“Oh really?” Dre says, taking an interest in Sydney’s statement. “What’s Kathryn’s type.”
“Watching Big Bang Theory is foreplay for her. Geeks make the bed squeak,” Syd states. See! Total witch.
“Oh my God, Sydney! Do you have no filter?” I yell, shoving her with my shoulder. “Enough!”
“I’m serious, Dre. You better hit the books if you want her to stay at all interested … maybe get yourself a bow tie, some glasses, I don’t know—whatever’s popular in nerd world these days,” Sydney says, shoving me back.
“Noted. Adding books and pocket protectors to my shopping list,” Dre teases, grabbing my hand and kissing it as we find a secluded spot on the beach.
Rory brought a pile of blankets from the hotel’s linen storage, so I grab a few of them and lay them out as Rory pulls food from the boxes he carted along with us.
“Croissants?” Syd squeals. “Sandwiches on croissants are my fave. Now this is a man after my own heart.”
“That’s not all I’m after, baby,” he says, plopping down on the blanket right next to her.
“You’re not gonna need to work too hard, Sweetheart, so save up your energy,” Sydney states, smiling at Rory.
Dre and I roll our eyes at each other, knowing we only have ourselves to blame for this impending disaster. “Oh shut up McVay,” Sydney warns. McVay? Crap, she really is mad at me for not disclosing things to her.
“McVay?” Dre says, looking at both of us, curiously.
“Oh, didn’t Kathryn tell you that her last name used to be McVay?” Sydney laughs, smugly.
“Oh God, Syd, you didn’t!” I exclaim, hating that I’m now going to be forced to divulge the craziness of my family.
“No, Kathryn most certainly did not tell me that her last name used to be ‘McVay,’ before,” Dre said. “Like the Oklahoma bomber?”
Sydney lost it, cracking up. I just shook my head and said, “And there it is.”
My father never got along with his father—at all. His father bailed early on him and his mother. My dad hated parading around with his deadbeat dad’s last name, “McVay.” Once Timothy McVeigh bombed the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, our fate was sealed. Everywhere we went; everything we did was impacted by that event—even hundreds of miles away—not knowing anyone suffering from the tragedy. Anytime my parents had to say our last name, the follow up was “like the bomber?” It didn’t even matter that the spellings were different; we still got those suspicious, accusatory glares. It sent my father over the edge.
My mother and father changed our last name to my mom’s maiden name. My mom’s parents are true grandparents and very close to us. It made the most sense for us to become the “Howells.” I was only six at the time, so going from Kathryn McVay to Kathryn Howell was odd at first, but easy to adapt.
“That is a crazy-ass story,” Dre said. “Can I call you Katie McVay?”
“Not if you want me to answer,” I state.
“I’m actually glad they did it. Can you imagine being Kathryn McVay with Katharine McPhee being so popular?” I ask. “People would get us confused all the time.”
“Yeah, until they heard you sing,” Dre and Sydney say together. Laughing, they high-five each other, sealing their friendship. They both jump at the chance to start making fun of my singing ability. I hadn’t realized I’d ever sung in front of Dre. Apparently, I have.
Rory’s hands make it to Sydney’s thighs; she’s doing nothing to deter his soft strokes. “So Rory, what do you do?” Syd asks, directing all of her attention on him.
“I own a few hotels,” he embellishes. Syd’s hand quickly finds his arm. “So, you can use any room, any time you want?”
“Any time, any day, any minute, baby.” Rory brags.
“Calm down you two; I’m trying to eat here,” Dre scolds, taking a bite of his sandwich before sitting down.
“I’m not sure any part of me is staying … down … with her around,” Rory admits, staring at Sydney. “Stop trying to cock block me anyway, Dude. I never did that to you in college,” Rory whines.
Looking between them, my interest is piqued. “College?” Dre never mentioned college to me before.
“Yeah, at Brown. Dre used to get all the chicks, falling at his feet, but I never tried to make them back off—like he’s doing now,” Rory explains.
“You went to Brown?” I ask, surprised, shocked, and possibly a little hurt. Why was this the first I was hearing about it?
“That’s like a good school, isn’t it? Hard to get into?” Syd asks, looking bewildered.
