We’ve gone over this shit hundreds of times. I get it. I stand on my board and surf the waves. It’s not rocket science.
There’s obviously more to it than that, but not to me. Surfing is like breathing. Easy. Natural.
“Alright.” He drops down into the chair across from me. “Who is she?”
I smirk and consider bullshitting him, but only for half a second. Brad has been like a father to me most of my life, and I can’t lie to his face. Not easily anyway.
“Her name’s Eden.”
He looks over my shoulder and glances at the girls. “Zeke’s sister?” He whistles low. “I always knew you had balls, kid, but damn.”
“You think I’m worried about Brady?”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “Shit no. But you should be worried about her – that girl looks like she could chew you up and spit you out and not even feel bad about it.” He chuckles again and shakes his head at me like he thinks I’m mad.
“She’s not so tough under that sassy exterior,” I say, my eyes finding her again of their own accord.
“Careful, kid, you’re starting to sound like you might be losing your head to some chick.”
I don’t turn, but I can hear the teasing and amusement thick in his tone.
He always warned me that this day would come.
“I’m not losing my head, Colesy.” I glance at him briefly. “I’ve already lost it.”
He claps me on the shoulder. “Best feeling in the world, isn’t it?”
I chuckle and turn my back on Eden. That’s not at all what I was expecting him to say.
I raise my brows at him in question. “Something you’re not telling me, coach?”
As far as I’m aware, he is still as single as ever.
He chuckles and shakes his head. “Nice try, kid, but we’re talking about you.”
“We can go back to that in a min. Who’s the chick? Is she hot?”
He shakes his head at me. “You’re going to wish you never asked.”
I open my mouth to grill him, but he cuts me off.
“Is she going to be a problem for you out there tomorrow?”
“Why would she be a problem?” I scowl at him.
I don’t like Eden being referred to as ‘a problem’. She’s the furthest thing from it.
“You can’t keep your fucking eyes off her for starters, that, and her brother is gonna kick your ass when he finds out you’ve been giving it to his baby sister. You don’t need any trouble, you’re so close.”
“It’s not an issue.”
I hear Eden’s laugh and I snap around to watch her, my own mouth tugging up into a grin as I land eyes on her smiling face.
She meets my gaze, and so much passes between us in those few seconds; secrets, lust, fuck, maybe even love.
She dips her head and I can see the blush on her cheeks.
“Oh yeah… she’s going to be a big problem,” Brad mutters. “One more day, Jake, just give me one more day with your head in the game and then you can get your ass kicked or live happily ever after or whatever the fuck it is that you want to do with this girl.”
When I don’t turn back around, he gives my leg a kick.
“Got it, coach, one more day,” I mutter.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Eden
Zeke has just pulled out his trusty old guitar, and I know that this is the only chance I’m going to get. He won’t notice if I slip away while he’s playing.
I stand and casually stroll up the beach as he strums a Jack Johnson tune to everyone crowded around the bonfire.
I walk up the sand until I’m out of sight and sit down at the bottom of the sand dune.
It only takes a few minutes before he’s right here next to me, and only seconds after that he’s on top of me, pressing my back down into the sand.
I look up at him, with only the light of the moon to guide us.
“I’ve missed you, golden boy,” I murmur as I run my hands through his hair, the way I’ve been dying to all day.
“I’ve missed you too,” he whispers against my skin as he places soft kisses to my lips.
I giggle as the strands of his hair tickle my face.
“Do you know how much I’ve suffered, watching you prance around in that fucking bikini, knowing I can’t lay a finger on you?”
“Poor baby,” I coo mockingly.
I know how he feels though. Those abs of his have been tempting my tongue for hours. He really needs to learn how to wear a shirt.
His mouth has barely left my skin as he trails kisses along my jaw and then lowers to the swell of my breasts.
“The sooner we tell your brother about us the better. I don’t want to hide you ever again.”
My heart thumps in my chest, a mixture of love and fear swirling into one.
I want to tell Zeke now, I do, because I don’t want to keep Jake a secret any more than he wants to keep me one, but I just can’t. Not yet.
“I don’t want to hide either,” I whisper as I rake my hands over his bare back. I’m probably going to leave a mark, but the thought only makes me dig my nails in deeper. “But we can’t tell him yet… not when you both need to focus on surfing tomorrow… I’ll tell him when we get home.”
He pulls back, and I can see his scowl, even in the dim moonlight.
“There is no way in hell that you’re telling him without me there.”
I scowl back at him. “He’s my brother. I don’t need you to hold my hand.”
“And you’re my girlfriend,” he retorts, his chest heaving against mine. “And I know you don’t need me to take care of you, precious, but I’m fucking well going to do it anyway, so you may as well get used to it.”
My resolve crumbles and I tug his face to mine, pressing my lips to his. I really like the sound of being his girl.
“Fine… we’ll tell him after the comp… together…” My heart swells. I may have had Zeke on my side all my life, but this is different – Jake is here because he wants to be, because he cares about me. He chose to be on my team.
