“What?” Nova asked, still laughing.
“I don’t know, babe. I’ll clean it up.”
Nova started to stand and I looked up at her.
I grinned.
I didn’t say a word about us kissing.
I climbed to my feet, back to being taller than her.
“No use crying over a little spilled tea, right, babe?” I asked.
“Right.”
I turned and Nova grabbed my hand. “When he’s standing there… if he holds the glass and sips it, we’re okay. Nothing bad is going to happen. But if he has his hands on the counter and he’s leaning forward, staring at the glass… and then he grabs the glass… chugs…”
She shook her head.
She started to shake.
I slipped my hands to her face. “It’s never going to happen again, babe.”
She swallowed hard. She opened her mouth but held back.
I wanted to ask her what she was going to say.
But I already knew.
She would want to know about me being there. How long I was staying. Why I was really there. All those questions that mattered but not enough to steal this moment.
“Can I ask you something?” Nova whispered.
“Of course.”
“Can I take a shower? I’m wet, cold, and sandy. And I just feel… I don’t know…”
“Bathroom is yours, babe,” I whispered. “I’ll find you some clothes or something. You can crash in the bed and call one of your friends in the morning if you want. Whatever you want to do.”
“Thank you, Elijah.”
She slipped away.
I looked down to the mug tipped over, the stain on the floor.
I shook my head.
“Thank you, Nova,” I whispered.
I touched my chest.
Then I touched my back pocket.
The note.
I looked to the bathroom.
The note meant more than I ever thought possible now.
Chapter 17
Nova
I wasn’t afraid to cry in front of Elijah. That was a well-known thing by then. I had cried in front of him during our wild summers together too. Usually that last week of summer, when we’d swear we weren’t going to sleep so we wouldn’t lose a second together… that’s when it would all sink in. Everyone would be talking about getting ready for the new year of classes, and I would be talking myself out of a heartbreak that I would never be able to get away from.
It wasn’t like I hid my tears from him tonight either.
But there was something about the warm shower water that when it first hit my body, I lost myself. Having my deepest secret exposed. And not exposed in a bad way either. Me telling Elijah. Offering him a piece of myself I never offered anyone else before. Something I never thought would happen because what we had was just a thing. A summer thing.
We managed to fall in love during that thing but it was always agreed upon that it wouldn’t go beyond summer.
Maybe the letter he gave me last summer shouldn’t have hurt the way it did.
But it did hurt.
Because I thought one of those summers it was going to become real.
The kind of real that went beyond a couple months.
It never did.
Now it wasn’t even summer and Elijah was here.
Trying to find who killed his brother. Wanting to avenge a death that most of HCH wanted to see happen.
And that was the time I decided to confess to him what my home life was like.
I lowered my head and stepped under the water.
I shut my eyes and wept.
Not an ugly cry.
Not a lose your breath cry.
Just a sad and hurt kind of cry.
Because everything around me seemed to be held together by a thread that was slowly pulling itself apart.
My mind flashed the image of me walking away from Kailey and Emma. Racing right toward Elijah again. And the only reason it had become a problem now was because of Aira. If it wasn’t for her showing up to HCH and getting tied into Wes and getting close to Ryland, then the whole Elijah being Ryland’s brother wouldn’t have mattered. But it did matter. Because Ryland was dead. And Wes hated Ryland for what he did with Aira. And there was no resolution there. So that made Elijah the next target. All the while Elijah loved wearing the target. All the while he put the target on Wes -and others- for the death of Ryland.
All because in Elijah’s eyes he had nothing to lose. He loved being the bastard. He only went along with his father’s need to claim Elijah was a nephew just to have a little bit of laughable power over him.
The hole went deeper than most knew.
But I knew.
I’d seen it.
I’d understood it long before Elijah had to say something about it.
It attracted me to him.
The fact that he could wear such wild scars and point right at them. And say look at these motherfuckers… look at my fucking life…
Because I related to it.
Except I kept it hidden.
I sucked in a breath and held it.
I put my head back and let the water drown me a little.
Holding my breath wasn’t a strong suit of mine. Which probably seemed odd because of my love and ability to surf. But when a wave took me under and tried to use its force to keep me there, my will to fight gave me an extra second or two to get out of the water before panic set in.
In the shower, the second I flirted with panic, my body stepped out of the water without me telling it to do.
I gasped for a breath as though I were going to die.
I tried to let out another cry but I made some kind of weird sound in my throat.
Then I was done.
Just like that.
Done.
That’s how it went for me though.
Sometimes I had to pick a moment and just turn it off. I couldn’t live in that world for too long.
Plus, the shower water was so comfortable.
I nudged it up a little hotter again and again, letting my skin get used to the heat.
