Us at the Beach

by Stephanie Street

  “No one.” Bile rose up in my throat at my denial, because Paris was definitely ‘someone’. “When are you gonna start paying me rent?”

  Jace ignored the dig. “She has to be or you would be telling me everything about her. You only clam up when you really like someone. It’s your easiest tell, man. Plus, you said children. You, of all people, would never say the word unless you’d already thought about it.”

  See, this is why you should never have best friends. People that know you this well are a pain in the ass. I do not want to talk to Jace about Paris. Jace is all about getting action. Hooking up. Playing the game. And me? I am so sick of the game. Done with one-night stands. Hell, that’s the whole reason I got out of the Army. That lifestyle is perfect for short-term relationships going nowhere. Everything is temporary, except the fact that everything is temporary. That part is permanent. In eight years, I’d been assigned to six duty stations and deployed five times. And that didn’t include the time spent at Ranger school, jump school, and every other training known to man. Or covert operations out of country.

  Who would bring a family into that? And somewhere along the line, I realized that’s what I wanted- a family. So, when my last contract ended, I didn’t re-up. Jace shocked the hell out of me when he followed a year later. I’d already completed most of my fire academy and paramedic training, thanks to my military credits transferring over, and when I got hired onto one of the busiest firehouses outside of Atlanta, Jace wasn’t far behind. I swear he’s worse than a clingy kid brother.

  “Don’t you have a home, Jace,” I asked, before slamming the bathroom door in his face and locking it.

  “I like your house better,” he called through the door. I could hear him chuckling as he made his way to the spare room on the first floor of my house. I’d bought a futon for it after the millionth time Jace slept on my couch.

  I don’t even understand why I’m shutting him out. I pretty much tell Jace everything, we’re kinda like girls that way. But sometimes when you’re sitting on a wall wondering if tonight’s the night a stray bullet is gonna hit its mark, you distract yourself. And sometimes that distraction is spilling your guts to the guy next to you. And now, even though we are far away from walls like that, we still spill our guts to each other. Usually.

  But this is different. Two hours ago, life was trucking along, you know? Work, good friends, rinse, repeat. But then, I saw her and something fundamental inside of me changed. It’s like I could see my whole future playing out before my very eyes. Paris. Me. Babies. Family. Just thinking about it has my hand trembling as I brush my teeth. And I’m not going to be able to handle it if Jace is gonna act like a fool. This thing with Paris? The one I plan with every fiber of my being to turn into my happily ever after? Is no joke. No hook up. And Paris? Paris better watch out, because she is about to be chased.

  Paris

  “So, as I’m trying to lift the spare out of my trunk, some guy sneaks up and offers to help me.”

  Candice wrinkled her nose. “Sneaks up? What did you do? Mace him?”

  “Worse. I blinded him with my flashlight app,” I told her as I added a tablespoon of pure almond extract to the sugar cookie dough in the industrial mixer resting on a large metal counter in the back room of Paris Cupcakes.

  “No, really?” Candice giggled, her blue eyes sparkling. “Was he a young guy or an older guy? Like a dad guy?”

  “A young guy,” I admitted, although I didn’t want to. As my best friend, my happily married best friend, Candice believes it is her mission in life to see me entering the same happy state. Any mention of a single man within reasonable dating age and her matchmaking sensors go on high alert. But she’d noticed my spare, which was still on my car because I hadn’t had time yet to get a new one put on, and asked me what had happened.

  “Ooh, was he hot?”

  I rolled my eyes at her. “That’s what you want to know? I was at the high school by myself with a flat. Any crazy creeper could have snuck up and kidnapped me or something.” I actually was still a little shaken up about that part and determined I would start going to the track earlier in the evening to avoid another get-stuck-in-the-dark-all-alone incident. I was just lucky Aaron turned out to be such a nice guy.

  “Well, since you are here, unharmed, I thought I could skip the mom lecture. You already know that was a dumb move without me rubbing it in,” Candice admonished, giving me the stink eye before continuing. “So, give me the juicy details, girl. Hot or not.” She waggled her eyebrows.

  I thought about Aaron and his tall, muscled body, handsome face, and killer smile. And that dimple. Swoon. “Definitely hot.”

  Candice’s eyes glittered. “Tell me everything.”

  I shrugged, adding a smidgen more flour to my dough before turning on the mixer. The quiet whirring was calming, comforting. I had a huge order of cookies to make for a ladies luncheon in three days. They wanted flowers, which are my favorite to do, but they take a long time to decorate. Since today is Friday, I’m making the dough and baking the cutouts so I can spend the weekend decorating.

  “There’s not much to tell. He changed my tire. I told him thank you and drove off.” That’s mostly the truth. But Candice doesn’t need to know how thoroughly embarrassed I am about my rambling or the fact that Aaron is probably the most beautiful man I’d ever laid eyes on and I’d felt frumpy and fat in my tight workout clothes and when I’d driven away last night my cheeks burned so hot I’m not sure how I didn’t incinerate on the spot. Seriously, the man asked me if I was pregnant!

