“I’m gonna get some fresh air,” I told her and slid away.
“Hurry back.” She smiled at me, turning back on her side.
I wouldn’t come back. I pulled on a t-shirt and went outside to the back of the house where I could sit on the ledge and watch the steady waves of the sea pull in and out of the beach. It was five a.m. but even at this hour it still had that soothing beauty that refreshed my mind.
Clarissa’s birthday was tomorrow.
Maybe I should go and meet with Dad and Pete. Maybe it was time to go and see the graves.
The thought gripped at my heart and I didn’t know if I could do it. My mother and sister were buried right next to each other. Seeing them, seeing the graves, would make it all too real and remind me that they really weren’t here anymore.
I watched the darkness fade away as the sun rose and basked in the glory as it kissed the sky and filled out the scene before me. I stayed outside for hours, just watching, and hoped Allegra would be gone by the time I got back inside.
I waited another ten minutes then made my way in. As I passed the sitting room I got the surprise of my life when I saw Amy sitting cross-legged on the floor eating cereal and watching Saturday morning kids’ TV.
I walked into the room believing I’d gone mad and was definitely hallucinating. This had to have been the effects from the drinks.
She didn’t acknowledge me at first, she just continued to watch Cow and Chicken on the Cartoon Network.
I looked her over and grimaced. She had her hair up with two plaited buns on top of her head that made her look extremely young, like under sixteen, and the look was enhanced with the bright pink t-shirt she wore with Princess written on the front in pink glitter. The denim shorts, however, I liked. I liked looking at her legs.
I was actually happy to see her.
“What are you doing here? It’s Saturday, isn’t it?” These days I had to check. I’d been known to sleep through the whole weekend on a binge-drinking spree.
“Yes, and you have a bigger TV than me, with more channels and better food.”
I sat on the sofa opposite her. She looked over at me when an infomercial came on advertising slinkies.
“You came for the TV and the food?”
“Yes, what else is here? Oh right, the beach and the whole Malibu thing.”
I looked at her, trying to figure her out. “What’s with your hair?”
“Nothing, it’s my Saturday morning hair. So that by Saturday night it’s all curly. That way I don’t have to use my curling wand. Too much heat isn’t good, it gives you split ends. Especially if it doesn’t have a ceramic coating on it. But a ceramic coating with tourmaline is even better because it makes the ions all the correct charge for healthy hair.”
All that explanation for my simple question. Again I just looked at her.
“What?” She narrowed her eyes at me.
“Nothing.”
She focused her attention back on the TV and munched away on the cereal.
While she did that I continued to stare.
“There’s a surfing competition in about an hour. Do you want to come?” she asked.
I laughed. She was up to something. I didn’t know what it was yet, but she was definitely up to something. Imagine me and her hanging out?
“Since when does Kansas want to hang out with Joshua Mancini?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know who Kansas is. I don’t even know why you call me that.”
“Well, I imagined you with your hair in bunches, making sure all your clothes are neat, and look at you.” I pointed to her hair.
“You leave my hair alone. Worry about your own,” she huffed, pointing her spoon at me. “You look like you’ve been rolling around with dogs.”
“There you are,” Allegra said, walking into the room. She frowned when she saw Amy and looked at me askance. “What’s she doing here?”
“I guess I was right,” Amy stated through a tight-lipped smile in reference to her dog comment which Allegra hadn’t heard.
“She’s my assistant,” I said to Allegra.
“It’s Saturday.” She wore one of my shirts and pulled it closer to her chest as she continued to stare Amy down.
Amy didn’t give her the time of day. She just focused her gaze on the TV.
Now what did I do here?
“Sometimes duty calls,” I told her. I didn’t want Amy to leave.
“I thought we could go to the beach party later. Cindy will be there.”
Cindy? As if her presence could make me want to go.
“I’m going to sit this one out, I think.” I needed to, even for today. I wanted to think about tomorrow and didn’t want either Allegra or Cindy around.
“Come on, baby. Just get rid of her.” She moved over and put her arms around me.
I saw Amy look over at me out of the corner of her eyes.
“I don’t want to.” I removed Allegra’s arms and stood up.
Allegra looked surprised, shocked by my action. She then looked at Amy and assessed her.
“I see, she’s another addition to your ever-growing list of bed friends.”
I’d known Allegra a very long time. We weren’t a couple, not by a long shot, but we were together often. This was probably the part where I should talk down any concerns she clearly had over Amy. But I didn’t want to do that, either.
“No. I’m not that lucky, sweetheart,” I replied and shocked them both.
Allegra looked like I slapped her in the face and Amy simply looked stunned.
Allegra turned on her heel and walked off. Once she was out of the room I returned my focus to Amy.
“What time do we need to leave?”
“What?” Surprise filled her face.
“The surfing competition.”
“We could leave now.”
I nodded. “Yeah, let’s go now.”
Chapter 11
Amy
* * *
This morning seemed to be filled with all sorts of surprises. Both good and bad.
