by L A Cotton
“It’s a project in a small village outside Portoviejo. There was a bad flood a few years ago, and it ruined everything. Like, it wiped out whole towns. Towns that didn’t have much to begin with. The project I work with set up a permanent base there to help rebuild the town, educate the children, and provide medical assistance, that kind of thing. But it’s been a huge success, and we have similar projects set up all over Ecuador now.”
Talking about the work made me realize how much I missed it. It had only been a few weeks, but part of me was itching to get back out there.
As if he could read my mind, Kade said, “You miss it, don’t you?”
“Yes. Part of me will always be out there.”
The earlier ease between us seemed to disappear, replaced with something heavier. Kade didn’t say anything else, and I figured he probably didn’t get it. Just like Dad and my brothers. Even Livy. People rarely understood why I wanted to be miles away from home in a third world country with no luxuries. But I was free out there. Nothing mattered except the people and the work.
“Welcome to Flagler Beach,” Kade announced breaking through minutes of silence.
The choppy swell of the sea caught my eye. Perfect. Waves crashed onto the shore and I spotted a couple of surfers along the horizon.
Kade pulled up alongside a couple of other trucks. A white wooden sign stood proudly declaring Flagler Beach in washed-out white lettering. It was a surfer's paradise all right, just as the internet had said it was. A group of spectators sat huddled on the sand watching the surfboards ride the waves back toward the shore.
"So, which kind of guy are you?" I challenged.
Kade followed my line of sight and his eyes widened with realization. "Surfing? You made me drive eighty miles across the state to surf?"
"Too chicken?"
He watched the two figures in the distance bob in the ocean, anticipating their next ride. "I don't surf."
"Ah-ha, so you are one of those guys," I mocked, enjoying the irritated look on his face.
"Let's go," he demanded, climbing out of the truck.
"We surf?" I asked, adrenaline already coursing through me. I loved the water. Especially on days like this.
Kade met me at the front of the truck and glanced out at the ocean, again. With a decisive nod, he said, "We surf."
~
Kade didn't surf. He had no coordination and shitty timing. When he finally managed to get up on the board, he wiped out in seconds.
"That's it; laugh it up, Jameson," he shot at me across the icy water. Even in our wetsuits, the bite of the ocean was still there.
We'd been at it for over an hour, moving further out as Kade refused to admit defeat. Maybe I need to be deeper, he'd said after half an hour of barely making it up on the board. The water lapped around my legs as I straddled the board trying to guide Kade for the next wave.
"You want to extend from your knees and balance yourself with your arms. Quick and smooth. Like a cat."
"A fucking cat," he grumbled under his breath, focused only on the task at hand.
We bobbed up and down in the unbroken waves, my eyes searching the horizon for something suitable.
“Now, swim. Swim.” I threw myself forward on the board, kicking my legs out behind me. My arms tore through the water against the tide. Glancing back, I saw Kade was right on my tail.
“Okay, you want to wait until that third wave. That’s the one. Don’t overthink it; just do it. Cat, remember. Cat,” I yelled back, hoping he would hear me over the ripple of the water.
Using my whole body to help guide the board around, Kade followed my lead until we were both facing the shore, the wave behind us. I wasted no time paddling forward. Once the board was being carried with the force of the water, I used my hands to steady myself. I leaped up to my feet, using my arms to balance me. The board rode the face of the wave. Adrenaline coursed through every inch of my body and I was lost in the high. Until I heard him.
“Jameson! Get your head out of your ass and check me out.”
I risked a quick glance to the side of me. Kade was a little wobbly as his board proudly rode the wave, but the grin on his face was infectious, and I found myself grinning right back at him.
The wave began to die down, carrying us to the shore. Before it broke, I dropped into a seated position. Kade attempted to do the same but slipped and rolled off his board into the shallow water. He came up seconds later, gasping for breath.
I burst into laughter.
“That isn’t very friend like.” He splashed a handful of salty water at me and smirked.
