Pull (A Seaside Novel Book 2)

by Rachel Van Dyken

  hang out with them? At least he had the luxury of money and the

  choice to do whatever he wanted with it.

  “Sure feels close.” I huffed, blowing my shorter layers of

  hair away from my face. “Anyway, thanks for stopping by, now if

  you’ll just…” I pointed to the door.

  Demetri didn’t move.

  Of course not.

  “Nope, I came to find you for a reason, and it wasn’t torture.

  Though I’d love nothing more than to bring you so much pleasure

  that you scream my name.”

  I felt myself blush as I looked away.

  “I want us to be friends.”

  “Excuse me?” I was in the process of taking off my

  sweatshirt, so I could jump in the shower, only it got caught on my

  head, making me run into the dresser.

  “Friends.” I could feel his warm body inches from mine, his

  hands reached up and tugged the sweatshirt off me, leaving me

  feeling naked as his eyes boldly scanned my body. “I want to be

  your friend.”

  The way he said friend reminded me of the way the shark in

  Finding Nemo chased Marlin in hopes to be friends not food.

  “Friends,” I repeated.

  “Friends.” He leaned closer, finally resting his forearm on

  the wall above my head.

  “I have friends.”

  “You said they moved away.”

  “So I have one friend.”

  “Really?” He looked intrigued.

  Crap. I was the worst liar ever. “Yup, I have a friend.”

  “What’s your friend’s name?”

  My eyes darted to the floor. He even had nice Converse

  shoes that seemed expensive, even though I knew they weren’t.

  Ugh. “Sally.”

  “Sally?” He laughed. “Is she eighty?”

  I tilted my chin up. “Nope, and we have plans today.”

  “You do?” He wasn’t buying it. His grin seemed to widen as

  my lie got bigger.

  “Yup, so if you’ll just excuse me. I’m going to be late.”

  With a chuckle, he pulled back and went to the door.

  “Alright, Lyssa, I’ll give you this one. You know where to find me,

  if you need a… friend.”

  “No, I don’t.” Crap. The words were out before I could stop

  them.

  “Oh.” He winked. “How rude of me. Here.” He put a slip of

  paper in my hand and kissed my knuckles. “Have fun with Patty.”

  “It’s Sally!” I called.

  “Right.” His laugh echoed through the house as he left.

  My hand was clenched tightly around the slip of paper he

  gave me. Unable to stifle my curiosity, I pulled it open and

  laughed. It had his cell number, his home number, his agent’s

  number, his email, his Facebook and LinkedIn profile, as well as his

  address.

  Now that was interesting. Mrs. Murray was his neighbor. I’d

  always been curious about who owned the gorgeous beach house

  next door to hers. Now I knew. At least I lived a few miles away

  from him. It was hard enough knowing that we’d been seeing the

  same shrink.

  I threw the piece of paper in the trash. Impossible. I couldn’t

  do it. I couldn’t be his friend. When you were friends with boys, it

  never worked. It always turned into something more, and then

  when you got really close, the one person you swore you’d give

  your everything to, leaves. Clearly, I was still struggling with past

  demons.

  Emotion welled in my throat. They leave you with nothing,

  but sharp jagged pieces of your memories together. Each time I

  wore the sweatshirt, it was like another cut. Each time I saw the

  Justin Bieber poster, the cut got deeper.

  But as long as I was cutting myself emotionally and not

  physically… At least I felt pain. At least I knew it was real.

  A tear escaped from my eye and dropped to the floor before

  I could brush it away.

  I glanced back at the trash can.

  Muttering a curse, I retrieved the paper. Just in case.

  ****

  I only kind of lied. I mean, I was visiting a friend. That is, if a

  friend is an insanely old seal that lives at the Seaside Aquarium.

  The staff knew me by name and always had little fish

  waiting for me, so I could feed the seals. It was what I did on my

  day off, another one of my ways to remember the pain. Brady had

  loved seals. I always thought they were stupid. I mean, who claps

  when they eat food?

  But one day, Brady pointed out to me that I did exactly that.

  If I ate something that was really good or that made me happy, I’d

  clap my hands. He’d roll with laughter. Thus, my new nickname

  became Little Seal.

  It was typical for us to visit the aquarium on the weekdays

  when it wasn’t that busy, and then a few months before the

  accident, he got a job there.

  I was there every day.

  Old habits die hard.

  “Hey, Alyssa!” Sam was already standing by the seals,

  throwing them their morning meal. He graduated a few years

  before me and was close to Brady, like really close — they were

  brothers. He was one of the few people who stayed behind after

  graduation. Consequently, he healed just fine after the accident.

  Apparently boys aren’t as emotional as girls. He put everything

  into his studies and sports, and after a while, we just stopped

  talking, unless I stopped by to feed the seals. Honestly, it was just

  too hard being near him. It reminded me of everything I lost that

  day. Recently we’d fallen into a sort of routine. I think he felt

  responsible for me somehow, which was ridiculous. He gave me

  the fish, I fed the fish to the seal, we made small talk, and he gave

  me a hug.