  “Uh-uh. No way! You’re evading. He must be gorgeous. Are you going to see him again?” Candice’s eyes sparkled with unconcealed excitement.

  I rolled my eyes. “I hope not!” And that is the truth. Can you just imagine that conversation? Oh, hey, remember me? The chubby girl from the track with a flat tire? Of course, why would a guy like that remember a girl like me?

  That's right.

  He wouldn’t.

  “Are you kidding? Why not?” Candice threw up her hands before placing them on her hips. “How are we ever going to be able to go on double dates if you don’t get a man, Paris? Think of all the time we’d have to hang out if our guys could watch football together.”

  “Candice, we hang out all the time now. And I don’t think Matt cares if he has to watch football all by himself.” I knew this to be true. The last time I spent a Sunday at Candice and Matt’s house, she and I spent the day decorating zoo animal cutouts for Jason and Grayson’s first birthday party while Matt pretended to watch the Falcons through his eyelids.

  “Yes, but think of the dinners and movies and shows. I might even get Matt to go dancing if there was another guy for him to commiserate with.”

  I was skeptical. I don’t think Matt has danced with Candice once since their wedding. “Can, you didn’t see this guy. There is no way he’d be interested in me. He’s the type that dates supermodels or bodybuilders. Not chubby bakers who can’t even jog around the track once and ramble about celebrity baby names.”

  Candice frowned like she always does when I call myself fat or overweight. She’s the most loyal friend a girl could ever ask for and she won’t take anyone saying anything bad about me, including me.

  “You are not fat, Paris. And even if you were, you are still beautiful.”

  I so do not want to get into this right now. I spent the whole night after the incident at the track feeling insecure and fluffy, trying really hard not to stuff my face with cookies and hot chocolate. It was like high school all over again. How many times did I stand at my locker watching a hot guy walk past with a harem of beautiful, skinny girls hanging on his every word and appendage, never glancing in my direction- ever? Well, except that one time. But we don’t talk about that.

  Sighing, I flipped the switch to turn off the mixer. “Look, it doesn’t even matter. I will probably never see him again. He was just being nice and I was glad for his help.”

  I felt her eyes on me as I tur
ned the dough out onto the counter. “Okay, but I’m serious, Paris. You need to get out more. You can’t spend all of your time here. Decorating cookies. And I know just the guy, too. Matt hired him last week. I know you guys will hit it off.”

  “No.” Maybe I can convince her I’ve taken a vow of celibacy. I wonder if you have to be Catholic to do that? What other reason could I come up with for swearing off men that would be respectable rather than pathetic?

  “Oh, come on. Please! We can even double.” She pouted, sticking out her lower lip, reminding me of her eighteen-month-old twin boys. “You know I need a night out, Paris. The boys, they are running me ragged.”

  Yeah, she looked ragged with her perfect blonde hair, flawless makeup, and clothes that made her look like she’d just stepped out of a department store ad.

  “Please. Please. Please,” she begged, her hands clamping down on my arm as she jumped up and down.

  The thing is, she will never stop. From now until eternity, or the day I get married- whichever comes first, Candice will never stop trying to find my one true love. She has this ridiculous dream of us living next door to each other with our husbands, raising kids who will grow up and fall in love and get married to each other and move in down the street so our grandkids will be close by.

  It wasn’t so bad when I was in New York. I would just feed her lines about dates and the new guy working in the kitchen when really, I spent every weekend working and every night off sleeping. Now that I’ve moved back home there is no hiding the truly sad state of my social life and Candice is determined.

  “He’s really cute. And single. And please!” Candice stopped jumping to give me the puppy dog eyes. The ones that convinced me to go skinny dipping when we were sixteen at the lake during summer camp. Those eyes always got me in trouble!

  “Oh, all right!”

  Candice squealed.

  “But-” I interrupted her celebration. “But, only once and if I say no to a second date, you back off.”

  Candice looked injured. “Killjoy.”

  I stared her down.

  “Fine. But you have to at least try to have fun.” She pointed a finger at me. “And believe me, I’ll know if you aren’t trying.”

  “Fine,” I mimicked her. “Not this weekend. I have to get these cookies done.”

  “Next Saturday. We’ll go to that new Italian place.” Candice called over her shoulder as she began making her way out of the kitchen. “See you later. I have to go get the boys.”

  I waved her out half-heartedly. Of course, she’d chose Italian. All those carbs. I’ll either have to starve myself next week or order a salad. Cursed wedding!

  To find out what happens next read Chasing Paris available now for purchase or Kindle Unlimited on Amazon!

  Books

  By Stephanie Street

  Young Adult Romance

  The Perks of Dating You

  Us at the Beach

  Contemporary Romance

  Chasing Paris

  Coming Soon!

  Calling London (Christmas 2017)