Promise Me Nothing (Hermosa Beach Book 1)

by Jillian Liota

  “You have an entire room of chilled wine?” I ask, raising an eyebrow and holding back a laugh. “Part of me feels like you’re not even a wine drinker.”

  He crosses his arms in what I can only guess is fake displeasure. “You don’t know. I could be a connoisseur of wine.” But then he winks at me and heads back towards the stairs.

  “You saw the main floor. Kitchen and dining over here, living space on the left,” he says when we hit the floor we came in on, but he doesn’t stop walking, just continuing up to the top floor.

  “There are four bedrooms up here. The two masters belong to me and my mom, though, like I told you before, she’s almost never here,” he says, rolling his eyes. “She’s dating this total dick who lives near her office and she stays there a lot. So you won’t have to worry about seeing her around much. But feel free to pick from the other two. They’re pretty identical. Both have access to a balcony that faces the street, and the rooms share a bathroom.”

  He leads me into one, filled with white furniture and peach bedding, then walks me through a massive bathroom with a walk in shower and oversized claw foot tub. Then we go to the next guest room. It’s basically a mirror of the other one, but with blues and teals instead.

  “It doesn’t have a beach view from these rooms, but…” Lucas says, leading me out to the small space that overlooks the road. Then he points at a spiral staircase in the corner that leads up. “…it does have roof access. And there’s a beach view up there. Plus a Jacuzzi.”

  My eyebrows lift. “A Jacuzzi on the roof, huh? I think you’re not being completely honest when you say you only have a few parties a year.”

  I’m teasing him, but he actually blushes. It makes me want to laugh since we clearly both got that trait from my dad.

  Our. Our dad.

  “Well, okay. Maybe I have people over a lot.” He shrugs. “I’m a people person.”

  I smile at him. Possibly my first real smile of the day. “I can definitely tell that you’re a people person.”

  He chuckles and leads me back inside and downstairs.

  I look around again, hoping to take in more this time as I absorb everything about this place. This new house I’ll be calling home for the upcoming few months. Until I figure out what’s next.

  “Your house is amazing,” I say, knowing my words are inadequate. It looks like something out of a magazine. Or something I might see on HGTV. “I can’t believe you live like this.”

  “Oh yeah? What was your house like?”

  He’s not saying it maliciously. I can see the genuine curiosity on his face. But I’m starting to realize that Lucas could never understand the situation I came out of. What I’ve been through. How I scraped by, just barely.

  I shrug and look away, though my mind thinks about the apartment I just moved out of. The one in the bad neighborhood, with a broken A/C unit and hardly enough room in my bedroom for a twin bed. “Smaller,” is what I settle on. “And not as clean. Which I love about this place, by the way. I’m a bit of a neat freak.”

  He groans. “Ugh. Thalia’s gonna love you, then. She normally hates when I have guests because they’re so messy.”

  “Who’s Thalia?”

  “Our maid.”

  I laugh for a second, then stop abruptly, realizing that he’s serious. “You’re serious.”

  He nods. “Yeah. It’s pretty common around here, I think.”

  I nod back. “Cool.” I feel thankful that I’ll be in a house that’s kept clean, but also, I can’t help but feel slightly awkward at the idea of someone cleaning up after me.

  I’ll need to think that one over.

  “I’d say let’s get you settled, but we should head outside first, enjoy the last little bit of daylight,” he says. “Come on.”

  Lucas leads me to the floor to ceiling windows that overlook the ocean, the sand, and what he referred to earlier as The Strand, a long stretch of path where people are walking and running and riding bikes. Then he opens a sliding door out to the balcony, letting the ocean air rush in.

  I step out, lean on the railing and look out at the beach, at the ocean in the distance, so large it could swallow anything whole.

  Suddenly, all at once, all of the emotions I’ve been feeling all day long – a rush of exhaustion and anxiety and stress – hit me in one fell swoop.

  “You okay?” he asks.

