Xander laughs. “What the fuck’s gotten into you?”
“What?” She shrugs “I may have started the pre-drinking on the plane. When in Cape Town, right?”
“I feel sorry for your liver,” I say, navigating the car down the road to Fishhoek Beach.
I’m surprised when I’m able to find a parking spot relatively easy. The three of us jump out and start grabbing bags and towels from the car. Fishhoek isn’t like Clifton Beach where there are guys you can rent umbrellas and beach chairs from. So, we’re pretty much on our own with whatever we brought but I’m okay with that. I’m not a huge fan of having someone come up and ask us if we want an umbrella, an icicle, or a drink. I mean, it’s nice but sometimes it gets to be too much when you just want to chill out and ignore the rest of the world for a little while.
We’ve just set up our towels in a spot that’s not too far from but not too close to the water when Londyn looks back up to where we parked the car.
“Is that?” Londyn asks, tipping her sunglasses up to get a better look at Nate and the woman he’s with as they navigate their way past beach-goers to get to our group.
“Yup,” I reply, laying back and tugging the bill of my baseball cap further down.
“Well,” Londyn says, resting back on her elbows. “Bitch ain’t got nothing on you.”
“Londyn!” This is the first time my best friend is getting a look at Nate’s fiancée, but I’m not surprised that’s her reaction to Chantel. I may have had a slight bitch fest after finding out about her and then again after she joined us on the cage diving expedition.
“What?” She reaches over to the beach bag between our towels and retrieves a bottle of sunscreen from the side pocket. “I’m just saying. He downgraded, like a lot.” Londyn sits up, waves at Nate and Chantel and then uncaps the bottle to squirt some of the white lotion on her arms. She burns so easily that she makes sure to always reapply every few hours. “Xander,” she calls out when she spots him making his way back from the water. Tiny droplets dripping down his long torso. “Can you help me with my back?”
“Really?”
Londyn shrugs and gives me a look that says she has no idea what I’m talking about. She and Xander used to circle each other in high school before Kyle moved to town. Once Xander saw that Kyle was also interested in Londyn, he backed off. Now that Kyle’s no longer in the picture it doesn’t seem to have taken her long to go back to trying to get Xander to notice her again.
“Howzit?” Nate says when they finally reach us. “This is Chantel.” He gestures to her as he lays a towel the size of a double blanket on the other side of our group.
“Hi Annika,” Chantel greets me after giving Xander and Londyn a half salute.
I tip my chin at her but go back to reading my book. I’m not trying to be rude or anything but this whole situation is awkward. I’m still in love with her fiancé and this whole trying to be friends thing Nate and I are attempting is getting harder and harder as each day passes. If I’m completely honest, I kind of resent her, and I’m mad at myself. But I can’t fault him for moving on so I’m just going to have to suck it up and be the friend he needs me to be and hope like hell that I’m not invited to the wedding.
“Baby,” Chantel whines after a while. “Let’s go in the water.”
“Xander and I were going to throw the ball around for a bit. I’ll meet you over there later,” Nate says, turning back to Xander who’s tossing an American football up with one hand and catching it with the other. The two guys head down to a clearing close to the water’s edge and begin tossing the ball back and forth. Nate’s so focused on the rubber ball when Xander throws a perfect spiral to him that he misses the death glare Chantel narrows on him.
Just when I think I can’t possibly hate her anymore she peels out of the t-shirt she’s wearing to reveal a tiny black string bikini. The twin triangles barely cover her nipples, and the bottoms just cover enough to not be indecent. Suddenly, I feel way too exposed and self-conscious in my modest turquoise tankini. When she’s stripped of everything but the swimsuit – if you can call it that – she prances off towards Nate and Xander, walking between them just as Xander tosses the ball to Nate. He’s so engrossed by the blonde bimbo; he misses the ball and instead follows after her like a lost puppy. I glance down at my middle that’s not as flat as it was a few years ago. Maybe it’s time to go back on a diet and increase the time I spend in the gym.
“Whatever you’re thinking right now, stop.”
