“’Ey, chica. I’m glad you could make it!” A man about half my height but in stellar shape approached with open arms.
Hayley hugged him and he lifted her off her feet. “Paco, put me down.”
Paco laughed. “Sure, sure.” He set her down.
“Paco, this is my friend Matt Wright. He can surf but he’s not like you guys, so take it easy.”
“Hey, now. There’s no reason for him to take it easy on me. I can handle myself.”
“How long has it been since you’ve been on a board?” she asked.
My eyes narrowed. “I surf regularly when I’m home.”
“Where are you from?” Paco asked.
“Los Angeles.”
Paco snickered. “These waves are nothing like the ones in your kiddie pool. Don’t get cocky. The riptide is rough.”
“I’ll manage,” I said, not liking the teasing, but I was smart enough to know even through my bruised ego he was probably right.
I glanced over at Hayley, who gave me a look, but I shrugged it off. I wondered if one of the reasons Hayley had trouble seeing me as a significant other was because she could only see me as her friend. Maybe I needed to shake things up.
“All right, Paco, why don’t you show me how it’s done so I don’t get myself killed.”
That made the man laugh. He clapped his hand on my shoulder. “You got it, amigo. Let’s go. I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
Paco led the way to the spot everyone was setting up. Firewood was stacked, ready for the bonfire. There were chairs, towels, surfboards, and bags everywhere.
Paco grabbed my board and looked it over. “You borrowing this from Hayley’s shop?”
I nodded.
“It’s not bad but it’s a little short for you. Watch your balance on the board but it’s a good ride. You’ll be fine.” Paco pointed at the ocean. “Now, let’s talk about the waves.”
While Paco and I discussed surfing, I kept glancing over at Hayley as she helped set up. Not that Paco’s monologue about the ocean being alive and a woman wasn’t fascinating, but Hayley was damn distracting. I was frustrated with our situation. It wasn’t easy and I didn’t want to be the asshole who couldn’t take “no” for an answer. I knew Hayley well enough to know relationships weren’t her thing and they freaked her out on many levels.
Her parents’ marriage had been anything but loving. She was a pawn in their chess match, and they had used her against each other constantly. They used Hayley to live the lifestyle they thought they deserved without working for it.
I never got the impression Hayley was happy about leaving acting behind, but she didn’t know how to do the job she loved and keep her parents. She probably thought she would have to cut them out of her life. Like most people, she wanted their approval. She wanted them to be proud of her. I saw the same thing in a few of my siblings.
We were products of our childhood. Hayley and I met before puberty. And now, I’d made her come with just foreplay and told her I wanted more. No wonder she was freaking out. We needed to take a few steps back and start at the beginning. I needed her to realize she liked me. And maybe even liked to flirt with me.
“You sweet on Hayley or something?” Paco said, interrupting my thoughts.
I turned my attention back to him. “You could say that.”
“She’s a tough one. Doesn’t let many get close. You two have been friends for a while,” he stated.
“Picked up on that?”
“She’s comfortable around you. That’s easy enough to see. Is that why you’re here? To woo her?”
“I lost a friend. I came here because he said something to me. Basically, I should get my head out of my ass and live my life. And Hayley was the first person that came to mind. She’s always just lived her life.”
“I am sorry about your friend. He was young?”
I nodded. “Too young.”
Paco shook his head. “God is a mysterious force.”
I didn’t respond. God and I weren’t on speaking terms, much to my mother and father’s dismay, but my parents never made me do anything I didn’t want to do.
“A little advice from a friend. Hayley usually figures out what she wants when she has time to process her feelings. Stick with me for the day and let her stew. She’ll come around if there’s something between you.”
“Why are you helping me, Paco? You don’t know me. What if I’m bad news?”
“You forget, I’ve known Hayley for a while, and I’ve met a few of the men she’s dated. The latest one—Bryssa told me he proposed and then tried to force himself on one of their tours. I didn’t like him. He looked down his nose at me, down at Bryssa. Hayley is too good for that crap. But you, you I have a good feeling about. Just don’t take my acceptance as a get-out-of-jail-free card. If you hurt her, I will come after you and it will look like an accident.”
I chuckled. “Good. I’m glad Hayley has good friends down here. She deserves that.”
“I think she’s mentioned you. You’re the one she grew up with.”
I nodded again.
“She’s careful how she talks about you. That probably means something.” Paco clapped his hand on my back. “Now, enough about women. Let’s talk about surfing like men.”
Hayley and I spent most of the afternoon on different ends of the group. I spent a lot of time swallowing the ocean as I surfed. Paco was right. These waves were nothing like California waves. Hayley surfed some but she seemed content to sit on the beach with those who weren’t surfing. She laughed and talked like she was having a good time, but I noticed when I checked on her, she was checking on me.
Around sunset, food preparation began. Paco’s sister, Maria, and her friends were making homemade tortillas. The rest of the food was warming on the fire or being prepared. It was quite the operation. It was obvious they did this sort of thing enough to have a system.
I approached Hayley from behind and gave her elbow a nudge. She glanced back at me and smiled. “You look like you’re getting the hang of it out there,” she said.