  I should be wary of how quickly he’s learning to read me when we’ve only been around each other for a few hours. But instead, I just nod. “Yeah. Feeling pretty tired. It’s been a long day of bus riding and waiting at the station and then traffic here.”

  Lucas winces, and I feel bad for bringing up my long wait at Union Station. “I’m sorry again for being late. Traffic was bad but I also left a little bit later than I should have.” He scratches the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable.

  I shrug it off, trying to seem unaffected even though I’d been anything but. “It’s not a big deal.”

  “It is though.”

  The sincerity in his voice has me looking at him again.

  “You’re traveling all this way to meet me, to get to know me, and the first thing I do is leave you waiting?” He shakes his head, his hands braced on the railing in front of us. The remorse on his face is palpable. “I am really sorry, Hannah.”

  My mouth ticks up slightly at the side and I bob my head, a silent thank you for his sincerity. I turn away again, looking towards the sun setting beautifully on the horizon, enjoying this strange but lovely moment with the only family I have left in the world.

  “Lucas!” a feminine voice calls out, and my eyes look down the way, towards a girl in a pink bikini on a beach cruiser heading in our direction.

  “Fuck.”

  It’s barely a whisper that I hear from Lucas, but it has my eyes flicking to him.

  “Not someone you want to see?” I ask, a small smile making its way to my face.

  He lets out a sigh, but gives the brunette in the tiny bathing suit a wave.

  “Hey Lennon. How’s it?”

  She pulls her bike up to the ground floor outside of Lucas’ house, hopping off and putting down the kickstand.

  “Pretty good. We missed you at Otto’s last night.” She rests her palms against the top of the short wall that divides the downstairs patio from The Strand, then gazes adoringly up at where Lucas and I stand a floor above her.

  “Yeah, I got caught up.”

  She pulls her sunglasses up and rests them on the crown of her head. “Can I come in?” she asks, then bites her lip. “I’d love it if we could get caught up.”

  My eyebrows rise up so high I’m certain they blend in with my hair. I’ve been around a lot of young girls and young women who are pretty overt with their interest in someone. But that response right there has to take the cake.

  I glance over at Lucas, then back at Lennon, who seems to be looking between the two of us.

  “Sorry,” Lucas says, shrugging a shoulder. “My sister just got to town and I’m gonna be pretty busy tonight.”

  Lennon’s head jerks back and her brow furrows. “You don’t have a sister,” she says, letting out a disbelieving laugh, her eyes coming back to me, assessing.

  “Well, she’s new in town and we’re just getting caught up and relaxing on the patio.” His words are a clear dismissal, the implication that he doesn’t have time to chat ringing loudly.

  “Oh fun!” she says, clearly missing the point, instead giving him a smile. “I love relaxing on your patio and chatting about anything.”

  There’s an awkward pause.

  “Well. It was good to see you, Len. I’ll see you later.”

  Her smile falls slightly, but then picks back up. “Okay, yeah. I’ll see you soon. Maybe at Otto’s this week?”

  Lucas bobs his head. “Yeah, maybe.”

  Lennon hops back onto her bike and gives him a wave again, then heads off, continuing her journey down The Strand.

  A few minutes tick by and we stan
d in silence before I can’t help myself. “There’s a story there,” I say, giving him a smile.

  He barks out a laugh. “There’s like, ten stories there.”

  But he doesn’t elaborate any further, his expression becoming somewhat distant as he stands next to me, looking out over the beach.

  As the sun dips lower in the sky, the temperature takes a sudden dip that has me wishing I had on a sweater.

  Lucas turns to me. “So, what do you say we get you settled in one of the rooms and then we grab something for dinner? I know you’re tired, but you’ve gotta be hungry.”

  I smile just as my stomach gurgles loudly.

  We both laugh.

  Looking like I don’t really have a choice in the matter.

  “Count me in.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Hannah

  A short while later, we’re sitting at a place called Bennie’s at the Pier, an upscale brewery with a rooftop bar and a view of the ocean and the Hermosa Pier as it stretches out into the water.