“Uh yeah!” I exclaim, still reeling from this bit of information that was never bestowed upon me before.
“Yeah, it’s not that big of a deal,” Dre says, glaring at Rory.
“Fuck it ain’t! Graduated top of his class. Fucking pre-Med,” Rory discloses.
“Well there you go, Kathryn. He’s a doctor; you can’t get any geekier or smarter than that shit,” Sydney states.
“You’re a doctor?” I ask, feeling my Katie-freak-out coming on.
Hello? Dre Donley has a medical degree? What the Hell? I thought he fixed crap and helped fishermen. Okay, I kind of thought he was a drifter. Ya know, no ambition, no drive, no real future. A freaking doctor? Why wouldn’t he tell me that? That’s pretty big information to leave out.
Dre shakes his head. “Nah, haven’t done my residency yet. Don’t know if I ever will. That’s not who I am anymore,” he says, anger written all over his face.
Changing the subject, he says, “So Syd what do you do?”
“Oh ya know. A little of this, a little of that,” she flirts, evading his question.
Sydney takes off her floppy hat and sunglasses, letting her long, blonde hair fall down all around her shoulders and back. She’s perfected the flirtatious, “check-me-out” hair flip, and head cock.
Rory glances over at her, his jaw dropping. “Holy fucking dream come true!” Rory exclaims, jumping to his feet. “Fucking A. Oh fuck yeah.”
Syd and I eye one another, all too sure of what’s coming next. “You’re Ivy Sterling. THE Ivy Sterling. Ivy ‘Sure-I’ll-Do-Anything-Sterling.”
Rory is awestruck, star-struck, and pardon my language, but about to get Ivy-fucked. And me, I’m sitting here completely mind-fucked by this new bit of information about Dre.
“Oh? You’ve seen my work?” Sydney asks, feigning surprise and innocence. Seriously, how can she possibly pretend to be innocent when she’s talking about her pornos? This girl is a piece of work.
“Seen your work? Baby, I own copies of your work,” Rory swoons.
Sydney eats this crap up. Usually, when I’m around though, she tones it down a bit. I’m thinking she might seriously be digging Rory. Who wouldn’t? Black, toned, bald businessmen are scrumptious. Rory has a “Taye Diggs” thing going on, and boy does he have it going on.
“What am I missing?” Dre asks, looking around at everyone.
“Dude, this is Ivy … Ivy Sterling.” Rory says, casually placing his hand on Sydney’s leg.
“I’m sorry. Should I know you?” Dre asks, looking apologetic and confused, but relieved that the subject was no longer centered around him. At least for now anyway. “Does anyone around here go by their God-given name?”
“Really? Have you been living under a rock Dre—well—scratch that,” Rory says, shaking his head. “Your girl’s best friend is Ivy Sterling, adult film star. She’s known for—”
“I’m known for ‘entertaining’ Rory,” Sydney interrupts. “Let’s not give too much away. If Dre wants to see my work, then—”
“Over my dead body,” I say, turning Dre’s head to look at me. “I draw the line at you watching my friend perform.” I glance over at Sydney and roll my eyes. Rory’s hand is already travelling dangerously far up her thigh.
“So, let me get this straight,” Dre says. “You’re best friend, whom you hang out with and go places with is a porn star?”
“Yep,” I ans
wer, giggling.
“I’m assuming that people … men … everyone … flocks to her, to both of you, when you’re out drinking and shit?” he asks, staring at me.
“Pretty much,” I admit. “I haven’t been out-out with Sydney in over a year and had to buy my own drink—unless you count lunches. But at bars and stuff, everything is bought by horny dudes or is suddenly ‘on the house.’ Can’t complain. Saves me money.”
“That’s great. That’s just fucking great,” Dre says, throwing his half-eaten sandwich back into the box. “This day just couldn’t get any better.”
“Huh? Whattya mean?” I ask, having no idea what he’s getting at.
“Oh nothing, Kathryn, not a thing,” he states, blowing me off. “Ya have any other secrets you’d care to drop on me?”
“What? Me? Drop on you? Syd’s career isn’t my secret. What the heck, Dre? What about you? Doctor? Really? Like I wouldn’t have been interested in knowing that” I argue, wondering where his anger and animosity are suddenly coming from, but feeling my own begin to escalate.
