Meet Me in Myrtle Beach (Hunt Family Book 1) (14 page)

"He said that?"

"Yep."

"What'd he say?"

"That he's coming here to talk to you."

"You're lying!" I said with wide eyes.

He laughed. "I'm not."

"You
promise
?" I asked.

He nodded.

I was staring at the side of his face as he looked toward the fire. "Evan," I said, trying to get him to look at me. "You promise?"

"Yes I promise, I'm looking straight at him."

He smiled and waved, and I just continued to helplessly stare at the side of his face. I was unable to move or even breathe. The nerves were so bad I was vibrating.

"Evan look at me and tell me Cody Hunt is not at this party right now," I said.

"I can't tell you that," he said smiling. "I'm looking straight at him. He's walking over here."

I sank my face into my hands, feeling utterly crippled with nerves and emotions. I could not bear to look.

"Please tell me you're lying right now, Evan," I said. "I'm seriously freaking out. I'm gonna kill you if you're messing with me."

Seeing how torn up I was, Evan put a comforting hand on my back. I still didn't look up. It was all I could do to get air into my lungs.

I sighed. "I hate you for this, Evan."

"Evan's gone," I heard him say. The music was playing, so he leaned over to say it close to my ear. I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that it was Cody's voice.

Chapter 18

Cody's hand was on my back, and he was sitting close enough to me that our thighs were touching. I peered down through my fingers to see his faded jeans instead of Evan's khakis.

"Look at me, Paige," I heard him say.

"I can't," I said, shifting my gaze from his jeans to my feet. "I just need a second."

He rubbed my back, which sent chills down my spine. "Are you Cody?" I asked. I knew he was, but I had to ask.

He laughed. "Why don't you look at me and find out?"

"Just give me a second," I said. "Evan didn't tell me you were coming here until right when we sat down. I wasn't prepared. I'm still processing."

"Why can't you look at me?" he asked, next to my ear.

"Because it's hard for me, Cody. You do things to my heart."

He rubbed my back again and then paused before wrapping an arm around me to give me a squeeze as he spoke near my ear again.

"You do things to my heart, too, Paige."

I took a deep breath. "I don't break it," I said.

"Yes you do. How do you think I felt when you got on that horse today? Or when you left to come here tonight? I wanted to break that guy in half when he rode up to our beach like that."

"So why didn't you break him in half?" I asked. "Why'd you just sit there and let me leave?"

"What else was I supposed to do?"

"Fight for me. I wanted you to fight for me. I wanted you to tell me not to come here tonight."

"I was stupid for not doing that, Paige. I know how stupid I was. You have no idea how hard it was to watch you walk away."

"Then why did you?"

"Because of everything I tried to tell you. Because I can't be casual with you. I need to have all of you, or I can't have anything at all."

I stared at my feet for several more seconds before peeking up at him. He was looking at me with a sweet hint of a regretful smile playing on his lips.

"Why do you assume I don't want more than casual with you?" I asked, even though I could barely get the words out. I was mortified by my own nerves.

"Because you're young and beautiful, and you have your whole life ahead of you," he said. "I come as a package deal."

I hesitated before asking, "What if I wanted that package?" I felt jolts of nervous energy ricocheting inside my body as I waited for his response.

He was fresh out of the shower. He had his hair combed back off his face and was wearing a linen button-down shirt. I had never wanted anything so badly in my life. Logan Ritchie, and every other man in the world seemed like chopped liver compared to Cody.

"Do you?" he asked. I had been so consumed with his face, that it took me a second to remember he was asking if I wanted the package deal.

"Yes," I said, simply.

We were quiet for a minute as we both began to stare into the fire. The longer we sat, the more I felt like I should place a disclaimer on my answer.

"I can't promise that I'm gonna be some amazing mother overnight or anything. I can't say that I came on this trip expecting this to happen to me." I paused and looked at him, and he turned to face me again. "But I'm not scared of trying. Trying seems like a much better option than saying goodbye at this point."

