She turns around, her eyes looking right at mine. My feet start moving ever so slowly in her direction. My brain must have gotten the memo. She looks down at my hands and a huge smile appears on her face.
“Bodhi Bishop, did you make me a Shirley Temple?”
I hand one out to her and say, “I was going to make some grilled cheese too, but the bread has mold on it, and I don’t have any cheese.”
She lets out a laugh and turns back to the view outside the balcony. She looks relaxed, comfortable. I can breathe better. I lean in right next to her, our shoulders touching and her hair tickling my arm.
“This view is amazing,” she says. “I could stand here all day and watch this. I’ve missed this.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I definitely prefer this over the Halifax. Even with the road and the cars … staring at the beach, it’s so peaceful but busy at the same time. It makes me feel … I don’t know? Relaxed? Happy?”
She’s still staring out at the ocean as I push her hair behind her ear with my finger and ask, “You haven’t been happy for a while, have you?”
She shakes her head and looks over at me. “I am now though.”
God. Those eyes. I’m drowning in them. I feel like I can’t come up for air. I can’t take this anymore, this feeling of struggling to breathe because this tension is so unbearably thick. My chest aches, trying to get air into my love-struck lungs. I have to do something about it quickly, before I do indeed stop breathing. I put my glass down on the table next to me, close in the little space that’s between the two of us, and silently beg this isn’t going to blow up in my face.
“Confession,” I say to her, gulping at the same time. My voice cracks a little as she looks over at me and I try to continue. “I need to kiss you, Eva. I have to kiss you. I’ve wanted to for days now, months, years to be honest, but I’m so afraid I’m going to scare you away if I do. I don’t know why I’m so afraid, I mean, I’m not afraid of you—”
Eva’s hand touches my arm. The word vomit that flew out of my mouth was embarrassing. I force myself to bite my tongue and slow it down.
“I don’t want you to run off. I can’t lose you again, Eva. But I want to kiss you so damn bad and it’s all I can think about.”
I watch as she bites her lower lip and smirks, which only makes me want to kiss her even more. My self-control is rapidly disappearing. If she doesn’t say something soon, I’m not going to be able to stop my lips from crashing onto hers.
She places her glass down on the table and looks up at me. “Confession,” she says without any hesitation. “I’ve wanted you to kiss me for days now. I’ve wanted to kiss you for days now, years actually, and you could never scare me away, Bodhi. Never.” She tugs a little on the end of my shirt as she tilts her head to the side and grins. “Stop overthinking this, I want you to kiss me, so kiss me already.”
I bring my hand up to the back of her head and my entire body might shake as I declare, “I was hoping you would say that.” And then I finally bring my lips to hers.
This kiss, it’s a kiss that’s been building up for years, and at first, I’m overly cautious as my mouth hits hers. But as soon as her lips part even the slightest, every ounce of longing that has taken up home in my body for so goddamn long takes over. My lips on hers, my tongue grazing hers, my fingers running through her hair. I have never kissed another girl like this before. I have never felt as if my lips on someone else’s can create magic. It’s passionate, and beautiful, and sexy, and I don’t want to move my lips away from hers ever again.
When we pull apart, we stay in our own little world. My hand is resting on her neck, my forehead is on hers as we block out everything around us. I might be a little out of breath. I might want to dive right in and kiss her again. I might want to wait and see if she takes the lead this time.
She lifts her head first and traces my lips with her finger. I have left my body at this point. It’s floating above me, watching this moment unfold.
“That, was worth the wait,” she announces, and she brings her lips to mine again.
It’s amazing how something you’ve been so nervous about is so normal in a matter of moments. Eva’s definitely not the first girl I’ve kissed, but kissing Eva Calloway is something I was meant to do. It’s like breathing. A necessity. I can’t get enough of it. I can’t get enough of how it feels to have her lips on mine, and her body so close to my own. There will never be another girl now that I have Eva again. No one will ever be able to come close to how I feel when I’m with her.
