I parked. Rose and I walked in through the familiar painted blue doors, a giant marlin in a net hanging ridiculously from the ceiling. The hostess recognized me, made small talk, and then led us toward a booth in the back of the dimly lit restaurant. The place was already packed since many of the tourists liked to eat dinner early to avoid the crowds and take a break from the sun.
“I feel like we’re on a date,” Rose said, in awe. “This table is kind of high. Would you be embarrassed if I asked for a booster seat?”
It took me a couple seconds, but it occurred to me she was only joking and I burst out laughing. “You’re something else, Rose.” And then, as we were waiting for the server to come introduce herself before we hit the buffet, I decided I wanted to tell Rose everything about Noah. I found I needed to tell someone, anyone, desperately.
“I have something to share, and you can’t tell Mom,” I started.
Those were the magic words. She dropped her kids menu and stared at me with the most eager eyes. “I can keep a secret. I promise.”
Hoping I wouldn’t regret telling her this, I took a breath and let the words slip out. “I think I’m in love with Noah Clark.”
She stared at me for several long seconds, then finally spoke. “You’re shitting me.”
“Don’t curse,” I groaned.
“Whatever. Don’t change the subject. So, you think you love him or you know you love him?”
Wow. She was more quizzical than one of my therapists. “Know,” I whispered, swallowing hard. I did love him. Wildly and without doubt. It was impossible not to fall, crashing and burning, head-over-heels for a man like Noah.
“Then you should know...” Rose said, her face turning rather pale. “Noah is here right now. Over there.” She pointed.
Holy shit. I glanced over my shoulder and sure enough—there was Noah. Except he wasn’t alone. He sat in a booth, a gorgeous blonde in the seat across from him. “What the hell?” I said under my breath, doing a double take. No, my eyes weren’t lying to me. It was definitely my Noah. “How long has he been over there?” I asked Rose.
“The whole time,” she answered. “I didn’t know you liked him or even cared about him, or I would have pointed him out sooner. I wanted to go say hi when we came in, but I thought since he was on a date, it would be rude to interrupt.”
My heart crashed to the floor and splintered into a million little pieces. He was on a date with someone else. We’d never officially been on a date. Instead he’d screwed me in the sand. After this morning, this was the last thing I ever expected.
Stupid.
I was beyond stupid.
I inched further into the booth. He obviously hadn’t seen me. But did that even matter? “We need to leave. Now,” I muttered to Rose. The smell of crab legs wafting through the air had my stomach churning. And the worst part of all—I was a little sore. Before this morning, it had been ages since I’d last had sex, even sex with Logan had never been anything like it was with Noah, and I squeezed my legs together trying to erase the reminder of where he’d been. Not to mention, I still was wearing his damn t-shirt. I had it tied on the side, so it didn’t look completely ridiculous, but I’d kept it on since I’d wanted to keep a piece of him close to me all day. Now it felt so itchy against my skin that I nearly was willing to rip it off right then and there.
Rose stretched her hand across the table and locked it in mine. “Maybe she’s his friend.” Jeez, she was trying to comfort me again.
“No, Rose,” I whispered. “Men don’t have friends that look like that girl.”
Seriously, the girl looked like she’d stepped from the pages of a Victoria Secret catalog. I’d hate to see her in a swimsuit. A southern beauty. Her blond hair was voluminous, wavy, and perfect, and she had an innocence about her I could tell wasn’t real but men would eat up…damn. I knew I was pretty, but not like her. She was a girl’s worst freaking nightmare. I had to stop staring at them, deep in conversation—because I was seconds away from crying.
“Ohmigod,” Sonya suddenly said, appearing out of nowhere. Perfect luck. It seemed our server was going to be Sonya. Of all people, of all times, Sonya. “Did ya’ll come in here just to visit me?” she asked sweetly.
“No,” Rose automatically answered.
“Oh,” Sonya said, turning to glance in Noah’s direction. “He’s why you’re here, isn’t he? Talking to her. Can you believe how much she’s changed?”
“Who is she?” I asked, dumbfounded.
“Sydney Michaels. From our grade. Crazy, huh?”