I had thought about Josh all night, wondering how he was doing. I’d planned to go see him today, just to check in, but my plans changed when I heard noises coming from outside my apartment door very early in the morning. At first I didn’t know what was going on, then I looked through the peephole and saw Dom and his brother talking and heard everything they said.
Dom had said, “Let’s see if we can catch her with her clothes off today. I get to look first.”
Then I watched him bend down by the door lock and peer through. All this time I’d been here I didn’t realize that you could see clearly through the keyhole. It was like a viewing parlor. I couldn’t have been more mortified at the thought that they’d been watching me get changed and had seen me naked.
Not only did I feel uncomfortable there, I had the desperate urge to leave immediately. I left minutes after that.
I knew Josh would be surprised to see my and hoped that he wouldn’t be in one of his moods. What I didn’t expect was him choosing to spend his time with me over Allegra. That truly surprised me.
Now we walked side by side along the beach on our way to the surfing competition. It was Hilda that told me about it. I had never been to anything like that, and rarely ever got the chance to watch any form of sport, so it as a good idea with perfect timing.
Josh didn’t say anything as we left the house. He just walked next to me , seeming deep in contemplation. He looked at me looking at him and a slight hint of a smile lifted his face.
“Wait,” he said, stopping.
“What for?”
“I’ve decided I really don’t like your hair like that. We have to change it.”
I shook my head. “There’s nothing wrong with my hair.”
“Maybe not in Kansas, but this is California.” To my surprise he pulled me closer and started undoing the braids on my buns.
“What are you doing?” I swatted his hands away.
“Making you look d
ecent. You look like you have horns. Keep still,” he snapped. We must have looked ridiculous.
“What’s it going to look like when people see Josh Mancini unbraiding hair?” I teased, giggling.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Princess, this is Malibu Beach, no one will care and there are far more well-known celebrities here than me. I’d be lucky if anyone even recognizes me.”
“I can do my own hair.”
“I would have believed you more yesterday. Keep still, damn it.” He held me in place and frowned, then resumed his hairdressing.
“So I’m supposed to stand here and allow my boss to fix my hair how he wants?” I huffed.
“Yes, except that today I’m not your boss. I’m just Josh, and if you’re going to hang out with me on a Saturday you can’t look like that.”
I didn’t think I looked that bad, but then again I did leave in a hurry this morning. I stood still and allowed him to undo my hair. Once he had, he smoothed it to one side, allowing it to drift down to my stomach. It had a subtle wave to it and wasn’t half as curly as when I left it twisted up for hours, but it looked okay.
I thought he would leave me alone now but he surprised me further by pulling my t-shirt out of my shorts. Again I swatted his hands away.
“Josh, what are you doing? You can’t try to get into my pants with everyone watching,” I retorted, looking at him wide eyed.
“Princess, if I was trying to get into your pants I would have been in well before now.” He smirked with a devilishly handsome grin that lit up his blue-green eyes. The grin turned saucier. “Also, are you saying I could try to get into your pants if no one was watching?” He looked down at my shorts.
“No, and stop with the creepiness.”
“I told you, Italian blood flows through my veins.”
I wasn’t aware of that about Italians, but that could just be me. The way I figured it, he didn’t need any kind of blood to flow through him to make him like that. I also figured he wasn’t nearly as creepy as the men at my apartment. He was the lesser of two evils and honestly, if I hadn’t been worried about him I probably would have still ended up at his house. It was the only other place I had to go. Sadly, there was nowhere else I could go to hang out or relax. I supposed I could have met up with Hilda or Gabriella, but I didn’t want to impose.
“Okay, so what were you doing, then?” I looked at him askance.
“This.” He pulled out the rest of my t-shirt, gathered the ends together and tied it into a knot that rested just above my belly button. “Because this isn’t the eighties where people walk around with t-shirts tucked in.”
He had a point. I had to laugh because I was supposed to be the fashion designer here, yet he just made me look a whole lot cooler.
I watched him as he hooked his finger into the loop on my shorts and pulled me a little closer.
“What are you doing now?”
“Being creepy.”
I batted his hand away and moved back. “You are so silly.”
He smiled and I found myself smiling too.
“What’s this?” He took hold of my upper arm and felt the underside, rubbing his thumb over the extremely tiny rod I’d had inserted last year. My cheeks warmed as he focused on me.
“Medicine.” It was birth control. I got it because it was easy to have and I didn’t have to think about it like I would with a pill.
“What kind of medicine?” His smile turned up a notch.
I got the feeling he knew what it was but was teasing me. “It’s birth control. Now unhand me.” I shrugged out of his grasp as he laughed, revealing his gorgeous dimples. The sight of which made my stomach tingle. It would be so much easier if I didn’t find him so attractive.
“Good to know, princess.”
I cut him a sharp glare and continued walking. He fell in step with me and we proceeded to the area that had been cornered off for the competition. We found a good spot near a fan palm tree and sat next to each other within its shade.