  We rode here on bikes along The Strand, the sea breeze snagging tendrils of my hair from the unkempt bun I’ve had up since midway through the bus trip. It took about ten minutes to ride from Lucas’ house to the pier, and was actually pretty fun. It’s been a long time since I’ve ridden a bike, my own disappearing when I went in to the system. I love that I’ll be able to ride around town on two wheels.

  Lucas took me out to this little storage area on the side of his house filled with a handful of bikes, a few surfboards, and other beach equipment, and told me I could use anything I wanted. I picked a light blue and pale pink beach cruiser, one of the ones you see on TV that has a basket and wide handlebars. It will be such a great way to get around Hermosa this summer.

  I sip my vodka soda, keeping my eyes on the horizon, the sun having set not too long ago. The glow from it still radiates out from where the earth meets the sky.

  “The sky just after sunset is my favorite,” Lucas says, drawing my attention over to where he sits, glass of whiskey in-hand. “Most people want to watch the sun dip down, but I prefer how it looks afterwards. Especially when there are just a handful of clouds. It looks different every night.”

  “It seems like living at the beach would be magical all the time.”

  He shakes his head. “I don’t want to sound like a snob, but it’s definitely not. There are a lot of positives, don’t get me wrong,” he laughs at the disbelieving look on my face. “But there are the negatives, too.”

  I squint my eyes at him. “Name three.”

  Lucas rubs his hand across his chin. “Putting me on the spot here.” He takes another sip from his drink and then puts it down, leaning forward and considering me before he answers. “Okay. One is that everything is damp all the time. The ocean air is so wet that metal rusts a lot faster. Even paper curls up and gets wrinkly.”

  I nod. “Okay, I’ll accept that. Another one.”

  He chuckles again. “Alright, everyone sees it as the party spot and not a place where people live, so tourists treat the area like shit and get really loud all the time.”

  “Don’t you do that, too?” I ask. “When you have your parties?”

  Lucas lifts a shoulder. “I might annoy my neighbors with the parties on occasion,” he emphasizes, “but I definitely don’t litter, and people treat the beach like it’s a trash can.”

  I grin. “One more.”

  He drops his head back, groaning. A beat goes by before his eyes return to mine. “You got me. That’s all I can come up with.”

  “Ha!” I cry out, pointing at him. Then I flush, realizing how loud I was, forgetting myself for a moment.

  Lucas just smiles and lifts his menu to peruse.

  I lift mine as well, and my stomach bottoms out when I see the prices. What was I thinking, coming here?

  My mind starts racing through what I have in the bank and in cash, trying to quickly calculate how much I’ll need to get by until I can manage to find a job. But realistically, I know that eating anything other than the ice cubes in my drink isn’t in the plans for me tonight.

  Time to just suck it up and blurt it out, because the cash in my wallet and the little bit in my bank account just cannot allow me to do anything but head to a grocery store and stock up on PB&J and microwave ramen.

  “I probably should have thought of this beforehand,” I say, wincing slightly at the embarrassment tugging at my neck, “but I can’t afford this place.” I point at the menu. “They’re charging twenty-five dollars for an appetizer.”

  Lucas smiles at me. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got dinner.”

  I shake my head. “I don’t want it to seem like I’m coming here expecting you to…”

  “Hannah.” He shakes his head. “Welcome to Hermosa. Tonight is my treat. I knew you weren’t going to have gobs of cash when you got here, okay? That’s why I’m gonna help you find a job.”

  I let out a sigh. “You’re sure, sure? Because I can…”

  “Hannah.” His tone is a mixture of exasperation and amusement. “I’m sure. Now.” He lifts his menu and takes a look at it again. “Let’s see what’s on the menu tonight.” He dips the menu slightly so I can see his face again. “Do you like hipster food? Because that’s everything they have on the menu.”

  I can’t help the little giggle that escapes my lips, but it gets cut off by a near shriek from the corner.

  “Oh my god, she wasn’t lying!”

  I snap my head to the left, to a short blonde standing at the top of the stairs and looking in our direction with wide eyes and an even wider smile.

