Lovely (4 page)

Chapter 8

“How about some ice cream?” Gavyn asked outside when we exited the restaurant an hour later and headed to our right down the sidewalk.

“Even though I’m full, I can’t say no.” I smiled.

A short distance away, we stopped at a tiny, crowded ice cream shop. Though the place was packed, the employees were efficient and we moved through the line quickly. I chose a waffle cone and rainbow sherbet. I only asked for one scoop, but the guy smacked two huge ones on top of the cone. As soon as he handed it to me, I started to work on it before it melted and made a mess all over my hand. Gavyn chose vanilla and we were on our way again.

When we stepped into the sand leading to the nearby ocean,
Gavyn entwined his fingers with mine. I glanced over at him and he smirked.

“I think he gave me more
ice cream than you,” I said, still tonguing the dessert in a quick fashion that was probably less than ladylike. It was already melting and threatening to make my entire hand sticky.

“It’s because you’re pretty.” He crunched into his cone, already having made his way far enough down to begin eating it.

It was nighttime and the weather was hot, but the burning heat in my cheeks came from blushing. “Thanks. If it had been a girl server, you would have definitely gotten more scoops than me.”

“Is that your way of saying I’m pretty, too?” He joked.

“Handsome, not pretty. I am curious, since you mentioned you were a firefighter…” I hesitated, grinning mischievously.

“Yeah?”

“Have you ever done one of those sexy calendars?”

He nearly choked on his ice cream cone, sputtering out a few particles of wafer when he coughed.
“No way.”

I laughed at his reaction.
“Too bad.” I teased without elaborating and continued to eat in silence as we strolled along the water.

As we moved closer to the edge and with my treat finished, I slipped off my shoes and carried them as we
made our way to the ocean. The water lapped at my toes, cooling me down in the hot Miami night. We didn’t try to make conversation, but enjoyed the time together. As the crowds continued to thin, we returned the way we had come.

“You ready to head back?” He whispered near my ear.
We were still hand in hand, but our bodies had moved closer together.

I turned my head slightly and my forehead
brushed the short rough hair on his cheek that had grown since we’d been out, but I didn’t look up and make eye contact.

“I think so. Hate to end a great date.” I whispered back, unsure of why I felt the need to keep my voice low.

Gavyn leaned lower and in response I lifted my chin a little. His lips grazed against mine softly. He kissed the bottom one, then the top separately before pressing his mouth firmly against mine and sliding his free hand to the middle of my back to hold me close.

Lightning struck.

I was electric and alive, but unsure if I could survive the shock as I returned the kiss. The hair on my arms stood up. Gavyn tasted like sweet vanilla. When he broke contact with my mouth, he rested his forehead against mine and breathed heavily. I did, too. It wasn’t from the exertion of kissing, but from the intense emotions it brought forth.

“Does that end it on a high note?” He
kept his voice low to match mine.

“Now I definitely want the moment to last forever.”

He was smiling when he stepped back and our bodies broke contact. He led me along the sand and toward town where we’d parked earlier in the evening. “Memories last forever.”

I almost frowned, but nodded and kept a smile.
The bad ones, too.
As quickly as the thought had come, I pushed it aside and gave his hand an affectionate squeeze.

Gavyn escorted me to my front door like a gentleman. We said our goodbyes and he didn’t try to make a move or kiss me again. It was a good thing to take it slow, but I couldn’t help feeling a twinge of disappointment. Maybe the kiss hadn’t resulted in the same spark for him. I had started to invite him inside, but I knew where that would lead and I wasn’t ready to take a step like that after a first date… no matter how great it was or how much I liked the guy.

I shed my dress and draped it over the back of the first chair I walked by. My pajama pants were tossed on my bed from where I’d dressed earlier. I tugged them on and tightened them at the waist before putting on an oversized t-shirt that fell past my butt. There were several splotches of dried pain
t on the clothing already.

Feeling inspired, I set up my easel and prepared to paint. The glaring white of the thick paper made me close my eyes a little as I bit the end of my brush between my front teeth. I stayed this way for a
while, envisioning the finished product.

The colors were easy. This painting would be done mostly in black. My arm m
oved gracefully, the hand simply guiding the brush in simple strokes to create the outline. I never used photos to help me paint people or places I’d seen before. I had a photographic memory for that sort of thing. Besides, after staring at Gavyn all night, I certainly wasn’t forgetting what he looked like.

Chapter 9

Gavyn and I had lunch at a café after class the next day. I tried not to go overboard, but I had dolled up a little more than I usually would to go to school. I was sure he hadn’t noticed until we sat down at one of the patio tables outside the restaurant.

“You’re absolutely gorgeous,
” He said, reaching across the table to rest his hand on top of mine and hold it lightly.

I smiled. “Thank you. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever grown comfortable
with someone so quickly before.”

He released my hand and nodded. “Let me know if I come on too strong. Honestly, I’m not like that.
Don’t want to be
that
guy.”

“I know and I will.” I placed a paper napkin in my lap when the waitress brought
out my club sandwich. I started the meal by crunching into the pickle that came with it.

“Want my pickle?”
Gavyn asked.

God, yes
. I tried not to laugh at my thoughts since my mind was in the gutter and sucked some of the sour juice down the wrong pipe. I started coughing. After regaining control, I nodded. “If you don’t want it.”

He glanced around. “Well, at least we don’t have anyone dining beside us for you to throw it at.”

“Hey now, that was a freak accident.”

“I wish someone had caught that on camera. Maybe a security camera did.” He bit into
his sandwich, chewing while he stared at me.

“You
better not ask the owners. The last thing I want is for that spectacle to end up on YouTube.” I pointed the pickle at him threateningly.

