FOREVER SERIES: COMPLETE BOX SET

by Lynn, Sandi

  “Okay, who have you been talking to?”

  She looked at me and bit her bottom lip, then she looked down at the floor. I began slowly walking towards her.

  “There’s no way you could have guessed all that just by looking at my bedroom.” I smiled as I approached her and started to tickle her. I wouldn’t stop until she confessed. She fell back on the bed and I fell on top of her, still tickling her until she gave up.

  “Okay, okay.” She laughed. “I googled you and I asked around campus.”

  “Why did you do that?” I smiled as I continued to tickle her. I stopped tickling her and stared into her blue eyes. “Why didn’t you just ask me?” I whispered.

  “Because then you’d know I was interested,” she whispered back.

  We both shared a moment and I wanted nothing more than to kiss her. I could tell by the look in her eyes that she wanted me to. I ran the back of my hand across her cheek as I inched my lips closer to hers. Before I knew it, her soft lips were touching mine. I softly kissed her and then looked at her to make sure she was okay with it. She smiled at me and that was my queue to keep going. I brought my lips to hers once again and this time I felt them part, inviting my tongue into her mouth. Our lips moved together in sync and I could feel her smiling from underneath. I broke the kiss before it went any further and stared into her eyes.

  “I think we should stop. You need to go and study.”

  “Good idea,” she whispered.

  I got up, took a hold of her hand and helped her from the bed. “Can I see you again?” I asked.

  “I would like that.”

  I leaned in and softly kissed her again. “Let’s go. I’ll drive you home.”

  “Not Ralphie?” she asked.

  “No. Not Ralphie. Just me and you,” I said.

  We walked downstairs and Amelia said goodbye to my parents and Julia and Jake. We hopped into the Range Rover and I drove her back to her apartment.

  “Would you like to come up?” she asked.

  “As much as I want to, I don’t want to interfere with your studying. So go and get some studying done and promise me you’ll go out with me tomorrow night.”

  “I promise I’ll go out with you tomorrow night.” She grinned.

  “And I promise my parents won’t be there.” I laughed.

  “Good night, Mr. Black,” Amelia said as she reached up and brushed her lips against mine.

  “Good night, Miss Grey,” I responded as our lips locked one last time for the night.

  * * *

  As I walked up the stairs to my room, my mom came from her bedroom and stopped me.

  “I thought I heard you come in.” She smiled. “Thank you for bringing Amelia to dinner tonight. She’s a lovely girl, Collin.”

  “Yeah, she is. Isn’t she?”

  She followed me to my room as I set my phone and wallet on my dresser. “Can I tell you something? she asked.

  “Sure, Mom. What is it?” I replied as I pulled my shirt off.

  “You’re reminding me a lot of your dad in his younger years.”

  “For God’s sake, Ellery, you’re making me sound like I’m an old geezer.” My dad smiled as he stood in the doorway.

  I looked at my dad and laughed. “You’re not a geezer yet, Dad.”

  “Connor, I love you, but I’m trying to have a conversation with our son. Go back to bed and I’ll be in there shortly.”

  “I’ll be waiting anxiously, Elle.” He winked.

  I rolled my eyes and threw a pillow at him. “Dad, stop!”

  He chuckled as he threw the pillow back at me and headed back to his room.

  “Mom, is there a point to this conversation?” I asked.

  “Yes, there is. You have the same qualities as your father and the same amazing heart. Any woman would be a fool not to have you in her life. It takes a very special person to stand by someone through the thick and thin of things. I just want you to remember that I’m here for you when you need to talk. Your father and I have been through so much during our years together and if he wasn’t the man he was, he never would have forgiven me and stuck by me the way he did. Even broken people can be fixed and there’s no need to be frightened about trying to heal them.”

  I looked at her in confusion. Where the hell was this coming from? Could she see that I had some fears about Amelia? That I felt she was too closed off and burdened with the death of her family and boyfriend that it would cause problems in a relationship? She was my mom and nobody knew me better than she did.