It didn’t take long for the area to get packed and I was glad we’d gotten here at the time we had. As the crowd rolled in the area became saturated, and while Josh might have classed himself as practically average, a ton of people recognized him. A lot asked for his autograph and took pictures with him.
It was a casual event that turned into a public appearance.
We stayed out all day, which was good because he didn’t drink. Every time we were somewhere where he could easily grab a beer, I made sure he had fruit juice in his hands.
At eight we sat on the beach near his house watching the sunset. We were together for longer than yesterday. I wasn’t sure, but wondered if this might have been the longest that he’d gone without a drink.
I tried to remember what my father was like when he wasn’t drunk. It was difficult to remember because he was rarely at home. At the time I’d thought he was away working hard to take care of our family, but later found out he’d spent the time with one woman or another. He mostly used our house to crash and revive himself.
It was Tristan who told me all that. He’d found out the hard way and hated our father just as much as I did. Mom, however, was still in love with him until this day. I blamed her illness. Clearly her defective heart gave her a distorted vision of the man. He’d put her through so much, all of us, and she just hoped for the best.
None of us hadn’t seen him in more than twenty years but she kept looking out for him.
That was my biggest fear. To fall for a man like that, someone who I knew would never be able to love me the same way as I loved him. At least I’d been lucky to stay clear of anyone like that.
I glanced over at Josh. He seemed to be doing well.
“How long have you been playing football?” I asked.
A peaceful silence had filled the space between us and I didn’t want him to leave just yet, get back in, and be tempted to drink. I thought I could fill him with happy thoughts of his love for football and maybe that would help.
“All my life.” He smiled. The soft, fading daylight caressed his tanned skin. He rolled up the sleeves of his t-shirt revealing solid muscle, which I couldn’t take my eyes off. “I can’t remember not playing. My earliest memory was when I was about four. My dad got me my first football, which I was attached to.”
“You remember stuff from when you were four?”
“Yep. It all checks out too. My mom would get so mad at me when I played in the house and terrorized my sister. So my dad had to take me out to play in the park. We lived in San Francisco then.”
I liked this, him talking about his family.
“I love San Francisco.”
“It’s cool. My family still lives there, they just…” His voice trailed off and a faraway look filled his eyes. “I mean they used to, all of them. It’s just my dad now.”
Pain etched over his fine features.
I realized that he was talking about his mom and sister as if they were still alive. That must have been so painful. I remembered the other day, too, when his dad called and he allowed the phone to go to voicemail. I didn’t know what that was about, but guessed that Josh was avoiding him.
“Josh, are you okay?” I looked him over and noticed the change in his appearance.
“I’m fine. I should probably go. Plus, you shouldn’t be getting back too late.” He stood up to go. I got up too.
“Josh. What are you going to do?” I knew he was going to drink. I could feel it. It was just like yesterday when he rushed out of the car and headed for the first bottle. I could only begin to imagine what he must feel. I’d never lost anyone that close to me and didn’t think I could survive if I did.
“That’s a big question, Kansas. You’re actually going to have to be specific.” The attitude had returned.
“What are you going to do right now?” Yesterday he’d been completely vile with his response of booze and bitches. I didn’t know if I could handle any responses like that, especially since I just spent a really nice day
with him.
“Go home.”
“Go home and do what? You said be specific.”
“It’s Saturday night, Kansas, I might get up to all sorts of things.” He gave me a wicked smile.
“Does that include…drinking?”
“Kansas, you shouldn’t worry about me. I’m certain that even you have better things to do on a Saturday night.”
I continued to look at him. “Will you drink?” I decided to ignore the comment.
“Yes.” At least he was honest.
“And…call Allegra and bed friends?”
I didn’t know why I said that. The words just resonated from my lips from somewhere.
Maybe it was my failure to help, or…
Maybe it was my suppressed desire from the other day when we kissed and he couldn’t remember. I tried to forget the whole damn thing but found myself thinking about it at times, much to my great annoyance. It was like some kind of curse where I had to live with the memory and he just went about his normal life with these women.
Most people would think I was overreacting because it was just a little kiss, and yes there’d been a lot of intimate touching, but it was perhaps the most heated, passionate moment in my life. That was sad considering how old I was. I supposed it was down to my avoidance of serious relationships.
Thinking about it made me feel flustered. I didn’t know how I got to this point where I was here trying to convince Josh not to drink and hook up with his bed friends. The thought of both really peeved me off. “I mean you—”
Before I could say my next word he smoothed his hand across my cheek and sealed his lips to mine.
He moved so quickly that my brain barely had a chance to register that he was kissing me. His delicious lips fused to mine , sending a spark of electricity straight through me . Then something strange happened. Warmth gathered from the tips of my toes and propelled itself over my entire body. I felt it coursing through my veins like an awakened river zinging with vitality. It quenched my soul of a thirst I didn’t know I had and made me feel like I never wanted to be without him.
The kiss was brief, too brief, but it still had a powerful effect and stunned me .
Play of Love: The Gladiator Players Box Set Page 11