“Nice going, Mr. ‘I don’t surf.’ You did well.” We paddled out of the ocean to the beach, carrying our boards.
“I had a good teacher.”
“That you did.” A smirk tugged the corner of my lips. “Come on, let’s get dried off and warmed up.”
“I like the sound of that.” Kade’s deep laugh rumbled behind me and I rolled my eyes. Still a walking, talking dick.
~
We sat in the Funky Pelican admiring the waves rolling into shore. Kade had been pretty quiet since our little adventure—the tension from earlier returning. It was like the elephant in the room. Neither of us willing to admit that things were changing between us.
“So what other extreme sports do you enjoy? Should I prepare to be throwing myself out of a plane next?” Kade offered me a chip, but I shook my head.
“Just surfing. Although, I did whitewater raft once down the Toachi.”
“Toachi?”
“It’s a river in Ecuador. That was some crazy shit. I thought we were going to die.”
Kade regarded me for a second, dragging a hand over his jaw. “Are you sure you’re not a guy under all that pretty?”
“Kade Ford, be still my beating heart; you think I’m pretty?” I fake gasped for effect.
He balled up the napkin and threw it right at me, and I cocked my eyebrow at him. “If I had a dick under this, you would know.”
“Touché, Jameson.” Kade raised his bottle and tipped it in my direction.
“Extreme sports not your thing? You must do something for fun other than bang your way around the pretty patrons of Planters?”
“Ouch. I’m not that bad, you know.”
His eyes were doing that thing again, trying to tell me something. It made squirm in my seat. Another conversation that had started so innocent was quickly drifting into dangerous waters. Not ready to go there, I changed the subject.
“Any brothers or sisters?”
A wide smile broke across his face. “Nice subject change. No. Only child. You?”
Crap. Why couldn’t I pick a safe topic? Like the weather or the news.
“Three brothers.”
“That had to be hard growing up with three brothers?”
You have no idea.
“It was okay.”
“Let me guess. Nice house, white picket fence somewhere in the suburbs, the apple of Mom and Dad’s eye, pain in her three brothers’ butts?”
His words stung, even though I heard the humor behind them.
“Spot on with the white picket fence; the rest not so much.” I pursed my lips and nodded my head slightly as the awkwardness washed over us.
“Shit. Sorry, I was just joking.”
“It’s fine. You didn’t know. Like I said before, friend, talking hasn’t really been our thing.”
“True but there’s a first time for everything.” Kade’s eyes didn’t just watch me as he spoke, they seared into me.
Needing to ease some of the tension lingering between us, I said, “How about a trade-off? I’ll reveal something about myself, and then you go.”
He frowned. “What are we, twelve?”
“Scared?”
“Of a little care and share? Out with it.”
“Fine. Nice house, white picket fence, no mom, an overbearing father, and three overprotective brothers.”
Kade’s face gave nothing away as he took his
turn. “Only son of the best damn mother in the world and the worst fucking kind of a father. No white picket fence.”
My heart clenched at his admission. So Kade had baggage, too. It wasn’t so shocking in today’s world; the majority of people were carrying around a deadbeat dad, abusive ex, or tales of a first love gone wrong. It was just how life was. But knowing that Kade’s life hadn’t been all roses either comforted me in a strange kind of way.
“I was a late bloomer.” Except for the secret boyfriend who ruined my life.
“Expand?”
“My brothers made sure I didn’t date. Scared off any guy who tried to get within five feet of me. Killed my social life. Yes. Believe it or not, in high school, I was totally lame.”
Kade stifled his laughter, and I protested. “Fuck you. I’m over here bearing my soul to you and you’re laughing? Bastard!”
Lifting his hands up in surrender, Kade shot back, “Lost my virginity when I was fifteen to Mrs. Kelson, my ninth grade English teacher.”
“You did not!”
“Nah, but the look on your face is priceless. Jolie Mackinson behind the bleachers after prom.”