Sydney Michaels was a quiet, studious girl with light brown hair, glasses, and average looks. We’d had a couple classes together over the years but had never spoken. The girl sitting across from Noah wasn’t Sydney. At least, not the Sydney I remembered. What the hell happened to her?
“She changed about the time…well…when you left school,” Sonya said, answering my unspoken question. “Maybe your brush with death inspired her or something. Forced the girl out of her shell. She dyed her hair, got contacts, put on some makeup, and actually started to be friendly. Weird, huh? And she turned into a slut too. She’s on break. She’s got like fifteen minutes left, but do you want me to go tell her to get back to work?”
“She works here?”
“Yeah. Started a couple week ago.”
So, Noah was here visiting her on her break. Fantastic. Just effing fantastic. I gathered up my purse. “I don’t want you to tell her anything. I have nothing to say to either one of them. But will you let Rose and me sneak out through the back?”
“Sure, babe.” She gave me a small smile, making me miss the girl she used to be—the girl I’d grown up with. Rose and I followed Sonya out through the kitchen. My heart was in my shoes. Noah had used his shyness and his vulnerability to fool me straight into bed. And I was the young, I, stupid girl who’d fallen for his act. Hook. Line. And sinker.
But as we followed Sonya, a silver lining emerged. My ex-friend was being helpful and nice. Maybe, like Rose, the rift between us was all my doing. If I apologized to Sonya could I start to mend everything that was broken between us?
“I’ll make sure she gets the shitty side-work when her shift is over tonight,” Sonya offered, hesitating as she let us out the back door.
“Thanks,” I muttered, grabbing Rose’s hand. “And, Sonya, please call me sometime. There’s stuff we need to talk about. Stuff that probably should be said.”
She nodded, her eyes on the door rather than mine. “You know Logan and I are sort of seeing each other? We were out together when you saw us at Chancy’s.”
Logan had mentioned that he and Sonya were hanging out some. I hadn’t considered the possibility that that meant they were dating. But as Sonya’s words sank in, I found I didn’t really care all that much. They could date each other if they wanted to. I wouldn’t get in their way. “Still call me,” I added.
Rose and I left the restaurant, heading home. The sky had turned grey and ominous, which matched my mood perfectly. “Sorry our dinner date was ruined,” I told her on the drive. So much for me being the cool big sister. Sneaking out through the back of the Blue Pelican had felt like the ultimate walk of shame, and I was still splintering inside. I tried to keep calm—for Rose’s sake.
“That’s okay,” Rose said, but I heard a trace of disappointment in her voice. Maybe I shouldn’t have left the restaurant. Maybe I should have confronted Noah head on, but I hadn’t wanted to do it while wearing his t-shirt.
“I need to go home and change. Then we can figure out something else to do tonight.”
“You still want to do something with me?” she asked eagerly.
“Of course, Rosie.” I turned the steering wheel, pulling down our street. “Noah’s just a boy. I won’t let him spoil our evening.”
Too bad that boy happened to be waiting at my house. In his damn leather jacket again, leaning against his damn motorcycle, with damn flowers in his hand, looking like something out of a dream. Why
flowers? And how the heck had he beat us home? “Stay in the car for a minute,” I told Rose as we pulled up to the house. I was beyond shocked to find him there, and it wasn’t a good kind of shocked. “This is going to get ugly.”
Keep breathing, dammit, I thought just as the sky opened up and a light rain started.
CHAPTER 17
NOAH
There she was. A calmness settled over me, one that I hadn’t felt since morning. It had been a shitty day. I never should have left her earlier, because each and every single second since I last saw her had been worse than the one before it.
It started at the pharmacy. I spent a full hour there, debating over whether or not I should buy her a damn morning-after pill or Plan-B or whatever you want to call it. I paced the aisles, shirtless, because I’d left my shirt with Georgie, Googling every possible side-effect on my phone. Finally, I decided that I couldn’t show up at her house with the pill. What kind of asshole would that make me? I needed to talk to her first. I would have called her then and there but, like a fool, I didn’t even have her phone number. God, I was the worst boyfriend ever. Fuck. Was I her boyfriend?