“Eden,” he starts again, but I cut him off with another kiss.
“I don’t want to argue with you, not right now, just kiss me, please… make me yours.”
He releases a pained groan and then does exactly what I’ve asked.
***
“Boo.”
I jump into the air with fright.
I clutch my chest as she pops a brow. “Going somewhere?”
“Jesus, River, you scared the shit out of me,” I snap.
“Zeke is looking for you.”
“Shit.” I glance around, hoping like hell that he didn’t come looking this way.
“Don’t worry, I covered for you – told him you’d gone up to your room to grab something warmer to put on.”
I exhale in relief. Of course River covered for me.
“Wait a sec.” I look back at my best friend. “How’d you know where I was?”
“I didn’t.” She sits her hands on her hips. “I still don’t know, but it wasn’t lost on me that right after you disappeared, so did Jake. Fancy that for a coincidence.”
I wince. “Was it that obvious?”
Her eyes widen slowly, as though she didn’t really believe that it was true until right in this moment. “Oh. My. God. You’re really hooking up with Jake?”
I shush her and drag her by the arm up the path that will lead up to the hotel. Apparently, I need to find something warmer to wear.
“You can’t say a word,” I hiss at her.
She salutes me, her eyes dancing with excitement. “Hey, if you don’t tell Alexi about me and Lukah, I won’t tell anyone about you and the enemy boy.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m serious, River, not a word.”
“Scouts honour, but you better spill so hard. I need details and I need them now.”
“I spent the whole break at his house,” I whisper, and it feels so good to finally say it out loud.
I hate that
I can’t be open about this with the whole world right now. I hate that Jake can’t take my hand on the beach like we did when it was just the two of us.
We’re in a different country, at an entirely different beach, but in my mind, we’re still back there in our own little bubble of sex and laughter.
I’m falling for Jake Carson the way you’d fall off the side of a sky-high building – head over heels, with no hope of return.
“Oh snap,” she breathes. “You didn’t?”
I nod. “I did. It sort of just happened… one thing led to another and now I don’t know what to do.”
“Don’t let your brother find out, that’s for damn sure.” She giggles, but it dies off when she sees the pained look in my eyes.
“He’s going to hate me,” I whisper.
She squeezes my arm. “Zeke could never hate you… and you don’t have to tell him anyway – it can be your little secret. We’ll all go our separate ways in a few days and Zeke will be none the wiser.”
That’s the problem though. I can’t imagine going back with Zeke and Millie. There’s only one place I want to be, and that’s with Jake.
“Holy shit.” She gasps as she studies my face. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
I shrug. “I think I might be,” I reply helplessly.
“Well crap,” she mutters as we reach the door of the hotel. “I don’t know what to tell you, babe. I think you might be in trouble.”
I’m in trouble alright, a whole damn heap of it.
***
There’s a knock at my door. “Two seconds,” I call out as I throw a pair of shorts over my bikini. I’ve only been awake for ten minutes. I had to go back down to the bonfire last night, with a jersey I didn’t need on, all to keep up appearances.
I throw open the door.
I was expecting it to be Zeke, telling me he’s heading down the beach to warm up for the event, and it’s him alright, but there’s something wrong.
“I’m only going to ask you this once, okay?” he growls.
My heart rate starts to accelerate as I take in the haunted look in his eyes.
I nod and try to keep my voice even. “Okay…”
He holds up a sheet of paper he has clutched in his hand. It’s scrunched up, his fist tightly balled around it.
“What’s that?” I don’t know why, but my voice is barely above a whisper.
“It’s the bill from the last hotel.”
“Okay…” I say again.
“It says you checked out right after we left.”
My heart plummets to the pit of my stomach and my palms start to sweat.
“Here comes the question, Eden, and I’d think long and hard about lying to me about this.”
I try and fail to swallow the lump in my throat.
“Where did you stay all that time we were gone?”
He already knows the answer – he’s figured it out, I can see it in his eyes. He wants me to confirm it for him though. He needs my answer before he acts.
“Zeke,” I plead as I reach for his arm, but he shrugs me off.
“Say it, Eden.”
I drop my eyes to the floor. “I stayed with Jake,” I whisper.
“He’s dead,” he growls as he turns and barges out the door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Jake
“Zeke, no!” I hear her scream, and I look up just in time to see Zeke charging through the shallow water towards where I’ve just come in from my warm up, Eden running down the beach after him.
He knows.
“Fuck,” I mutter as his fist connects with my jaw.
My head snaps back with the impact, and in the next moment I charge at him, spearing him through the middle, sending us both flying into the shallows, closer to the shore.
We wrestle on the ground, my board still attached to my leg as Eden’s screams get closer and closer.
He gets a good shot at my nose and blood sprays all over us.
I shove him and get to my feet, ripping off my leg rope as I go.
He follows me, taking another swing, but missing this time. “You’re fucking dead! I’ll kill you my damn self!” he thunders. “I warned you not to touch her, Carson.”
