The Complete Memories Series (16 page)

Jen shakes her head. ‘‘What an asshole,’’ she offers. ‘‘That’s just plain rude, isn’t it?’’

Mum shrugs and tops up all of our wine glasses, emptying the bottle.

‘‘What can you do? Have you ever tried arguing with my mother, Jen?’’

I grimace at the thought.

‘‘No, but I reckon we could have a good old gossip together.’’ Jen grins and takes her glass back from Mum. ‘‘Thank you. I reckon we could get this Roger out of her system.’’

‘‘Yes, but who will replace him?’’ Mum sits back and crosses her legs, ever the lady. I must have missed that gene.

‘‘With any luck,’’ I say in a flat voice. ‘‘A cat will.’’

Mum and Jen both laugh loudly into their wine glasses. I smirk at them and before I know it the three of us are shaking with laughter.

‘‘Oh, my.’’ Mum wipes at her eyes. ‘‘When did you develop a sense of humour, Lexy?’’ She sighs.

I smile sadly at her. ‘‘About the time I started to become a spoilt brat, I guess.’’

‘‘Then it’s a good job you found me again,’’ Jen says seriously.

‘‘It is?’’ I raise an eyebrow at her.

‘‘Yep.’’ She smiles smugly. ‘‘If you’d waited any longer to come back to the Bay, your head would have been so far up your ass not even I would have been able to pull it out!’’

We laugh again and I throw a pillow at her.

For the first time in five years, I’ve remembered what true friendship is like.

~

An hour later, our party has been gatecrashed by Alec and Carl. Bing’s friend, Matt, is here too, so us women are slightly outnumbered.

‘‘I shouldn’t have told them I was having a barbecue.’’ Grammy shakes her head and giggles. ‘‘Men and food.’’

‘‘And beer,’’ Mum adds.

‘‘And women,’’ I say, glancing at Matt. He keeps looking over at me and Jen.

‘‘Oh yeah.’’ Jen nods in agreement. ‘‘Talking about men, Vi...’’

‘‘I’m gonna go grab another wine bottle or two.’’ Mum makes a swift exit.

Damn it. She used my line!

‘‘I hear Roger is fancying a bit of both you and Mabel!’’ Jen carries on.

‘‘Well, I never!’’ Grammy leans over. ‘‘Her car has broken down, apparently. Do you know, Jennifer, I don’t believe it for a second!’’ She thumps the plastic table between us. ‘‘Damn her, she’s trying to get in there with my man.’’

My lips curl up slightly and I bring my glass up to hide my smile. Alec catches my eye from the patio and I watch him as him and my Dad flip the burgers.

Beautiful isn’t a word I’d use to describe a guy, but Alec is pretty beautiful. I think it’s his eyes, simply because they stand out so much.

As if he can sense my gaze on him he turns his head and smiles at me, one that takes my breath away and makes me blush. I lower my gaze and when I glance back up he’s laughing at me silently.

‘‘Well, Vi, if you want my honest opinion,’’ Jen says nonchalantly, pulling me back into the conversation.

‘‘Oh, I do.’’ Grammy nods furiously.

‘‘I think he’s trying to have his cake and eat it too, with an extra helping of dickhead.’’

I snort and cover my mouth to stop my drink flying everywhere. Grammy’s eyes are wide and Jen gives us a look that says she gets it.

I cough slightly and pat my chest. ‘‘Dear god, Jen,’’ I manage.

‘‘I thought you might say that,’’ Grammy sighs. ‘‘I might just get myself a cat instead.’’

I laugh, my earlier comment coming back to me. I have a future in clairvoyance, for sure.

‘‘Samuel Edwards, you turn that song back on!’’ Mum shouts and appears on the porch brandishing two bottles of wine as weapons. We all look her way.

‘‘Mum...’’ Bing groans.

‘‘Turn. It. Back.’’ She’s using her no-nonsense, no arguments tone. Bing rolls his eyes and flicks back a song on the iPod dock.

Michael Buble.

I smile as Mum puts the bottles down and begins to sing. My mum has the voice of an angel, but it’s not something she flaunts. She has a husky quality to her voice that you couldn’t get if you paid for it.

She puts a hand out to me.

‘‘I’m not that drunk yet.’’ I glance at the porch.

I can’t believe that I’m your man, and I get to kiss you, baby, just because I can, Alec mouths and winks. I smile and Mum pulls me up.

‘‘Alexis,’’ she warns.

‘‘Fine,’’ I sigh and let her twirl me around.

‘‘And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times, its you, it you, you make me sing,’’ Mum sings.

‘‘You’re every line, you’re every word, you’re everything,’’ I reply.

