by Claire Woods
“My mother’s cancer is incredibly rare—so rare they think it might be hereditary, like a recessive gene or something. I’m scared. Scared to love anybody too much.”
“Oh, Callie, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because, Soph, everyone already walks on eggshells around me. I didn’t want that.”
“You should tell him.”
“No. He’s playing the season he needs to reach the NFL. Telling him would only mess with his head.” Angela shrugs, stepping forward to help me up.
“She’s right. My brother’s on a farm team for the Yankees. He’s always telling us at the level he’s at—stuff in his personal life is the only thing that can screw up his game more than an injury.” Erin, another sister, speaks up for me.
“This is a pledge party, not a pity party. Let’s help Callie get her groove on.” I reluctantly follow them down the stairs, outside, leaving my tattered heart back on the closet floor.
My mind is full of him, as I sip a beer, standing on the outer circle by the fire. A few boys try to talk to me but give up when it’s clear my mind is somewhere else.
“I’m getting a refill. Want one?”
I shake my head at Soph, freezing. On the other side of the fire, Gabe sits in a large deck chair, a brunette on his lap. She giggles, whispering into his ear. He looks up, sensing my stare.
Maybe the headlines held some truth after all. Twenty minutes after he took me like he’d die if he didn’t; he’s causally flirting with my look alike, relaxed with a beer in hand and I wonder if I ever really knew him at all?
***
Gabe
I’m being a baby, pouting like a child that didn’t get his way. But what else can I do? She doesn’t want me, even when she does.
The beer I’ve been nursing is warm in my hand as I sit in the lawn chair, enjoying the view.
Callie has her back turned. My smirk grew bigger as each tool tried to make their move.
Gayle’s doing better. I text her as much as Banger. But it’s become too hard for me to visit her when I wish to be part of the family.
She understands, hoping just as much as I do—someday the time will be right.
“Hey, sexy.” Fern Daniels straddles my hips. She’s drunk as fuck. Her brother’s on the hockey team, and we’ve hung out a few times in groups. She’s not Callie, though, and we did nothing but share one disastrous kiss. It was a reminder that replacing one girl with another—would never work.
But I can’t shove her off my lap.I’d better look out for her tonight. It’s the right thing to do; her brother would kick my ass if one of these drunks got into her pants on my watch.
The hairs on the back of my neck rise.
Shit.
Callie’s staring at me like she doesn’t even see me.
Fern forgotten I jump up as Callie takes off. She runs through the yard, out to the street. Barely, jogging, I catch up.
“Callie? That wasn’t what it looked like.”
“It doesn’t matter if it is. We’re not together.”
“We could be. I know everything. I can’t keep pretending I don’t.”
“What do you mean?” She turns around with angry eyes reflecting moonlight.
“Your mom. We stay in touch, daily.” Taking out my phone, I scroll through dozens of texts.
“I can’t believe the two of you. Treating me like a child? Plotting behind my back? Unbelievable.”
Instead of holding me in relief, she walks away. “Stop chasing me, Gabe. Thank you for giving me a reason to finally help me get over this.” She gestures between the two of us.
“How did it all go so wrong? We were so happy?” I call out.
“I don’t know. It just did,” she answers walking backward throwing her arms up.
I watched her walk away until the night swallowed her up, leaving me standing alone with my broken heart scattered across the road for all tires to roll over and crush some more.
I know I screwed up here, somewhere, but damn if I can figure out how or where.
Two years later….
Callie
“IT’S GOING TO BE A HOT ONE a real scorcher.” Banger comes on the morning show, stunning everyone at the café.
“Is that Banger? What’s he doing at WFBN? I heard he replaced Seacrest at E.”
Shrugging, I sit drinking my coffee, as I study the notes on my iPad. I might be home for the summer, but medical school is no joke. I graduated UVA a semester early since I doubled up attending the main campus all year and taking whatever credits I could here the past few summers. I never saw Gabe again after that night at the bonfire.
I told myself for years it was for the best, but every time I drive back to Sea Spray hitting the red light at the first intersection; my car idles as I reminiscence the night we first met.
“GOOOD MORNING SEA SPRAY! It’s Banger coming to you live. I just couldn’t stay away. I’m on vacation, visiting old haunts. The memories—they just come flooding back. My best ones are here in this town. But I’m not the only one taking a trip down memory lane—I’m live in studio with a very good friend…”
“Hey, Sea Spray… it’s Parker. Some of you might remember me. Two years ago, this very weekend—I met the woman of my dreams right here. She slipped away, but I never forgot her. I see her face every time I close my eyes. She haunts my dreams, my heart, my soul… Fanny if you’re out there—I still love you. I never stopped believing you’d come back to me. There’s never been anyone else, I swear to you. If you still love me, too—meet me tonight. You know where.”
My coffee cup slips from my hands.
I turn hot—cold—then hot again.
Gabe’s here? He still loves me?
I’ve watched every game on TV, read every article written about him, but I never dared to hope he felt the same way since he never once tried to contact me.
