by Addison Cole
“He must have had seven boxes from Eve’s Adult Playhouse for Theresa with our address,” Tony said with a wrinkled brow. “What’s up with that?”
They all looked at Bella, who held up her hands in surrender. “What?” She pushed to her feet and hurried from the deck toward the quad.
“Wait for us!” Jenna hollered as she and Amy went after her.
“This can’t be good.” Tony went after them.
“Where are they going?” Sawyer asked.
“Every summer Bella pranks Theresa, the property manager. Last summer she changed all the pictures in Theresa’s house to pictures of Bradley Cooper and had one of Caden’s police officer friends pretend that they’d had a complaint about stalking.”
“Are you serious?” Sawyer laughed.
“Yes. Then Theresa brought Bradley Cooper—the real Bradley Cooper—to their wedding! It’s really funny, but I’m sure at some point Theresa’s not going to be so cool about it.”
“Do you want to go with them?” Sawyer asked.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. “Nope. I’d rather stay right here. How about you? Do you need to leave for the club?”
“I told Roach last night I’d be late. We’re meeting at ten.” He eyed the basket on the table. “Were you thinking of getting another tattoo?”
Sky’s smile faltered. “Actually, I wanted to show you these.” She pulled the basket closer, and she rose to her feet and moved toward the chair beside him.
He touched her hips and said, “Stay with me. I’m already going to miss you when we’re apart today. Let me feel you close for a little while longer.”
She sank down to his lap. “Okay.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and began taking the papers out of the basket. “I wanted you to see these.”
“The tattoos you’ve done?” He sat up and looked over the papers she was laying out before them. His gut clenched as he read each one. Fire in my belly, you in my soul. Wandering through life, wanting, waiting, reaching for more. Every word made the hair on the back of his neck prickle.
“Where did you say you got these?” The accusatory sound of his voice surprised him and was obviously not lost on Sky, who furrowed her brow.
“From customers.”
“Because they touched you,” he said more to himself than to her, remembering her words.
“Yes. Exactly. Why do you sound upset?” She searched his eyes, and he wondered if she could see the anger he felt simmering inside him.
“Because, Sky. These are my words. All of them.” He unfurled a napkin and read a passage. How can I move forward when you’re slipping away?
“Then you are the P-town poet? But you said you weren’t.”
“P-town poet? Is this what you meant? These?” He lifted her to her feet and paced the deck. “I don’t understand how you could have gotten those.”
“I didn’t get them.” She looked at the papers littering the table. “Sawyer, I told you. Customers came in with these—these papers and napkins and pieces of receipts—and asked me to tattoo this stuff for them. I still don’t understand. If you’re the P-town poet, why are you denying it? These are lovely. They’re really heartfelt and—”
“Sky, I don’t know anything about a P-town poet. These are my words from my songs. This is my handwriting.” He picked up a handful of papers and sifted through them. “You’re telling me that there are people walking around with verses of my songs tattooed on them?”
“One for each paper you see there, yes.” She sank down to a chair. “You know the night we first saw each other at the Governor Bradford’s?”
“Of course.” He sat beside her, feeling like he was in the Twilight Zone.
She picked up a napkin and handed it to him. “One of the waitresses brought this in yesterday.”
He read the words. “I must have left it behind. After I saw you I began writing the song at the bar. All I had to write on was a stack of napkins. I guess I do that a lot, write on scraps of paper and napkins. I never think twice about leaving a crumpled-up napkin with the trash from my meal. That night, I wrote and rewrote the verses until they felt right, and I thought I took all of the napkins with me when I left, but obviously not.” The idea that other people had seen his writing made him feel exposed, violated. He’d have to be more careful.
She placed her hand over his and smiled warmly. “Maybe when you’re writing songs, you get so caught up that you lose track of some of your notes?”
“Yeah, I guess. I can’t believe someone would pick up my stuff. I mean, it was on a napkin. Who would do that?”
