Forever (Cruiser & Lex, Book 3)

by Dee J. Stone

  He falls down on my bed. Shakes his head in disbelief. “I still can’t believe you’re leaving for Navy basic training. My god.”

  I plop down next to him. Stare at the empty spot he’s staring at. “Yeah.”

  He turns to me. “Are you nervous? ‘Cuz I’d be as nervous as hell.”

  I nod.

  He whistles.

  “What about you?” I ask. “Nervous to go to Hackell Music Academy?”

  He shrugs. “Guess so.”

  “Just don’t let it be a repeat of Kelman’s.”

  He scoffs. “Believe me, I won’t.”

  He’s been practicing the violin nonstop since that night he played for me and Mom. He’s been performing at recitals and impressed a recruiter. He’s got a full ride to Hackell and is stoked. Though he won’t admit it, I know he’s worried he might freak out again. But I know he’ll be cool. He’s changed so much since he got back from Kelman’s. He’s not just the guy he used to be. He’s the new Rey. A better version of who he used to be.

  I put my arm around him. “I’ll miss you, you know.”

  “Yeah. Me, too.” He puffs out some air. “I can’t believe this is actually happening.”

  “Life,” I say.

  “Time to move on. Go our separate ways.”

  “We’ll always be close,” I tell him. “Doesn’t matter where we are. We’ll always be brothers.”

  He shoves me playfully. “Shut up, Cruiser.”

  “When’s Melody heading out to D.C.?” I ask. She chose a college close to Rey so that they can be together. The two are so in love. It would make me sick if I wasn’t so happy for them.

  “Probably next week. She wants to get settled in and maybe look for a job.”

  My phone beeps. A text from Lex. How long until you leave for the airport?

  An hour.

  I’ll be there in five.

  “Lex?” Rey asks.

  I nod. Swallow. “We have to say good bye.”

  He touches my arm. “It’s gonna be tough.”

  “Yeah.”

  I’ve been dreading this since I made the final decision to join the Navy. She doesn’t know this, but I’ve been counting down the days since the start of the school year. When I crossed off the final day, I felt something deep in my gut. Like someone took the sharpest sword in the world and slowly, agonizingly slowly, stabbed me through the chest. Twisted it around and damaged my organs. The final day. I knew this would be the hardest part of all of this. Now that it’s finally here, I’m not sure I can go through with it.

  “Cruise, you’re not having doubts, are you?”

  “Been having them since I decided to join.”

  “You’re all signed up. You can’t back out.”

  “I know.”

  “She’s cool with it. She wants this for you.”

  “Doesn’t mean it hurts less,” I say.

  He touches my arm again. “You’ll be okay. You guys have been through too much not to be.”

  The doorbell rings. A few seconds later, Mom calls up. “Cruiser, Lex is here.”

  Rey stands. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

  “Thanks. We’ll talk soon.”

  Rey and Lex nearly collide into each other in front of my room. Rey gently touches her arm, and she gives him a small smile. As soon as our eyes meet, we run to each other. She leaps into my arms and I spin her around. Around and around until I lose my balance and topple over on the bed. Our lips search for each other’s, and then we’re kissing. Kissing and kissing and kissing. As though there’s no tomorrow. Because there isn’t.

  “My darlin’,” I whisper as I kiss her some more. “My T. Rex.”

  “My Cruiser. My sailor.”

  We were with each other last night. But this is our last chance to be together. For weeks.

  “I can’t believe I won’t be able to touch you or kiss you for eight weeks,” I say. My lips don’t leave her face. I can’t get enough of her, no matter how many times I kiss her.

  “The weeks will fly by. And I’ll be there for your graduation.”

  “Assuming I graduate.”

  “You will.” Her arms come around my back and she hugs me close. “I know you will. Don’t ever doubt it, Cruiser. In eight weeks’ time, you will be a sailor.”

  I bury my face in her neck. “I’ll miss you like hell.”

  “I’ll miss you, too.”

  “When do you start Juilliard?”

  “On the thirtieth. I leave for New York in a couple of weeks.”

  “I wish I could be there to see you settle in. And I wish I could see your first performance.”