  “Thanks, Mom.” I smiled as I kissed her on the cheek. “Dad’s waiting for you and please do me a favor, keep it down.”

  She laughed as she hugged me. “I’m sorry that we do this to you. Goodnight, baby.”

  “Goodnight, Mom.”

  I climbed into bed and as soon as I set my phone on my nightstand, it buzzed with a text message from Julia.

  “I really like Amelia. I think the two of you are super cute together and I don’t want you to do anything to fuck it up.”

  “I really like her too. She’s different, Julia. I feel things I never have before.”

  “I know you do, little brother. I can see it in you.”

  “I’m a little scared.”

  “Do I need to come up there and smack you?”

  I laughed.

  “I wouldn’t advise that. Mom and Dad are getting it on down the hall. I really need to move out!”

  “Haha. Better you than me! Put your earplugs in. Night.”

  I smiled as I set my phone down and pulled the sheet on top of me. As I placed my hands behind my head, I couldn’t stop thinking about Amelia and I couldn’t wait to see her tomorrow. She was starting to consume my every thought and I prayed to God that I consumed hers.

  Chapter 18

  Before I picked Amelia up at her apartment, I stopped and picked us up Chinese carryout and a bottle of wine. She thought we were going to eat it in her apartment, but I had another plan. It was a beautiful evening and it should be spent enjoying it. I walked up to her door and knocked. She opened it with a big smile on her face and invited me in.

  “Hi.” I smiled as I placed my hands on her hips and lightly kissed her.

  “Hi.”

  I looked around the small place she called home and was quite impressed at how cozy it seemed. “You never mentioned a roommate? Do you not have one?” I asked.

  “I used to have one when I lived in another building. But after the accident, I moved here, and I just wanted to be alone. So to answer your question, no, I don’t have a roommate.”

  “Well your apartment is nice. I like it.” I smiled.

  “Thank you. It’s okay. Did you bring the food?”

  “I did. But I left it in the car. I decided that we’re going to eat it somewhere else.”

  “Sounds like you have a plan.” She smiled.

  “I do. So if you’ll come with me, I’ll show you,” I said as I stuck out my arm.

  It took us less than five minutes to get to Central Park. I parked the Range Rover and looked over at Amelia as she smiled at me.

  “Central Park?”

  “Yep. Central Park. This is one of my favorite places to be.”

  We got out of the Range Rover and I grabbed the basket from the back seat. I handed Amelia the blanket and I grabbed her hand as we walked through Central Park.

  “So tell me why Central Park is one of your favorite places?”

  “It’s my mom’s favorite place to escape and it’s a place where Julia and I spent a lot of time. When we were kids, my mom would bring us here while she painted one of her pictures. Our manny, Mason, used to bring us to play and our family would have big picnics here. It kind of became like a second home to our family.”

  “That’s really special, Collin.” She smiled.

  “I’m sorry. I think got a little sappy.”

  Amelia playfully smack me on the arm. “You did not. Did you bring any paper plates?”

  “For what?” I a
sked.

  “For the Chinese food.”

  A playful grin spread across my face. “We don’t need plates. We’ll eat out of the cartons.”

  “That’s barbaric.”

  “Not it’s not.” I laughed. “It’s fun and we can share.”

  I grabbed a piece of sweet and sour chicken with my chopsticks and brought it up to her mouth. “Be careful, it’s hot.”

  She carefully blew on it first before putting it in her mouth. God, she was so sexy, and my mind was picturing very inappropriate things. We talked and laughed, and Amelia told me how nervous she was to start her clinicals. After we finished eating, we put the cartons back in the basket and I poured us another glass of wine. By this time, darkness had settled in and the stars were shining brightly above us. She laid back on the blanket and patted the ground for me to do the same. We stretched out and looked up at the sky.

  “Do you see the man in the moon?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I see him. He looks happy tonight.”