  So, sadly we talked once a day about things that didn’t even

  matter, and never about Brady. Saying his name out loud was

  something I never did. It hurt too much.

  “How’s work?” Sam threw another fish and politely handed

  me the bucket so I could join in.

  I shrugged. “Well, I figure I’m a few taffy pieces away from

  curing world hunger, so that’s good.”

  “Awesome.” He chuckled. “I know you’ve been working on

  that one like your whole life. Great accomplishment.”

  “Yes, I hope to cure cancer next.”

  “My, my, you’re driven.”

  I laughed and threw another fish toward my favorite seal.

  Sally swam up next to me and splashed water near my face.

  “So, rumor has it that one of the famous AD2 members has

  kind of a thing for you.”

  “Rumors suck,” I grumbled, patting the water next to Sally.

  “He’s bad news, Alyssa.”

  I froze for a minute then shook my head in denial.

  “Nothing’s going on.”

  “Okay.” Sam put up his hands. “I just wanted to warn you,

  that’s all. I know you probably don’t know what happened last

  year, since you were basically MIA all year and stuff…” He just

  waved his hand in the air. “But he was dating that girl Nat Murray

  for like a few months, then the brother started dating her. I still

  don’t know what happened, but he nearly overdosed on drugs and

  killed himself.�
��

  Well, I wasn’t expecting that, but it gave me another good

  reason to reject Demetri’s friendship. Surrounding myself with a

  guy like that would do nothing but get me into trouble.

  “I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to people talking about me. I

  mean, I’m famous, but still…” a deep voice said from behind us.

  I swallowed the dryness in my throat. My eyes flickered

  between Sam and Demetri. “What are you doing here?”

  “I like fish.”

  “They’re seals.”

  “Damn, the pamphlet said aquarium. You understand my

  confusion.” He winked.

  Sam stood in front of me.

  “You must be Sally.” Demetri held out his hand.

  Laughter bubbled out of me before I could stop it. I put my

  hand over my mouth; it smelled like fish, but I didn’t care. The look

  on Sam’s face was priceless.

  “No.” Sam swallowed and stepped farther in front of me.

  “That is Sally.” He pointed to the seal, which chose that exact time

  to splash all three of us.

  Demetri’s clothes were drenched. His tank top was suddenly

  molded across his perfect abs. I fought to keep my jaw from

  dropping. No guy just out of high school should have that nice of

  body. Everything told me to avert my eyes, but like an idiot, I just

  kept staring.

  “I think Sally’s upset,” Demetri finally said, wiping his face.

  “Must be the company.” Sam sneered.

  Demetri smirked. “I like your friends, Lyssa.”

  “We’re not —” I stopped talking, because to say I wasn’t

  Sam’s friend would be hurtful. But friends didn’t give up on you,

  and Sam had. Sally, however, was a completely different story.

  “To be clear, I meant the seal,” Demetri said, saving me.

  “Can I feed her?”

  “Sure.” I grabbed the bucket from Sam’s clenched fingers

  and handed it to Demetri. “Just don’t let her bite you.”

  He grabbed a few fish and tossed them to Sally. Demetri’s

  rich laughter was like water to a marathon runner. It was

  intoxicating, beautiful, deep. I took a step away from him. “So, still

  stalking me I see.”

  “Not at all.” He shook his head and grabbed another fish.

  Sam stood on the other side of him, brooding. “I was bored, and

  since my friend wouldn’t come hang out with me, I decided to do

  the only touristy thing I could find in this town.”

  “Taffy. Why don’t you check out the taffy?” Sam offered,

  obviously trying to get rid of him.

  “Ah, now there’s a fun story. I work at Seaside Taffy.”

  Demetri shrugged. “So, it’s not very touristy for me anymore.”

  “You?” Sam sputtered. “Work?”

  “I sing the jingle. Wanna hear it?” Demetri looked dead

  serious. I laughed again. Why the heck was he being nice to Sam,

  when Sam was being a genuine ass?

  Sam nodded his head. “If it makes you leave, I’ll hear it.”

  “No such luck, friend.” He jumped down from the concrete

  step and went to wash his hands. “I’ll leave on my own. I don’t

  need to sing in order to gain permission to do so.” He winked at

  me. “Pleasure seeing you again, Lyssa, and Sam, nice meeting you.

  We should hang out sometime. I’m gonna go into the aquarium.

  You know since I paid to see fish and all.” With a grin he walked

  off.

  Sam and I stood in silence.

  “He’s, uhh…” Sam scratched his head.

  “Not nearly as hostile as you,” I pointed out.

  “I was being protective.” Sam’s eyes flashed as he grabbed

  my hand and pulled me close to his body. He’d never acted like

  this before, and I didn’t like it. What the hell was wrong with him?

  “Since when did I nominate you as my protector?” I jerked

  away.