  “Don’t worry about that. I will have many performances in the future. And you will have lots of opportunities to attend them.”

  “You’re too good to me, Lex.”

  “You deserve it, because you’re the best man in the world.”

  I hold her tight. Tighter than tight. I don’t want to let her go, even though I know I will have to soon.

  Her hands move to my hair. She tugs on my strands. “Say goodbye,” I say, then laugh lightly.

  “Goodbye, long beautiful hair.”

  That makes me smile. For only two seconds. Lex touches my bottom lip. “This is it, Cruiser. We’re both going to pursue our dreams.”

  “I’m so proud of you,” I tell her. “Winning the scholarship, getting a full ride to Juilliard.” I nuzzle my face into her neck. “I’m so proud it feels like my heart’s gonna burst.”

  “I feel the same. I’m so proud of you for your commitment to join the Navy. You’re really going through with it, Cruise. I admire you so much.”

  “Thanks. Means a lot.”

  We just stay in each other’s arms. Enjoying the feeling of being together. Because it will be a long time until we’ll see each other again. I don’t know how long we’re like this, in our own Crex Land. Yeah, I still haven’t come up with a better name. But I don’t need to. All that matters is that we have our own special world.

  “Dani and Simon wanted me to wish you good luck for them,” Lex says.

  “They gonna be heading out to California soon?”

  She nods. “They already found an apartment.”

  “Everyone’s moving on,” I say.

  “All these changes.” She snuggles up to me. “It makes my head spin.”

  We continue lying in each other’s arms. When Mom sticks her head into my room and tells me it’s time to go, I want to kick and scream. Call a genie and asks him to give me a few more hours, a few more days, a few more years. I don’t want to be separated from Lex.

  “Cruiser,” Mom says.

  Lex brushes some hair out of my eyes. “It’s time.”

  I nod to Mom. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

  She returns the nod and walks out.

  “I love you,” I tell Lex. “So much. Forever and ever.”

  “I love you, too. Forever and ever.”

  We kiss our last final kiss. I don’t want to let go and neither does my sweet T. Rex. But we’ve got to. “Our next one will be after your graduation,” Lex says.

  I nod. “Can’t wait.”

  She flattens her hands on my chest. “Rosie wants to say bye.”

  “I’m not going anywhere without saying bye to her.”

  “Cruiser,” Mom calls.

  Reluctantly, Lex and I get up. Hand in hand, we go downstairs and out the door. Rey, Mom, and Dad are out there. Standing in front of the car. A big swallow makes its way down my throat. The car. Once I get in here, I’ll be on my way to the next part of my life.

  I catch sight of Rosie sitting in her wheelchair in front of the Woods’ house. As soon as she sees me, she waves. I hurry over and ruffle her hair. Then I get down on my knees and hug her tight.

  “You’re actually going to the Navy,” she says. “You’re so cool.”

  I catch her nose between two of my fingers. “Rosie Posie.”

  “Cruiser Muser.”

  I laugh. “Not gonn
a change it, huh?”

  She shakes her head. “That’s my nickname for you.”

  I tuck some hair behind her hair. “How’s Jamie doing?”

  “He walked for a whole hour before getting tired! Look.” She shows me a short video. Jamie, using a cane for support, is wobbly and his face is all tense, but he’s walking.

  “That’s amazing.”

  “Yeah.” Her eyes lower to her lap.

  A few months after Jamie’s procedure, he had movement in his legs. The doctors, Jamie, and his family were ecstatic. Since then, the kid’s been working like crazy, trying to walk again. It’s only because of his determination that he’s gotten as far as he did.

  What sucks is that the procedure couldn’t work on Rosie. Little Posie got so excited, begging her parents to sign her up for it, too. And they did, all of them so hopeful that Rosie would walk again. But it’s been over a year and Rosie hasn’t had any movement in her legs. The doctors claim it’s unlikely she’ll have any movement at all.

  She was pretty down after the doctors told her. But she’s okay now. I’m glad to see her smiling again.

  “I’m gonna come to your graduation, too,” she says.

  I ruffle her hair. “Can’t wait.”

  “Lex is gonna take me and some of my friends to the carnival tomorrow!”

