The Scale (Martha's Way)

by Mika Jolie

  “Are you getting out of bed?”

  Nope, never! I’m staying here until you drag me off, preferably for more of that sweet lovemaking. “Eventually.”

  She watched him. She knew enough to know Jason possessed superpowers when it came to reading her, as he was doing now. To her relief, he dropped the topic. Instead, he came to lie next to her on the bed and pulled her in his arms.

  She moaned with pleasure. This was so much better than getting into a bathing suit and letting the world see her cellulite.

  His chin rested on her head as his hands stroked her bare arm. Minka closed her eyes.

  “Take your time,” he said before placing a kiss on her mass of curls. “I’m going to grab a bite, then wait for you. The others are ready to go.”

  He released her and came to his feet.

  Minka cringed.

  Coming to a sitting position, she asked, “What are we doing again?”

  She could tell by the twinkle in his eyes he was on to her and her bathing suit phobia. She was doomed with no possibility of escaping.

  “Catch some waves, swim, and paddleboard. Do you swim?”

  “Yes.” But I wish I didn’t.

  “It’s perfect weather for paddle boarding. Have you done that before?”

  “Umm…no.”

  He smiled. “I’ll teach you. Very easy and fun. See you in a few.”

  With no care in the world, he closed the door behind him. Minka let out a deep breath, blowing some loose curls away from her face before letting her weight fall back on the bed.

  Curse you, bathing suit gods.

  * * * *

  Minka quickly surveyed her group. Keely and Blake were lounging in the sun; they looked so perfect together that it almost made Minka sick. With her Jackie-O glasses to cover her eyes, Lily looked striking in a two-piece bathing suit. Adam came to sit next to her, he grabbed the tube of sunblock, leaned into her friend and said something. In response, Lily turned to her stomach. Adam’s fingers found the strings of her top and loosened the knot, then his hand was on her friend’s back, applying the lotion to her bare skin.

  Then there was Jason. He was already in the water, laughing and talking to a well-shaped woman in what everyone considered to be a bikini, but the thing was as thin as dental floss.

  She sighed, regretting the decision to go with everyone and hit the local beach instead of their private piece of the ocean. At least back at the house, she would not have to compete for Jason’s attention.

  She took in the crowded beach; everyone seemed so engaged in their own world. And everyone came in different shapes and sizes; however, Minka only noticed the very thin, the athletically built with very small breasts.

  “What are you doing?”

  Startled by Lily’s voice, she looked over at her friend. She had been so lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice when Lily left Adam’s side to join her.

  “Why don’t you go swimming with Jason?”

  Her eyes followed Lily’s. Two other women had joined him in the water, jumping in and out of the waves.

  “He seems to be having fun.”

  Lily let out a soft chuckle. “You’re so afraid of everything around you, my friend.”

  Minka turned her attention to her friend and noticed the thin silver necklace with the engagement ring was no longer present. “What happened to the ring?”

  Lily’s fingers went to the empty space around her neck and smiled. “I threw it in the ocean last night. Adam helped me.”

  Minka blinked. What had she missed?

  Her friend let out a soft laugh and touched her hand. “Long story,” Lily said in her good-natured voice. “He was rather nice.” Her eyes lingered on Adam, who was still sunbathing. “It was refreshing.”

  “Um…” Minka started but not quite clear what she wanted to say she stopped.

  “Don’t worry, my friend. I still think he’s a playboy. A sexy one, but still is.”

  Minka knew her friend long enough to recognize the things that weren’t said. She glanced back at Adam, then back to her friend. “You slept with him.”

  Lily grinned. “I don’t know about sleeping, but if that’s what you want to call it.”

  “Lily.”

  Lily waved a dismissive hand and shrugged. “It was fun. A one-time thing.” She paused and looked in Adam’s direction. “He didn’t initiate it. I did,” she confessed. “He tried to walk away, but…I was persistent. I needed him at the time.”

  Minka nodded, understanding her friend’s admission. She knew the breakup had shaken Lily more than she had let it show. “Are you okay?”

  Lily nodded.

  “I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you.”

  “I’m fine.”

  They both watched as Adam came to his feet and walked into the ocean to where Jason was standing. Jason introduced the women to Adam. A loud shriek came from where the women along with Jason and Adam were standing.

  “I guess they recognized the international playboy,” Lily said.

  One woman threw her arms around Adam and placed a kiss on his lips. Minka watched Adam disentangle himself from the woman but flashed her that charming smile of his.

  “What a fucking pig,” Lily muttered under her breath. “He really has a small wiener anyway.”

  Minka pressed back the laughter. She understood the jealousy. “Jason and I had sex without a condom.” She had planned to tell Lily, but they had not been alone. The moment was perfect now.

  The news seemed to catch her friend’s attention. Lily removed her dramatic black glasses. She reached toward Minka’s face and removed the shades.

  “Say that again.”

  “Jason and I had…”

  “Oh, I heard you. What the fuck, Minka?”

  “It just kind of happened.”

  “Only once?”

  She shrugged. “Well…no.”

  A slew of Spanish words came flying out of her mouth. Minka sat back and allowed her friend to have her moment. When she finally stopped, she turned and stared back at her.