I had planned to reach out to him and pour my heart out, but then the acceptance letter to Grad school in California came.
My mother told me to go—pursue my dreams and let Gabe chase his. She said sometimes we need to fulfill our own dreams or resent our partner if we don’t. We watched the NFL draft together from the apartment. Both of us crying as he went in the third round to the Patriots. Uncle Steve was there, with him in person, looking like the proud father figure he’s become.
“You’re going this time, right? I don’t have to make a secret phone call? I never want to see Banger again, much less have to talk to him. But I’d do it for you.”
“Will you finally, tell me what the heck happened between the two of you? Come on, Soph,” I sigh. She wouldn’t even tell me after eight Margaritas in Cabo on our graduation trip.
“Fine. If you promise to go. Remember pledge week? You weren’t the only one suckered into going into a closet. Banger made them get me in one with him. We kind of hung out that summer, too. But he seemed like such a player that I wanted nothing to do with him. Especially since I had feelings for Elliott.”
“What? You liked Elliott?”
“I did. But I’d never… you know because of you.”
“Gabe always said Banger was a good guy. Maybe you should’ve given him a chance.”
“Maybe. But that was years ago. He’s famous now.”
“So? So is Gabe.”
“That’s different.”
“Is it? He might still be into you. It’s probably hard to let people in because they might just want to be near you when you’re famous.”
“Don’t forget, rich. You better go tonight.”
“I’m going. I’m scared as hell, but I’m going.”
“Call BC first. Get yourself transferred to med school in Boston.”
“I did. Months ago, Baltimore is too gray, for me.”
“Boston’s not any better.”
“But I’ll have him.”
“What are you waiting for? Go now!”
“I can’t.” I look down at my chipped nails and inspecting the ends of my hair. “I haven�
��t had time to keep myself up. We never did take that spa day…”
***
Gabe
I’m nervous as hell, but Gayle texted that she just left the house. She’s become a second mother to me; it’s been hard pretending otherwise since we’ve kept our communications quiet since Callie felt betrayed by it two years ago.
I never wanted Callie to feel pressured by my love. And I know if I went back for her two years ago—explained everything, starting with that afternoon I took her mother to the stadium; she would have given it all up for me. But Callie wouldn’t have been happy as a trophy wife. I knew that. So, I kept my distance, each of us simultaneously pursuing our dreams on opposite coasts. But now the time is right. She’s more confident than ever, pursuing her dream to be a physician and saving lives has given her this incredible confidence. Steve lets me stalk her Instagram and Facebook whenever we hang out. He laughs, that he’d charge me for stalking if I keep bugging him for more pics of her. He’s texted more than a few over the years.
This time—I’m making my play and catching Callie for good.
She’s there.
Sitting in the sand with her long hair whipping behind her. Her head turns at me walking up the beach at dusk.
“Hey. I’m Gabe Parker… in case you haven’t heard of me—I’m kind of a big deal.”
“I’m Callie, but the man I love calls me, Fanny.”
I’m on her in an instant. Lips crushing hers, body pinning her down in the sand, like a wild beast.
“I’m sorry. I just—couldn’t help it,” I groan rolling to my side.
“Fuck it. I’m not sorry,” she whispers moving to straddle me.
“I’ve missed you. So, fucking much.”
“I’ve felt half-alive. Never, never leave me again.”
“I won’t. But technically—you left me. Twice.”
“Shut up and kiss me.”
So, I do and I never stop until we’re both breathless and needy in the moonlight.
“We need to stop. There might be a dozen cameras on tripods somewhere out there.” My head nods over to the ocean behind us.
“So? Let them take as many pictures as they can. I want the whole world to know we’re back together.”
I dip my head, pressing my forehead against hers, “God, Callie, you better mean that. I’m not letting you go this time.”
“I do. I mean every word. I’ve missed you every day for years. I never stopped loving you, Gabe. Can you forgive me for chasing my dreams, too?”
“Ah, babe. There’s nothing to forgive. I’m so proud of you. Imagine me, married to a doctor.”
“Married?”
“We aren’t headed anywhere but down an aisle.”
“As long as you don’t dress like Elvis and start serenading me with a cheesy love song.”
“Admit, it. You missed my singing.”
“I missed everything about you,” she confesses cupping the side of my face.
Standing up, I reach down swinging her up in my arms carrying her down the beach.
“Gabe!” she squeals, throwing her hands around my neck as I swing her around in circles, “what are you doing?”
“Carrying you off down the beach, just like I fantasized about years ago.”
“Do you mean that night at the Beachcomber?”
“Fuck, yeah. I’m going to do everything I wanted to you that night—tonight.”
“Um, Charlie’s home. He never stops talking about you.”
“I miss him. But he’ll have to wait until tomorrow. Tonight is all about you and me. Our reunion is going to be epic.”
“Did you forget my parents are at the house, too?”
“Oh, we’re not going to their house—we’re going to ours.”