I’m aware of a crowd forming around us. The beach is already packed, but it’s too late to end this now – nothing I say could make him stop.
“Jesus Christ, Zeke, stop!” Eden is right in front of us now, she’s doing her best to squeeze herself in between the two of us, but neither of us are allowing it as we shove her clear of the danger zone.
“What the fuck would you have done? Huh, Brady?” I throw my board to the sand angrily. “What would you have done if you fell in love with Millie and then her big, bad brother rolled up and told you to stay away from her?”
I shove him hard in the chest as Eden screams at us again to stop. He comes right back.
His face pales. “You’re trying to tell me you’re in love with her?” He sneers the words, as though they taste like acid rolling off his tongue.
“Of course I fucking love her!” I roar at him as I get so far in his face that our foreheads are touching. “Look at her. She’s the most incredible woman on this whole fucking beach.”
I can feel Eden clawing at me, trying to tug me back.
“Jake, please,” she begs. “Just walk away.”
I should listen to her, in fact, I’m about to let her lead me away when he drops a bomb that has my arm snapping back into a fist before I even register what I’m doing.
“You always told me you’d fuck her to get one over me, so congratulations, asshole, you win.”
Screw this shit. This wasn’t just about fucking her, and the fact that he’s just announced that to a beach full of people has me seeing red.
As if I’d ever play with her feelings that way.
I smack him square in the face right as Brad grabs me, pulling me back so I can’t go again.
Zeke lurches forward, no doubt in retaliation, but his coach is there too, holding him back in the same way.
We both struggle against them as we stare at each other, each wishing death or worse for the other.
“You said that?” a small voice, possibly the only voice that could reach me now asks.
My eyes drop to hers in a flash, my fight forgotten.
“Eden,” I whisper. “It wasn’t like that.”
Her eyes well with tears. “You told my brother your goal was to fuck me one day? You said that to hurt him?”
I nod, feeling the shame fill my body.
“Did you touch me just to make him suffer?” she asks, her voice breaking. “Is that what this was to you? A game?”
“No, precious, Jesus… no. It’s not like that,” I stammer, not able to find the words to make her see that those taunts were a lifetime ago – that they had nothing to do with us – the real us.
“I told you he was bad news, Eden,” Zeke hisses.
My eyes snap to him as his girlfriend, Millie, appears at his side.
Eden turns, her back to me now as she takes a step towards her brother. “You think I care what you told me right now? You’ve hurt me as much as he has.”
“Eden,” he whispers, clearly pained.
“Just go and surf, Zeke, it’s what we’re all here for – and clearly this little rivalry is more important to you both than my feelings could ever be, so go. Surf. You two want to hate each other, be my fucking guest – just leave me out of it.”
She takes a step away and he tries to pull away from his coach but Millie steps in front of him. “Leave her – this is her choice.”
She reaches out to cup his face, but he pulls away. “Don’t touch me,” he hisses. “You knew and you didn’t tell me.”
“Eden, please,” I call to her, ignoring the newly evolving drama in front of me. She doesn’t even look back as she pushes through the crowd.
“Fuck’s sake, Colesy, let me go,” I growl. “I’m not gonna hit him again.”
N
ot right now anyway.
He reluctantly releases me, and I follow after her as fast as I can.
“Eden!” I yell, and she stops, slowly turning to face me.
“It wasn’t like that. You have to believe me.”
“It seems to me that it was exactly like that,” she replies, her voice broken and hollow.
“Don’t do this, precious, don’t run, please,” I beg her, aware that everyone can hear me desperately pleading with her.
I feel hollow.
I always knew this girl would destroy me.
“We could have had something real, you know that?” Her empty blue eyes look back at me.
I guess I’ve destroyed her too.
No. shit. No.
“Could have?” I whisper.
She stares right at me, but it’s almost as though she doesn’t see me.
“Yes, Jake, could have. Past tense. As in before you broke my heart.”
I can’t feel where Zeke hit me, but I feel the punch she just delivered directly to my chest. It’s as though my heart has been blown clean out of me.
She turns around and walks away and it takes a moment of calling her name to realise that Zeke is right next to me, doing the exact same thing.
“This isn’t over,” Zeke growls out when she’s too far away to hear. “I won’t let you mess with her again.”
She turns and looks at the pair of us before leaving our sight.
“I don’t give a fuck what you think, Brady, but she does – and I care about her – so if you hurt her like that again, I’ll hurt you, regardless of whether or not she’s my girl.”
I leave him with my warning.
***
I throw my board into the back of the tent and land heavily into a chair, my head already in my hands.
I haven’t surfed that badly in my whole life.
Fucking Zeke must be feeling awfully fucking smug out there right now. It’s the first time he’s beaten me all tour.
I tug at the yellow jersey I’m wearing before throwing it off over my head.
Mr. May: A Forbidden Love Romance (Calendar Boys Book 5) Page 11