I looked around and realized if I wanted to clean my body I needed to use Elijah’s soap. I grabbed the soap and smelled it.
It was him.
My brain whispered no shit to my heart but my heart kept jumping up and down yelling it’s him! It’s him!
I rubbed my hands on the soap and put it down. I slid my hands over my shoulders and down my body, letting the water quickly wash the soap away.
The smell overpowered my senses as I stood there.
My toes curled and I bit my bottom lip.
I knew right where my thoughts were headed and there was no escaping it.
But at least I was alone.
Just me and the shower.
Time to control my feelings. Calm myself down. Knowing that the allure of the attraction was because Elijah was wild and bad boy enough to protect me. No matter how crazy it was to think about it.
I finally told myself I had worn out my welcome in the shower so I turned the water off.
I stood and shivered for a couple seconds before opening the glass door and reaching for a dark blue towel. The same kind of towel Elijah had wrapped around me when he brought me up to his room. My mind replayed me falling to my knees in the shallow water of the shore, the wet sand clinging to everything.
And the way he stayed with me.
I had the towel around my body and I looked at the bathroom door.
Interesting.
I wasn’t sure what my next move was here.
Just walk out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel?
My wet and sandy clothes were on the floor.
I wasn’t going to put those back on.
The dry and comfy clothes were waiting in Elijah’s room. Hell, they were Elijah’s clothes. A comfy shirt and hoodie. An oversized pair of pajama bottoms.
God, that sounded like heaven.
The only thing sepa
rating me from that was the bathroom door.
I chewed my bottom lip for a few seconds.
Then I replaced my lip with my thumbnail.
I took one step and stopped.
That’s when the bathroom door opened.
* * *
Elijah stood there, halfway in the bathroom.
Those heartbreaking deadly eyes locked to mine. And there was no mistaking the way his eyes slowly inched down and back up, admiring me in the towel.
He had clothes balanced on his left hand.
“They won’t fit but it’ll work for tonight, babe,” he whispered.
“Thanks,” I whispered back.
“I’m going to put them on the sink. So you can get changed. Leave your dirty clothes on the floor. I’ll get them taken care of.”
I nodded.
Elijah walked to the sink and put the clothes down.
I watched him in the mirror as his eyes slowly lifted to meet the reflection of mine.
Fuck.
I swallowed hard.
The reflection was blurry from the steam… but still…
My hands slowly touched the towel along my hips. And then my hands moved to the wall. Flat against the wall. Feeling the moisture from the steam of the shower.
Elijah raised his right hand and placed it against the mirror. He made circles to wipe away the steam.
To make his reflection clearer.
To make my reflection clearer.
Double fuck.
We stared at each other, in silence, through a hazy, wet reflection. And the look in that reflection was more than anyone had ever given me in my entire life.
Elijah placed his hand on the clothes.
He looked down.
I didn’t look away.
I swallowed hard.
My breathing fell short.
The steam from the shower was nothing compared to what Elijah made me feel.
He turned and hesitation was never something he believed in.
Which was always good because we never had time for hesitation.
Ever.
Elijah moved at me with force.
I was breathless before his lips touched mine.
I opened my mouth before he opened his.
The kiss could have become really awkward right then but it was Elijah.
Fucking Elijah.
Summer Boy.
And he kissed me the same way he did every summer. Each time our lips collapsed together, my heart raced faster.
And then it all just stopped.
Elijah had his lips brushed against mine.
Breathing as heavy as me.
Our eyes dancing back and forth.
Trying to make sense of something there was no reason to make sense of.
That’s when his right hand touched me over the towel.
I sucked in a breath and felt my lips quiver.
His fingertips found the edge of the towel and he slipped his hand to my bare skin.
Touching my upper thigh.
I bit my bottom lip.
I felt so innocent to him.
Like I always did.
His hand began to explore, sliding along my warm and fresh skin, flirting with my belly button. My stomach fluttered and I wasn’t sure if it was ticklish or not. The tingling sensation mixed with butterflies and I couldn’t make sense of it.
Next his hand moved to my side and down, edging along the natural curve of my body. A curve that had recently become more and more something I worried about.
“Fuck, you’re so beautiful, babe,” he whispered.
My toes curled to the floor.
I wanted to say something to him.
Maybe something dirty.
Maybe something flirty.
Maybe something romantic.
Maybe something so fucking random it would make him laugh and then he’d walk away and I’d have to collect myself again and put on his clothes and sleep in his bed and be left with this longing feeling of…
I moved my head forward and put my forehead to his.
I shut my eyes.
No talking.
Just touching.
Elijah inched down and his fingers moved along more smooth and warm skin. Following another curve. A much better curve, if you asked me. The kind that made me… jump up to my toes… at that first touch…
“It’s okay, babe,” he whispered. “It’s all okay…”
Elijah kissed my neck.
I put my head back.
My mouth fell open and my eyes fluttered open.
I stared at the single light on the ceiling as his fingers pressed against me.
My body welcomed him, begging for more of his touch.
My hands peeled their way from the wall and I grabbed for the belt loops on his jeans.
I was already shaking as he curled his fingers and made an easy exit from my body.
My hips jerked forward, giving away that I was wanted… needed…
“Fuck,” I whispered.
Elijah put his nose to my throat and pressed his body against mine.
His fingers pressed again, this time with more force.
Helping himself to the pleasure that was always rightfully saved for him.
And this time he didn’t stop.
The flirty games were gone.
I gasped for a breath and pulled my fingers from the belt loops on his jeans.
I slapped the wall with force and looked down.
All I could see was the towel around his wrist. But I watched the way his forearm moved, matching up to the movement I felt inside my core.
“Oh… shit…”
I wanted to purr in a sexy voice but it was desperation.
Elijah kissed up my neck to my ear. “Don’t hold back, babe. Show me… show me what I’ve missed for so fucking long…”
I let out a groan and realized I wasn’t in control of my own body right then.
Elijah pulled his touch back and moved up. He pressed his fingertips right there and that was it for me. I shut my eyes and knew my mouth was jaw dropped to the floor as the wave crashed. I managed to bring my right hand to my mouth as I covered it, not wanting to scream.
It was that fucking good.
My knees bent. I fought to straighten them. They bent again.
My hips thrust out and my upper back was against the wall as I lost even more control.
I rode the wave as far as I could… a wave that was so far better than anything that could happen in the ocean.
When I was finished, Elijah gently took his hand away from me. He made sure the towel was covering everything and that it wasn’t going to fall off my body.
I moved my hand from my mouth and he kissed me one more time.
“Get dressed, babe,” he whispered.
He then walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
I stared at the clothes on the sink as the bathroom spun.
I needed more than a minute to figure this out.
Fuck, I needed a lifetime.
* * *
Elijah sat on the edge of his bed in jeans and a black sleeveless shirt.
With no shoes and socks on.
His tattoos crawling down his arms.
Muscles that were just always there.
That feeling of my knees giving out hit me again but I fought through it. Again.
“Fuck, Nova, you look amazing,” he said.
“I’m in your hoodie and your pants,” I said.
“I know.”
“Doesn’t that imply you turn yourself on then?”
“I don’t know, does it?” he asked.
“I’m tired, Elijah…”
“I bet,” he said with a grin.
He stood up and peeled the covers down the bed.
As I walked to the bed, he made a fast move, his left hand touching my face.
He pulled me toward him and put his forehead to mine.
We were in silence but there was a lot said.
“Do what you did last time,” I said.
“Play with your hair until you fall asleep?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Anything for you, babe.”
We got into the bed together and Elijah started to play with my wet hair. It wasn’t quite as good as when my hair was dry but it still felt good. I felt needed. I felt cared for. I felt like if I disappeared right there someone would miss me and hate that I was gone.
I tucked my head to Elijah’s chest.
“Sleep like this tonight,” I said.
“Already planned on it,” he said.
I smiled. “Good.”
“Hey, babe…”
“Yeah?”
“I’m going to do what I have to do,” he said. “With everything you told me tonight. I’m not going to sit in silence.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and felt my heart race for a whole new reason.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
I hid the tears until they overflowed my shut eyes and began to leak into Elijah’s shirt.
Then I nodded.
I know, Elijah… trust me, I know what you’re going to do next for me…
Chapter 18
Elijah
I had no plan but I made Nova believe that I did.
The last thing I wanted her to do was worry any more than she already had. Carrying that kind of secret around and letting it weigh her down the way it had done… was done. My mind refused to give up as it forced me to think about all the times we weren’t together and the kind of stuff that was happening at home.
It just replayed over and over. Leaving me angry and guilty at the same time.
I barely slept.
That was well worth it though because I held Nova in my arms and watched her sleep. She was safe, comfortable, wearing my clothes.
In the morning I decided to try something different and get ahead of things.
I snuck out of bed with a good morning kiss to Nova and met Annie in the hallway. Her judgmental yet motherly look was nothing compared to what I whispered to her about Nova and why she was in my bed.
That got Annie off our backs.
Splitting up to go to two different schools was complete bullshit.
But I sat outside HCH and watched Nova walk up to the large building. Kailey, Charlotte, and Emma were waiting for her. They all looked at me. I gave a wave and a smile. Nobody waved back. Except Emma. She lifted one finger to me. I waved back to her the same way.
HIDDEN CREEK AGAIN: a hidden creek high novel Page 18