In the end, all I bought was a box of condoms, avoided some weird looks from the clerk who’d seen me pacing for an hour, and headed home. On my way, I had the overwhelming urge to buy the girl flowers. Georgia was the type who deserved flowers, not condoms and pills. I’d never bought a woman flowers before. Well, technically, that wasn’t true. I had already bought them for Georgie once before—after her suicide attempt and while she was still in the hospital. I hadn’t written my name on the card, so I was sure she never knew they were from me, but buying them had felt like something I’d needed to do at the time. And, again, I had the urge to buy her flowers. So I made a mental note to do that later.
Once home, I showered and did my normal cleaning routine. Mostly, I was killing time, waiting on Rhett to get home. He must have stayed out somewhere, because he wasn’t in his room and he wasn’t answering his cell. Maybe he’d spent the night with one of his usual fuck buddies, meaning he was over his infatuation with his mystery girl. Good. Because I was confident this girl, the one I’d spoken with at The Swing the other night, had been the same girl from Ben’s funeral.
I had a theory on why she’d been crying her eyes out too. Because you didn’t cry like that unless you knew the person who’d died and knew them well. So now, more than ever, I wanted to know who the hell Rhett’s mystery girl was. What was her link to Ben? Whether I was figuring it out for Georgie or Ellie or the whole Turner family, I wasn’t sure. But they were my family too, and I needed to solve this small mystery for them. I couldn’t wait around all day for Rhett.
So, I followed my only lead—her jackass brother, Three Lip Rings, and went to the closest tattoo parlor. Mystery Blonde never said her own name, but she’d mentioned her brother’s name. John. The guy had more ink than bare skin, and it was the only spot I could think to look.
I walked into the place, and lo and behold, there he was. Working.
“Can I help—” Lip Ring John started to say as he glanced up from the woman he was tattooing. He noticed it was me, and his eyes automatically narrowed. “Unless you’re here to get some ink then get your ass out of my shop,” he said, venom dripping in his voice. Three other guys glanced up from their stations, all giving me equally dirty looks.
You’ve got to be shitting me.
Breathing in deep, I tried to remain calm. I wasn’t a ‘people person.’ Talking with strangers was a weakness of mine. So talking with assholes…well, that triggered a whole different side of my personality. I had traces of my Uncle Joe’s temper buried deep inside me, and I didn’t like putting myself in situations where that side might surface.
“I need to speak with your sister,” I said, keeping an even voice.
“Get in line, pal. She ain’t talking with your dickhead friend, and she ain’t gonna be talking with you. So both of you get your sorry asses out of her life.”
Every bone in my body wanted to turn around and simply leave, but I forced myself to stay put. “I’m not here for Rhett. I’m here for my girlfriend.” The lie slipped from my tongue so easily that it felt real. Maybe it was real. “Her name is Georgina Turner. Ben Turner was her brother. Does that name mean anything to you?”
“Yes,” he uttered, and it was like a flip switched. His guard-dog attitude dropped. “It means something.”
Wow. Ben must have known this guy too. My stomach turned. How many secrets did this kid keep? “Can you please tell me where I can find your sister? I’d like to talk to her about Ben. Not Rhett.”
His eyes went back to the woman before him. He started his ink gun again, pressing it to her already sunburned skin, and she winced a little at the pain. I thought for a moment John was going to ignore me, but then he started talking as he worked.
“Sydney’s got herself a waitressing job over at that all-you-eat crab place. The fancy one with the big fish on the ceiling. She’s a good girl. She’ll tell you whatever you want to know about Ben. You get your answers and then you leave my sister the hell alone. She’s already been through enough this year.”
That was all he said. But that was all I needed to know. The mystery girl had a name. Sydney. And she worked at the Blue Pelican. I’d never been there before, kind of fancy for my blood too, but the big fish on the ceiling had its own reputation. So I knew exactly where to go. I left John’s shop, making a pit-stop at the florist, and headed to the Blue Pelican next.
