over and taking my hand. “You know I’m usually not out this late before a competition.”

“
No, no,” Luther says. “You know my arthritis keeps me up at all hours anyway. I haven’t hit the gym the last few days, and I’m feeling it.”

Vin laughs.
“Have a good night,” he says. His fingers intertwine with mine.

“
Same to you both,” Luther replies. He wheels himself backward on the wooden ramp, and his porch light flickers off.

We cut back through the wet grass and into Vin’s apartment. A note from Topher is taped to the wall just inside the front door.
“At Kale’s. Don’t worry. I’ll sleep. See you soon. – T”

I try not to stare, but Vin’s apartment is everything I expected. Worn furniture, old appliances, and surfboards tucked into every corner of the free space. It’s small but I think it’s just big enough for him and Topher. The dim lighting from the kitchen spills over a small table and into the living room. There’s a huge picture of the collapsed pier hanging above the couch. I know without
a doubt that Shark took it.

“You can have my room tonight. I don’t know when Topher will be home or if he’ll even come back tonight, so I’ll crash on the couch,” Vin says.

Aside from the pier photo, the place is null of any decoration. It’s definitely a
“guy” apartment. Vin kicks some clothes aside in his bedroom and apologizes for the mess. He mutters something about never having company and “you should see Topher’s room” while he remakes the bed for me.

“
I can sleep on the couch,” I offer. “I hate putting you out of your own room.”

“
I’ll be damned,” Vin says. “I have better manners than that, Haley. Give me a little credit here.” He takes my bag from me and drops it next to the bed, closing the deal.

He shakes his head and laughs.
“Have you realized every time you try to be nice to me you just end up insulting me?”

Of course I’ve realized.
“I’m sorry. I was just…”

“
Trying to be nice,” Vin finishes. “It’s cool. I know. So, Topher’s room is down the hall. Bathroom is pretty much across the hall. Kitchen and living room are back the way we came. If you need anything, wake me up. Don’t hesitate, okay?”

I nod to keep from saying something else that could possibly insult him. He still lingers, just a minute longer, then finally says good night and heads to the living room.

Unlike Crescent Cove, you can’t hear the ocean late at night in Horn Island. Instead there are car alarms, barking dogs, and that damn creaky couch in the living room. It looked old and worn, and I bet Vin is feeling every spring in the cushions
each time he tosses and turns…which is a lot. At this rate, neither of us will get any sleep before the competition tomorrow, and he needs it more than I do.

I push myself out of his bed, which doesn’t squeak every time I move thankfully, and let the streetlight pouring through the window serve as my path to the bedroom door.

“Vin,” I half-say half-whisper, just in case I dozed off for a minute and Topher came in earlier.

“
Yeah?” he calls back.

“
Come here,” I reply.

The couch croaks out a battle cry or two, and then I hear footsteps. When Vin steps into the doorway of his bedroom, he looks more defeated than the day of the storm. It’s the most innocent I’ve ever seen him – white Strickland’s Boating T-shirt, black boxers, unspiked hair, and sleepy eyes. He reminds me of Topher. And gosh, I hate saying he looks unbelievably cute.

“Everything okay?” he asks. He attempts to fight a yawn, but it’s useless. He’s exhausted.

I pull him into his bedroom and shut the door.
“You’re not sleeping on the couch,” I say. “You’ve tossed and turned since you went in there. Just sleep in here. I’ll take the couch.”

He reaches for the doorknob.
“Haley, we’ve already had this discussion.”

I grab his arm.
“Then just…stay in here…with me.”

He pulls his arm back and laughs.
“That’d make me quite the gentleman, don’t you think?”

His face is unreadable in the darkness. I shouldn’t have closed the door. I could see every bit of his tired eyes in the dim glow from the kitchen.

“No one will know,” I say. “And it’s not like anything’s going to happen. I’m the girl who slept with drunken A.J. all night, remember? I can handle you.”

Vin sighs.
“I’m going to hell.”

“
Right…because selling Honey Gold on The Strip didn’t put you there.”

