Sushi and Sun Salutations

by Hutchinson, Heidi

  Truth.

  “What?” Lo asked around a laugh.

  “It’s a long story,” Tessa muttered as she dropped her purse by the door. A story she would tell later. Probably with wine. “Do you have any tea or anything? I’m so thirsty. And water is boring.”

  Lo lost interest in Tessa and sat down with Spencer.

  Thank God.

  Their voices dropped to a murmur in the background as Tessa dug through Lo’s empty cupboards.

  She was such a freaking spaz. There was no reason for her to be so jumpy about knowing Kip.

  None.

  Right?

  ***

  KIP

  “You wanna talk about it?” Kip finally asked when Bo hadn’t spoken for ten full minutes.

  They’d driven Brady down to Soaring Bird to meet with Shane and no one had said much.

  Brady had gotten out and headed inside, leaving Bo and Kip alone in the truck.

  But it didn’t feel like they were alone. It felt like there was something or someone else consuming Bo’s thoughts.

  Bo’s gaze drifted to the silver chain hanging from his rearview mirror.

  “Have you ever made a choice that you knew was the best, even though it was…insanely hard…only to find out that it didn’t turn out the way it should have?”

  Kip glanced at the silver chain, trying to place when it had first arrived in Bo’s truck but he couldn’t remember. It had hung from the rearview mirror in all of Bo’s vehicles. A thin, aged, silver chain. The clasp was broken so it was tied in an ugly knot at both ends. There’d never been a pendant.

  Bo’s phone buzzed and he sighed before flipping it open. He read whatever was on the screen and slipped it back into his pocket.

  “I need to be somewhere. Can you give Brady a ride back to the house?”

  Kip nodded. “Not a problem. I’m making dinner tonight. You gonna be around?” he asked as he opened the truck door.

  “Yeah, I should be back by then.”

  Kip watched Bo back out and then head north.

  For as close as they all were, and always had been, each one of them had secrets it seemed.

  He hoped his friend knew that if he ever needed help shouldering that secret, Kip was available.

  ***

  “You know what? Bite me, Bo!”

  “Bend over, Clementine, and I’ll oblige you!”

  Kip grinned at Tessa when she rested her forehead in her hand, elbow to the table, and sighed. “I’m just glad they haven’t used the garbage disposal yet. When we were kids…there was an incident.”

  Having Brady and Lo back in town had turned everyone’s regularly scheduled lives on their heads.

  But love did that. It took things humans thought should be separate and mixed them into a brand new color—bright, vibrant, and wonderful.

  Kip had made dinner. Brady had invited Lo and her people.

  And now there was color splashing and lives mixing and Kip was seriously digging it.

  Bo and Spencer had been civil during dinner. But then doing the dishes seemed to take a turn.

  Kip didn’t mind. In fact, it was nice to see Bo so lively these days. His affinity for pizza and video games had been growing weary. Spencer’s presence caused a challenge to erupt in his spirit.

  The feud wasn’t all bad.

  Brady and Lo excused themselves for a walk on the beach, leaving Steve, Kip, and Tessa at the table while Bo and Spencer fought it out in the kitchen.

  Steve looped a long arm around the back of Tessa’s chair and tugged on one of her braids.

  “I suppose I should go pack.”

  “I can help you,” Tessa offered, reaching for her glass of water. “I like packing.”

  Steve had been tapped by Shane earlier in the day to solve the Miller Boden issue. He was to leave the next day with Lo on a grand surfing adventure.

  It was a good choice, and Kip saw the logic in it. Even if it meant he now had to fill Steve’s shifts at the shop.

  It also meant that in a few hours, their lives would be relatively quiet again.

  “I don’t know how I feel about a chick going through my underwear drawer.” Steve pursed his lips.

  Tessa set her glass down and her eyes drifted to Kip’s. A small smile followed and he returned it.

  “I’ll pack your underwear,” Kip volunteered with a sigh as he stood up.