“Someone who recognized the beauty of your words.” She opened the napkin and read the passage aloud. “I’ll take it all. Hear it through. Wrestle your demons to remain beside you. Those are the words you said to me after we made love the first time. You said, Lay your head on my shoulder, your heart next to mine.”
Anger curled up inside him. “Even though I choose to occasionally sing the songs I write, that’s my choice. I don’t like knowing that strangers find my notes and hang on to them.” He looked at Sky, and it sank in that she’d been keeping his words, his songs, and that tugged at all of him, pushing the anger to the side, making room for love.
“Come here, sweetheart.” He pulled her onto his lap again and pressed his lips to hers. “That’s part of the song I wrote for you the first night I saw you.”
He sang to her in a soft voice, every word laden with emotion.
“I saw it in your eyes.
Wounded, hiding, somewhere deep.
Tell me, lovely, do you cry when you sleep?”
Her lips drew down, and a lock of hair fell in front of her eyes. He tucked it behind her ear and began singing again.
“Crying out in your movements.
Graceful, longing, hanging by a thread.
The longing I see.
Set it free, lovely. Come to me.
Lay your head on my shoulder.
Your heart next to mine.
I’ll take it all.
Hear it through.
Wrestle your demons
To remain beside you.”
“Sawyer,” she whispered, her eyes warm.
“I have been drawn to you since the very first time I saw you, Sky. With an intensity that I’ve never felt before.”
Her brow wrinkled with confusion. “But…the longing you see? You saw that in such a brief time?”
“You have the most expressive eyes I’ve ever seen, but it wasn’t just your eyes, Sky. You had this aura around you. Everything about you spoke to me. I can’t explain it.”
“I was longing for something.” She lowered her eyes and seemed to be thinking. “I was longing for this closeness. I must have been waiting for you all along.”
Chapter Seventeen
LATER THAT MORNING, Sawyer’s eyes burned from salty droplets of sweat dripping into them. Sweat slid down his body, spraying off his arms with every punch. Each breath brought a heated grunt, stoking the fire that flamed within him. His mind ran through quick calculations, looking for an opening, watching, waiting, then making his move and slamming into Delroy’s willing body. They were on their ninth round, and Sawyer was laser focused, measuring Delroy’s breaths, watching his cadence as he moved around the ring, anticipating his punches and skillfully avoiding every strike. Roach called out from the side of the ring, but today even that wasn’t making it past the rush of blood in Sawyer’s ears. He was training to win, his father’s health care the driving force behind each hit.
When the match was over, he paced the ring, adrenaline coursing through him, his mind racing. How can I improve my power? I gotta move faster. Hit harder. Need to train to conquer tougher opponents. No one can touch me. I’ve got this.
He climbed from the ring and set his gloves and mouthpiece with his gear.
“That was awesome.” Delroy wiped his face with a towel, still breathing hard. “You’re hitting harder. I can feel it.”
“Or you’re getting soft,” Sawyer said with a friendly shove.
“You’re both getting long in the tooth,” Roach teased. “Sawyer, give me fifteen minutes of rope work, one hundred abs, and stretch.”
“You got it, Roach.” He went to grab a jump rope.
Roach followed him over. “How’s Sky?”
Sawyer couldn’t temper his smile. “Man, I’ve never met anyone like her. I think I’m going to introduce her to my folks.”
“Seriously? That’s a big step. It signals a future to women.” Roach grinned.
“No kidding, Coach? Teach me something else.” He grabbed a rope and began skipping.
“I saw it the other night, you know. When you were singing to her.” Roach crossed his arms and lowered his chin. Sawyer knew he was analyzing his skipping, his steps, his quickness, his hand movements. Roach was always analyzing. It’s what made him a superior coach. “You wiped your heart all over that stage.”
“So what?”
“Don’t let it mess you up in here.”
Sawyer smiled. “Has it messed me up yet?” He knew he was too focused, too strong, for Roach to see a detriment.
Roach shook his head, then rubbed his chin. “Worried about what the doc said?”
“They’ve been telling me that garbage since I was nineteen.” He knew Roach was just feeling him out. Making sure he was solid, and as he assured him, he realized he was also assuring himself. “No one can touch me, man. I’ve got this.”