  “You could be preggers.”

  “I doubt it, but yes, we are aware of that.”

  Lily’s eyes widened. “And based on your level of calmness, I take it both of you are okay with that.”

  “Somewhat.”

  Lily ran a hand through her pixie cut. “Somewhat is vague, my friend.”

  “It means whatever comes out of it, comes out of it. We will deal with it together.”

  After a few seconds of staring at Minka as if she were an alien, Lily smiled. “You have a new strength in you.” Her eyes moved to where Jason stood in the ocean. “He’s so in love with you.”

  “I think you’re being overly romantic.”

  “Nope. He’s a goner. Look at him.”

  Minka followed her friend’s gaze to where Jason was taking laps in the water. He looked so free and relaxed.

  “He keeps looking at you. These skinny bimbos are throwing themselves at him, but he keeps looking in your direction. Go join him.”

  “Only if you go claim Adam.”

  Lily flashed her a who the fuck cares about him? look. “We had one great night of sex, my friend, nothing more. I promise you I won’t think about him twice once I get back to Jersey.”

  “And tonight. You’re not going to sleep with him again?” she asked, remembering how she had started with Jason. It was supposed to be one night.

  Lily shrugged and shook her head. “Just one time. I screwed his brains out and he screwed mine. We are on even ground. No need to show off for each other. I’m good for a year, I think.”

  Lily wrinkled her nose as she said the words, causing Minka to chuckle. They were laughing when Jason came to join them. Lily came to her feet to make room for him.

  “Am I the butt of the joke?” he asked in good humor.

  Lily cleared her throat. “Never.”

  His eyes followed where Adam was still standing in a deep conversation with one of the girls as
Lily stood up from the space he occupied earlier.

  “Don’t leave on my account.”

  She smiled at him. “I’m going for a swim.”

  Minka reached for her shades. In silence, she watched as Lily made her way to the ocean and jumped into a wave. Her friend was beautiful and always caught the attention of men. Sure enough, one guy approached her and started talking to her. Adam noticed and immediately walked away from the woman to where Lily was standing.

  Jason let out a chuckle. From the corner of her eye, Minka watched him reach for a bottle of sunscreen and apply it evenly over his legs and arms.

  “Can you help with my back?”

  She heard Jason’s deep voice. Without responding, Minka extended her hand to take the sunscreen from him. Images of Jason in the water with those women were still fresh in her mind. She knew she shouldn’t be jealous, but knowing and feeling were two different things.

  In silence, she applied the lotion to his back. “All done.” She placed the lotion next to him and settled back on the beach towel. She was reaching for her headset to shut him and the rest of the world out when he spoke.

  “Not quite.”

  Minka watched him smile and knew the silent daggers she was burying inside were apparent in her eyes.

  “You need to apply it on my chest as well.”

  “Your chest?”

  He nodded with a grin. He picked up the sunscreen and handed her the small bottle.

  “Why don’t you ask one of those women to do it?”

  He chuckled and settled back on his beach towel. “I want you to do it. I want Minka Greene. Just you and all that you are.”

  What exactly could she say to that? Well, many things crossed her mind. She could tell him how jealous and insecure he made her feel. But had it not been her choice to sit back instead of being in the water with him? Still, she thought, he could have told those women he was with the curvy girl sulking over there.

  She poured the lotion in her hand and turned to Jason. The smirk was still on his face. The man was having too much fun with the situation.

  “Take off your shades,” he requested.

  “What for?”

  She watched him reach for the aviator glasses and removed them from his face. His look held hers. “No more walls. I see all that you are, and I want it all. Let go and look at me. Perhaps you should start seeing me for all that I am because I am filled with flaws.”

  She didn’t see them. Yes, she knew he could be rude, indifferent and selfish. She thought back to his relationship with Rita. He had not been kind to her. He was headstrong, if she dared to admit it, thinking of his broken relationship with his father. The little time she spent with his father he didn’t seem so bad. In fact, the older man looked as if he was starving for his son to come back to him. But Jason had remained aloof.

  Yes, definitely headstrong. But she didn’t blame him. His father’s actions had hurt and damaged their relationship. Yet she had wondered about his mother’s mental state, how fragile she had to be to get to such a dark place. She remembered the pictures he’d shown her. Surely, it had not been easy on his father.

  Definitely stubborn. Oh, and let’s not forget spoiled. Not one of those overindulged brats. He was born privileged and still believed in hard work. Martha’s Way, the house he renovated by himself, was confirmation of that.

  Okay, so he had flaws. She knew that, of course. She had always known those things about him, but fell in love with him in spite of them. In fact, those traits played a role in her falling in love with him.

  Reaching for the shades, she stripped them away from her face. Jason reached out and took them. He smiled a satisfied smile.

  “Much better,” he said softly.

  Minka leaned toward him to apply the lotion to his skin. The moment she touched him everything around them faded. Her mind struggled to hold on to her insecurities, to her surroundings, even to Blake, but even the presence of her sister’s fiancé was not enough to keep her from drifting into the depth of Jason’s blue eyes.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “The secret of a good life is to have the right loyalties and hold them in the right scale of values.”