  “I’m happy tonight,” she said as she turned her head and looked at me.

  “Me too.” I smiled as I reached over and took her hand, interlacing our fingers together.

  We lay there in silence for a moment and then Amelia started to point out some of the constellations. We laughed as I pointed to what I thought was the little dipper, but I was wrong. Then suddenly, her voice became quiet.

  “My father’s life was sailing. It was his passion. He began teaching me how to sail when I was just three years old. My older sister, Alana, never really got into it, but I did. My favorite part of the boat was the sail. I was so fascinated by how that piece of material, powered with the wind, made the boat sail. Like this is your place of peace, mine was the open water. My family would sail for days on end. One time, my dad took an entire month off work and we took the boat out and sailed on the open water. A whole month,” she said as she looked at me. I loved it. My mom and sister said it was way too long and they were anxious to get home. I could have stayed on that boat forever.”

  I tightened my fingers around hers and watched her as she slowly closed her eyes.

  “My family and I raced in the boat races in California. It was the one thing my dad looked forward to every year. Two years ago was the first time Billy was with us. They were calling for storms that day but according to the radar the storms wouldn’t be in our area until the races were over. We set sail and my dad had a plan. He was determined to win that race, and I stood by his side the whole time. I was his second in command and his execution was always flawless. We were going strong and everyone was having a good time. We were blowing by the other boats and suddenly, out of nowhere, clouds darkened the sky and the waves picked up. My dad yelled at me to go sit down and hold on tight. My mom started to panic, and he yelled at her to stop and to hold on as tight as she could. I’ll never forget looking at him and seeing the fear in his eyes. All I could hear were the screams of the other people on the other boats. The winds were high, and the waves hit the boat throwing a rush of water from the bow over all of us. My dad was losing control and the boat was tipping. I’d never been so scared in my life. Billy was shouting my name and begging me to come to him. But I couldn’t. My dad made a sharp turn towards an island in the distance and other boats went the opposite way. I kept telling him to turn around because there were no beaches near the islands. When I looked through the binoculars all I saw where rugged rocky shores. I knew if we hit those rocks there was no turning back.”

  I lay there and watched as tears fell down her face. “Amelia, you don’t have to say another word.”

  She didn’t listen. She kept telling me about that horrific day that changed her life forever.

  “I was pulling on my dad’s arm and begging him to try and turn around. He jerked his arm and his elbow hit me in the face knocking me down. Billy yelled and I tried to get up, but I couldn’t. Billy stood up and he let go of the edge of the boat. That’s when another wave crashed over the boat and knocked him off and into the water. I screamed and tried to crawl across the deck. I remember the rain being so heavy that it hurt my eyes. My mom and sister were holding each other screaming and crying as I tried to get to the edge of the boat to look for Billy.”

  Amelia brought her hand to her face and wiped away the tears. I reached over and wiped a single one that she’d missed.

  “As the boat got closer to the island, it was headed straight for a large rock. The last words I heard my dad say were, I love you. The boat crashed into the rock, flipping it over and throwing us all into the water. I’ll never forget trying to swim to the surface and being tangled in the seaweed that almost killed me.”

  I ran my finger along the scar that extended down her arm. I noticed it on the beach the day after she helped me, but I never wanted to ask about it and she never volunteered to tell me. I suspect now it was from the accident.

  “The scar on my arm is from slicing it on a rock when the boat crashed, and I was thrown into the water. I finally managed to make my way out from under the boat and to the top of the water. I began screaming for my family, but they weren’t anywhere to be seen. I dove back under, but I couldn’t see anything. The water was cloudy, and the seaweed was thick. Suddenly, I heard a helicopter up above. I swam to the surface and began screaming and waving my arms. Blood was gushing from my cut and the water was turning red around me. The next thing I remembered was waking up in a hospital bed and my aunt was sitting beside me crying.”