  Lex got her license last week. I can’t be more proud of her. I know how hard it was for her to get behind the wheel. She’s a great driver. And I can’t be more proud of Rosie—she’s hanging out with her old friends again.

  Dad steps closer. Puts his hand on my shoulder. “We need to leave now, Cruiser.”

  I hug Rosie again. Kiss her forehead. “Take care, Posie.”

  I stand and face Lex. She flings her arms around me. “I love you. I’ll miss you.”

  “Right back at you, darlin’.”

  We hug tighter. I whisper things into her ear, telling how much she means to me and how I can’t wait for her to be in my arms again.

  She kisses her fingers, then presses them on my lips. “Bye, Cruiser.”

  “Bye, Lex.”

  My parents and Rey get in the car. Before I get in, I look back. At Lex and Rosie, at her parents who are waving in front of her house. I blow a kiss to Lex before getting in.

  She and I may be separated by miles, but our hearts will always be together.

  Forever.

  Read on for an excerpt from Merman’s Kiss, now available on Kindle!

  Chapter One

  My head throbs like someone smashed it against a pile of rocks.

  I try to move my limbs, but they feel like they’re buried in cement. When I pry my eyes open, I’m blinded by something bright and strong. The sun? My eyes snap shut and tears seep out.

  The throbbing travels from the back of my head to my forehead. I moan as images come. Memories. It all rushes back to me. The killer waves this morning, almost as high as towers. The itchy sensation pricking every nerve of my body as I imagined riding them. My stupid self ignoring the warning bells telling me it was too dangerous. Paddling into the ocean and popping onto my board. Getting swallowed by the massive wave. Thrashing my arms and legs as my mouth desperately sought oxygen, only to get salt water instead. My limbs growing weaker until I blacked out.

  Something touches my fingers. No, touching isn’t the right word. Rubbing, maybe? It feels nice. Soothing. Slowly, I open my eyes. A face stares down at me. The sun shines behind his head, creating a halo.

  An angel? Am I in heaven?

  He has dark blue eyes and long, golden hair brushing his shoulders. Definitely an angel. I am in heaven.

  “Cassie!” a voice calls.

  The angel disappears and I hear a splash. I try to raise my head, but the throbbing turns into hammering, and I groan. When I turn my head to the side, I realize I’m on some sort of boulder in the middle of the ocean.

  “Cassie!” the voice calls again. It sounds like my best friend, Leah. I hear an engine. She must be on a boat or Jet Ski.

  I open my mouth to call to her, but nothing comes out. The action alone takes up so much energy that my eyes droop.

  Through the fog in my head, I hear the engine approach. A hand shakes my shoulder. “Cassie? Are you okay?”

  I open one eye. “Leah?”

  She’s sitting on a Jet Ski, dressed in her wetsuit. Her green eyes are wide in alarm. “Thank God you’re alive.”

  When I try to sit up, my head spins. “Easy,” she says, climbing out of the Jet Ski and settling near me on the boulder. She wraps an arm around my shoulder and helps me into a sitting position. “We need to get you to the hospital.”

  “I’m fine,” I mutter. “What happened?”

  “You wiped out. I saw you go down and I grabbed the Jet Ski to go after you. I’m taking you to the hospital. You have a nasty bump on your head.”

  I finger the spot. Ouch. “How did I end up on the boulder?”

  Her eyebrows crease. She scratches her dark brown hair. “Did you swim here and pass out?” She takes me in her arms, hugging me close. “You have no idea how freaked out I was when I saw you lying here. I’m so glad you’re okay.” She pulls out of the hug. “I was searching forever. I really thought…” Her voice cracks. “I really thought you died. Don’t you ever do anything like that again!”

  I stare down at the small waves hitting the boulder. “There was a guy. An angel. An angel saved me.”

  “An angel?” She surveys the area. “I didn’t see anyone.”

  “Maybe I went to heaven.”

  She doesn’t say anything. I know what she’s thinking—that I hit my head and am talking nonsense. Am I?

  “And when you called my name, he disappeared. I’m telling you the truth, Leah. I’m not crazy.”

  “O-kay. What did Angel Guy look like?”