Gavyn
gave his lips a brief lick. “I won’t. I promise. I’m not sure I want to share you with the world.” He smirked when I started blushing.

“Good. So… when are we going on our second date?”

“This doesn’t count?” He asked.

I thought for a moment as I picked up a French fry. “
I guess it does.”

“We can go out Thursday like we did this week, but I took an extra shift for a guy at work whose wife has
been having some health issues so I won’t be able to stay out too late.”

“That works for me.
Nice of you to do that for him.”

He shrugged. “He’d do the same for me. The extra hours on my paycheck don’t hurt either.”

Before I could respond, a scowling woman walked by practically dragging her crying child down the sidewalk. The mother’s screams were as grating as the kid’s persistent wailing. My annoyance must have shown on my face.

“Don’t like kids?”
Gavyn asked, obviously not as irritated by the sound as I was.

“
I like them… in small amounts and only if they’re well-behaved. I almost think stupid people should be sterilized so they can’t procreate.” I gave him a little grin and he smiled.

“Really?”

“No, not really. Maybe just give them a nice kick in the ass or something.”

He shook his head, gesturing to my plate that only had fries remaining. “Are you going to finish your chips?”

I slid the plate across the table. “All you.”

“It’s going to be a long week
until our next date.”

“I dread the wait.” I dotted at the corners of my mo
uth with the napkin from my lap. Then I pulled out my wallet and placed a twenty on the table. “My turn to pay.”

“I didn’t agree to that.”

“Please. It’s important to me. I don’t want you to do everything,” I said, standing up and pushing my chair away from me with the back of my legs.

He
frowned and sighed, but agreed. “If it’s important to you.”

Grinning, I moved around the table to where he was sitting. “One of my art teachers told me I could use the room today between classes for a project. Hear from you soon?”

“Of course.” He started to stand, but I kissed his cheek gently and headed toward campus before he could.

After I crossed the street, I glanced back to see him still watchin
g me. He lifted his hand and waved. In return, I blew a kiss.

Chapter 10

That evening, I was relaxing on the sofa reading a book, when there was a knock at my door. I jumped up, hoping it was
Gavyn surprising me with a visit. When I peered through the peephole and saw Brody, my heart sank.

“Go away unless yo
u’re here to take the ring back,” I yelled.

“Open the door so we can talk like adults. You were raised better than this.”

His scolding tone lit a fury within me and I jerked open the door. In his arms, he held a vase with the biggest bouquet of red roses I had ever seen. At a glance, I could tell there were more than two dozen flowers. It was so beautiful that I started to reach out for the gift before catching myself and forcing my arms down to my side.

“Roses aren’t going to fix this. Nothing will. It’s over between us forever.”

“I understand why you’re angry with me, but it wasn’t completely my fault. Franklin made his decisions, too.”

“I’ll warn you one time. Do not speak to me about my brother. Someday I might find it in my heart to forgive you, but that is not today, and I will never forget what you did.” I crossed my arms and scowled. It was the only way I knew to hold back tears.
The side effect was looking like a spoiled brat who didn’t get her way.

“
You’re right. I’ll wait. I just want you to know how sorry I am and that I will always love you.” He brushed by me and placed the flowers on the counter before heading back to the door. “I have some things to take care of back home at the firm, but I’ll be back to see you soon. I know I said I wouldn’t leave without you, but this is unavoidable. Please… please give us another chance.”

“Brody….”

He cut me off before I could answer. “Think of all the good times we had before I screwed up. Please.”

“Fine.
Just go.” 

“Thank you.” He said, leaving as I asked. I should have forced him to take the engagement ring with him.

Despite my reluctance to admit it and the need to bury them, I still had feelings for my former fiancé. He was right. We’d had wonderful years together that were supposed to lead to big dreams instead of nightmares. I picked up my book to read again, but all I could think of was everything I had lost in recent months.

Eight years earlier—

“Do you remember that time I kissed you when we were kids?” Brody asked, slipping his arm around my shoulders as we sat on the balcony of his parent’s mansion. We’d es
caped the party that was full of stuffy rich folks, just like our families.

“The same day you told me if I kissed a frog it would turn into a prince?” I laughed softly, scooting closer to him.

We had been friends for as long as I could remember, but that was the night everything changed. Our parents had tried to push us together for years and we had rebelled, promising that we’d never be a couple.

“I want to do it again.
For real this time.”

I saw his blonde hair blowing lightly in the wind when I turned to look at him. His father was furious about
Brody’s irresponsible antics, but his mother assured everyone it was a phase. I didn’t believe it. I knew Brody was his own person with his own plans for the future. In his eyes, I saw a sparkle of excitement. He always had it when he was about to do something risky or stupid.

“It’s what they want, you know?” I whispered.

“We won’t tell them we’re together. Not for a while. Maybe they’re right about me following in father’s footsteps. We all have to grow up sometimes.”

Shocked as I was, I found myself nodding. “Okay.”

Brody touched his lips to mine for only a fraction of a second before pulling back. We stared into each other’s eyes and then he wrapped his arms around me and held me close. The next ten minutes were spent kissing underneath the stars. My face was flushed and I was sure I’d faint when we parted to catch our breath and refrain from tearing our clothing off.

“That was….”

“Awesome.” I finished his sentence and he went in for another kiss.

Beneath the night sky
, I had my first real kiss with my first boyfriend. We were two teenagers in love and we’d be together for a long time after that.

My hand was on my chest, clenching my shirt over my heart. Tears wet my cheeks. It was so easy to bury the memories when I didn’t have to see Brody or hear his voice. I glanced over at the flowers. The entire room had already filled with their heady scent.

“Is it possible to forgive you? Does one terrible deed undo all the wonderful memories?” I
asked aloud as I tugged a blanket up to my chin. The cover enveloped me like the dark sadness weighing me down.