Harry (Southern Sands Book 2)

by A. M. Williams

  Bailey nodded. “Fine with me. I’m just along for the ride.”

  She leaned her head back and slowly drifted off, only coming to when Karlie shook her leg.

  “Hey, sleepyhead. We’re here.”

  Bailey blinked and looked around, seeing that they were in fact parked by the pier at Wrightsville Beach.

  “Sorry,” she said as she yawned and stretched. “Didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”

  “It’s no big deal.” Karlie shrugged before getting out of the car.

  Bailey joined Karlie outside, the humid air immediately sucking the breath from her lungs.

  “Jesus,” she muttered as she grabbed her bag and shut the car door with her hip, “it’s hot as hell out here.”

  Sweat had already broke out across her brow and she’d only been outside for a few moments.

  “Help me get the chairs and then we can get some waters from the pier shop before claiming a spot,” Karlie called from the trunk of her car.

  Bailey joined her at the trunk and grabbed a chair, hoisting the strap over her shoulder. “Lead the way.”

  They plodded their way across the sizzling pavement, crossed the busy main street, and trudged up the small set of stairs to the pier shop. Just that short trip winded Bailey and she struggled not to pant. Had she let herself go that much? Or was it just that hot? She chose to believe it was the heat sucking the life out of her and not her getting out of shape.

  They pushed through the door and she sighed as the cold air conditioning washed over her skin. She stepped up to the cooler and grabbed four bottles of water before she turned and saw Karlie standing at a stand full of chips.

  “I grabbed us some waters.” She held them up to show Karlie.

  “Okay. Should we get snacks?” Karlie indicated the stand of chips.

  Bailey thought for a moment before saying, “I’d wait. It’s pretty hot and we might not stay too long. We can always run back in here if need be.”

  Karlie nodded and they made their way to the counter to pay. Bailey pulled cash out of her wallet, refusing to let Karlie pay since she’d driven. They then steeled themselves to walk back into the scorching heat.

  Once outside, they made their way to the sand and Bailey winced as some hot granules slipped into her flip-flop. It was still fairly early in the day, but the sand was already scorching hot.

  They walked as quickly as they could through the soft sand until they reached the packed portion of the beach and could stand comfortably. They scanned the area until Karlie pointed to an empty spot a little ways down.

  Soon their chairs were set up, sunscreen had been applied, their water bottles had been opened, and they were lounging in the sun.

  Neither spoke for the longest time. Bailey soaked up the sun and sipped her water, enjoying the solitude. Since Karlie had gotten serious about Jax, the two of them hadn’t hung out as much. As happy as she was for her best friend, she missed her. This was made doubly hard with the weird spot she was in with Harry. She sighed and shifted in her chair, debating if she should flip over or not.

  “So,” Karlie’s voice broke the silence. Bailey opened one eye and squinted at Karlie. “Want to fill me in on this weird shit with Harry?”

  Her eye snapped shut and she debated feigning that she was asleep. Apparently, Karlie was on to her, however. “Don’t try and sit there like you’re asleep. I know you too well.”

  Bailey rolled her eyes before opening them, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the bright light. “I’m not sure what you want to hear.”

  “We can start with the truth.” Karlie was certainly blunt today, wasn’t she?

  Bailey sighed and decided she would turn over. She stood and fiddled with her chair, laying it back and rearranging her towel as she considered her response.

  “I don’t even know what to say about it, honestly,” she told Karlie as she settled onto her stomach and closed her eyes, basking in the warmth caressing her back.

  Silence reigned for several moments before Bailey sighed again. It was obvious Karlie was going to wait her out. “It’s just so awkward. I don’t know how else to put it. We had a misunderstanding and haven’t spoken since.”

  “I thought I saw the two of you talking at the bar a month ago or whatever.” Karlie’s chair creaked and Bailey cracked an eye to see her friend was laying her own chair back.

  Bailey snorted as she remembered that night. “Yeah, I talked, he listened. Nothing more.”

  “That’s odd.”

  Bailey opened her eyes and saw that Karlie was looking at her, sunglasses pulled down her nose.

  “It is. I’m not too certain what the deal is with him and me, it’s just awkward as fuck.”

  Karlie pushed her sunglasses back up her nose and settled onto her stomach, tilting her head to rest on the pillow along the top. “Y’all didn’t talk at all while the band was gone?”

  “Nope.”

  “Nothing?”

  “Nada.” Bailey wasn’t going to give another answer, so she wasn’t sure why Karlie was harping on it all of a sudden.

  “I just…I find it so hard to believe that y’all haven’t talked.”

  Bailey snorted. “We don’t talk all the time.”

  “Girl, please. The two of you are butt buddies, even when you’re not fucking. When was the last time you went any significant amount of time without talking to him?” Bailey’s mind immediately flashed back to their initial break up seven years earlier. Karlie continued, “The only time I can think of is when y’all were dating in college. Even when you’ve had a falling out, it’s only lasted a couple of weeks, tops. This has been going on for, what, a month or more?”

  “Five weeks.” But who’s counting?

  “And you have no idea what’s up?”