  She turned her head and looked at me as another tear fell from the corner of her eye. “You’re the first person I ever told about the accident in detail.”

  I wiped her tear and then put my arm around her, pulling her into me. “Words can’t even describe how sorry I am.”

  “I’m scared to death of the water now and I can only look at it from a distance. I was planning on racing myself the following year.”

  My grip around her tightened. She looked up at me with such sadness in her eyes that it took everything I had not to cry with her. My lips softly brushed against hers. A soft spoken kiss that instantly turned passionate. My desire for her became stronger and before I knew it, my hands were all over her, feeling every curve her body had to offer. She broke our kiss and pulled away.

  “I’m sorry, Collin. I can’t.”

  “No, I’m sorry, Amelia. I crossed the line.”

  We both sat up and she looked at me.

  “It’s okay. There’s no need to apologize. Things just got a little hot and heavy and I’m not ready for that. To be honest, I don’t know if I’ll ever be,” she said as she turned away from me. “In fact, please just take me home. I never should’ve done this.”

  I was stunned by her words. “Done what, Amelia?”

  “Please just take me home. I want to go home,” she began to cry.

  “Why? So you can sit there all alone and shut out the world like you’ve done for the past two years.”

  “That’s none of your business!” she snapped.

  “It is my business because I really like you and I don’t want to see you hurt anymore.”

  She got up from the ground and slowly walked away. “You don’t get to tell me when I can stop hurting.”

  “Fine. If that’s what you want, then fine.” I got up, grabbed the blanket and the basket and headed to the Range Rover. Amelia followed behind. I threw everything in the back, and we drove home in silence. She got out of the vehicle, slammed the door and went inside her building.

  I pulled away from the curb with a tight grip on the steering wheel. As I turned the corner, I pulled over. She opened up to me and this was just the beginning. Her tragedy was reborn when she told me about it which sent her into fear again. I kept playing my mom’s words over and over again, “Even broken people can be fixed.” Amelia wasn’t the only one who was broken. I was too, but in a different way. We needed each other. I got out of the Range Rover and walked to her building. Someone was coming out the door, so I held it for them and walk
ed right up to the second floor. I knocked with hesitance, not knowing what was in store for me for the rest of the night.

  Chapter 19

  The door flew opened and she sighed. “Somehow I knew you’d come up here.”

  “Damn right!” I said. “I don’t want to argue, and I don’t want to leave tonight being angry. I don’t want to do anything but just be with you. I’m happy holding you in my arms, because right now, I think that’s where you belong.”

  People were opening up their doors and looking out into the hallway. Amelia grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me in her apartment. “Get in here. You’re making a scene.”

  I took her hands in mine. She tried to pull away but my grip on them tightened. “Look at me, Amelia,” I said. “I’m sorry for earlier. I don’t want to hurt you and I don’t want you to be scared of me.”

  “I’m not scared of you, Collin. It’s just—”

  “Just what?”

  She took in a deep breath and looked into my eyes. “I’m just scared of life.”

  I pulled her into me and held her. “Me too, Amelia. Me too. But I think we’re more scared of the unexpected.”

  “I live every day in fear that something bad is going to happen because I’ve experienced how your life can change in a split second.”

  She pulled back and left my arms. “Since you’re here, can I offer you something?”

  “No, I’m good. Amelia,” I said as I ran my hands through my hair, “have you ever talked to a doctor about how you feel?”

  “No. I haven’t talked to anybody. Like I told you earlier, you’re the first person I’ve told in detail about the accident.”

  “Why did you tell me?”

  She looked at me and then diverted her eyes to the ceiling. “I don’t know, Collin. It just felt right.”

  “Exactly, Amelia. It felt right. Just like it feels right being with you.”

  Just as I said that my phone starting ringing. I pulled it from my pocket, and it was Hailey. I hit ignore and put it back in my pocket. I sat down on the couch and asked her to sit with me. I held out my arms and she sat on my lap.