I handed her a bottle of beer. “You having a good time?”
She smiled as she took the Corona from me. “I’m having a blast. Most of these guys follow the waves. But they stop home at couple of times a year to get the gang back together, as it were.”
“How are you holding up, gringo?” Bryssa asked as she approached.
“I’m good. Paco is a good teacher. I thought I knew what I was doing, but clearly I didn’t.”
“Next time you want to surf, make sure you have me outfit you, not Hayley. She’s good when it comes to sharks and boats but she’s useless as a surfer.”
Hayley hammed up her faux hurt feelings. “Useless? I am a great surfer.”
“She’s swallowed more ocean than you,” Bryssa said.
“Wow. No love.” Hayley was smiling though.
“Food’s on!” Bryssa called.
We grabbed food and ate and drank while the sun dipped behind the horizon. Bryssa started the bonfire. The flames grew high quickly, crackling and popping. The smoke rose toward the sky.
A hand slid over my thigh. I was surprised to find it was Hayley’s hand. She shifted from her place on the sand and sat next to me on a tree log. She curled into me.
“You cold?”
She nodded.
I wrapped my arm around her, and she snuggled in closer. The fire was good and warm, but my back was a little chilled.
As the night continued, the booze flowed freely.
“Hey! Let’s go night swimming!” someone shouted.
“Naked!” someone else shouted.
I laughed.
Hayley got up and pulled off her sweatshirt. I couldn’t help but notice how her breasts bounced as the sweatshirt released them.
Then clothes hit the sand as everyone stripped and ran to the safety of the darkness and the waves. I laughed and followed suit, dropping my clothes in an easily retrievable place.
Once we hit t
he water, I had second thoughts. It was fucking cold. When I submerged, the chill eased off. The tide had gone out and the waves had withered down.
“Hey, Wright.” Hayley’s voice was so soft, I almost didn’t hear her.
I turned in the water and found her wading toward me. “Isn’t this really dangerous, Miss Marine Biologist?”
“Probably. Especially since all of us are drunk as skunks.” She giggled.
I smiled.
Her body grazed mine and I was acutely aware of our nudity. “Hayley, what are you up to?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “What are you doing?”
“I’m freezing my ass off in the ocean because for a minute it sounded like a good idea,” I said.
She floated closer, her leg sliding purposefully against mine. “It was a good idea.” Her voice lowered. “You’ve gotten into better shape since the last time I saw you. I mean before last week.”
“I didn’t think you’d be looking,” I said.
“Hard not to.”
The space between us was barely noticeable now. Her arms slid up around my neck. “Hayley, last night you said this was a bad idea.”
“And?”
“And you’re three sheets to the wind and I don’t want you mad at me tomorrow. I don’t like it when you’re uncomfortable around me.”
Haley’s expression was hard to discern in the dark. The only light was the quarter moon hanging above us. “I’m only uncomfortable because last night I wanted more, and it scared me.”
“And now?”
“And now I’m feeling a little more free.”
“And when the alcohol wears off?”
Hayley sighed. “Did you change your mind? Do you not want to find out what’s between us?”
Her breasts pressed against my chest and her thigh rubbed against my semi-hard cock. The cold water was no match for Hayley’s hot body. It was difficult to concentrate on anything but her hot, curvy body against mine. “Hayley, why don’t we talk about it tomorrow?”
“Or…” And then she kissed me.
And I kissed her back. I wished I knew what was going through that head of hers. Clearly, she’d been thinking about it and the alcohol just let her free up some of her inhibitions. But I didn’t want to go home yet and if she got uncomfortable again, I was probably going to have to seek out a hotel instead of staying on her couch.
Catcalls and hollering broke the kiss.
I caught enough Spanish to get they were making fun of me and Hayley kissing. Her eyes dropped away and she untangled our limbs.
We headed back to shore and got dressed. The cold water had sobered people more than they probably liked. We cleaned up, packed up, and put the fires out. I took our stuff back to Hayley’s Jeep while she said goodbye to everyone.
15
Matt
As we headed back to her place, it was quiet, but it wasn’t uncomfortable so much as tense. Tension was going to build up until we either dealt with the building will-they-won’t-they scenario or continued to pretend we hadn’t been intimate.
Fuck. My cock was already jumping at the idea of getting her back to writhing and moaning just because of my touches and kisses. And man, did I love hearing her moan.
I glanced over at her. She was watching the nighttime scenery, probably trying to figure out what was going on between us as much as I was. It killed me we were such great friends, but we couldn’t talk about sex. That seemed backward to me. Were we really friends? Or had we always been more and just never admitted it to ourselves?
Fuck again. I needed to figure shit out fast and move the fuck on.
“Do you see that moon?” Hayley grabbed the top bar of the Jeep and hauled herself into a standing position.
I eased off the gas. The last thing I needed was drunk Hayley to fall out of a moving car and kill herself. The image was already playing out in mind. I gripped the steering wheel as the emotional rollercoaster of losing Hayley Martin flooded my system. And before I knew it, I was pulling over on the side of the road.
“What the hell?” Hayley said at the same time I barked, “Sit the fuck down, Hayley.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and gave me her stubborn mule glare. “Drive the car, Matt.”