“Dude, let it go,” Rory warns, eyeing him knowingly. “It’s not that big of a deal. It’s pretty hot if ya think about it.”
“Sydney can do whatever she wants. More power to you, Hon. I just don’t want … want … fuck it. Forget it.” Dre waves us off, stands up, and starts picking up one of the blankets. “Ya know; I’ve got things to take care of today. I’ll catch y’all later.” And walks off. Yes, walks off. What in the world just happened?
“What the fuck is his deal?” Syd breaks the icy tension, as we all stare at him as he walks toward the parking lot.
“Uh Dre? Nah, nothing. He’s just … a little edgy at times,” Rory says, scowling.
“Nothing? That was nothing?” I ask, shaking my head. “And forget that. He’s not just walking away from me and ‘calling it a day.’ That’s not how I roll, Buddy, not how I roll at all.”
“Go get ‘em, Tiger,” Syd says, smirking. “Show ‘em your fire.”
I have no idea what just went on. We were all just laughing, eating, and enjoying ourselves. Dre just snapped. I can’t figure him out. Cannot. He’s sweet and tender one moment, volatile and dicky the next. He’s a mystery. And a doctor. What in the world?
When I finally catch up to him, I’m breathing hard and sweating. Running along the beach in the middle of the afternoon, fully clothed, is not a good time to me, nor should it be for anyone else. People should not run. Life’s too short to rush around all the time.
“Dre stop!” I yell. He doesn’t. I run around to stand in front of him, splaying my hands across his chest, stopping him from moving forward, catching my breath as I do so. “What’s … what’s wrong with you? Why’d you get angry and walk off?”
“I … I don’t know,” he stammers, running his hand through his hair and looking away from me.
“You don’t know?” I question again. “I’m gonna need a little more than that. You were rude and mean. I don’t appreciate or tolerate being treated that way.”
“Kathryn, listen to me; I don’t know.” Dre finally exhales loudly and looks me in the eyes. “I really don’t know. I just … I just … I can’t explain it.”
“Dre, you’re gonna have to try. From what I just saw back there, I’m pretty freaked out and … and really confused,” I admit.
“Yeah, well, so am I,” he says, sitting down in the sand.
“About what? What’s going on?” I probe, softening as I sit down next to him. “Why don’t you talk to me? Last night was amazing. We were so in sync, so in touch with … with everything. Why’re you pulling back now?”
“I know. You’re right. About everything. I’m sorry. I never should’ve—forget it,” he says.
“Should’ve what?”
“Opened my mouth. I’m sorry. I was just sitting there hearing you talk about the crowd that surrounds you and Sydney when you’re out, and I couldn’t help it. I just … just … snapped, I guess,” he explains.
“But why? Why would that even come close to upsetting you?” I ask, turning to face him, rubbing his forearm. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“That’s what I’m saying. I don’t know. The thought of guys, lots of guys, buying you drinks and hanging all over you pissed me off—like a fucking lot,” Dre admits, pulling my ball cap from my head, and then spinning it around his finger.
“Kathryn, I don’t know what’s going on … I know that this is fast—really fucking fast whatever’s going on here. But, I just went a little ape shit thinking about you with someone else.”
“Okay, so … what’re you saying?” I ask.
Dre tucks my hair behind my ear, and then moves his hand to the back of my neck, pulling me in closer. Resting his forehead against mine, looking up into my eyes, he says, “I don’t really know what I’m saying. I’m a goddamn nut case. I want to tell you to fucking run—run far the fuck away. But just thinking about you walking away makes me wanna kill someone.”
“Dre, I don’t know what this is. What we are or anything,” I respond. “Right now, I don’t really care either. I had fun last night—a lot of freaking fun. I’m fine with ‘whatever’ for a while.” He smiles, closing his eyes, and sighing with relief.
“But listen to me, if this starts going somewhere—beyond the bedroom, I mean like between the two of us, then I won’t stand around in the dark, not knowing who the person is that I’m making love to,” I say, taking my hat back from him. “You’re gonna have to start talking … like telling me you’re almost a doctor, for starters.” I explain.
