by C. C. Brown
“Well, damn. I’m surprised she’s alive, Alex. Sounded like you were murdering her last night.” Natasha’s eyes swept over to me, then to Cassie, winking.
Cassie flushed red, putting her head down just as a coy smile took over her face.
“There’s more food over there, man. Made some extra bacon and eggs.”
“I’m good,” I said, pouring two mugs of coffee. “I had plenty to eat this morning already.”
Cassie’s eyes damn near fell out of her head. Natasha laughed, and Riley joined her. I made a quick plate and placed it in front of her, her light blush now completely red.
“I was so ready to knock on your door and ask to be invited in. Chris was drunk and passed out on me.”
“Sorry, we’re selfish assholes. We don’t share,” I responded, taking a seat.
We made small talk, Cassie trying hard to squeeze any bit of information out of Riley and Natasha to find out what I had planned for her. Riley knew, but he was my brother and wouldn’t be giving away any secrets. Natasha didn’t know, and I was glad because her lips were loose. If she’d been privy to anything, she would have spilled it.
After a second cup of coffee, feeling like it was necessary after our intensely physical night, I stood, taking the dishes and cleaning them off before placing them into the dishwasher.
“Alright. We better get going. We’ve got a bit of a drive ahead of us.”
“Yeah, we do too. Better get going,” Riley countered, cleaning up after him and Natasha.
I ran into the room and grabbed Cassie’s bags, then took them outside and placed them in the back seat of my truck. She was saying goodbye to Natasha when I walked back to the front door. I said my goodbyes, giving Riley the guy hug and whispering, “Wrap it up,” before pulling away.
He laughed, clapping my back. “Good luck.”
I smiled, then took Cassie by the hand and led her out to my Ram. I opened her door, allowing her to climb in before I shut it and ran around to the other side. I jumped in, placing my hand on her thigh. “You ready to go?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she answered, her bright beautiful smile showing off her pearly white teeth.
I started up the truck, the low, thunderous roar of the engine growling to life. She took my phone and plugged it into the auxiliary, rummaging through my music collection and stopping on Radio/Video by System of a Down.
She rolled her window down and shook her head along to the beat, singing at the top of her lungs as we sped down the lonesome, barren highway that would take us away from secrecy and into open happiness.
The music continued to play as we traveled along, Cassie’s face full of excitement as we finally left the desert and entered more scenic parts of the highway. From what I’d learned about her in the truck, she had never left Arizona until bootcamp. That was a bit of a shock to me. She was a rock music lover, belting out hits from Metallica, Alice in Chains, and even going back, taking it old school with Poison. Her voice, while soft and soothing, didn’t match the rough and raspy tone of the singers, but her infectious performances had me singing and head banging right along with her. About halfway into the drive she grew tired, making me promise to wake her as soon as we reached our destination. I agreed, but truthfully, I would have done it anyway because I was also overly anxious about introducing her to something new.
I woke Cassie, gently shaking her leg as we pulled up to a stoplight with a rock walled waterfall to the right that read, Welcome to Huntington Beach. She woke, instantly pulling out her cell phone and snapping a few pictures.
“We’re at a beach?” she asked. The shock that spread across her face was almost sad.
“We are at a beach. My favorite beach as a matter of fact,” I answered, turning into the parking lot and stopping to pay the attendant before finding a space. “I knew this would be different for you, and after our talk on the way down here, I figured you’d enjoy it. So we’re here, at a California beach.”
She was so giddy with excitement that she opened her door and jumped out, snapping more pictures of any and everything. I got out and walked around to her side, picking her up and cradling her in my arms as I walked her to the sand.
“You ready for a dip?”
“No,” she replied, looking down at her clothes. “You should have told me we were coming to a beach. I would have brought a swim suit.”
“Wait here,” I said, kissing her nose before turning and jogging back to the truck. I let down the tailgate and pulled out a duffle bag that held clothes she wasn’t even aware I had. I rummaged through them and pulled out a pair of board shorts and a hot pink two piece for her. Running it back over to her, I found her sitting in the sand, her toes curling while she allowed it to run through her fingers.
“Here you go,” I said, handing her the swimsuit.
Shock crossed her face. “Where did you get this?”
“Natasha helped me out. Go change. I want to get you in the water.”
She took the suit and ran off to the restrooms. I didn’t really give a shit, so I stripped out of my shorts and into my board shorts behind a pillar that held a shade area. When she walked out, my jaw went slack, dropping to the floor as I drank her in. Her perfectly proportioned, toned and tanned body looked radiant in the swimsuit; more than I could have imagined. I knew that I’d be the envy of all the guys at this beach, and it made me happy. Seeing Cassie that way, sexy without even trying, made me realize just how lucky I truly was.
We walked over to a rental hut and grabbed two boogie boards before heading down to the water. The whole way down, I walked with my hand glued to her ass. The bottoms were stringy and Brazilian cut, showing off her beautiful ass cheeks. I knew other pricks were looking at her as we walked by, but keeping my hand plastered there gave more than enough warning without me even having to say a word.
“Okay. You have to show me to how to do this. I don’t have a clue.”
I took her hand and strapped the wrist cuff around her wrist before doing my own.
“You’ll want to go out in the water and wade around… wait for a wave. When you see the wave forming, lay on your board and paddle, then just let the wave take you in.”
Fear shone on her face as she watched a massive wave come through and completely thrash some guy. “He took it wrong. You’ll be okay. I promise.”
I ran out into the water first, diving in when it felt deep enough, then swimming out even further to catch the wave at its inception. She stood on the shore, watching me as I went through all of the steps I had just given her and caught the perfect wave, riding it all the way back in.
“You ready to try?” I asked, anxious to have her in with me.
“Go one more time. Let me get some guts by watching you.”
I shook my head and laughed, then turned and swam back out into the ocean. I went even further this time, hoping to catch an even bigger wave. As I lay on my board, I looked back at the shore, noticing two guys come and stand directly next to Cassie. They were much too close for my liking, so I caught the next wave, even though it wasn’t much, and swam the rest of the way in. I got up and stalked over to where they were standing, my dismay entrenched in my face.
“Hey, Alex. This is Todd and Jeff. They were asking me if I boarded and if I wanted lessons.”
I firmly shook their hands, my intimidating expression never changing. “We won’t be needing your assistance, gentlemen. But have a nice day.”
They walked away, looking back at me as I burned my eyes into their backs. My hand had possessively latched onto Cassie’s ass without me even noticing. I didn’t care. It made them get the fucking clue and leave.
“Time to get you in the water. I think the sharks in there are less predatory than these assholes on the shore,” I said, turning and staring into her eyes. The sunlight was hitting her, putting an extra gleam into them.
“Huh? “ She looked confused. “I’m not so sure I’m ready,” she said, a bit hesitant to walk down with me. I gave h
er a reassuring look and gently tugged on her hand, finally getting her to move her feet and make her way down into the water with me.
“Holy shit, it’s cold.”
“You’ll get used to it. Come on.”
She finally obliged and allowed me to take her farther out into the water. The first wave that came crashed down on her, making her tumble under the water. She came up, her eyes wide as she gasped for air. After a few seconds she smiled, placating my erratically beating heart. The next few waves she waited too long and missed, but on her next try, she caught it perfectly, coasting all the way back onto the shore. We spent the next couple of hours boarding and swimming.
My stomach was beginning to grumble, so I led her out and back up the sand.
“Wait here. I’m going to get our dinner.”
I kissed her then ran off, leaving her sitting there looking dumbfounded. The sun was beginning to set, and the people were filing out, leaving us in our own little secluded spot. I pulled out a sea bag and lugged it back to where Cassie sat, pulling out a towel to wrap her up in before tackling anything else.
There was a hole dug in the sand from what looked to be a previous bonfire, so I chucked some wood from my bag into it, lighting it on fire and waiting for the flames to grow before pulling the hotdogs out and sticking them on skewers.
“Gourmet meal right here,” I said, placing my dog into the fire, burning it and forming a crispy, black layer on the outside. “It doesn’t get any better than this.”
“It beats chow hall food,” she said, doing almost the same, but pulling hers out a bit sooner. She ate away, asking for a second and burning it before devouring it. Her hearty appetite impressed me. For such a small girl, she could definitely throw down some food.
“So is this your first time at a beach?”
“Yep. First time at a beach. First time eating food on a stick. Well, besides a corndog. I never camped or anything like that.”
Low laughter rolled out of me as I fixed another hot dog. “Is that why you joined the Corps? You wanted to get out and see the world?”
She stiffened a bit, and I could tell that I had hit a sore subject. Whatever her reasons were for joining, they didn’t come easy, and the last thing I wanted to do was sour the trip by making her uncomfortable.
“You don’t have to answer that.”
“No, it’s okay. But may I have something to drink first?”
I reached into one of the iced bags and pulled out a bottle of water, handing it to her. She unscrewed the top and took a few long sips.
“I joined the Corps for a couple of reasons. First, I needed to get away from my mother. And two, I wanted to see if I had what it took to be one of the best. I wanted to supremely challenge myself.”
I dropped my skewer and moved over to where she sat, sitting down next to her and pulling her close to me.
“What happened with your mother?”
She blew out a loud breath. “What hasn’t happened with my mother? Let’s see… my mom was once a nurse and got injured at work lifting a patient, so she had to have back surgery. She had the surgery, and for months I had to take care of her while my dad was out on the road making a living for us.”
“What did your dad do?” I asked, wanting to know everything about her.
“My dad was a truck driver, so he was gone quite a bit. Anyway, my mom was on all sorts of pills and got addicted to them. She’d be screaming and ravaging the house for anything she could find. Her pill popping turned into alcohol abuse, and my dad tried hard to get her to go to rehab, but she refused, instead cursing and threatening him every which way, including physically attacking him. He went on a trip one day and never came back. I’ve resented him ever since for not taking me with him.”
I pulled her even closer. Her story hit me, leaving me distraught and helpless for her. “So did things ever get any better?”
“A bit. She laid off the alcohol for a while, but the pill popping didn’t stop. I never got to have the fun that normal kids had like movies sleepovers. I had to parent my intoxicated mom, and there was no way in hell I was going to have anyone over to my house, so I just kept to myself, hoping no one would ever pry and make me spill my deep, dark secret.”
I kissed her head a few times, hoping to reassure her that she was safe with me, in loving, affectionate arms.
“So how did the Corps factor into all of this?”
She tensed again, slowly exhaling a deep breath before turning her head and looking directly into my eyes.
“You won’t think of me any differently, will you?”
“No. Tell me.”
She blew out another breath before speaking again. “Well, I earned a full academic scholarship to BYU. It was like a dream come true. My way of moving on to bigger and better things, while also getting the hell away from my mom. Unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned.”
She looked up at me again, worry staining her face. I kissed her forehead, prompting her to continue.
“The last six months of high school, I had this boyfriend, Colton. I was a virgin, he was my very first boyfriend, and I thought I was totally in love. He told me every smooth thing under the sun, promising me forever while pushing me to further cement our love by sleeping with him. I didn’t give in at first, but after a few times I finally did, thinking it was going to be like unicorns floating on big puffy white clouds. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Colton did what he had to do to make himself feel good, not caring about me. When it was over, I was hurt...so ashamed and feeling like a piece of trash. He promised that it was just because it was my first time, so I continued on in hopes that it would get better. It never did.”
I played with her hair as she continued speaking, fury festering inside of me at this dickwad who I didn’t even know, who shouldn’t have even mattered. He sounded like a weasel, and a slick one at that. The fire burned brighter as the sun set, and the winds picked up, making me wrap my arms around her even tighter.
“So in my last few months of high school, I started to feel very sluggish and had a hard time getting to school in the morning. That wasn’t like me, so one of the only two friends I had, Jenny, tells me to take a pregnancy test. I thought the idea was absurd, so I brushed it off, but after a few more days of the same thing, I finally did it. It came back positive, and I could have died. I saw was my life evaporating before my eyes. My mom was so high on pills that I would go home and cry in my room for hours. I’d cry at school in the bathroom. I just didn’t know what I would do.”
“What did you do?”
“I finally told my mom and shit hit the fan. In the midst of her screaming came pushing, then punching. She told me that she’d have me at the clinic first thing the next morning to take care of my problem.”
I heard sniffles as she gently wiped away a couple of tears.
“I told her there was no way that I was doing that. That I would just have to find a way to make it work. That turned into an all-out assault. I showed up to school the next day with a swollen, busted lip and a few bruises, but the beatings continued. Whenever she got pissed at whatever it was that pissed her off, it triggered her anger, sending her fists and defamatory words flying my way. She didn’t even show up to my graduation. She refused because she said it meant nothing since I wouldn’t be doing shit with myself afterwards.”
Her voice was broken by the end. How anyone could treat another living soul, especially their own flesh and blood, the way her mom had treated her was unreal to me. I had always heard about shitty parents, but never with anyone that I personally knew.
“What the fuck did that mean? You had a fucking scholarship lined up.”
“You aren’t familiar with BYU are you?”
I shook my head. College wasn’t a high priority for me when I was growing up.
“Well, BYU is a highly religious school, and there are rules prohibiting pre-marital sex. You could be kicked out of school for it. So, showing up pregnant wouldn’t have been a good idea.
”
I nodded my head. That was news to me.
“So what happened with Colton?” I asked, feeling like I could rip his balls off and shove them down his throat if I ever got the chance to meet him.
“I was probably three months along, getting closer to graduation when I told him. He was surprised and looked sick, but said he loved me and would be there for me and our baby. I was excited since I had been having such a rough go around with my mom. But the closer we inched towards graduation, the more distant he became until he just stopped talking to me altogether. His mom told me that she would file a restraining order if I didn’t stop harassing him. I was shattered. He had been promising me so much, and to turn his back on me like that really broke me. It tore me apart.”
I couldn’t take anymore. I stood up, needing to walk as the blood felt like it had stopped circulating through my body, leaving me completely uncomfortable. I placed my hands on the sides of my face, rubbing as I tried to allow of this to sink in.