WE’RE SITTING ON a lounge chair on the balcony now. We haven’t moved from this spot for a while. Just the two of us with the sound of the ocean crashing in the distance and the random car passing by on the road. She’s on my lap with her head buried in my neck. I can’t keep my hands off of her, touching every spot that I can without overstepping some invisible boundary we might still have. I can tell she’s falling asleep. I run my fingers through her hair and listen to her deep breathing as she dozes off.
I wish my mom was around.
Not here, in this moment with us, but around so I could tell her that Eva’s back. Finally, Eva Calloway is back in our lives. My life. Hell, I would even tell her that I kissed her today. I know exactly how she would have reacted. She would have smiled and told me it was about goddamn time. She would have loved this. She would have loved us being together. It kills me she will never know.
I let Eva sleep a little while, taking this time to memorize every little freckle on her arms and legs that I’ve never noticed before. Every little imperfection that makes her perfect. I want to know everything I can about her body, her beautiful, amazing body that is now lying across my lap. Like her scar. It looks bright pink against her naturally tanned skin. It takes up a good three inches of her right leg. I wonder if she hates it. My fingers are drawn to touching it and I run them up and down the length of the scar, amazed at how smooth it is under my skin. She jumps in her sleep and stirs a little. I quickly stop and she smiles into my neck at the same time.
“When you touch it,” she mumbles into my hair, “it feels numb. I don’t have a normal sensation on the scar.”
“Do you hate it?”
“Not at all,” she yawns. “It reminds me of you, and your mom. All the days before.”
I kiss her on her forehead and sigh. “Do I really have to take you home? I can think of a hundred other things we can do tonight, that are far more entertaining than me taking you home.”
Her cheeks turn pink, and she smiles. “I need to go home. But I would much rather stay right here, with you.”
She buries her head back into my neck. I can feel her lips resting on my skin. It’s torturous knowing I have to take her home and she can’t stay with me all night. I have numerous different fantasies ready to put into action, that all start with Eva spending the night with me.
“I would much rather you stay right here, with me,” I reply, running my fingers up her back. “I don’t trust anyone else around you. Let me go inside your house at least and wait, keep you safe.”
She sits up and looks at me, her eyes staring right at mine. “No one has ever wanted to keep me safe. You want to be my knight in shining armor?”
I don’t hesitate. “Every day for the rest of my goddamn life.”
She gives me a long kiss. Her tongue runs circles on my own. I grab at her waist and a noise escapes my mouth I’m pretty certain I’ve never made before. If this was some random girl, I’d be mortified over not being able to control the sounds I’m making, but because this is Eva, I want her to hear me. I want her to know the effect she has over my body and mind.
She’s smiling as her lips leave mine. “I appreciate that. I love that. But I think I need to tell my mom a few things about Porter Channing and let her handle him.”
TEN MINUTES LATER we’re heading out, driving back down A1A towards the direction of the Halifax. Eva has one hand in mine and her other hand out the window. I’m trying to
keep my eyes on the road, but I find myself constantly glancing over at her. God, she’s so damn beautiful, and I can’t believe she’s sitting in my jeep and I was kissing her all afternoon. If I could freeze time. Keep everything as perfect as it was just a bit ago. Keep her safe with me where it’s just the two of us and no one else.
When we turn down her street, I’m half expecting to see Porter standing in the road with his Land Rover blocking our way, but it’s clear. I stop the jeep in front of Calvin’s gates and we sit there for a minute. I don’t want her to leave me. I don’t want to leave her.
“I’m going to be right here,” I point to Calvin’s house. “If you need me, okay? I can be at your house in two minutes.”
She nods and lets out a long sigh as she opens the door. I follow and meet her at the back, pulling her into my body. Her arms wrap around my neck, her head goes right under my chin. Leaving her, now knowing what it’s like to have her lips on mine, is a whole new ball game. Leaving her, knowing she’s going to have to face Porter after what he did to her, makes me want to throw up.
“You can do this. Go to your mom first. Tell her everything you told me, show her these,” I lift her wrists. “She’s going to believe you, and then I’ll meet you on your dock later tonight, you and me.” I bring her head up so she can see my eyes. “Exactly like this, all night if you want.”