"I guess I shouldn't have assumed you couldn’t do it—or wouldn't want to."

"You're right, you shouldn't have done that," I said, remembering how very heartbroken I had been all day.

His hand was no longer on my back, it was resting on his knee, and I took hold of it, bending it at just the right angle so that I could bring his palm up to my chest. I placed his big, warm, rock-carrying hand right over my heart and held it there. The thrill I got from his touch was unbelievable, and I began to smile because of it.

"What?" he asked.

"I didn't mean to smile," I said. "I was trying to be serious. I was trying to tell you how bad I was aching today. Right here."

Cody gave me another regretful smile, and I returned it.

"I want to at least try to be right for you," I added.

He stared right into my eyes for several seconds. "I will murder the next man who tries to come up to our beach on a horse," he said.

I let out a laugh. "I wanted you to murder him today," I said.

He scrunched up his face at me, and I smiled.

"I guess women are complicated."

"That's exactly why I'm so protective of Ryan. I didn't want to do anything in front of her that—"

"You don't have to explain," I said. "I get it. We can act like we're friends in front of her if you want—you know, till she gets used to me or whatever. I would totally understand if you want to do that. I just hate the thought of calling it off completely. I don't think I want to do that."

"Maybe we could ease into it with her if you're okay."

"I'm fine with that," I said.

I looked around at all the faces surrounding the fire—some sitting, some standing. I'd been so consumed with seeing Cody that I was just opening my eyes to the things going on around us.

"Oh, my goodness is that Logan over there by Evan," I asked, with a surprised glance at Cody.

He grinned and nodded without even looking to see who I was talking about. "He couldn’t stand staying back while everyone else was here. I told him I was coming, and that was the last straw."

"Where'd he get that wig?" I asked. "He looks just like Evan with that."

"His mom brought it. She carries a few disguises with her when they travel, just in case."

I laughed. "That's hilarious. I can't believe she does that. The glasses and mustache are so funny." I stared at Logan, watching as he and Evan talked to girls on the far side of the fire. "I can't believe he came wearing that stuff."

"He'll still get that girl's number even looking like that," Cody said.

I giggled, continuing to watch them for a few seconds in amazement.

Logan had a thin blonde mustache and a pair of gold aviators with clear lenses like they were prescription.

"Do you think he'll get her number even with those glasses?" I asked. "You sure they're not too serial killer?"

Cody laughed. "He'll still get the girl."

I leaned over and rested my head on Cody's shoulder, and he wrapped an arm around me. "I'm happy you're here," I said.

"I'm happy you're happy."

"Did Ryan get her smores?" I asked.

He let out a laugh. "She only had one before I left, but I'm sure my mom and Dee-dee are giving her too many right now."

"You wanna go back?" I asked.

He pulled back a little to look at me. "I thought you'd want to stay here." He was smiling when he said it, and I knew he'd be willing to stay with me.

I didn't really care to stay, though. The party had nothing to offer me. The only thing I wanted was sitting right next to me with his big tournament-winning arm around my shoulders.

"It's up to you," I said. "I should probably check in with Charlotte and your sister if we decide to go."

"Where are they?" he asked.

I stood, pulling him up with me. "This way."

We had to stop at the gate to get Cody a wristband, but that wasn't a hassle at all. The guy gave it to us as soon as he saw I had one on and we were together.

I thought Cody might hold my hand as we walked—I kept anticipating that he'd grab it, but he didn't. We fell into stride with each other, and stayed side by side as we crossed the back yard headed toward the pool.

"There's your sister," I said, noticing Mia who was standing next to Travis talking to a few other people.

"Is that the guy who bought this house?" Cody asked.

I nodded, but didn't elaborate since we were approaching them.

"What are
you
doing here?" Mia asked, noticing Cody for the first time.

"What do you think?" he asked, barely cracking a smile.

She looked back and forth between us, and raised her eyebrows a little as she smiled broadly at us.

"Cody, this is Travis Gwinn, he's the host. Travis, this is my super sweet, caring, sensitive, brother Cody."