  Those eyes. So deep, so blue, like the ocean. And golden hair that I’ve never seen before, not even in the movies. “He was beautiful.”

  Her eyebrows crease again. I know she doesn’t believe me, but I couldn’t have been hallucinating. The hands rubbing my fingers were real. His face was real. He was real.

  Or was he? I shake my head because none of this makes sense. Maybe I am hallucinating.

  Leah gets on the Jet Ski and helps me climb on behind her. I’m still a little groggy and dizzy, but my headache is disappearing by the minute. She steers us toward the shore.

  I look back at the boulder. He had to be real.

  We make it to the beach and climb off the Jet Ski. Leah wraps her arm over my shoulder. “Feeling okay?”

  “Fine.” I keep looking back toward the ocean, hoping for—I don’t know. For Angel Guy to pop out of thin air and reveal himself?

  “I still think you should see a doctor. We hear so many stories of people hitting their heads and thinking they’re fine, when they sustain major head injuries and—”

  “Leah, quit worrying. You’re worse than my mom.” Mom has never really liked me spending most of my free time hitting the waves. I guess as her only daughter, she wants someone more…like her. A daughter who would go shopping with her and give her fashion advice and stay up into the early hours of the morning talking about guys.

  Leah stops in front of Misty’s Juice Bar, the place she’s currently working at, and faces me. “You’re just so reckless, Cass. I know I’m not a great surfer, but even I know you shouldn’t have been in the ocean with those waves.”

  I press my lips together.

  She touches my arm. “I know you’re still hurting from the breakup with Kyle—”

  “We are not talking about that.” I nod toward the shop. “Your boss is giving you the death glare. I’ll see you later, okay?”

  Rubbing my head, I notice the pain is almost completely gone. I squint toward the ocean. It’s wishful thinking, hoping my board will somehow emerge. Chances are it’s in pieces at the bottom of the ocean.

  My eyes move to the sky, which is growing a little gray and cloudy. We’ll probably have a stor
m later today or tonight.

  When I enter my beach house, a familiar scent tickles my nose.

  “Mom?” I hurry into the kitchen and find her sitting at the table, munching on a chocolate bar and flipping through a magazine. I take in her familiar chin-length, dyed red hair and light pink nail polish.

  “Cassie!” She stands and pulls me into her arms. I bury my face into the side of her neck, feeling the stiffness of her business suit against my arms. She’s been gone for over two weeks. As much as I enjoyed the freedom, I missed her terribly.

  She steps out of the hug and studies me like she hasn’t seen me in years. “You look great, honey. Except, what happened to your head?” She reaches to touch the bump, but I move back.

  “Oh, nothing. I tripped on the stairs. So um, how was your trip?”

  “Busy, but good.”

  I peer into the living room, where her suitcases are lined against the wall. “Need help unpacking?”

  She bites her lower lip, regret clouding her eyes.

  My heart sinks. “You’re leaving again?”

  She sighs and drops down on the chair, running her hands through her hair. “I fly out again tonight. Sorry, Cass.”

  I walk to the cupboard and rummage around until I find my gummy worms. Mom works in sales. She travels all over the country selling a new line of women’s cosmetics. It’s been her dream job ever since she started college. Then I came along when she was in her last semester and ruined her plans. She got her degree, but had to kiss the dream goodbye. Dad was chivalrous and married her, but he left us when I was ten. Not very chivalrous. Now that I’m eighteen and will start college in the fall, Mom can finally live her dream.

  I stick a worm between my teeth and slice it in half. She was a complete mess when my dad left us, and now she’s finally putting her life back together. I can’t take that away from her, no matter how much I miss her.

  She gets to her feet and takes me in her arms again. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I didn’t think I’d have to travel this much.” She draws back and looks into my eyes. “You know you’re always welcome at Uncle Jim and Aunt Lisa’s and the gang if you get too lonely. And Leah’s parents would love to have you over any time.”

  I don’t say anything, just continue to devour my worms. I stayed with Leah the first few times my mom was away. We had a blast. But after a while, I wanted my mom. That’s how it’s been for the last few years of my life—just Mom and me. But I suppose I need to get used to this, to the future. College, a real job, my own apartment.