“Lucky girl.”
“Not really. I was trashed and didn’t know what in the hell I was doing. I’d like to think I’ve perfected my game over the last ten years.” Kade flashed me a smile that had a direct line to my panties. I clenched my legs together and shifted on the wooden chair.
“Everything okay over there?”
Bastard. He could turn a conversation on its head just like that. Just with a look. Or a word. Or just sitting across from me looking all young David Gandy meets Josh Harnett.
“Peachy,” I half groaned, unable to shake the inappropriate images running wild through my mind.
Today was supposed to be about getting away. Doing something normal. I wanted to forget, for just a second, about all the shit that was waiting for me back in Gainesville. But now all I could think about was how good Kade looked in skintight neoprene and damp hair tousled by the sea air. Yeah, it was going to be a long drive back.
“We should head back. It’s getting late, and I said I’d meet the girls tonight for bonding time.”
Kade pulled out his wallet and settled the check. “Sounds very pajamas and pillow fights.”
“Knowing Sharn and Lou, you’re probably not far off the mark.”
“You could always ditch them for me. Takeout and a movie. That’s something friends do, right? If it makes you feel better, we can throw in a pillow fight.”
I almost stumbled out of the restaurant. Kade Ford was taking this friends thing a little too seriously. But even more shockingly, I found myself wanting to say yes.
~ Kade ~
The drive back to Gainesville was smooth enough. Staci fell asleep about twenty minutes in. It was the uncertainty of where to take her that was awkward as hell. My place or Russ’s. When I’d asked her to spend the night with me, she hadn’t given me an answer. She’d just smiled and then almost tripped face first over the step. I didn’t ask again. Something was still holding her back. I saw it every time I looked at her. When there was just the two of us wrapped up in each other, she let go and gave herself to me completely. Then the steel walls came back up and she forced me out.
Out on the waves, she had looked carefree. Happy. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. The way her body moved gracefully on the board; Staci Jameson was full of surprises. Not that it should have come as a shock. She’d spent most of the last four years living and working in Ecuador, while I had only left Gainesville out of necessity. She was off living her life, experiencing things, helping people, rebuilding lives, and I was still in the town I had grown up in...rebuilding engines.
I was falling hook, line, and sinker for a girl who would never be content with small town life. The realization was depressing. Way to fucking go, Ford. Not to mention, she planned to head back at the first sign of her classes breaking for the holidays. Staci murmured in her sleep, and I had to resist the urge to reach out and touch her face. How was it that this girl had managed the impossible; she’d buried herself in me so deep that I knew there was no turning back now.
No one would ever hold a candle to her.
“Are we back yet?” Staci didn’t open her eyes, just stretched out like a cat waking.
“Almost. I’ll take you to Lou’s, right?” The words stuck in my throat. I didn’t want our time to end. Not yet.
“Yeah, okay.”
But obviously she did. Even after today, Staci still wasn’t ready to accept whatever was happening between us. The thought punched me in the gut.
“I can grab a change of clothes and something to sleep in. If you don’t mind sharing your bed with me again that is?”
She still didn’t open her eyes to see my mouth hanging open, trying to focus on the road and not her words. She was coming home with me. It wasn’t a declaration of her feelings, but it would do.
For now.
Chapter 8
~ Kade ~
“So, he lives.” Keefer tipped his bottle in my direction and the other guys snickered.
“Funny fucker.” I batted his bottle away and slid into the booth. Ethan had suggested a beer after work, but I’d visited Mom first to make sure she was okay.
“So…” Morris cleared his throat and cocked his head at me with a shit-eating smirk on his face.
“Spit it out.”
“I think I speak on behalf of all the guys when I ask what the fuck is going on with you?”
Taking a long pull on the beer in front of me, I shrugged. It had been a couple of weeks since Staci took me surfing. We’d spent a lot of time together since then. Hanging out at my place, watching movies, and eating junk food. Crawling into bed together after falling asleep to a trashy film. Waking her up in the middle of the night to dull my growing need for her. We hadn’t had the talk or labeled anything, but we were past dancing around each other.