She spins me and Dad takes her hand. Two hands land on my waist and I spin into Alec.

‘‘It’s you, it’s you,’’ he whispers in a sing-song voice.

I giggle, feeling the effects of Mum’s unlimited wine pouring and the high from the dancing. I step into him and slip my arms around his waist, resting my head on his shoulder. He wraps his arm around me.

‘‘Nope.’’ I smile into his neck. ‘‘It’s you, you make me sing.’’

I feel him smile into my hair and I close my eyes.

‘‘Alec, do you know something?’’ I whisper.

‘‘I know lots of things,’’ he chuckles.

‘‘Shush,’’ I giggle again. ‘‘I have to tell you something.’’

‘‘What? That when my Princess is drunk she’s really cute?’’

‘‘I’m not drunk. Not very, anyway.’’ I frown. ‘‘Stop distracting me!’’

Alec looks down at me. ‘‘I’m sorry, baby. What did you want to tell me?’’

I grin. ‘‘Not much, but you should know I’ve turned out liking you a lot more than I originally planned to.’’

His smile says it all. It says that he knows, that he’s happy, but it’s his eyes that tell me like is a weak word for how he really feels.

And I’m pretty sure my eyes say the same.

‘‘You make me sick.’’

‘‘You’re just jealous.’’

‘‘Of what?’’

‘‘Because the opposite sex gives me attention without me needing to get naked.’’

‘‘Load of rubbish.’’ Bing slams the cupboard door.

‘‘Is it?’’ I look up from my phone and raise an eyebrow. ‘‘What happened when you and Matt left here the other night, hmm?’’

Bing looks at me and averts his gaze.

‘‘That’s what I thought, Bing.’’ I slide off the counter and drop my phone into my bag.

‘‘Shut up.’’

‘‘Really? That’s your comeback? Devon’s making you soft.’’

‘‘You’re pretty wrapped up in Alec, you realise.’’ Bing turns suddenly and his eyes meet mine.

‘‘Your point?’’ I stop, my bag resting in my elbow.

‘‘I just...’’ He runs a hand through his messy bed hair. ‘‘It just isn’t like my sister to be so into a guy. It’s weird.’’

‘‘Ahhh.’’ I nod and smile. ‘‘Now I get it. My hard nut big brother is worried I’ll get hurt.’’

‘‘You’re my sister, unfortunately, so I have to care.’’

‘‘Gee, thanks.’’ I say sarcastically. ‘‘If I get hurt, I’m a big girl, Bing, I can deal with it, but don’t worry, you’ll be the first to know.’’ I stop at the kitchen door. ‘‘After all, you are my brother. Unfortunately.’’ I grin and skip out of the house.

I slide my sunglasses onto my face and step onto the pavement, the burning midday sun hitting me full force. As I make my way to Cara’s to meet Alec, I find myself wishing for some rain.

I sigh. Maybe coming to Devon instead of Spain was a good idea if I’m fed up of the heat already.

My hair sticks to the back of my neck and I pull it away, welcoming the cold air from Cara’s café as I push the door open. Surprisingly, it’s practically empty in the café - not even Alec is here.

It’s just like him to keep me waiting.

Hands slap over my eyes and I shriek a little in shock. Alec laughs and I spin round, narrowing my eyes at him.

‘‘Necessary?’’ I ask.

‘‘Always.’’ He bends his head and kisses me. I lean back slightly and he puts a hand on my back, holding me to him.

‘‘Hello to you too,’’ I laugh.

‘‘Mm.’’ He licks his lips. ‘‘Strawberry.’’

I roll my eyes playfully. ‘‘Ice cream?’’

‘‘Obviously.’’ Alec exaggerates an eye roll and I nudge him with my shoulder. ‘‘Like I’d bring you to Cara’s and not buy you ice cream!’’

I grin and bound up to the counter. Cara looks up and smiles, her auburn hair pulled into a ponytail that swishes when she moves.

‘‘Mornin’ kids!’’ Cara smiles at us. ‘‘Usual?’’

I bite my lip. ‘‘Have I really been here that much already this summer?’’

‘‘Lexy.’’ Cara grabs a cone. ‘‘You’ve had strawberry ice cream since you were five. Only strawberry.’’

‘‘Your memory is something else, Cara.’’ I shake my head in wonder.

‘‘But to answer your question,’’ she scoops the ice cream, ‘‘yes, you have been.’’

‘‘Oops.’’ I grin and shrug one shoulder. ‘‘My bad.’’

She hands me a cone and scoops up Alec’s vanilla.

‘‘Boring,’’ I mutter.

‘‘Hey.’’ He looks at me, offended, as he hands Carl’s mum the money.

‘‘Just saying,’’ I lick my ice cream. His eyes flicker down.

‘‘No distracting me from what I was gonna say, you.’’ He opens the door and I wave goodbye to Cara.

‘‘Me? Distract you? Never!’’ I swirl my tongue around the top of it.

‘‘Princess,’’ he warns.

Ignoring him, I pull the flake from the cone and suck off the ice cream, moving towards the beach.

Alec coughs. I glance at him slyly.

‘‘Yes?’’

‘‘Can you, er, shit. Can you not suck the flake that way?’’ he says in a slightly husky, strained voice.

‘‘Why?’’ I ask innocently. He scratches behind his ear.

‘‘Because it, um, might be putting thoughts into my head.’’

‘‘Oh yeah?’’ I grin. ‘‘Like what?’’

He laughs and shakes his head. ‘‘You’re terrible.’’

‘‘What?’’ I suck the flake again. ‘‘Maybe sucking the flake makes me think things too.’’

He does a double take and stops, holding his ice cream halfway to his mouth. He swallows.

‘‘It does?’’

‘‘Yep.’’ I step closer to him. ‘‘Like how good my ice cream would look in your face!’’ I push it into his nose and run across the sand, giggling.

‘‘Oh, that’s it!’’ He calls after me and chases me across the beach. Because of my uncontrollable laughter, he catches me in seconds and I get my payback - his ice cream in my face. I giggle even more and he gets his phone out, snapping a few pictures of us together.

I look at it - ice cream is smeared across both of our faces, on our noses and across our cheeks. Alec ducks his head and kisses along my cheeks, his tongue flicking out slightly, licking the ice cream off. He kisses my nose and then my lips, putting a stop to my giggles. I do the same back to him and he pulls me close.

‘‘Ah hell, Princess, you’re amazing.’’ He kisses me again and I smile against his lips.

‘‘I’d say the same to you, but we all know about your ego,’’ I tease.

He mock frowns at me and I kiss him again, gently grazing his bottom lip with my teeth. He groans quietly and presses his hands to my back, pushing me flush against him. His tongue snakes out and runs the length of my top lip. I shiver, entwining my hands into his hair.

He kisses me harder, deeper, and my stomach flutters. I stand on my tiptoes, arching my back slightly as if I can get even closer to him and his hand runs along the hem of my top. I move my hands through his hair and I want him.

I want Alec, badly.

He pulls back and rests his forehead against mine, breathing deeply.

‘‘Fuck, Princess.’’ He breathes out. ‘‘You can’t do that in public. I might not be able to stop myself next time.’’

‘‘Then next time, I’ll make sure we’re not in public,’’ I whisper back.

He opens his eyes. The blue in them in more pronounced, and I can see it swirling, see his inner battle against his desires.

‘‘You.’’ His breath crawls along my lips in a gentle caress, ‘‘are gonna be the death of me, Princess.’’

‘‘Oh yeah?’’

‘‘Yes.’’

‘‘No-one else-’’

Alec tightens his grip on me. ‘‘Forget about all the other girls before you. They are nothing, Princess, nothing compared to you. There’s only one girl I want and I’m looking at her right now. There’s only one girl I need, and I’m holding her right now. You, are everything to me.’’

I press my face into his neck and hold him tight. ‘‘Everything?’’

‘‘Yeah, Princess.’’ He turns his face towards mine and I feel him breathe in deeply. ‘‘Everything.’’

His arms circle my waist. We’re so close that anyone looking on won’t be able to tell where one of us starts and the other finishes.

So close.

Too close, to ever let go.

I exhale sharply and shake my head against her. She’s driving me crazy with every look, every touch, every kiss, and she doesn’t even get the half of it. She doesn’t understand just how much I want her.

She can’t comprehend how much I want her. Hell, not even I can make sense of it. I just know that I do. Bad.

~

‘‘If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?’’ I tilt my head to the side and look up at Alec.

‘‘Australia,’’ he replies.

‘‘For the surfing?’’

‘‘Nope,’’ he rolls his head and his eyes meet mine. ‘‘I’d take you with me, and we’d go diving in the Great Barrier Reef.’’

I grin. ‘‘Well, if you ever get the money for that, let me know.’’

‘‘Oh, I will.’’ He laughs. ‘‘Maybe one day I’ll take you.’’

‘‘One day as in the next four weeks?’’

He stops laughing. ‘‘This doesn’t have to end just because you’re going back to London, Princess.’’

I sigh and watch seagulls pick at the sand. ‘‘I just don’t see how it will work.’’

‘‘Is that what you want?’’ He puts a hand on my cheek and turns my face. ‘‘For this to end when you go back to London?’’

‘‘No,’’ I say quietly. ‘‘It’s not what I want, Alec, at all. I just don’t...’’

‘‘Don’t think about it.’’ His thumb strokes my cheek. ‘‘Four weeks is a long time. We don’t have to worry about that yet. Let’s just enjoy the time we do have together right now, okay?’’

I swallow the lump that formed in my throat at the thought of leaving him. I nod my head slowly and rest it on his shoulder. He pulls me closer to him and strokes my hair.

‘‘Don’t be sad, baby,’’ he says softly. ‘‘We’ll work it out, I promise.’’

I nod again.

A month ago this was the last place I wanted to be, Alec was the last guy I wanted to be with.

Now? Now, Lilac Bay is the only place I wanna be, and Alec is the only guy I wanna be with.

‘‘Where would you go?’’ he asks me suddenly.

‘‘What?’’

‘‘If you could go anywhere, where would you go?’’

‘‘Hmmh’’ I think for a second. ‘‘Hawaii.’’

‘‘Hawaii?’’ Alec shifts so I can see his face. ‘‘Why Hawaii?’’

‘‘I’d take you with me. You could surf and while you’re doing that I could check out all the other surfers.’’ I shrug and grin playfully.

‘‘Hey!’’ He flips me so I’m lying on my back. ‘‘The only surfer you’re gonna be ogling is me, Princess.’’

‘‘Is that so?’’ I raise my eyebrows in challenge.

‘‘Damn right,’’ he growls.

I see two figures approaching over his shoulder and smooth out my expression.

‘‘What about if I ogled Carl?’’ I ask innocently.

Carl snorts behind him and Jen laughs loudly.

‘‘Honey, be my guest. I ogle your guy all the time and I ain’t ashamed of it!’’ she calls.

Alec drops his forehead to my shoulder and shakes with laughter. I cover my mouth to hold in my giggles.

‘‘Ahem,’’ Carl coughs. Jen looks over at him warily.

‘‘Hey, baby. You look good today,’’ she tries with a wink.

‘‘Jennifer.’’

‘‘Uh oh.’’ Jen stops and her eyes widen. ‘‘I’m in trouble.’’

‘‘Do you wanna repeat that?’’ Carl offers.

‘‘I’m in trouble?’’ Jen repeats.

‘‘No. What you said about ogling my best friend?’’ He raises his eyebrows.

‘‘Um, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and vote for ‘no’?’’

Carl stalks towards her and she holds her hands out.

‘‘Wrong answer, huh?’’ she quips.

‘‘Right answer.’’ He shakes his head and grabs her waist, pulling her against him. ‘‘I just plan on reminding you exactly why I’m the one you should be ogling, girl.’’

He cups the back of her head and kisses her. I see Jen double take before she wraps her arms around his neck.

‘‘Yeah,’’ Alec coughs. ‘‘That’ll do it.’’

I look at him. ‘‘If not, she’s got a problem.’’

‘‘We all know Jen has problems.’’

‘‘Excuse me!’’ She pulls back from Carl and skips over to us.

‘‘You’re excused,’’ Alec smirks.

Jen taps his shoulder. ‘‘You can get off her now, you know. She’s not gonna run away, more fool her.’’

Alec laughs and rolls over, propping himself up on his elbow.

‘‘Maybe, maybe not.’’ I shrug. ‘‘I’m still deciding.’’

‘‘Oi,’’ Alec pokes my side and I squirm.

‘‘No poking.’’ I jab him back.

He looks up at Carl with a puzzled expression. ‘‘She says ‘no poking’, yet she pokes me?’’

Carl shrugs. ‘‘Don’t ask me, mate. I’m still trying to figure out the female species.’’

Jen frowns. ‘‘Species?’’

‘‘It’s because you’re superior, baby. Us lowly males won’t ever be able to understand you.’’ Carl kisses her hand.

‘‘That’s just a roundabout way of calling us complicated bitches.’’

‘‘See?’’ Carl looks back at Alec. ‘‘How she got that from what I said I’ll never know.’’

‘‘It’s because that’s what you meant.’’ I shrug.

‘‘Maybe, but how did you get that from it?’’

‘‘It’s not what you say, Carl, it’s what you don’t say.’’ I explain.

‘‘And being the superior race, we can sense what it is you don’t say.’’ Jen pokes Carl.

‘‘Okay, baby,’’ Carl agrees.

Jen narrows her eyes and I catch Alec’s eye. He raises an eyebrow and smirks.

I smile at him. He links our fingers on my stomach and his thumb strokes the back of my hand.