  The three of them started towards Steve’s room on the second floor of the massive beach house, with Steve in the lead and Tessa drifting closer to Kip.

  “How long have you guys lived here?” she asked, reaching a delicate hand out to touch the wood grain of the banister.

  “A while now,” Steve answered. “We have too many rooms and not enough parties.”

  Tessa chuckled and threw a grin over her shoulder at Kip. “It’s cleaner than I expected for a bachelor pad.”

  “That’s mostly Kip,” Steve volunteered, pushing open his bedroom door.

  Kip tucked his hands in his pockets and leaned against the door frame. “A cluttered space is a cluttered mind.”

  Tessa made a sound of agreement as she stepped over the rumpled clothes on Steve’s floor. She stopped at the closet and surveyed the contents.

  “Okay, so, you’ll need some basic necessities.” She took a brave step into the closet, her hands flitting lightly over the hanging shirts.

  Kip’s gaze drifted over her as she assessed Steve’s clean laundry choices. Her hair was up again, drawing attention to the curve of her neck. Ink he hadn’t noticed before swirled along one shoulder blade—waves morphing into words.

  “So, you went to school with us, right?” Steve asked.

  “Uh, yeah,” Tessa replied distractedly.

  Kip tore his eyes from Tessa’s profile to find Steve watching him with a knowing smirk on his face. The beach bum flopped onto his rumpled bed and laced his fingers behind his head.

  “You’re the same age as Bo and Spencer. You and Kip must go way back,” Steve fished.

  Kip glared at him, but Steve did.

  Not.

  Care.

  Tessa took a couple shirts out of the closet and draped them over the back of a nearby chair. “Uh—”

  “We didn’t have any classes together,” Kip interjected, wanting to save her.

  “Not even one?” Steve asked suspiciously. “We didn’t go to a big school.”

  Tessa snorted. “Steve, high school was ages ago. I barely remember you and you were the guy who cut the ass off the mascot costume.” She blinked at him seriously. “And then wore it.”

  Steve’s grin turned impish and he waggled his eyebrows. “But you remember me.”

  Tessa rolled her eyes and sighed. She pulled a long sleeve linen shirt out of the closet.

  “Yeah, pack that one,” Steve instructed. “That’s my lady boner shirt.”

  “I don’t even want to know,” Tessa muttered as she gingerly added it to the pile.

  “I’m just surprised your paths didn’t cross in school is all.” Steve, and his annoying laser focus, diving right back to the previous topic.

  “What’s so surprising?” Tessa asked, digging further into the recesses of the closet.

  “Because of the poetry.”

  Kip froze.

  The fuck?

  How did Steve know he wrote poetry?

  Tessa dropped her hands to her sides and twisted her neck to frown at Steve.

  “Poetry?” she asked slowly.

  Steve’s relaxed pose didn’t hide the shrewdness in his gaze. “You’re into poetry and shit, right?”

  Tessa snorted and looked to Kip for help.

  “What’s that got to do with anything?”

  Steve yawned and picked up his phone, flicking through the screens absently. “Because both of you have different sections of the same poem tattooed on your body. And since Kip got his during our senior year in high school… I assumed you did, too.”

  Kip sucked in a sharp breath and his eyes jumped to Te
ssa. She was already looking at him, her lips parted.

  Oh, Steve was a bigger sonofabitch than Kip had originally imagined. They’d never, not even once discussed Kip’s first tattoo. Let alone the poem he’d chosen to immortalize on his skin.

  Tessa’s eyes dropped to the lines on Kip’s arm surrounding the octopus.

  At a certain point he wondered if she’d recognize the words. He had just been hoping he’d have figured out what to say by then.

  Tessa’s eyes lit up and she smiled.

  “Percy Bysshe Shelley?” she asked, naming the poet they’d studied briefly before his first long stay in the hospital.

  Right before everything in his world fell apart.