“Not until you sit your cute little ass down.”
She growled.
“Did you just growl at me?”
“Matt, I want to feel the wind in my hair. I want to feel free. Drive the car. Please.”
“No. You’re drunk. And if you fall out of the car and get hurt, you’re going to blame me.”
“I will not. Just drive. I promise I won’t fall.”
“Hayley, sit the fuck down.”
Her eyes threw daggers at me. “Matt…”
“Hayley, I’ve already been to a funeral for one friend. I don’t need to have another one because she was too stupid to listen to me. Sit the fuck down and shut up.”
Her eyes widened and she slowly slid into her seat and pulled on her seatbelt. She didn’t look at me again for the rest of the drive. That was fine by me. I was pissed off.
What the fuck kind of shit was she trying to pull? I couldn’t calm down. I kept seeing her death over and over again in my head and it rattled me. Losing Derrick had already rattled me down to my core. I didn’t know what I was going to do without him. We had talked almost every day. We talked about sports and up-and-coming athletes, women, and families. We knew everything about each other. The only person in the world who knew more about me was Hayley and that was because we met as children.
Here we were dumbass adults who still didn’t have a clue about life except that we were sure we knew everything. But I didn’t think we did. I didn’t think we had a clue.
I knew Derrick didn’t think he had a clue about anything. He always told me he was making shit up as he went. I knew I was. Even the way I fell into sports, it was all the same. I had just taken some left turn at Albuquerque, then found my way from there.
I pulled into Hayley’s drive and before I had the engine shut off, she stormed toward her house. I sat in the cool night air staring up at the moon. Every light in the house was on and I could see her silhouette through the curtains.
I finally made myself move.
When I headed inside, Hayley was in her bikini top and a pair of yoga pants like she’d gotten half ready for bed. Her cheeks flushed red, her full lips parted, and her eyes seemed a little wild and hooded. This was certainly not a look I’d ever been privileged with.
“What the hell was that caveman behavior earlier? You’re not in charge of me or my safety, asshole. I’m an adult.”
“You’re drunk. And we can debate on the adult thing. You swim with tourists and sharks and I got bit out there. What the fuck are you playing at, having such a dangerous job? Do you want to die?”
Her scowl deepened. Clearly, not the apology she was looking for.
“Fuck you, Matt. I never asked for your opinion of my life and I’ve never been hurt and neither have any of my clients. You’re the first idiot to get yourself bitten by a baby tiger shark.”
I charged her and grabbed her upper arms. “Am I supposed to just wait for the phone call from Bryssa or maybe your mother…if anyone called me at all? It’s not like I have rights to your life. That asshat Spencer probably has more rights to your life than I do!”
“Spencer has no rights to my life.”
“Do I?” I asked.
“Of course, you do!” she answered. She seemed a little surprised by the answer too.
“So, if something happens to you, someone is going to call me?”
“Matthew…” her expression softened, “nothing is going to happen to me.”
“Do you have a crystal ball I don’t know about?”
“If something happens to me, someone will call you. Right away. You’ll be the second person to know…” She crossed her arms over her chest and wiggled out of my grip. “I’m not going to die.”
“You will. And so
will I. Are we just going to be notified by someone after it’s all said and done? How would you feel if you got the call after I was already dead?”
She physically flinched. “Your mom would call me, wouldn’t she?”
“Does it matter to you?”
“Of course, it matters, dick. What is wrong with you?”
I raked my hand through my hair. “Why did you kiss me in the water? Is it because you’re drunk?”
“I’m not drunk.”
“I think you are.”
“You’re really an asshole, you know?”
“I’m fully aware.” I felt hot and itchy. I yanked my shirt off and threw it on my open suitcase that now looked like it had exploded all over Hayley’s floor.
Hayley stepped toward me. When I didn’t move, she stepped closer. She kept advancing, watching me as if she thought I might move away from her. She stepped up in front of me. I always appreciated that she wasn’t some small waif. She was tall for a woman and had all sorts of curves I wanted to touch and kiss as much as possible.
She pushed up onto her tiptoes until her mouth was pressed against mine. For a moment, I was lost in her taste. The heat of her body pressed against mine. It felt divine to have her in my arms, kissing me.
But then I could only remember the drunken glaze in her eyes when she kissed me earlier. Why did she need alcohol to kiss me?
I broke the kiss and stepped out of her arms. “Get some sleep, Hayley.”
“Matt…”
“I’m serious. Go to bed. Maybe when you’re sober and I’m not so pissed at you, we can try this again.”
“Like hell,” she said as she stormed into her bedroom and slammed the door behind her.
I considered the possibility of packing up my stuff and finding another place to stay. But I didn’t want to stay somewhere else. I wanted to be with her, and I thought she wanted to be with me. We just needed to work through exactly what that meant.
I didn’t sleep much. I was pissed at Hayley for being so reckless with her life. Not that I had any rights over her life or her decisions. It was hard to believe, though. Since Hayley and I became friends, we’d always talked to each other about the big life decisions, except for significant others. It seemed we were alike in that regard too.
Seducing My Best Friend (The Wrights Book 2) Page 11