“What am I thinking?” I ask my best friend. I can’t muster the will to turn my head away from where Nate is swinging Chantel up over his shoulder as he marches them farther out into the ocean. I know I’m just making myself miserable by watching them, but I can’t help it. It’s like when you drive by a car accident and you know you shouldn’t look but you do anyway.
“That if he’s with her then how in the hell did he ever find you attractive? That you can’t possibly measure up to her? That you need to lose weight?”
I grumble and flip my best friend off as I turn onto my stomach and kick my legs up. I try to ignore the sound of Chantel’s giggles that float on the air towards our group but it’s nearly impossible. She has that nasally voice that you either find cute or really annoying, and right now it’s really annoying.
Sitting back up, I grab the sunscreen from Londyn and reapply to my front. I’m fully prepared to ask Londyn or hell even Xander for help with my back when a shadow looms over me.
“Here, let me help with that,” Nate says, prying the blue and white bottle from my hands.
“Um, uh, that’s okay. I was just going to ask --” I point to where Londyn and Xander were sitting but there’s nobody there. Sonofabitch. When did they get up and leave?
Nate patiently waits for me to turn over and after some cursing – inwardly, of course – I turn back over onto my stomach and fold my arms under my head. I try so hard to keep my body still while his hands work in circles over my back, but by the time he works down to my lower back I’m putty in his hands.
I shiver when he moves my hair away from my hairline and works some of the sunscreen in from my shoulders and up the curve of my neck. I may have moaned, I’m not sure.
His chest grazes my back and his breath is warm against my ear when he whispers, “All set.”
I turn my head slightly towards his lips but before anything can happen he’s pulling away and jumping to his feet.
* * *
Nate
“You what?” Chantel screeches and I visibly flinch.
Damn, did she always sound like this?
“I can’t marry you,” I repeat for what seems like the twentieth time.
“And why not?” She crosses her arms under her chest or tries to anyway. The boob job she got last year just pushes them up to her chin. Her tanned skin looks leathery in the light of her kitchen, like it’s seen a few too many sunrays.
“I’m sorry, Chantel.”
I try delivering the news gently but if she’s about to start screaming and throwing shit, then I’m out. Hell, I tried breaking it off with her last year, but she pulled some guilt trip bullshit, so I stayed. And if I’m being honest, I don’t even remember proposing. All I know is that we had a conversation or two about marriage, I said I wasn’t ready to pull that trigger yet and the next thing I know, the woman’s bringing bridal magazines over and talking flowers and colours and shit.
I don’t know what made me decide that today was the day I put an end to all the bullshit. That’s a lie. Seeing Annika yesterday and how absolutely beautiful she looked in that swimsuit, feeling her body beneath my palms again… it flipped something inside of me. Then watching some dick hit on her when we went to a pub afterward. No woman has ever elicited such a strong reaction from me. I’m not a fighter, but I wanted to punch that dick’s teeth in when he kept touching her even after she tried pulling away subtly. For as long as I’ve know her, Annika has always hated confrontation. She avoids it whenever possible. So, I know she wou
ldn’t have said anything last night unless the guy grabbed her. Fuck, if it hadn’t been for Xander stepping in, I would’ve, and it wouldn’t have ended as quietly as it had.
I manage to leave Chantel’s without a scratch. Barely. I head to Glencairn.
“So, you finally pulled your head outta your ass,” Dean says handing me a beer.
“Yes, sir.”
“It’s about time.”
I chuckle, slipping my free hand in the front pocket of my jeans. The sun had set about an hour ago, but the stars are just starting to make their appearance in the sky above us.
“You don’t think this friendship is a little odd?” I ask, gesturing between us with the bottle.
“Being friends with my daughter’s ex?” Dean picks up a log from the pile beside his chair and expertly places it on the fire. “I considered you a friend before Annika came home.” He straightens in his camping chair and studies me for a moment. “But if you break her heart I’ll be forced to unpack one of my guns.”