Her beautiful brown eyes widen as I carry her up the beach and over the flagstone patio refusing to let her down until I’ve crossed the threshold of the beach cottage where we first fell in love.
“Gabe?”
“I bought it. It’s ours, forever.”
“Forever, sounds perfect.”
I set her down, and she looks around. “It’s exactly the same as I remembered.”
“So are you,” I breathe, reaching for her with shaking hands.
“What? Is my big, bad, pro player nervous to be alone with me?”
“Yes. I’m terrified. Terrified—I’m going to wake up and find out this was all a dream.”
She slowly backs away from me, lifts her shirt over her head, tossing it, “catch.”
I snag it with one hand. “You don’t want to talk first? Catch up on what our lives have been like?”
She answers by unsnapping her bra, letting it dangle from a finger. “It’s called pillow talk, Gabe.”
“Oh yeah? Who have you been having that with?” I growl, stalking her as she walks up the stairs backward.
“You. I laid awake in the dark, talking to the ghost of you.”
I cut the distance between us in three giant steps. “I’m right here, Callie. I always was. I always will be.”
Using our hands and mouths, instead of words—we cling to each other deep into the night, pressed skin to skin, high on the feeling of being reunited after so long.
I wasn’t joking about marrying her. It’s what I always envisioned for us, ever since that summer two years ago where I caught her, and she ended up stealing my heart.
EPILOGUE
GABE PARKER FINALLY GETS HIS BRIDE
By Jen Krug
Former UVA football star and local
heartthrob Gabe Parker married
his mystery girl last week in Martinique.
Parker plays for the Patriots
where last season he led them
to yet another Super Bowl win. His
wife, Callie Anderson, is our favorite
local girl now lead trauma surgeon
at Brigham and Young hospital in
Boston. You might remember how
the glamorous couple met right here
in Sea Spray five years ago, amid the
University cheating scandal in which
Parker was later found to be innocent.
He was cleared but never
out of the press as his ex at the
time was charged with kidnapping
Anderson’s brother. Parker made
plenty of waves here in Sea Spray, and
many won’t forget that sunny summer
morning where across the radio
waves; he declared his love for his
mystery girl. They dated for a brief
period, somehow he fumbled, but later
reclaimed his love once again calling
out over WFNB’s morning show.
The couple resides in Marble Head,
Massachusetts with their pet iguana
Butch and a few house cats. It is rumored
that Parker was offered Dancing
with the Stars but turned it down
since it films in LA, away from his
new leading lady. A few guests have
revealed that he serenaded his bride,
singing, "Make You Feel My Love"
while a teary crowd looked on.
Former Sea Spray DJ wins Emmy for musical score in new Danny G film.
By Birdie Hun
Banger. No one knows where he came from, but Sea Spray has never been the same since he left. The former morning show host at WBFN and resident DJ at Beachcomber's the last decade is now taking Hollywood by storm. Banger is the new face of E television with several movies in the works.
Our former resident bad boy might be off the market, rumor has it he was seen canoodling with another Sea Spray local gal, Sophie Merchant.
Must be something in the water!
Our local girls are catching big fish!
Coming soon from Claire Woods
TITLE TO BE REVEALED
Katie
I LAY AWAKE WITH MY FISTS CURLED under the sheets. The sound
of high-pitched giggles followed by splashing water makes its way through my open window. Hot tears splash down my cheeks.
It’s not fair.
I love him.
Everyone treats me like some stupid teenager. But I’m smart. I see him. He tries to hide his pain behind aviator lenses and wild partying. But he doesn’t fool me. Maybe that’s why Troy ignores me.
Because he knows—knows that I can see right through his bullshit.
Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, my bare feet tread across the floor to the window. Kneeling, in the dark, I watch.
Troy and my brother, Kyle brought two girls back from the bar. They’re floating topless in the moonlight, naked breasts aching to be touched. My breath hitches as Troy, already shirtless drops his pants and dives in surfacing right by one of them.
He takes her in his arms, kissing her hungrily while treading water. She moans into his mouth, arms snaking around him.
Ever since my parents left for vacation, Kyle and Troy have been using our house as their personal fuck-pad. The two of them promised to watch me, take care of me, and for one stupid moment—I believed them. When Troy looked at me, telling Mom he would kill anyone who’d hurt me; my insides felt all hot and gooey.
But they lied.
They sleep all day and party all night.
Tears fall faster as I curl up in a ball trying to stifle my sobs. The air conditioning broke yesterday, and I can’t lie in bed pretending my world is just fine like I have the past week when I knew what was happening but couldn’t hear.
“God, Troy…”
My head lifts; I can’t help myself.
Crawling back to the window, my head rests on the sill as watch him kiss her wet breasts. Her back arches as he turns to one then the other, taking them in his mouth while his hand disappears between their bodies.
My own nipples tingle, my thighs rub together.
I’m confused feeling wet and swollen down there as I watch.
My hand drops to my pajama shorts; my cheeks burn as I touch myself wishing I was the girl in the pool.