  Bailey shrugged. She wasn’t ready to talk through her feelings with Karlie. Was she being stupid and irrational? Yes, probably. But that didn’t make her want to talk it through any more than before. Though she knew that talking to someone about what she was thinking and feeling would help her work through it, the thought of actually doing so gave her hives.

  She needed, no, she wanted to work through this by herself before revealing her inner-most thoughts and feelings to someone else. She didn’t want someone else’s thoughts or opinions to color this, as she could tell that once she allowed herself to really think this through, it would be a big revelation for her. And she wasn’t sure she was ready for it.

  Karlie didn’t ask any more questions and Bailey was relieved. She knew that she shouldn’t be scared to talk about it with her best friend because that’s what best friends were for. Keeping everything from Karlie wouldn’t be a bad thing though. It would just allow her to work through everything in her own way, at her own pace.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Harry

  Harry had been on three dates with Emily and while he still didn’t get a full zing when he was with her, they had a lot of fun. Conversation was easy and they never seemed to run out of things to talk about. Tonight marked a point in their relationship where he thought things were going to change. He’d invited her over for dinner since he knew Jax would be staying at Karlie’s.

  Nothing against his best friend, but the dude was a total cock block. Chicks dug his blond hair and good looks, so even though he wasn’t available, he still got hit on all the time.

  Admittedly, Harry was nervous to have Emily over to the house. Though they still hadn’t labeled anything, they were exclusive and having her over implied they were possibly getting more serious.

  Harry walked through the house, double-checking that it was clean, as he thought over his relationship with Emily. Though he and Jax were reasonably neat, they were guys, so cleaning wasn’t a high priority, normally. It would be just his luck that one of them would leave something laying around no one wanted to see.

  After making sure nothing was out of place, he went to the oven to check the spaghetti he picked up from the local pizza place earlier. He place
d the foil dish in the oven when he got home to keep it warm. Harry wasn’t much of a cook. He could make simple things to survive, but that was about it. He didn’t want his first attempt at cooking for Emily to be a disaster, so he ordered out instead of attempting to make something.

  He wiped his hands on his pants, finding them suddenly sweaty as he contemplated the evening to come. He hoped that it would go well, for a multitude of reasons. He hadn’t wanted to make such a good impression in a long time. He refused to consider the last time he felt this nervous.

  The doorbell rang. He took a fortifying breath before he walked to the door and opened it, smiling at Emily. She was wearing a red sundress with small polka dots that flattered her.

  “Hey, come in.” He stepped back to allow her to enter.

  “This is a nice house,” she said as the stepped past, craning her neck to see into the living room.

  He nodded his head. “Yeah, we were lucky to find it when we did. Do you want to put your purse down or anything?”

  He took it from her and hung it from one of the pegs by the door. “You want the five cent tour?”

  She nodded and he walked her through the tiny house, showing her the living room, bedrooms, guest bathroom, and eventually the kitchen and backyard. It didn’t take long.

  “Uh…so dinner is in the oven if you’re ready to eat?” he asked once they were back in the kitchen.

  “Yeah, sure. You cooked?” She nodded, looking at him impressed.

  His face heated as he led her toward the table in the breakfast nook. “Well, no. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pull it off, so I ordered spaghetti and bread from the pizzeria.”

  She nodded. “Oh, cool. Well, they have great food, so it should be good!”

  He pulled a chair out at the table for her, helping her sit before going to retrieve their dinner from the oven. After placing it in the middle of the table, he gave her a serving with some garlic bread.

  He dished some up for himself and then sat across from her. They were silent as they started eating and Harry wracked his brain for something to talk about with her. It was awkward, which wasn’t normal, and he wasn’t quite sure why. He finished chewing and wiped his mouth before asking, “How were your lessons today? You did have lessons, right?”

  She nodded as she chewed, looking at him apologetically as she quickly tried to finish, covering her mouth with her napkin. She swallowed and took a sip of water. “Sorry, didn’t want to talk with my mouth full.”

  “No worries.”

  “Yeah, I had some lessons today. They were…okay.” She took a bite of her garlic bread, chewing thoughtfully.

  He raised a brow at her last word. “Only okay?”

  She shrugged and twirled her fork in her pasta but didn’t bring it to her mouth.

  “I don’t know.” She placed her fork on the edge of her plate. “I sometimes look at my pupils and wonder why they bother. Do you get what I mean?”

  Harry thought he got what she meant, but didn’t want to assume, so he shook his head. He’d rather she explain.

  She sighed and leaned back, crossing her arms. “They just don’t improve. Out of the consistent pupils I have, only a small number show any improvement in their technique to the point that I think they’re worthwhile to keep on.”

  Harry was taken aback. That was her stance? He sipped his water before responding, not wanting to put his foot in his mouth. “How do they think they get on? Do they do performances?”

  “I join up with a few other local teachers to do a recital each spring, so each of my pupils will perform in that. They think they’re fine. I haven’t figured out how to tell them their playing or singing grates on my nerves and they either need to practice more or quit.”

  His brows rose as she spoke. Harry didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t a music or voice teacher, so he wasn’t sure whatever he thought would be valid. But he certainly didn’t think people should take lessons from someone that didn’t believe they could improve nor seemed active in helping them figure it out. That rankled him a bit that Emily was so blasé about the people she taught. If she felt this way about her pupils, people she was paid to help, then what did that say about what she thought about others?

  This was the second time she’d made comments that were judgmental, and he wasn’t prepared to dissect what this meant about her character. He endeavored to change the topic to something else; no need to dwell on something like that when they were trying to have a nice meal.

  The rest of dinner went off without a hitch and after they cleaned up, they went to the back patio to enjoy the cooler evening temperature. They each sat in a folding lawn chair only a few inches apart.

  Harry glanced at Emily repeatedly from the corner of his eye until he decided to bite the bullet and reached over to grab her hand. He noticed her smile and couldn’t stop a grin from spreading across his own face. No words were exchanged between them for the longest time.

  Eventually, he tugged on her hand and pulled her to sit in his lap. Once she was nestled there, he ran his fingers lightly up and down her arm, raising gooseflesh in their wake. He waited to see if she’d react by pushing him away or pulling him closer, but she did neither.

  When it became obvious that she wasn’t going to make a move, he tilted her face toward his own and pressed a kiss to her lips. It wasn’t their first kiss. That had happened on date two, but it was certainly their most intimate one.

  She sighed and melted further into him but still did nothing. Her lack of participation to this point bothered him but chalked it up to nerves as he deepened their kiss, licking the seam of her lips, asking for entrance.

  They sat there, kissing for an untold amount of time until Harry felt that he couldn’t wait to take her inside any longer. His arousal was getting to the point of pain and they either needed to stop or move to the next level.

  “You want to go inside?” he asked in a husky voice.

  She nodded and he helped her stand before he tugged her along behind him, pulling her into his room and shutting the door.

  After, Emily lay in his arms, asleep, her breath fanning across his chest. His fingers idly played with the ends of her long hair as he recalled their aerobics of the last few hours. Being with her was fun..

  Except…except that when they were together, he couldn’t help but think of Bailey. Emily was fairly submissive in bed, not taking the initiative on anything. If he wanted to do something, she let him. She didn’t try to touch him unless he prompted it.

  In a way, that wasn’t a deal breaker. Maybe she was just shy and would become more adventurous as they spent more time together. He couldn’t help but think that it was a bit of a turn off as well. He didn’t want someone that was overly aggressive, but he wanted an active participant. He could push past her lack of aggression.

  He’d been with only Bailey for so long that he forgot not all women were more open with their sexuality and willing to take the lead. He just needed to get used to it. Every woman was different and he shouldn’t compare Emily to someone that seemed to be firmly planted in his past.

  A few hours later, Harry blinked as he woke up, trying to adjust to what brought him out of sleep. He looked at the clock and saw that it was just after eight, his normal time to wake up. He felt a weight on his right arm and looked to see Emily lying on it, staring at him.

  He smiled. “Good morning.”

  “Morning,” she returned, giving him a shy smile.

  As he looked at her, sleepy and rumpled, he became aware of his morning wood and strongly desired that she do something about it.

  “You been up long?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “A few hours now.”

  That gave him pause and his brows furrowed. “A few hours? Why didn’t you wake me or get up or something?”

  She shrugged again and dropped her gaze. “I didn’t want to wake you or anything.”

  Well, that was a first. He’d never known a woman to not be willing to just make herself at
home. He pushed it to the side though as he rolled to face her, pulling one of her legs over his.

  “Since you’re still here,” he whispered in her ear, “why don’t we have some fun.”

  Emily wiggled against his arousal and he groaned at the sensation. He then realized she wasn’t wiggling against him on purpose, she was trying to move away.

  He released her and rolled to his back again, watching as she scrambled from the bed and gathered her clothing before shutting herself in the bathroom, the lock clicking softly.

  This was another first. He watched the door for several seconds before getting up and pulling a pair of shorts on before going to the kitchen to turn the coffeemaker on. While the first cup was brewing, Emily stepped out of his room and looked at him nervously.

  “Coffee?” he asked, nodding to the cup under the spout.

  “No, I’m sorry. I have to run. I forgot that I have an appointment this morning.” She shifted nervously, her eyes darting around the room.

  His brows rose. This was yet another first. She was trying to get out of the house like it was on fire. Instead of commenting, he just nodded. “Let me walk you to the door.”

  They walked in silence. Harry wracked his brain trying to figure out what was going on with Emily. Before opening the door, he looked at her and asked, “Is everything okay? I get the feeling it's not for some reason?”

  She shook her head quickly, eyes wide. “No, everything is fine. I just have a doctor’s appointment this morning and I forgot about it until you woke up. Really, last night was great. Perfect really.”

  He pursed his lips as he studied her, trying to decide if she was being honest or not. He didn’t see any deceit there, but that really didn’t mean a whole lot. He finally nodded and said, “Okay. Talk to you later?”

  She nodded, and he leaned down to press a kiss to her lips, which she returned with enthusiasm, before she abruptly pulled away and opened the door, almost bumping into Jax on his way out. The two of them watched her walk briskly to her car and pull away.