I grab his arm and drag him toward the bed. I climb in and take the side near the wall
. Vin settles in next to me, keeping a safe distance to be the gentleman he seems to think he is.

“
Thank you,” he whispers.

The silence is long and awkward, and I can’t sleep. Vin has resituated himself too many times, and I know he’s still awake. This isn’t helping us sleep any better than when he was tossing and turning on the creaky couch.

“Haley,” he finally says.

I keep my eyes to the ceiling.
“Yeah?”

He props up on his elbow and turns toward me.
“If your parents refuse to pay for you to go to college out here, I’ll pay it. Drenaline can pay it.”

I turn my head from the ceiling to him.
“You can’t do that. You’ve already got Topher to worry about. That’s not your responsibility.”

“
You have to come back,” he says. “You belong here.”

Even though my heart is gushing with all kinds of happiness at hearing that, from Vin of all people, I can’t let him take that on. I prop up on my elbow and mirror his position. His back is turned to the window with the streetlight glow, but I don’t have to see his expression. I know by the tone of his voice that he’s serious.

“You can’t pay for me to go to college here. I’m not your sister,” I say. I refuse to let him take responsibility for Topher
and
me.

“
I know,” he says. “I wouldn’t kiss my sister.”

Oh those butterflies. They’re familiar, like the day I climbed on the back of that yellow
jet ski with A.J. I ease back into the pillow.

“
You haven’t kissed me,” I whisper.

Vin pushes up from the bed and leans over me.
“I can’t because you’re still talking.”

This is the loudest silence I’ve ever heard. My heart thumps, dogs are barking, and there’s a siren somewhere in the distance. Vin’s fingers entangle my hair, and he leans in. The third time is such a freaking charm because this time he kisses me – no headlights, no Pittman, nothing in this world to come between us – just me and Vin and the smell of his aftershave.

I wrap my arms around him and pull him closer. Every bit of that intense iceberg melts, and I feel safe in his arms, like I could stay right here forever with his lips against mine, his hand in my hair, in this perfect Horn Island night. He inhales deeply when he pulls away.

He lies back onto the bed, closer to me than before, and pulls me nearer. I settle into the crook of his arm. He moves my hair back from my face, kisses my temple, and whispers,
“Good night, Sunshine.”

CHAPTER
21

I shake my hair free from the towel and check myself one more time in the bathroom mirror before I walk out. Topher hasn’t been home long, and Vin has been lecturing him through the wall about getting enough rest before competitions. He hasn’t mentioned my being here, to my knowledge.

Deep breath. “It’s now or never,” I say to my reflection. I push through the door, down the hallway, and into the kitchen, which adjoins the living room. Topher’s bare back is to me while he digs through the refrigerator.

“
Dude, did you not buy more milk?” Topher asks the refrigerator door.

“
Middle shelf, toward the back…if you’d actually look,” Vin shoots back.

“
Found it!” Topher shouts out. He spins around, milk in hand. “Holy shhhhh…Haley! Vin! Dude! You could, like, tell me when you have chicks over so I can put clothes on.”

Vin meets me halfway across the room, kisses my forehead, then says,
“She ain’t looking at you.”

He couldn’t be more right. Vin looks like himself today, well-rested, spiky hair, and intense blue iceberg eyes. Ohmygod he’s beautiful, and this time, I’m not even afraid to admit it to myself.

“You have girls over often?” I ask.

“
No,” Vin says. He reaches into a cardboard box of Drenaline Surf merch and tosses Topher a T-shirt. “Never actually.”

Topher’s head pops out of the blue shirt.
“But apparently there’s a first time for everything. Cereal?” He shakes a box of Lucky Charms and shrugs his shoulders.

“
Yeah, sure,” I say. Topher hands me a bowl, and all the awkward conversation I expected never comes to surface.

An hour later, I’m latched onto both of the Brooks brothers trying to fight our way through the mass of people on The Strip.

“
Why didn’t we just go around back?” Topher screams into my ear from behind me, hoping Vin can hear him from in front of me.