  Norman Thomas

  Minka collapsed on the lounge chair, exhausted from hours in the water with Jason swimming and learning how to balance herself on the paddleboard. She had fallen a couple of times, but nothing that was life threatening. And at times, out of frustration, she had begged him to walk away from the whole thing, but Jason was a stubborn person and insisted she keep trying until she was able to find her balance on the water for a few minutes.

  They both had been elated with her accomplishment. Without thinking, Minka had jumped into his arms, catching Jason off-guard, and their bodies tumbled in the water.

  Now she sat back, catching her breath. Wrapping her body with a towel, she followed Jason’s movement on the basketball court where he was engaged in a one-on-one battle with Blake. While Minka would have been more than happy to call it quits for the rest of the day, Jason was moving as if his day was just getting started.

  Minka was reaching for her book when Keely and Lily came to sit next to her. With a smile, she put her book away, welcoming the opportunity to catch up with them. Bizarre, the last few days her time with her sister had been limited and Minka was surprised to discover she missed her.

  Perhaps she would never share the closeness with her she experienced with Lily, but Minka had to admit it wasn’t for Keely’s lack of trying. She had always been the factor for the barrier that existed between them. Since their night in Oak Bluffs, the tension had dwindled.

  “So, what’s happening between you two? Things are looking very intense. Jason looks happy.” Keely sat closest to Minka. “And so do you.”

  She didn’t need to answer. She sat back and enjoyed the view of the bare-chested men on the court.

  As her sister and Lily’s voices rose with enthusiasm, Minka drifted to the memories of seven years ago when she’d first met Blake at the library. She had been so engrossed in a book she’d failed to notice the tall, broad figure that slipped across from her. It wasn’t until he cleared his throat and asked her to borrow a highlighter did she look up. Minka believed she had fallen in love with him then. She would never forget the way he had touched her hand when he saw the tears in her eyes. Quietly, he stood from his chair and pulled her away into the corridor where they could talk.

  Minka had instantly opened up and told him about what had taken place with one of the football players on campus. The one night where she had lowered her guard, allowed herself to drink too much and ended up in bed with a football star. Someone she thought was a friend prior to their night together.

  However, that all changed. At first, Minka thought nothing of the calls that were not returned or the fact that he no longer sat next to her in their class together. He had been a popular person on campus. The Star. The college girls clung to him so she didn’t blame him for putting some space between them. She was always being asked how he was as a person since most knew they were friends. But since the party, Minka noticed she had been receiving more stares than usual.

  Then one afternoon after class, she walked into the Student Center and heard the laughter. Phillip, the star quarterback, was telling a story and the laughter around him was boisterous. A few students froze when they noticed her,

  “I was a drunk man. You can’t blame a drunk guy for fucking a fat girl,” he said between laughter. “But, man, she thinks we have a relationship now. Shit, I’ve been using her for school help, but now I’m like, fuck that, I’d rather fail.”

  She stood there frozen and cried, tears of shame washed down her face. Everyone turned to look at her, but no one dared to approach her. Only one. Lily entered the Student Center, and, without a word, walked over to Phillip and kicked him in his groin area.

  “Go fuck yourself, asshole!”

  In a fetal position, stirring in pain, Phillip hollered some sort of threat to
Lily. “You will pay for this.”

  “Yeah, come try it. I have crazy brothers who will be more than happy to beat the shit out of you.” She turned to Minka and put her arms around her shoulder. “Come on, let’s go get a drink. By the way, my name is Liliana. But you can call me Lily.”

  Blake had remained quiet and let her talk through it. When Minka stopped and broke down, he held her and let her cry until there were no tears left to be shed.

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that. I can beat him up for you,” he said, which brought a chuckle from Minka. “I’m Blake.”

  “Minka,” she replied, wiping the tears away. “You’re a senior.”

  “No, I’m in the law school program. How about we meet for coffee tomorrow morning?”

  The next morning, as much as common sense told her not to go to the Student Center to meet Blake, she had gone and spotted him right away, leaning against the wall with two cups in his hands. He had waved at her, walked over and handed her the coffee.

  Minka had noticed the stares, the curious looks. She would have done the same thing. Blake was tall, built like an athlete and definitely was on the top scale of the hot radar and he only seemed to have eyes for her.

  From that morning on, she had fallen in love with him. As their friendship developed, her crush cultivated to something stronger. He never made an advance or attempted to kiss her. To him, they were friends, which Minka had sadly accepted. He never talked to her about his dates. She was aware he dated a lot, but he always dismissed them as nothing serious. That gave her hope.

  Blake had remained her fantasy, her “one day” until two years ago when she introduced him to her sister. Their connection had been instant and it broke Minka’s heart.

  She had wept with hopelessness over their budding relationship and until a week ago; the despair over the fact that her sister had managed to capture his heart had been the driver to her emotional state.

  Minka shook her head, finally recognizing her feelings for Blake were nothing more than an infatuation that lasted a few years too long. His smile, as beautiful as it was, didn’t send her heart racing. It wasn’t his touch that coursed through her veins like fire, waking her senses to the unimaginable.