Cody shot her a smirk before smiling at Travis and extending a hand for him to shake. She was obviously teasing him about being mean to her before she left, and I enjoyed seeing how they had a whole unspoken conversation about it with their facial expressions. All sarcasm aside, they loved each other, and that made me happy.

"Where's Charlotte?" I asked.

Mia pointed into the house, and I saw Charlotte immediately. She and a few other people were preoccupied talking to Sam and the other Australians. They were laughing and carrying on while Sam was telling a story, using big hand gestures and facial expressions.

We had all turned to look at them, so we didn't see when Jackson walked up. "I've been looking everywhere for you," he said. We all turned to face him and could see that he was staring directly at me with a smile. It faded as soon as he noticed that I didn't return it—I was too stunned. All I could do was wonder what Cody was thinking after Jackson made such a statement. He probably assumed I'd already been making out with him or something.

"You okay?" Jackson asked.

Cody was standing next to me, but it must not have been close enough for Jackson to make the connection.

"She's fine," Cody said. "We're fine. We were just about to leave… together."

I heard Mia let out a tiny giggle, but Jackson regarded us with a confused expression. He obviously remembered me telling him only hours before that Cody and I were just friends.

I glanced at Cody, who was smiling confidently at Jackson. "It's all good, man," Cody said. "You might have gotten the wrong idea earlier." He motioned back and forth between himself and Jackson. "We're good and everything, but Paige is leaving with me tonight."

Another barely audible squeal came from Mia's direction.

"Why are you pulling for him?" Jackson asked playfully, looking slightly injured.

"He's my brother," she said, narrowing her eyes at him in jest.

Jackson smiled and lifted his hands in surrender. "Who else has a white stallion?" he asked, still joking, with a just dash of real challenge. "…I'm just saying."

"You should probably show that stallion to someone else," Cody returned, smiling like the whole conversation was all in good fun, but he knew he had the upper hand.

I smiled at him, and Mia ran in to give her brother a hug from behind. "I'm glad you came over here," she said, squeezing him.

"I’m not," Jackson said. But he was smiling at Cody as if he wasn't inclined to challenge him any further.

The two of them shook hands before Jackson walked off to speak to someone else. The absence of Cody's touch was unnerving. He had that whole conversation with Jackson without laying a finger on me. In my books, the hero would have wrapped his arm tenderly but protectively around the heroine's shoulder. I was dying to have Cody's arm around me. I felt naked without it there.

Mia and Travis had started talking again, and I gave Cody a nonchalant smile, hoping he wouldn't notice how desperate I was for his touch.

"Do you want to hang out for a while?" I asked.

"Not really, but we can if you want to. My mom's gonna take care of Ryan, so I don't have to be back at any certain time."

"I don't mind heading back," I said.

It took us about twenty minutes to finally make it to the beach. We talked to Mia, and then went inside to check in with Charlotte. I told her Logan came with Cody and was on the beach with Evan the last time we saw him. She asked if he had on his
guy who drives a white van with no windows
uniform, and we laughed about it before Cody and I took off.

"Your sister's in there getting cozy with that Australian guy," Cody said to Logan when we caught up with them on the beach on our way out.

"What do you mean, cozy?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"She's not doing anything," I said leaning into Cody as if to tell him to knock it off. "She's just sitting next to him."

"And laughing really loud at all his jokes," Cody added.

Logan looked at Evan with a serious expression like it was a matter of national security. "We're going in there," he said, after a second or two of eye contact. Evan nodded—obviously on board.

They turned to walk up the pier as Cody and I left laughing. We walked slowly along the shore. It took us at least fifteen minutes to get to Diane's house, and we talked and laughed the whole time. I took my sandals off and let the sand get between my toes as we went. I might as well have been walking on clouds.

The only bad part was that he still hadn't touched me. We barely made contact as we walked, just accidental brushes of the arms and hand. I wondered when it would ever happen, and felt like I would go crazy with anticipation. No one was at the fire when we got there. Apparently, they all had their fill of smores and went in for the night.