  Kip could only nod.

  Tessa reached around and tapped the lines on her shoulder with her fingertips. “It was a turning point for me back then. I had no idea Mr. Yates was risking parental and district wrath by teaching us about Shelley at all.” She sighed. “I sure am glad he did though. “Love’s Philosophy” restored my faith.” She turned slightly to catch his eye and shrugged one shoulder. “Well, that and one other person. Someone I was never able to thank.” She sighed wistfully while patting the top of her right thigh and turned back to face the closet. “They both saved my life.”

  Kip tried to speak but his throat was too dry. He cleared it. “Same.”

  CHAPTER 5

  am I reckless for loving you,

  when I’ve never seen your face?

  Don’t love me,

  I’m not meant to last.

  What if I sustain you,

  The way you do me?

  I was born to break.

  I always carry tape.

  -Tessa and Unknown

  TESSA

  Tessa squeezed her eyes shut against the gray light trying to wake her up.

  It was obviously early dawn. Probably one of those picturesque mornings that everyone on Pinterest pretended they would give their lives to see. But Tessa wasn’t that person.

  She was a blackout curtains, sleep until the alarm went off five times, angry at the morning sun until she’d had enough caffeine type of person.

  She groaned as she tried to turn her head into the pillow and block out the light.

  Why hadn’t she closed her curtains before going to bed last night?

  She shoved her face into the soft cotton and rubbed her face back and forth.

  Damn.

  Her pillow smelled really forking good.

  Mmm. Like generic soap and almond cookies.

  “Sweetie, sweetie, sweetie, you have to stop. I’ve gotta pee and you’re hitting that button without mercy.”

  Tessa’s eyes flew open.

  A hand patted the back of head… affectionately?

  “Let me get untangled here…” came the male voice, muttering quietly.

  Tessa’s heart pounded violently in her ribcage even as she was already talking herself down.

  Last night while packing Steve’s suitcase, she’d discovered a case of wine in the closet. Steve went to get some red plastic cups and the three of them split a bottle… and one more.

  Between the first and second bottle, Spencer and Bo’s kitchen argument escalated to a shouting match that had everyone listening from the top of the stairs yet unwilling to intervene.

  Spencer had stormed out.

  Kip, Steve, and Tessa had giggled their way back into Steve’s room where they finished packing and one more bottle of wine. They ended up cuddling and whispering on Steve’s king-sized bed until…

  Until dawn it seemed.

  Steve’s large, warm body slipped out from under her head. She listened to him leave the room and close the bathroom door across the hall before she opened her eyes.

  Her throat protested as she attempted to swallow and work some moisture back into her mouth.

  Carefully, she pressed up onto her forearms and glanced over her shoulder at her current situation.

  Kip slept soundly, curled into the fetal position with a pillow clutched to his chest. He was still wearing that damn beanie and it was pulled low over his eyes, effectively blocking out the light filtering through the window.

  Tessa slowly rolled away from him before stretching out her long legs. They ached from being curled into a ball between the two full grown men.

  She skootched to the side of the bed and swung her feet to the floor. Yawning, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and snorted as she examined the mascara she’d rubbed onto her finger tips.

  The door across the hall opened and Steve gave her a chin lift while running his fingers through his messy blond hair. He gestured for her to follow him before heading toward the stairs.

  Tessa glanced around the room when she stood up before remembering she’d left her shoes and purse downstairs. She wondered if Spencer had even remembered to come back to get her.

  Before joining Steve downstairs, she detoured to the bathroom to take care of her own business. After relieving herself and washing her face, she felt a little more awake.

  She ran her fingers through her hair a few times before twisting it back into a messy bun. Hopefully it wasn’t too late. She needed to shower before going to work.

  Even though she had no idea yet how she was getting home.

  Ah, no one should make decisions after a bottle of wine. Do your thinking before the drinking.

  Oh well.

  “Are you hungry?” Steve asked when she joined him in the kitchen.