* * *
“What are you? Houdini?” Georgie huffed, slamming her car door as she stepped out onto the driveway. She wore my white t-shirt from this morning—the only thing she’d had on while I’d been buried deep inside her. Damn. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing her in my shirt. It conjured up very good memories. Memories I had every intention of repeating as soon as possible. I adjusted my pants, because damn, the girl had me instantly hard.
I cleared my throat. “Houdini? Like the magician?”
Wait. Her eyes were rimmed in red. Shit. Something was off.
“Yes, like the magician.” She rushed around the car, opening the passenger door. Rose popped out. I’d been too distracted that I hadn’t noticed she had Rose with her. I watched as Georgie whispered something to the girl and ushered her toward the house. They both hurried past me like I wasn’t there. What the hell?
“Georgie, wait,” I rushed after them, still clutching the damn flowers in my hand. It had started to rain, and I hoped that was the reason both girls were in a hurry, but something told me it wasn’t the rain. Rose fumbled with the key, ignoring me when she normally was always thrilled to see me. I caught Georgie’s arm because she hadn’t even made fucking eye contact with me. Her face was splotchy red, as if she’d been crying or was seconds away from crying. I didn’t know her well enough yet to know which.
“What’s going on?” I whispered. “If someone did anything to you, so much as looked at you funny, then I will fucking end them. Tell me what happened. Why are you upset?”
She glanced up, glaring at me. Whatever pain she felt…it ricocheted through me. Because her blue eyes, the color magnified by the red that lined them, were devastating. “You’re what happened,” she muttered.
The breath left my lungs. I dropped my hold on her arm, stunned, and frankly, crushed. Rose managed to unlock the door and both girls disappeared inside. It felt like someone had cut my knees out from under me. I stood, staring at the door for a moment, shell-shocked, until it occurred to me that I had a key and could follow her inside. I didn’t have a damn clue as to what I did wrong, but whatever I did, I would fix it.
I unlocked the door and found Georgie sitting on the floor. Rose had her arms wrapped around her. Like if she could squeeze her sister tight enough then she could squeeze away all her pain. I knew that feeling. I’d lived through it once before—when I’d waited for the paramedics to arrive. I didn’t get it. The Georgie I knew was such a strong person. Why would she ever let
anything, including me, affect her like this?
I dropped on the floor beside them. “Please…” My voice cracked, and I sure as fuck wasn’t ever one to become emotional. “Tell me what I did. I need to know so I can fix it. Please, Georgie. What happened?”
She didn’t answer me or even look at me. But Rose did. “We saw you with your girlfriend and you were on a date,” she said, sassing me.
Did she mean Sydney? At the Blue Pelican? Not ten minutes ago? I guess the Houdini reference made sense now. We must have been there at the same time, and Georgie must have automatically assumed the worst. I blew out a breath of relief, glad she didn’t hate me for something more than this simple misunderstanding. “That wasn’t a date,” I started. “I didn’t even order a glass of water. I only stopped there to speak with Sydney. She’s the girl Rhett’s been searching for.”
“You weren’t on a date with her?” Georgie asked, her eyes still avoiding mine.
“Of course not. She means nothing to me. Look at me, Georgie, please.”
She did. And holy shit those eyes of hers were fierce. She wasn’t crying at all. She was only pissed off. “I want to believe you, Noah. But I’ve been hurt before. Just like this. Why would you be any different? You were so deep in conversation with her that you didn’t even notice Rose and me come into the restaurant. We were in a booth only twenty feet away from you. And all I could think was—what if you got all you wanted from me this morning and we were over?”
Fuck that.
The sharpness and the edge in her eyes scared the shit out of me. She had the power to break me. “This morning was the tip of the iceberg for us,” I told her firmly. “Nothing is over. You mean everything to me, and that’s not something I’d let slip away over such a silly misunderstanding like this. Sydney and I were deep in conversation only because we were talking about your brother. She was in love with Ben. She’d always been in love with him. Even when he didn’t know she existed in high school, she’d loved him. Then I guess whenever Ben took classes at the community college—the ones he took so he could graduate early—she’d had classes with him. They became friends. I don’t know any more than that. I don’t know why she randomly slept with Rhett and I don’t even care. Because none of that matters right this moment. Not now. Not when I need to ask you one very important question?”
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