It Was You (7 page)

I tried to stare him down, but that smile with those perfect teeth broke me down and I returned the smile. “Right.”

“
I may have underestimated the guest list,” he said. “But come on. We'll find some time to talk.” He smiled. “So you can get to know me. You know, so we don't have to go through that whole act on the phone next time I call.”

I stared at him. Navy T-shirt. Khaki shorts. Faded leather sandals. All that hair a little damp and combed back away from his face. Those eyes that sent shivers down my spine.

“I promise. I'll protect you,” he said.

I walked toward him. “I can handle myself, thank you very little.”

He laughed. “Good to know.”

We walked down the staircase that led to the beach. Most of the faces seemed to be around my age but I didn't see anyone from my high school. It didn't surprise me. People came from all over to party down at the bay. I watched a few of the people. Most seemed as if they'd been drinking for awhile. There was no keg and no beer cans, which made sense. After the city banned alcohol on beaches a few years back, people were much more discreet in how they consumed. My eyes drifted to the row of houses lining the road. One, a Spanish-style stucco, had the front door propped open. Even from where I stood on the sand, I could make out a sea of people standing in the living room. That was Alcohol Central. If people wanted a drink, they were in there. And if they were stupid enough to bring their cups on to the beach, then so be it.

A few sets of eyes turned our way as we moved closer to the fire but most seemed occupied with whomever they were already talking to or trying to talk to. Huge sparks flew up from the bonfire as another pallet was tossed on top, crackling and popping as the orange fragments exploded against the black sky.

“
You want a drink?” West asked.

“
You have alcohol here on the beach?” I asked, disbelieving.

He pointed to a cooler tucked away, close to a trash can. “A small stash.”

I should've said no, but my nerves were starting to get the better of me and I needed something to take the edge off. “Yeah.”

“
Soda? Beer? Other?”

“
Doesn't sound like a small stash.”

“
For me it is.”

I thought for a moment. “Other.”

He grinned at me. “Nice.”

He took my hand and pulled me away from the crowd and toward the cooler. He lifted the lid on it and pulled out a small bottle of rum and a liter of Coke. There was a sleeve of red cups and he pulled two of them from the plastic. He dug them into the ice, shut the lid on the cooler and poured the alcohol and soda into the cups. He left the bottles next to the cooler and handed me a cup.

He held his up. “To getting to know me.”

I laughed. “To hoping I don't hate you.”

“That works, too.” He touched his cup to mine and took a long drink.

I did the same and tasted more soda than rum. I gave him points for not trying to get me drunk.

He took my hand again and led me past the crowd and down to the edge of the water. The bay glistened in the moonlight and a lone sailboat drifted by. We sat down on the sand.

He smiled at me. “So.”

“So.”

“
What do you wanna know?”

Everything, I thought. But I didn't think he'd want to recite his entire bio so I started with something easy. “Where'd you go to high school?”

“Torrey Pines. Graduated last year.”

“
So you've already done a year at Mesa?”

He shook his head. “Nope. This will be my first.”

“What did you do last year?”

He glanced at the water. “Let's just say I was busy.”

“Doing?”

“
Things,” he said, then laughed into his cup before taking another drink. “Where'd you go?”

“
Beacon,” I said. “Graduated in June.”

He raised an eyebrow. “So we're both freshmen.”

I nodded and watched a group of girls gather just down the shoreline. Three of them. They were trying to be discreet about the fact that they were watching us. And they were failing.

“
What're you going to study?” West asked.

“
No idea,” I said. “I was supposed to go to State. But I changed my mind. I have no clue what I'm doing.”

“
Why'd you change your mind?”

I took a drink and stared into the cup for a moment. “It's complicated.”

“It always is,” he said, smiling, but not prying.

“
Do you know all these people?” I said, gesturing to the crowd near the bonfire.

He shrugged. “A lot of them, I guess.”

“What about the girls who look like they want me to die?”

He raised the eyebrow again and I nodded past him. He turned and looked, then turned back to me, a sour look on his face. “Yeah. I know them.”

“I take it you won't be introducing me.” I was glad to see that his calm, cool demeanor could be cracked, if just a little bit.

“
Not if I can help it.”

The girls started moving toward us. “Well, West I-Still-Don't-Know-Your-Last-Name. I think you're going to get the opportunity.”

He gave me a hard look, then turned toward the girls who were almost to us. He shook his head, drained his cup and muttered, “Shit.”

A girl with long blonde hair and big brown eyes led the pack. She wore a black miniskirt that barely covered her ass and a tight white tank top. With no bra. 

She smiled at him. “Hey, West.”

“
Kayla.”

“
What's going on?” She looked at me with narrowed eyes. “New friend?”

Her two friends, another blond and a brunette, snickered.

“You need something?” he asked, clearly annoyed. “Like directions to somewhere else?”

Kayla stared at me, her eyes sizing me up, then appearing unimpressed. “I'm Kayla.”

“I got that,” I said.

West smiled, nodded, approving.

“I don't think I know you,” Kayla said.

“
No, I don't think you do,” I answered.

She glared at me, her eyes on fire.

“Shouldn't you be shoving your tongue down Jake's throat right about now?” West asked, shaking the ice in his cup.

If she heard him, she didn't show it. Her eyes were still on me. “West tell you about me?”