It’s not an idle threat either. I’ve seen pictures of Dean’s gun collection and it’s nothing to laugh at. I have a feeling it isn’t Dean that I need to worry about though. Dave is a cop. Those fuckers don’t mess around.
“Yes, Sir,” I say again over the lip of the beer bottle.
Chapter 32
Annika
I wake to bright sunlight streaming through a slit in the middle of the dark curtains I purchased last week. It wasn’t even eight yet but if the fact that my bedroom’s already hot as balls is any indication, today’s going to be a scorcher of a day in Cape Town.
Rolling over, I grab for my phone on the nightstand and bypass all the texts, Facebook messages, and emails to check the expected weather forecast for today.
Yup, thirty-fucking-nine degrees Celsius today. It’s already hovering just below twenty. I groan, falling back onto the white pillows and covering my eyes with my forearm. I wonder which beach – if any – will potentially be less crowded. Clifton Beach is out… especially 1st and 2nd. Clifton 3rd might be doable but I doubt it. Not in this heat. Camps Bay is out too. Muizenberg, maybe? Probably not, although it is close. That leaves Boulders or Fishhoek and since Boulders Beach has penguins… well, it’s a no brainer. There’re more options but those are the ones Nate and I have visited often. Speaking of Nate.
Me: I’m dying. Beach… Ocean… water… Boulders?
It was a tad dramatic but whatever. I flip off the light covers and make a mental note to buy an air conditioner or try and convince Nate to install one for me. I don’t know why houses in Cape Town don’t already come with them pre-installed. It’s gets ridiculously hot here. It’s like everyone is always so surprised when their house reaches volcanic levels of heat during the summer months.
Nate: Good morning to you too, Sunshine. Happy birthday.
Nate: Boulders it is. Pick you up in 30.
Me: You’re the best. I’ll be the one already in a bikini standing in the street.
I mean, I wouldn’t just be in a bikini, but it was almost hot enough to make me contemplate not wearing anything else. I say almost because even I’m not that stupid. The catcalls are bad enough when I’m fully clothed, I shudder imagining what it would be like if I stood out in front of my house wearing nothing but scraps of material covering my breasts and other lady bits. I’m just grateful I live in this part of the city and not where my grandparents live. Seven-foot-high fences surround most of the houses on their street, some with electric barbed wire running across the tops. Cape Town is beautiful, yes, but the crime rate makes you want to think twice before raising a family here. Just the other year, someone set fire to one of the cars of the commuter train. In the same year, someone stole the copper cables off a train.
As I roll out of bed and go in search of Duke. Yes, I ended up getting the damn dog. It dawns on me that today is my thirtieth birthday. When the fuck did that happen? I swear I was just turning twenty-one not too long ago.
Yawning, I rub the sleep out of my eyes and almost trip over the pup sleeping on the cold tiles of the kitchen floor. Duke yips, scrambling up to all fours and starts pawing at his empty food bowl.
“Yeah, okay,” I mumble sleepily and top up his food and water bowls before turning to the coffee maker and switching it on.
With the mug of steamy goodness cupped in my hands, I lean my back against the counter and breathe a sigh of relief after the first taste. As I’m lowering the mug from my lips, I catch a glimpse of pointy ears moving from side to side. I chuckle when I see Duke sitting at my feet with his little tail wagging, his food untouched. He’s been picking up his training so fast, better than Hector, the black and white English bulldog and my first pet, ever could. That lump of fat would bowl you over before you had the chance to straighten up from filling up his food.
“Go on,” I tell Duke and grin as his little paws slide across the tile in his effort to race to his bowls.
Checking the time, I hurriedly down the rest of the still hot coffee - I’m so going to regret that – and fetch my swimsuit from the washing line in the backyard. Duke follows me out, immediately finding his ball and begins running around while I dash inside and get changed. I can already feel the sun start to burn my skin. It must have jumped another ten degrees between the time I woke up and now. This day’s going to be one of those don’t-come-out-of-the-water-unless-you-have-to-eat days. I make a note to put on sunscreen and bring it with for Nate as well. Heaven knows that man burns like Tokai Forest in the driest summer.