  Wearing a bikini top under a white tank and a pair of jean cutoff shorts, her skin tan with a hint of pink, she looks like she just stepped out of a photo shoot. Her hair is a thick mess of short tendrils tucked back behind a pair of gold sunglasses.

  She’s gorgeous, with amazing curves on a petite frame, and when she finally moves in our direction, slipping between tables with ease and confidence, never letting her eyes stray from where I’m sitting, I can tell that she knows the type of power her presence commands.

  “When Lennon told me you were spending time with your sister, I said she must have taken one too many surfboards to the head but here she is. In the flesh.”

  She continues to stare at me, her eyes roving over everything she can see on the surface. Though, if I had to guess, I’d say she’s trying to find the secrets underneath as well.

  “Paige. It’s rude to gawk.”

  Lucas’ reprimand is said with a hint of teasing, and it’s then that I connect the name with the person standing in front of me.

  “Is this the Paige you mentioned earlier?” I ask.

  Paige tilts her head to look at Lucas, her eyes narrowing. “Been talking shit about me, Pearson?”

  “No, no, no,” I say, my eyes widening and worry rolling through my body. “We were talking about the downstairs room in his house and he said you called it… shit, now I can’t remember.”

  Lucas starts laughing and Paige follows in his wake, and I just give an awkward smile as I try to follow along and understand the dynamic between them. Are they friends? Dating? I thought his girlfriend’s name was Remmy?

  “Don’t mind this troll,” Lucas says, aiming his thumb in her direction. “She just never realizes when she’s unwanted.”

  Okay. Definitely not dating, then.

  Ignoring Lucas’ words, Paige plops down in the seat next to him, dropping a tiny leather backpack into the one other vacant chair, then gives him a not-so-unnoticeable elbow in the middle of the bicep.

  “What he’s trying to say is that before he had a real sister,” Paige says, pointing at me, “he had me, which was the closest thing he’s ever had to a sibling to tease and torture.”

  Lucas rolls his eyes, but I can see the bit of affection and playfulness that he’s trying to hide.

  “Ignore her. She always thinks she’s more important than she really is.”

  Now it’s Paige’s
turn to roll her eyes.

  “Anyway,” she says, dragging the word out and then turning her attention in my direction, “Lucas having a sister is already the only thing anyone can talk about. So, help a girl out and tell me everything about yourself so I can be the insider with all of the information.” Then she rests her elbow on the table and her face in her palm, giving me a big grin.

  I let out a choked laugh. “The only thing anyone can talk about? I’ve been here for like, less than two hours.”

  “Exactly,” Paige says, looking at me with disbelieving eyes. “That’s plenty of time for the Hermosa Beach gossip machine to begin churning. And if Lennon’s the one with the information, you better believe it’s moving at a rapid pace.”

  Then she turns her head and looks to Lucas. “I’ll never forgive you for letting her get the inside scoop on this before me,” she pouts, poking Lucas in the ribs. “Lennon’s number one goal in life is to be the person everyone goes to for the goss.”

  “No it’s not,” Lucas says, shaking his head and pursing his lips. “She likes knowing what’s going on, but she isn’t…” He pauses. “That’s ridiculous.”

  “Excuse me, Mr. Top of the Pyramid. Who is Lennon’s bestie? Me. I know what matters to her. You don’t.”

  Lucas scoffs but doesn’t add anything else, opting instead to pick up his drink and take a hefty swallow.

  Paige leans forward, looking closely at me, her eyes beaming.

  “Lennon finding out about you basically means that everyone we know now knows you’re here and they’re all trying to get as much information as possible.”

  A bit of fear slices through my body, and I chuckle uncomfortably. I don’t want people knowing about me. Knowing my past and my pain and the secrets that still boil beneath my skin.

  “Paige, you’re scaring her,” Lucas says. “Leave the special agent shit at the door, okay?”

  “I’m not trying to scare you. Promise,” she says, lifting her hand daintily in the air to flag down the waitress. “But if you’re going to be living with Lucas this summer, I just feel it’s fair for you to know the truth.”