“I know, Kathryn, I know,” he agrees, nodding. Putting his head in his hands, with his elbows resting on his knees, Dre says, “I’ve done things, and I’ve been someone I’m not proud of—never really was. I’m just trying to sort all of it out.” Dre stretches out his legs and stares out toward the ocean. “I wanted to fix my life. And I started to. I started becoming someone I can actually look at in the mirror.”
“Dre,” I say, making him look at me. “We all have pasts; we’ve all let ourselves down, disappointed the person we thought we’d become,” I say. “Maybe more times than we’d like to even admit.” Dre nods, his face pained.
Dre stares off, listening, but not looking at me. I continue, “The fact that you even recognize that there are parts of you that you want to change makes you worthy of your own reflection. You can look in that mirror, Dre. Seriously, you’ll probably be proud of who you see. I know, I’m starting to like what I see,” I joke, nudging against him.
I lean closer to him, putting my head on his shoulder, as he wraps an arm around me. I’m feeling all preachy, but there are things I feel like I can or should say to him. “Dre, listen, too many people make mistake after mistake, never learning anything. They refuse to recognize that their flaws and pains are self-inflicted and avoidable. You just have to figure it all out.”
“I was counting on figuring it all out,” Dre admits, kissing my hand and holding it against his cheek. “I just didn’t count on meeting someone who makes it all worthwhile.” I take the compliment, feel the compliment, and let it wash over me, feeling my body warm to the words. He’s trying; he’s feeling—something for me. I lean in, kissing him lightly on the lips.
“I think you’re pretty worthwhile too,” I grin, as I pull back.
“So now what? What do we do from here?” he asks.
“Well, based on what I see over there,” I nod in the direction of Rory and Sydney. “We get back over there and cool them down before they both get arrested for indecent exposure.” I stand, laughing, offering my hand to help him up. Dre yanks me abruptly back down onto the sand, swiftly maneuvering his body over mine, pinning me down.
“Or … we could just follow their lead,” he says, nuzzling my ear and neck.
“Mmmmm, I would like that,” I moan as his tongue trails along my lower lip. “But I told you how much I hate public—”
“Displays of affection, I know,” Dre says, hiking
my sandy leg up around his waist. “That doesn’t stop me from wanting to please the fuck out of you right here on this very public beach.”
Dre grinds into me. I can feel how hard he is. Even after his lie of omission, his crazy outburst, and tirade, I still want him; my body wants him. My body responds to his touch, his voice, his everything. There is no way my body will ever listen to my brain when it comes to Dre Donley. Kissing him, touching him, tasting him turns my brain to mush. I can’t think straight when his hands are on me, his lips exploring mine.
“It doesn’t stop me from wanting to … but it’ll stop me from doing so,” Dre explains, backing up off me, onto his knees. Dre leans in and kisses me softly on the lips. “For now, anyway.”
As he helps me up, I say, “I hope there are more sandwiches; you sure know how to whet my appetite.”
“Croissants aren’t gonna cure that appetite,” Dre states.
“Well, something better,” I joke, looping my arm through the crook of his.
Closing in on Sydney and Rory, they cease their public exploration of one another’s bodies long enough to tell us that they’re leaving and going back to the hotel. Shocking news there.
Rory tosses his keys to Dre, “Drive this back for me, would ya buddy?” And Rory takes off with Sydney.
“Well that certainly didn’t take long,” I laugh. “I just hope ‘Ivy’ doesn’t try to recruit Rory for her next film.”
“Oh fuck, that’s all I need. The guy’s hung like a horse. Can you imagine what that thing would be like on the big screen? Christ, I don’t even wanna think about it.” Dre looks over at me as I’m pretending to stare off, thinking about Rory and licking my lips. “Oh Hell no, stop thinking about my boy’s junk,” he commands, picking me up, and throwing me over his shoulder.
“You’re the one who brought up your brofriend’s genitalia. It’s obvious what you were thinking about,” I tease. “Is there something I should know, Dre?”
“Yeah that I’m 100% straight and 110% into you … and about five minutes from being in you,” he explains, walking up to the dunes.
Can't Go Home (Oasis Waterfall) Page 12