“She’s really gotten under your skin, hasn’t she?”
My eyes flew up to meet Ethan’s, surprised that he would call me out on things in front of everyone. After two weeks of pushing me at work about her, I guess he was tired of waiting for me to come clean.
“So, it’s true? You’re banging Staci?” Morris said bluntly.
“Watch it,” I hit back, shooting Ethan an irritated look.
“Sorry, but I’ve been trying all week to get you to talk about her. I figured it was time for an intervention.”
“What are we, a bunch of over emotional chicks? So, I’ve been hanging out with Staci. She’s new in town; you guys are all coupled up. It’s no big deal.”
“Do I not fucking count?” Morris protests went unheard as Keefer added, “Fail number one, if you say it’s no big deal. Obviously, it’s a big fucking deal. It’s like Sharn and me all over again.”
I grunted. That would mean there actually being a chance for Staci and me, and that wasn’t likely. Not with her only being around short-term and me being too chicken to fess up about how I really felt about her.
“He’s got it bad,” Ethan said to Keefer and Morris, and they all launched into a conversation dissecting my recent change in behavior.
It was her. Staci. I couldn’t think straight. She consumed my thoughts. I’d be working on a car at the shop daydreaming, and all of a sudden, she would creep into my mind. When Ethan used to talk to me about Livy, before they finally got their shit together, I used to hound him for being so pussy whipped. At least, they all went through it in their early twenties. I was twenty-six, for fuck’s sake. ‘I think I’m falling for you, but I wouldn’t really know because I’ve never felt like this before. Ever’. Yeah, real fucking romantic and mature.
After subjecting myself to another hour of the guys’ taunts, I left Planters. My eyes almost bugged out of my head when I climbed in the truck, glanced up, and saw Staci talking to a guy on the sidewalk. Except they weren't talking so much as arguing. I leaned into the steering wheel to get a better
look, which was stupid considering I was parked at the end of the street. Of course, I wasn't going to fucking see them better.
Before I could process what was happening, I was out of the truck and moving in their direction. Adrenaline pumped through me, laced with a bucket load of jealousy. After weeks of our back and forth, she never once mentioned another guy. Not once. Not even during our trade-off conversations. I was pissed, really fucking pissed, because from their exchange, they obviously knew each other.
Is he the baggage?
I rushed across the street trying to be as stealthy as possible. Staci's back was to me, but I could tell by the way her hands were moving around frantically in front of her that she was pissed. Who in the hell was this guy anyway? He looked strung-out; a thick layer of stubble coating his jaw and narrowed, bloodshot eyes. The guy was either high, drunk, or coming down. Whichever it was, he was a fucking mess.
As I drew closer, I slowed down, not wanting to be seen. Their raised voices traveled along the sidewalk. "I'm not doing this," Staci said sharply, but I heard the pain in her voice.
Anger flared through me and I balled my fists. Who is this dick to her?
"Come on, babe, don't be that way. I've missed you. All these years. I came back to Kaplan for you, but you were gone. Baby, it's always been you," the guy drawled out, and I unclenched my fists at my sides. It took everything in me not to tackle him right there and pummel him into the sidewalk.
"Mikey, you need to go."
Mikey?
The guy dragged a hand over his overgrown beard and ground his teeth together. "Let me come back with you. We can talk."
The fuck you can, I wanted to yell at him. He reached out for Staci, but she stepped back and closed her arms around herself. Was she afraid of this guy? Whatever had happened between them had her on the defensive. Blind rage started storming through me. It was too raw. Too close to home. I moved in closer, ready to intervene.
"No, Mikey. I'm not interested. Just go back to wherever you came from. Please. Just go." Staci's voice cracked, but the jackass didn't listen and reached for her again, palming her face with his hand.
"I SAID STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME."