Just Me

by L. A. Fiore

“What a view.”

  He was looking at me when he replied, “It sure is. Where do you want to set up?”

  With all we'd been through, my damn knees still went weak. “I guess over there near the river, so I'm out of the way.”

  “Broderick's in with the building inspector, but when he's done, he'll give you the tour.”

  “It's much bigger than I was expecting.”

  Bastian looked back at the house. “It's an amazing house.”

  He had the same look of awe I always had when working on my art—he was coming into his own in his field and I loved it. The next words sort of tumbled out of my mouth. “I could live in this crazy little town.”

  “It's funny you should say that, because I was thinking the same very thing.”

  Bastian gave me another mind-numbing, body-tingling kiss, leaving me quite flustered as he walked back to the site. Maybe I wasn't so very different from my mom after all, at least in respect to Bastian, because I was definitely an addict and he was my drug.

  When he disappeared around the back of the house I got to work. I wasn't at it long when I heard a cry and peered up to see an eagle fly overhead. The sight pulled my attention for a good while because I had never seen an eagle in person. It was magnificent. When it circled the top of a tree before landing, I knew there must be a nest up there.

  I worked for a good two hours before I heard my name and turned to see Broderick approach. He stopped just beside me but his attention was on my painting. After a minute, his focus turned to me. “Would you consider painting a mural for me?”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, for the house, I've been toying with an idea for the dining room.”

  “I've never done one, but, yeah, I'd love to.”

  “Excellent, I was thinking maybe you and my brother could work on it together.”

  I blanched at the thought of painting a mural with Logan.

  “What's wrong?”

  “Painting a mural with your brother doesn't seem very fair to him. I’m still only learning.”

  He moved suddenly, pushing his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. I had the sense he had more to say, but thought better of it. Was he about to confirm my suspicion?

  “So, would you like that tour now?”

  I guess not. “Please.”

  In the house tour, I understood Bastian's love for his craft because art and science came together in perfect harmony. After the tour, I spent another two hours on my painting, then packed it up for the day.

  Everyone was meeting at Logan's for dinner, but beforehand Logan and I wanted to compare our paintings. We set up on the beach so everyone else could study them too, but before we did so Logan cleaned our brushes. He was so focused on his task that my fingers itched to sketch him. I reached for a pad of paper and a pencil and while he worked, I did too.

  He wore a T-shirt, faded jeans and his feet were bare. There was a tattoo wrapped around his left bicep, some kind of scroll work, probably Celtic in origin. He was built very much like Bastian, tall, and thickly muscled. His long hair was pulled back into a ponytail, some of the strands pulling free from their confines as the wind gusted around us. Sketching his face sealed it for me—despite the facial hair—the lines and contours were familiar, because I saw them every morning in the mirror. I couldn't deny I was bitter because I had missed out on a lot, but then would either of us be where we were had things gone differently? Would I have met Bastian? Probably not, and so despite the bitterness, I couldn't be too angry. Everything happened for a reason.

  “Okay, I'm done.” Startled out of my thoughts, I looked up to see Logan watching me. I had taken a seat on the beach as I worked.

  “What are you doing?” He asked with curiosity.

  Suddenly I felt embarrassed, so I tried to pass if off, but Logan wasn't having any of that. He walked over and hunched down in front of me. “May I?”

  My face went beet red as I passed him my notepad. The sketch wasn't completely finished, I still had some shading to do, but the overall image was done. He examined it for several minutes then those eyes looked up into mine and I swear they looked a bit bright.

  “Can I have this? I would really like to have this.”

  “It's not quite done, but yeah you can have it.”

  He looked down at the sketch again, his finger lightly tracing the lines, and when he spoke again his voice sounded rough. “Thank you.”

  Our gazes met and held, then he smiled. “You ready?” He asked as he gestured to the paintings behind him.

  “Oh, yeah.” He stood before offering me his hand to help me to my feet. As we approached, the others were already studying the paintings and I wondered about the looks on their faces until I stood in front of the easels. It was almost eerie how very much alike in style our paintings were. Even the use of color and the blending of shades were very similar.

  I said out loud what I was thinking. “It's like we share a brain.”

  And I knew unequivocally in that moment that Logan was my dad.

  ***

  The following day, Logan accompanied Broderick and Bastian for a supply run one town over, so I was hanging with Saffron. We spent the day shopping for baby clothes and went to lunch. I finally got to meet Chastity since she was in town finalizing the plans for the swordfish festival.

  I had to agree with Saffron. The woman was as friendly as a rattlesnake and demanding—ordering people here and there. Her attention zeroed in on a small, heavy-set elderly man. “Take that order to the bakery and make sure they have the final cost to me by mid-afternoon.” She didn't wait for a reply before she turned her glare on the nervous-looking woman standing next to her. “Is the float ready?”

  “I'm not sure.”

  “Well, go find out.” When she ordered Saffron, Gwen and me to test out the PA system, I came very close to telling her what I thought of her but then I saw the very small smile directed at Saffron that cut through her rough exterior. Clearly there was a story there too.

  “It isn't going to test itself. We need to make sure the volume isn't too loud. I don't want to get complaints again like we did last year.” Chastity demanded.

  I was stopped from making a biting remark when I noticed an odd look pass over Saffron's face. Gwen must have seen it too. She mumbled, “Here we go.”

  “What am I missing?” I asked confused.

  Gwen pointed accusingly at Saffron. “She's an attention junkie.”

  “I am not.”

  “Right and the idea of standing up there and singing isn't running through your head?”

  “Well, Chastity did say to test out the system so how better to do that?” Chastity was no longer in sight, having hurried off to spout off more commands.

  “Singing, up there, in front of everyone?” I asked.

  Saffron looked around. “Everyone who? There's no one here.”

  I realized she was right, town square was surprisingly empty. “Well, you have fun with that. I think I'll go get a donut.”

  “What are you? Chicken?” Saffron asked which was met with complete silence as I stopped moving and slowly turned around to see a very pregnant lady with her hands on her cocked hips.

  “Excuse me?” I asked.

  “Chicken?”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “Did Bastian put you up to this?”

  She actually lifted her hand and started studying her nails. “He may have mentioned something.”

  “Such as?”

  “That you were still owed payback for being responsible for him having to dress in a pink rabbit suit. Which, I have to say, I would have really liked to have seen that. Anyway, I'm a giver, Lark. I'm always ready to help my fellow man.”

  “What a humanitarian.” I muttered.

  “So, are you going to get up there with us or are you going to cluck about?”

  I looked at Gwen, who was trying really hard not to laugh, before my attention turned back to Saffron. I knew she could see the answer on my face. “Fine.�
��

  “Excellent.”

  But once we were up there, I had second thoughts. “This seems like an extraordinarily bad idea.” And that came out in a whine.

  “It's fun, Lark, it's like being a rock star for a few minutes.”

  Gwen hit a few buttons and Adele's “Rumor Has It” pumped loudly from the speakers.

  I was seriously beginning to wonder if this entire town was really some avant-garde mental hospital where the patients were allowed to roam freely. Maybe they even piped airborne narcotics into the air supply to keep the natives from going completely bonkers, though with this—singing karaoke in the middle of the town square—I think we were definitely at or even past bonkers.

  Saffron started to sing and I learned that I was just as nuts as the rest of them, because I was actually having fun watching her. I think that part of my enjoyment was the realization that I was being included. Here in Harrington among people who were most likely relations of mine, I wasn't on the outside looking in.

  “Your turn, Lark.”

  I didn't want to be included that much. “No thanks. Listening is one thing. Singing is something else entirely,” I said.

  “So you are a chicken?”

  I couldn't believe I was actually being goaded into singing and worse, I was letting myself be. There were just a few people milling around, and since I was so damn competitive, I relented. Saffron grinned like a fool.

  I selected a song that reminded me of Bastian, “Brighter than the Sun,” and when the music started, I sort of lost myself to it and the boy. I didn't have a great voice, but Saffron was right, it was a hell of a lot of fun. Made even more so when my eyes met hers and I saw affection staring back. I had never experienced one, but I was pretty sure we were having a bonding moment.

  As if I summoned him with song, Bastian appeared, crossing the lawn of the town square heading right to me. I followed him with my gaze as I sang—the words expressed so perfectly how I felt about him. Despite the festival workers around us, I sang just to him and when the song was over, Bastian came on stage to sweep me into a kiss.

  “My siren.” He whispered. A devilishness entered his expression. He took a lock of my hair between his fingers. “Seeing you singing up here is so fucking hot.”

  “I can't sing to save my life.”

  His grin turned borderline lascivious. “True, but it's still hot as hell.” He sealed that observation with another kiss.

  ***

  The following evening Logan and Broderick came to take Bastian to play some pool. Logan's car and Bastian's motorcycle had just left the driveway when I heard another knock at the door and opened it to find Saffron and Gwen.

  “Hi.”

  “Bastian's gone, right?” Saffron asked as her eyes darted around the foyer.

  “Yeah, he just left.”

  “Cool, grab a jacket.”

  I didn't move. What was she up to?

  “Where are we going?”

  “To have fun.” She narrowed her eyes at me and she started to cluck like a chicken.

  I reached for my jacket as I muttered. “Last I checked, I was the adolescent in the crowd.”

  “We are young at heart.” Saffron said, before she turned and started waddling away and I couldn't help calling after her.

  “You going to start quacking soon?”

  Gwen stared at me a second, then burst out into laughter, but Saffron just looked at me from over her shoulder. I added, “Shoe on the other foot and all that.”

  “Nice.” She hissed.

  We drove into town, where we got ice cream, walked down Main Street, and spent some time at the harbor. About two hours later we started for home, but instead of going to the little Cape on the bay, we stopped just before Tucker’s—the bar Bastian was at. Gwen parked her car along the side of the road. I followed her out of the car and when I came around to the other side I asked, “What are we doing?”

  “Practice.” Saffron offered cryptically.

  “Meaning?” I pressed.

  Gwen appeared with a cooler and when she opened it, I peered inside.

  “What are they?” I asked.

  Saffron looked almost sinister. “Swordfish funnel cakes.”

  “What are we going to do with them?”

  Gwen chuckled as she closed up the lid. “We're going to attack.”

  She looked down at me and smiled as understanding dawned.

  “The guys.” I said.

  “Yep.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  That was met with two blank stares. “Why not?” Saffron asked, with genuine confusion.

  “But isn't the owner your friend? Won't he be upset that we're making such a mess and with those?” My nose wrinkled from the smell, though it was not nearly as bad as the name suggested.

  “Yeah, a good friend, so he won't mind. Besides, we've gotten really quick at cleaning up after these forays.”

  How do you reply to that? “Okay.”

  “Thatta girl.” Gwen said.

  “You guys ready?” Saffron asked.

  “Yep.”

  We moved in through the kitchen and when we walked out into the bar, we were still not visible to Bastian and the others. Saffron looked giddy, excitement turning her cheeks all rosy. I was all for bonding moments with Saffron, but she was just a bit left of center. The fact that I found the trait endearing and not disturbing probably meant something.

  Saffron pressed the funnel cake into my palm and the weight of it surprised me. I couldn't imagine eating one, really didn't understand how something so gross could ever have been thought up, but now was not the time to ponder it.

  We walked further into the bar and stopped just outside the pool room. It only took a moment for Bastian's head to lift. I kept my hands behind my back as I strolled into the room, Gwen right behind me. Bastian moved from his spot at the table toward me as a smile spread over his face.

  “Hey beautiful.”

  “Hi Bastian.” I held his gaze a moment before I took in the other men. Understanding swept across Logan's face right before he turned his attention to someone just behind me.

  Saffron screamed, “Now!” I lost sight of Bastian briefly in the shower of funnel cakes and I laughed at the look on his face when he came back into view. He had had no idea what was going on, so he didn't react fast enough to block the funnel cake that nailed him right on the nose, or the two others that followed just after the first. His eyes narrowed and I gulped before I turned and fled. I made it out of the bar and about two hundred yards from it before Bastian's strong arms came around me and lifted me right off the ground. He pulled me back against him and sucked on the skin of my neck, right at the curve where it met the shoulder. “You shouldn't have done that.”

  “It was Saffron's idea.”

  His lips brushed over my ear, capturing my lobe in his teeth, before his tongue licked the small point of pain. My bones melted.

  “You nailed me with a funnel cake.”

  “I did—several times in fact.” There were still some remnants of the cakes in his hair.

  His voice sounded so soft and sexy. “And how should I punish you for that?”

  Desire burned through me at his tone. He must have sensed the change in me when he dropped me to the ground and turned me into him, his mouth fusing to mine as he trapped me up against a tree. His hands pulled through my hair as he tilted my head and kissed me so thoroughly that there was not a single spot in my mouth he didn't explore.

  “Lark! You okay?” Saffron called, no doubt because she had brought me here and wanted to make sure I was with Bastian before she left.

  Bastian pulled his mouth from mine, but his eyes had turned so dark and filled with so many sinfully delicious promises that I felt myself getting lightheaded.

  “We're going home right now.” He kissed me quick and hard.

  “Yes, home, I like that idea.” I called to Saffron. “Yes, I'm okay.”

  “Okay, see you in the morning. Night, Bastian.”


  “Good night.” Seconds later, we were roaring down the road on his bike. Once Bastian parked, he grabbed for me and said. “Run.”

  My eyes grew wide and I did just that, but I didn't even make it to the door before Bastian grabbed me and lifted me up over his shoulder.

  “Bastian!”

  As soon as we were locked in the house he carried me down the hall to the bedroom where he tossed me onto the bed. I couldn't even catch my breath before he was on top of me. His body covered mine. His eyes burned like fire as his lips turned up on the one side. And then he meted out my punishment. He kissed every inch of my body as he slowly removed my clothes. He stripped and I watched as he rolled the condom on before he covered my naked body with his own. Feeling the hard muscles of his body pressed against the soft curves of mine had lust coiling in my belly. I grabbed his ass just as he rolled his hips and entered me in one, long smooth motion. As soon as his hips started to move, my lips sealed over his as we moved together finding that perfect rhythm. Yep, I definitely needed to be bad more often.

  ***

  The previous night, after Bastian and I returned home, had been incredible. In fact I was so eager to have a repeat performance that I had tried to convince Bastian to play hooky with me, but he couldn't because his specs were due to the woodcrafter. It was just as well, I had a painting to work on.

  My cell buzzed, pulling me from my thoughts. When I saw it was my uncle, a smile spread over my face. “Hey, Uncle Eddie.”

  “Lark, how are you?”

  He sounded distracted or upset. “I'm fine. Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, is everything good with you?”

  “Better than good. I'm learning a lot and this town: the people are crazy but a lot of fun.” I wanted to tell him about Logan being my dad but I wasn't sure that was news one shared over the phone. My mom had been the love of Uncle Eddie's life. He already knew she shared a child with a stranger, but now having a face and a name for that stranger, that might be news best shared in person.

  “That's wonderful. I'm so happy to hear you're enjoying yourself.” Again I felt as if he was distracted.

  “Are you sure everything's okay?”

  “Yeah, but if your Aunt should call you, would you please call me immediately?”