  He glared. “You didn’t. But I’m sure it’s what Brady would

  have wanted. After all, I’ve been protecting both of you for years

  now. And now he comes into the picture?”

  I tried to pull away, but Sam’s grip tightened. “What would

  Brady think, Lyss?”

  “I have to go.” I threw the bucket down and ran into the

  aquarium. I wasn’t sure why I was running toward Demetri, but I

  was frantic.

  Chapter Ten

  Demetri

  So, I officially looked like some creepy stalker. Really, it was

  a first for me. I mean, I liked Alyssa, but not enough to actually

  stalk her every waking move. She must think I’m a total and

  complete lunatic. I wouldn’t blame her if she burned my numbers

  tonight in a trash can and cast a spell over the fire to render me

  unconscious.

  I tapped the pamphlet against my leg as I walked slowly

  around the darkened aquarium. It wasn’t very impressive for being

  the one tourist attraction. In fact, it was quite small. But the seals

  were kind of cool, and they did let you touch a lot of the animals.

  The five-year-old inside of me was pumping his fist in the air when

  they said it was okay to touch the octopus.

  I sighed and walked by the miniature sharks, or whatever

  the heck they were called. My thoughts took me back to meeting

  the guy Alyssa had been with. Was he a boyfriend? Maybe I read

  her all wrong. She didn’t seem to appreciate his protective stance.

  But even I had to admit he was some serious competition in

  the looks department. Obviously I needed to be lifting more and

  stop being so lazy after work.

  “Demetri?” I heard my name, and then a body ran into me

  so fast I nearly fell into the glass aquarium, to release the tiny shark

  to feed on every human in its wake.

  “Lyssa? What’s wrong?”

  Her face was flushed, her nostrils flared. Was she crying?

  I leaned in closer. She backed up as if scared. “I, uh, I’m

  scared of sharks.”

  “It’s in a glass cage.” I pointed out.

  “You nearly broke it.”

  “Because you ran into me.”

  “Do you want to hang out or not?” she huffed.

  What. The. Hell.

  Something was up. But at least counseling had taught me

  one thing: when girls were upset, you didn’t make things worse by

  forcing them to talk about it, and then you didn’t try to fix

  everything and give them a slap on the back when they were done.

  So I nodded my head and grabbed her hand. She didn’t pull

  away. Thrilled that she actually let me hold her hand, I led her out

  of the aquarium straight by Sam, who looked like he was getting

  ready to sic Sally on me.

  I was never one for drama with other dudes.

  Maybe it was because I always won, except when it came to

  my brother. Hence the need for drugs in the first place. I wonder

  what that said about my personality? Rejection leads me down a

  path of destruction? Awesome. At any rate, my motto had always

  been that when women someday take over the world, I’m going to

  need all the testosterone on my side that I can get. It was never wise

  to make enemies with those who’d protect your manhood when a

  girl wanted to take a machete to you.

  “So where
to?” I asked once we were out in the warm salty

  air.

  Alyssa looked down the boardwalk. “Wanna go for a

  swim?”

  “Do you have wetsuits?” Last year I tried to get Nat to swim

  with me in the ocean and nearly froze my toes off. She thought it

  was hilarious. I wanted to die and was pretty sure my voice, as well

  as other parts of my body, didn’t return to normal for hours.

  “Yup, follow me.” She led me down a few steps, then

  walked into a surf shop. “I need an extra large and an extra small.”

  “The extra large is for me.” I winked at the lady behind the

  desk. She blushed.

  Alyssa hit me. “Pretty sure that’s obvious, Dem.”

  “Aw.” I tilted my head to the side. “I have a nickname too!”

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, it kind of sounds like damn,

  which means to go hell. I thought it fit.”

  God, she was beautiful when she was feisty. “You care.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “Admit it, you kind of do.”

  Our argument was interrupted by the sales lady. I insisted

  on paying for the rentals.

  Alyssa pointed out the dressing rooms, and I ran in to

  change.

  Extra large was not large enough.

  Not by any stretch of the imagination.

  Who did they make these things for? Fifth graders?

  I cleared my throat a few times and tried to give the boys

  some room. Hopefully, I’d still be able to reproduce after this little

  adventure.

  I felt myself flush when I emerged from the dressing room.

  Alyssa had put her hair back and looked like a goddess. Trying not

  to kiss her today was probably going to be the hardest thing I’d

  ever done. Even harder than giving up drugs. Hell, she was like a

  drug. I just wanted to be around her all the time.

  “Ready?” She bit her lip and crossed her arms. Her eyes

  scanned me with amusement. “A little tight?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You sure?”

  “Let’s go.” I put my arm around her and led her out of the

  store.

  ****

  The water was just as cold as I remembered, but it was at

  least eighty-five out, so at least the air was warm.

  “You ever use a skimboard before?” Alyssa called out to me.

  “No, but I surf. I think I’ll be okay.”

  She shrugged.

  I was not okay.

  I fell on my ass at least twenty times while she skimmed by

  me like a pro.