Twenty minutes later while I’m throwing the ball to Duke and playing tug-of-war to get it back, I hear the stereo system of Nate’s car before I hear him pull into the driveway. I swear there’s like some unwritten rule or something in CT that says your music and your car’s exhaust have to announce your arrival blocks ahead of your actual arrival.
Duke’s ears perk up at the sound of Nate’s car door and then he’s running towards the wooden door that separates the backyard from the driveway. I hear Nate chuckle at Duke’s little barks before he pushes open the door.
And then I see him.
My breath whooshes out of me like I’ve just been punched in the gut when I get a good look at him in low hanging board shorts and flip-flops. His chest already glistening with sweat when he crouches to pet the pup.
“I was thinking we could bring him with us?” I say, surprised when my voice comes out sounding normal and not dry as the desert like it feels.
“Ja, sounds good. We’d have to go to Clifton 1st then. The other beaches are no dogs allowed.”
I groan, already beginning to feel claustrophobic just thinking of the amount of people who would be there today, but when I glance down at Duke sitting perfectly in Nate’s arms, his tongue hanging out the side and those big puppy dog eyes pleading with me to take him with us, I know I won’t be changing my mind. Plus, Clifton 1st is an off-leash beach so at least Duke will be able to expound some energy and maybe we can even get him in the water. It would be his first time in the ocean if we can.
I roll my eyes. “He’s perfectly capable of walking to the car.”
Nate cradles the pup like a baby, and scratches behind Duke’s ears. “Ja, he can but his poor paws will probably burn on the tar.”
“Ready to go?” I ask, gathering my beach bag and few snack items for us for later.
I follow Nate out to his car and settle into the passenger seat before reaching out for Duke and settling him on my lap while Nate drives.
“No bukkie today?”
“No. Got a nail in one of the tires and haven’t had a chance to repair it yet.”
Duke squirms on my lap and I scratch behind his ear to help calm him while trying to keep my mind from wondering to what Nate would look like covered in grease and working on his truck.
As soon as we’re parked, Duke scrambles up to stand on all four paws and pants while gazing longingly out the window. I chuckle and make sure his leash is attached before opening my door and letting him j
ump down. Nate gathers the bags and the snacks from the back seat, and together we cross the street then make our way down the steps to the beach.
We’ve set up our towels on the sand, fairly close to the where the water comes up the beach. I take a quick glance around, noting all the other dogs. I’m surprised that there aren’t very many here today. There are maybe three other dogs and they all seem to be about Duke’s size.
I crouch down and unclip his leash, watching as he takes off for the water, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. Duke comes to a screeching halt just at the water’s edge and when the tide comes in, he scampers back, just out of reach of the water and then chases it when it washes out again.
Nate and I watch him do this several times before Nate takes pity on him and goes to scoop the puppy up. With Duke sitting happily in his arms, Nate wades into the water and when it begins rising higher on his chest, Duke tries climbing higher on Nate’s shoulder. I laugh as Nate tries to get a better grip on the wiggling puppy so that he doesn’t do a nose dive off his shoulder and into the water.
Eventually, Duke settles down and after a while he seems pretty content sitting in Nate’s arms while the water laps up against them. I make sure Nate’s phone and wallet are carefully hidden out of sight of anyone who may be wandering around the beach looking for something to steal, and then go join Nate and Duke in the water.
“Where’s Chantel?” I ask, after we’ve settled back on our towels and have eaten our fair share of fruits, vegetables, and dip. “I thought she would’ve been here.”
He mumbles something under his breath, popping a strawberry in his mouth immediately after.
“I’m sorry, what?”
He sighs, scraping a hand down his face. “I broke it off,” he says, picking up Duke’s ball and throwing it towards the water. The pup chases after it, strutting triumphantly back when he catches it.
I choke and sputter on the sip of sparkling water I just took. When I’m sure that I’m not going to die and can breathe again, I glance over at Nate who has a satisfied smirk on his face. My mouth opens and closes like a fish, but no sound comes out.
Then There Was You (Twist of Fate) Page 21