She nods and pulls me in by the top of my shirt for a kiss. This kiss, it’s not like the kisses we shared in my house earlier. It’s intense, and it’s full of worry and angst. I hate feeling how worried she is through a kiss. I’m about to pull away and demand that I at least walk her to her door, make sure her mom is indeed home, when a car suddenly approaches. Her lips fall from mine and she freezes. She knows before I do. She can see over my shoulder.
“This is not good,” she gulps. There’s fear in her eyes and she’s pushing me towards the jeep. “Bodhi, you need to go. Now!”
I turn around to see Porter getting out of his Land Rover, leaving it idle on the side of the road. I instinctively put myself in front of Eva. Porter looks downright pissed, as pissed as you can in a polo shirt and golf shorts.
“Him?” he shouts to her as he points at me. “I’ve been calling you all night, and all day, and you were with him? The bitch from the pier?”
Eva steps out from my side, “Porter—”
“Don’t even talk,” he interrupts her, waving his hands in the air. “Where were you all day? Eight hours. I’ve been waiting for you for eight hours. You couldn’t even pick up your phone for eight hours? Have you been with him all day?”
Porter is losing it.
I step forward. Eva’s hand grabs at mine. “Porter, go home,” I tell him. I’m trying hard to not let my temper show. I would love to punch him right in his goddamn face, but I don’t want to lose it in front of Eva. “Get back in your Land Rover and go home. Come back when you’ve calmed down.”
He’s fuming now, but continues to ignore me and glares back to Eva. “You fucking this piece of shit? Is that what’s going on here? Is this why you’ve been such a prude?”
Goddamnit, Porter. Eva grabs my arm. She knows I’m not going to stand here and let him talk to her like this. I move forward so I’m right up in his space as I ask, “Do you even hear the way you’re talking to her? You don’t even deserve to breathe the same air as her, let alone talk to her like that. Fucking go home, Porter.”
Porter laughs. A long, eerie laugh as he looks at me. “She’s not going to end up with you, man. That’s not how it works over here. Might as well give up now.”
I look at Eva and then back to Porter. She sure as hell isn’t going to end up with this dickhead. “I think I’ll take my chances.”
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say to Porter Channing, because moments later his right fist connects with my left eye and I’m down on the ground in a matter of seconds, listening to Eva scream my name. Porter has got some brutal strength I didn’t see coming. I can fight back, but first, I need the stars in my vision to disappear.
“Porter! Stop!” Eva screams. She puts herself between the two of us, pushing him towards his Land Rover.
He laughs at her efforts and gives her a shove to the ground. She falls onto her knees. He’s now standing over me. “She is not yours. She will never be yours.” And then he kicks my side, hard.
Eva screams even louder.
So … this is what the guys meant by being in way over my head? I need to get up. Lying here on the ground is only going to give him the opportunity to kill me, which I think is his plan now. I roll over to my knees and get to a sitting position, ignoring the horrendous pain on the side of my chest. My cut from the surfboard yesterday has reopened and there’s warm blood dripping down my face. I reach up, wiping it away as best as I can.
“You think beating the shit out of me is going to keep me away from her?” I say to him. “Never. You can beat the shit out of me all you want, but I will never stay away from her again. And you, you will never touch her again.”
Eva is now at my side, trying to put herself between Porter and I once more. “Don’t, Bodhi!”
Porter’s heavy breathing is overpowering Eva’s soft crying, but I suddenly hear a small vehicle, and the creaking of gates. There’s another presence with the three of us. It’s Calvin, who has shown up from his driveway on a golf cart. I can feel the sudden relief from Eva’s body as we both see him standing on the other side of the jeep. Seconds later, a Lexus SUV pulls up next to the Land Rover. I wipe the blood out of my eye just in time to see Eva’s parents step out. Mrs. Calloway’s hand goes to her shocked mouth, and she tries to rush towards Eva and I, but Mr. Calloway holds her back with such force, she stumbles backwards into their Lexus.