SKY AND AMY carried food for a spur-of-the-moment barbecue over to Bella’s cottage, while the guys set up tables and chairs in the quad and began making a fire in the fire pit. The sun was setting, promising a cool evening for their gathering.
“I still can’t believe the renovations on my apartment will be done soon and in a few weeks I can move in. I’m going to miss living here,” Sky said to Amy.
“You’re welcome to stay as long as you want,” Amy said.
“Thanks. I’ll have to really think about it. There are benefits to living above the shop, but there’s no chunky-dunking.” She laughed. Chunky-dunking was what Sky and her friends called skinny-dipping, which they did in the pool at Seaside when they could get away with it.
“Where’s Jenna? I didn’t see her car when I drove in.”
“She and Pete went to get something from their beach house. They’ll be back before dinner.” Amy stopped walking and pressed her hand to her belly. “Sorry. Baby wants out.” She blew out a breath. “Okay, I’m good.”
Sky held the gate to the deck open for Amy to walk through. “Your baby looks like it has dropped. Are you sure about the due date?”
Amy rubbed her belly. “As sure as I can be. The doctor seems to think I have another few weeks. But I have no idea how they really know. We were going at it like rabbits, making up for lost time.” She stopped talking as Caden walked out the door.
“Hey, girls. Let me take that.” Caden smiled as he took the groceries and they followed him inside, where Bella was busy seasoning chicken and steak. Evan hovered over Bella, watching her every move.
“Don’t touch the raw chicken. It’ll get you sick.” Evan’s voice had deepened over the last two years, and he’d filled out since he’d begun college. At almost nineteen, he no longer looked like a teenage boy, but a young man.
“Ev, I’ve been cooking longer than you’ve been alive,” Bella said.
Evan patted her head as if she were a child. “But you weren’t carrying my baby sister or brother.”
“Evan, come over here and give Auntie Amy a hug hello.” Amy opened her arms. “Let’s give your stepmom a break from all the nagging.”
Evan laughed. “Auntie Amy?” He embraced her, then hugged Sky. “Gotta love a woman without a baby in her belly. How are you, Sky?”
“I’m doing well, but when did you turn into a man? Gotta love a woman…?”
“College does that to a guy,” Evan said. He’d completed his first year at Harborside University, which was about an hour away from the Cape.
“I take it you’re enjoying college life,” Sky said. “Why are you home? I thought you were working down there this summer.”
“I am. I’ve made a bunch of friends and I’m working at Endless Summer Surf Shop. It’s owned by this supercool guy, Brent Steele. You should see the place. There are tons of hot girls there all summer long.” He smiled at his father, who shook his head. “I came home to grab a few things from the house, but I’m heading out now. I’ll be back when Bella has the baby.”
“In other words, he came to make sure I wasn’t doing anything I shouldn’t be while carrying his sibling.” Bella patted Evan on the back, then kissed his cheek. “You’re going to be a great big brother.” She leaned toward Sky and teased, “I hope we don’t have a girl.”
“Can you imagine Evan around a baby sister?” Sky teased. “He’ll be as protective as all of my brothers wrapped into one.”
“She’ll be one lucky sister,” Bella said. “At least we’ll always know she’s cared for.”
“You can count on it.” Evan picked up his keys from the counter. “I’ll teach him or her to surf, like Tony taught me.” He hugged Caden and Bella, and with one hand on the door said, “And if it’s a boy, I’ll teach him how to pick up girls.” He took off out the door, laughing.
“Geez.” Bella laughed. “Are all nineteen-year-old boys like that?”
Caden kissed her with a wide grin. “All teenage boys think about is sex. But I think he’s all talk.”
They heard Evan’s car pull away as Caden walked out the door with the food.
“He hopes he’s all talk,” Amy said.
“We’re going chunky-dunking tonight,” Bella said quietly. “You in, Sky?”
“I’m hoping that Sawyer is going to stay over, so…” She wasn’t about to leave him to go skinny-dipping.