“Can't say that he has.”

The smile vanished. She ran a hand through her thick blond hair. “Interesting.”

“Not really,” I said.

West pushed himself off the sand and offered his hand to me. I set my empty cup down and  he pulled me up. He thrust his cup out to Kayla and she took it, surprised.

“Throw that away for me?” he said, grinning.

She looked like she'd rather eat glass and she dropped it in the sand. “Fuck you, West.”

“You wish,” he said.

She watched, her mouth open, as he led me down the beach.

ELEVEN

We stopped at another bonfire about a hundred yards down the beach and West disappeared into the crowd. He reappeared with a beer in his hand and we started walking again.

“More friends?” I asked, nodding in the direction of the bonfire we'd just visited.

He twisted the top off his beer. “More or less.”

He took a drink and I knew he was waiting for me to talk. The easy question to ask would've been about Kayla. But I didn't feel like talking about some sort of bitter ex-girlfriend. So I went in another direction.

“
What are you going to study?” I asked.

He took a long pull from the beer, then shrugged. “Not sure yet. Maybe construction.” He grinned at me. “I'm not much for books. I like using my hands.” He stared at me a moment longer, then laughed.

I knew I was blushing and I hoped he couldn't see it in the dark.

I took a sip from my drink. “Siblings?”

He shook his head. “Nope. You?”

I hesitated. This was the first time in forever that someone didn't know about Annika. Everything that West was going to find out about me was going to come from me. No one else. There was no history. This was a fresh start, something I'd been craving, something I'd been waiting for.

“No.” The lie came easily.

“
No?” He cocked an eyebrow. “Weren't you arguing with someone when I called? The charger?”

Crap. I'd forgotten about that. “What makes you think that was my sister?”

“I didn't say anything about a sister.”

I felt my cheeks redden. I was just digging a bigger hole. “Can we change the subject? I don't want to spend the night talking about non-existent siblings.”

He stopped and stepped in closer to me. “So what should we spend the rest of the night doing then?”

His eyes were so focused, so intense, that I couldn't look away from him. My heart beat a little faster and my skin tingled.

“I could lay a bunch of words on you,” he said, tilting his head. “Put some move on you. Or I could just be direct.”

His lips looked amazing. My stomach did a little somersault.

He slipped his hand into my hair, his thumb on my cheek, his fingers wrapped behind my ear. “Or I could just kiss you.”

I leaned into his hand, but I couldn't find any words. His hand was warm, hot almost, against my cool skin and his fingers, rough and calloused, caressed my scalp. I might have sighed and he chuckled softly, angling his head closer.

His lips brushed mine, soft and strong, and he cupped my face even closer to his. His tongue flicked at my lips, tasting, teasing, begging to be let in. I opened my mouth and the tip of his tongue touched mine, gently at first, then with more urgency. He tasted like rum and mints and I melted into him. He found my bottom lip and sucked gently on it for a moment before closing his mouth and pressing both of his lips against mine.

I'd been kissed a lot of times by a lot of different guys. But I'd never been kissed like that. His kiss was...wow.

I steadied myself, my hand agains his chest. His arm went around my waist, his beer bottle resting against my hip in his hand.

“
That okay?” he whispered.

I mumbled something unintelligible.

“You can kiss, Abby Sellers,” he said, his arm tightening around my waist. “I wanted to kiss that mouth as soon as you popped off at me in line this morning.”

“
I think I just wanted to punch yours.”

He chuckled. “Probably so.”

He leaned down again and kissed me the same way, a little harder and his arm wrapped even tighter around me, pulling me into him. I didn't resist and the kiss was wow again. I pushed into him, pressing my breasts against his chest and he groaned a little, his fingers trailing from my waist to my back, his fingers lingering on the clasp of my bra. More than anything, I wanted to be somewhere else with him. Some place private, some place where we could think about doing a hell of a lot more than kissing.

After a moment, he pulled back and let me breathe. My chest heaved and I breathed in deeply, trying to get my feelings under control. All I could think about was him. Kissing him. Touching him.

West watched me, his expression dark with desire. He started to say something but bit off the words as his eyes drifted over my shoulder. His entire expression changed and I wondered if I'd somehow done something wrong.

Without warning, he took me by the elbow and brought me around to his side. Three guys were approaching from the end of the beach we'd come from. The one in front was a little shorter than West, heavy-set, muscles bulging beneath a white T-shirt. His blond hair was cut short, spiked and straight up on his scalp. The guy on his right was tall and skinny with a baseball cap on backward. The one on his left was shorter, a shaved head, more fat than muscle on him. A thick gold chain circled his neck.

The one in front smiled at West but it decidedly unfriendly. “West.” He glanced at me and gave me the same smile. “What's shakin'?”

West didn't say anything.

“Kayla said you were giving her a hard time,” he said. “That right?”

“
I don't know,” West answered. “She's your girlfriend. Shouldn't you be keeping tabs on her?”

The guy laughed like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. His friends did not.

And I became aware of more people drifting down the beach toward us.

Like they knew something I didn't.

“Who are you, pretty girl?” the guy asked.

“
Take a walk, Jake,” West said.

“
I did,” Jake said, grinning. “And I found you guys. Lucky me, right?”

I surveyed the descending crowd and spotted Kayla and her friends in the middle of the pack, whispering to one another.