  “Starved,” she answered honestly.

  She glanced at Bo who was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and an expression that indicated he hadn’t slept much. She smiled tightly at him, wondering what his thoughts were of her clearly having spent the night with Steve.

  “I was going to take you home last night, but you looked very comfortable in the whelping box,” Bo answered her thoughts. “Like a litter of puppies, you three,” he finished with a soft grin.

  Tessa rolled her eyes and nodded. He wasn’t wrong. Snuggling with Steve and Kip had felt completely natural and cozy last night.

  Fact was, in the morning, the only part she regretted was not having a plan on how to get to work.

  Steve rubbed a circle over his belly and chest. “That’s because I’m super cuddly.” He tossed her a package of Poptarts. “That’s all we have.”

  “Not a problem,” she answered as she tore into the sugary goodness. “Have you seen my purse?” she asked, looking around.

  “By the door,” Bo answered.

  Tessa headed that way and tried not to listen to the conversation between Bo and Steve in the kitchen.

  “What happened with Clementine last night?” Steve asked. “You finally express your undying love to her?”

  “Shut up, Steve.”

  “She sure stormed out of here last night. Forgot her bestie and everything. I thought you said you were trying to get along with her.”

  Heavy sigh. “I said something mean.”

  “You? Mean? Nah,” Steve replied with sarcasm.

  Tessa stared blankly at the wall, holding her purse clutched in her hands. There was more to the Bo and Spencer thing than just hating each other. There had to be.

  As entertaining as their lifelong feud had been, it really did seem like something new was up.

  “Hey.”

  Tessa swallowed the piece of Poptart in her mouth as she spun around. Kip stood behind her, a lazy smile on his face like he knew exactly what she’d been doing.

  “You want a ride home?” he asked, his voice rough with sleep.

  It did things to her.

  Confusing things.

  So did his sleepy green eyes and the pillow crease along one cheek.

  She licked her lips. “You’re pretty,” she said.

  Kip’s tanned face blushed as his eyebrows raised. “What?” he half-asked, half-laughed.

  Tessa took a step towards him, so she could reach up and tug at one of his longer locks of dark hair. “So handsome.”

  His m
outh fell open and he inhaled a deep breath.

  Tessa broke eye contact and held up her phone. “Spencer never came back and my phone is dead. So, I would actually really appreciate a ride.” She made a face. “If you have time, that is.”

  “I have—” Kip took another deep breath and let it out while taking a slow step backwards. “I have time. Just let me get—”

  “Coffee for my littermates,” Steve said as he joined them in the entryway. He held out two large to-go tumblers with the Soaring Bird logo on the side.

  Tessa took hers and breathed in the aromatic steam coming from the opening. “You are a frickin lifesaver, Steve.” She took a scalding sip and sighed. “I don’t care what everyone else says about you, you’re a wonderful human being.”

  Steve threw an arm around her shoulder and grinned. “The sweet, sweet things women say to me when I hand them caffeine. Maybe I missed my calling as a brew master.”

  “Pretty sure that’s for beer,” Kip pointed out.

  “Not when I say it.” Steve shrugged. He faced Tessa and something soft reached his eyes. “Please stalk me while I’m away. Knowing a beautiful woman is thinking about me while I’m gone will keep me warm at night.”

  “See?” Tessa’s head slanted to the side and she frowned. “We were having a nice moment and you ruined it.”

  Steve barked a laugh and let her go. “Whatever. You’re gonna miss me.”

  Kip grabbed his keys off the hook by the door and ushered her outside.

  “Sorry about Steve. He’s…” Kip trailed off, unable to think of the best way to explain Steve.

  “Don’t apologize for him. He’s not the best, but he’s definitely not the worst.” She shook her head, thinking of at least five guys who were layers of garbage below Steve.

  Kip unlocked the passenger door of the VW bus and frowned at her expression. “You’ve had experience with worse?”