“We figured,” Amy said. “That’s why we’re going after all the men are asleep. How long after you…you know…does he fall asleep?”
Sky giggled. “I don’t know. It’s not like I time him.”
“Jenna does,” Amy said with a smile. “She said Pete’s out in seven minutes or less.”
“Geez, really? Seven minutes?” Sky thought about Sawyer and wondered how long it did take him to fall asleep. “I just assumed he fell asleep at the same time as me. What about Leanna? Is she staying over and going, too? Oh gosh, and what about Theresa? She’s home tonight. I saw her car—and about a dozen pink boxes on her porch, thanks to you, Bella. She must be pissed.”
“I’m not sure if Leanna is going to stay or not, and I’ve been watching Theresa. She’s had her lights out by nine thirty every night so far this summer. We’ll be quiet. It’ll be fine.” Bella touched her belly. “Another kick,” she said with a smile. Then she said to Amy, “It’s not my fault Theresa likes adult toys.” She handed Sky a head of lettuce with a hint of a smile on her lips. “Can you chop?”
Amy smirked. “Like you’re not the one sending her the stuff? You run over to see her face with every delivery.”
“That’s because I want her to know that we all know what she’s ordering.”
Amy washed two tomatoes and began slicing them for the salad. “I don’t know why you keep pranking her after the whole Bradley Cooper fiasco.”
Bella put condiments on a tray and settled one hand on her hip. “If I give up, she wins. You know me better than that.”
“Aha!” Amy laughed. “As if I didn’t know it was you sending the naughty paraphernalia.”
“You had your doubts.” Bella picked up the tray and looked at Sky again. “You’re in for chunky-dunking, right?”
“If he falls asleep, yes, but you may have to go without me. We’re—”
“Going at it like monkeys. We know,” Bella teased. “You’re in that honeymoon stage, where you can’t get enough of each other.” She smiled at Amy. “The rest of us are still in that stage, too, but we know to wear our men out early on chunky-dunking nights.
So we expect you to retire to your bedroom early so you can come out and play with us.”
“Oh, the pressure,” Sky teased. “What if I don’t want to leave him?”
Bella got as close to Sky as her belly would allow and narrowed her eyes. “You are not allowed to turn into one of those women who ignores her girlfriends for a guy. That hot hunk will still be in your bed after you come out and have fun with us, but who knows when the next time is that we’ll have a chance to skinny-dip without worrying about waking our babies.”
“Good point. My bad.” Sky secretly loved that Bella was so pushy. Growing up without sisters made her treasure her kinship with the Seaside girls even more.
“I’ll bring the cookie dough,” Amy sang out.
SAWYER SAT BY the bonfire with Tony, Pete, Caden, Grayson, Kurt, and Blue after dinner, watching Sky and her girlfriends giggling and whispering on the other side of the fire pit. Jenna’s head tipped back with a hearty, loud laugh, the kind of contagious laugh that made the others join in. Bella’s laugh was husky, and Leanna’s and Amy’s were nearly silent. But Sky’s laugh had a feminine ring to it. Sawyer tuned everything else out and listened to her laughter. It seemed to float from her lungs and radiate outward from her chest, ending in a quick inhalation. And her smile—her beautiful smile—did funny things to his stomach every time he saw it.
“Welcome to Seaside,” Pete said. “Are you surviving your indoctrination?”
Sawyer laughed. “Seems to me like you guys are really lucky to have each other. Thanks again for letting us use your boat overnight, Pete. I’m looking forward to being out on the water again. It’s been ages.”
“No problem,” Pete said. “I’m psyched that Sky’s dating a guy who enjoys boating. You’ll fit right in with the rest of us. I heard that you’re coming to Sky’s grand opening. You’ll finally get to meet our brother Matt.”
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. And I hope to meet your father, too.” Sawyer had heard so much about their father that he was looking forward to meeting the man who had built Sky her own art studio and had loved his wife so much that her death had sent his world off-kilter—and loved his family enough to right his ways.