Calvin is the first to speak. “Someone want to tell me what the goddamn hell is going on out here?”
“Porter?” Mr. Calloway questions.
I laugh, which I’m sure confuses the hell out of everyone. God, it hurts to laugh. I wince and grab my side. “Your daughter,” I say to Mr. Calloway, “he pushed your daughter to the ground, and you go to his side? Are you fucking kidding me? Like for fuck’s sake. Are you for real?”
I’m pretty sure no one has ever spoken to Mr. Calloway like this before, and I won’t lie that I enjoy seeing the shocked look on his face as he stands there with his mouth slightly opened.
“Don’t listen to that piece of shit,” Porter says to Mr. Calloway. “Eva and I were just having a disagreement.”
“And what about Bodhi’s face?” Calvin questions him. “He do that to himself? That’s quite some talent.”
“He fell,” Porter remarks.
Mr. Calloway puts his hand on Porter’s shoulder. Eva’s sobs are muffled into my chest and it kills me that her dad’s standing there, not comforting her when she so obviously needs it.
“Hey,” I whisper into her ear. “You and me. Don’t even think about any of them. Think about you and me, okay? I’m not going anywhere. We’re all that matters, babe.”
She nods her head into my chest. Mrs. Calloway takes this chance to break away from her husband and move forward. I pull Eva in closer to me, shielding her with my entire body. I have no idea what Mrs. Calloway is capable of, but if she’s anything like her husband, I don’t want Eva anywhere near her.
Mrs. Calloway freezes in her steps when she sees me protecting Eva from her. She looks wounded with my action. Her eyes fill up instantly with tears and she wipes at them as she continues to move closer to us.
“Audrey!” Mr. Calloway shouts under his breath. “Get back here!”
She turns to him, the look on her face is one of shock and disbelief, but also anger. “Are you blind, Brayden? That is our daughter on the ground. Wake the fuck up.” She turns back to Eva and I. “Eva?” she questions, her emotions evident with the way her voice is quivering. “Please. You need to tell me. What happened?”
Porter says again, “It was just a disagreement.”
Mrs. Calloway swift
ly turns to him. “I’m asking my daughter, not you.”
Eva looks between her family and I. She runs her fingers along my cheek and gives me the smallest of smiles, then brushes the gravel off her scraped up legs and stands.
“Porter, he did this. He saw Bodhi and I together and he lost it. We’re over, Porter. I’m done. This …” she points between herself and him, “it’s been done for a while. It never even really started.”
“Bullshit!” Porter shouts. “I love you, Eva!”
Eva shakes her head and looks disgusted by his words. “No, you don’t! You love who you want me to be! What you think I’m going to be. But you don’t love me. You don’t even know the real me, Porter. You need help. I can’t be with you anymore. I don’t want to be with you anymore. We’re done.”
Porter throws his fist in the air and moves towards her.
“Hey now!” Mr. Calloway tries to intervene, holding Porter back. “Couples can have disagreements. Why don’t we all go inside and talk about this—”
I bust out laughing again, grabbing my side as I exclaim, “Disagreements?” I force myself to stand, which takes much longer than I thought it would. I manage to shuffle to Eva’s side where I bring her hand into my own. She looks away. She knows what I’m about to do. I raise her bruised wrist up into the air and ask, “Is this a disagreement, Porter? You fucking piece of shit.”
Mrs. Calloway gasps, staring at Eva’s bruises. I know she sees the ones on her other wrist now too. “Oh, Eva!” she cries out.
Calvin whispers behind me, “Goddamn bastard.”
Porter is glaring at me now, but then a smirk appears on his repulsive face. “What? You didn’t know she liked it rough?”
I may be injured, but I clear the distance between Porter and myself extremely fast. Porter backs up as Calvin grabs at me from behind. I push him off and raise my fist, finally ready to punch Porter in his goddamn face. But Mrs. Calloway, she beats me to it. The smack she lays across Porter’s cheek echoes down the street.
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