by Abbi Glines
I took two steps toward her, grabbed her hand, and stopped her. “Bethy, we are so not done with this conversation. Come here,” I said as she reluctantly glanced back at me.
“Please, let’s drop this,” she said.
I shook my head. “Not a chance.”
She tensed and turned back around to look at me. “I’m sorry I said anything. Let’s talk about something else.”
“Take off your cover-up,” I told her. I might not make a move on her, but I was damn well going to show her how hot her body was. She needed to be aware of it so that she’d protect herself.
Her eyes went wide, and this time she shook her head.
“Please, Bethy. For me,” I said, using all the skills I had perfected to charm females.
She faltered and then let out a heavy sigh before taking the hem of her cover-up and pulling it up over her head. She didn’t let it drop to the sand but held it in her hand tightly by her side as she closed her eyes, unable to look at me.
I was glad for that moment to pull myself together. I had been able to tell that her body was smoking under her clothes, but seeing it in a bikini was something else. Her tits were about to tumble out of that small top, and her hips . . . damn, her hips were perfect. She had a tiny waist, but the way her hips flared told me her backside was going to be fucking amazing. Then there were those legs.
“Told you,” she said quietly.
My eyes snapped back up to her face as she looked at me with an unsure, nervous, forced smile. She started to lift her cover-up to put it back on, but I reached for her arm to stop her. “No,” I said. I wasn’t done looking. I might never be done looking.
“This is embarrassing,” she said in a whisper.
I swallowed hard. Fuck, I was gonna be getting off to this image for months. Too young, Tripp. Too young. She’s too young. “Turn around,” I said.
She shook her head. “No, I can’t. That’s worse.”
Holy hell, she was blind. “Right now, I’m having to remind myself that you’re too young. I’m eighteen, and that makes you illegal. But this view makes it hard to care. I don’t know who told you that you’re overweight, but sweetheart, you’re fucking perfect.”
Bethy’s breathing picked up, and her chest rose and fell. I really wanted to tug that top down and get my hands and eyes full of her tits. “Really?” she asked.
I nodded. “Will you please turn around now?” I asked, knowing this was going to fuck me up. If the view got any better, I was a goner. That sweet smile and beautiful face didn’t need to come with this package. It was too much.
She slowly turned, and her round, firm ass was barely covered up by the bottom she was wearing. The suit wasn’t meant for a girl with a body like this. I was so fucking thankful she had that cover-up on. If the guys at that party had gotten a look at her, they’d have swarmed like ravenous vultures.
“Fuck,” I muttered, unable not to comment.
She quickly spun back around, and her bottom lip was caught between her teeth. She was worried again. “I know it’s big,” she said, almost apologetically.
I had to draw a line with her in my head. Because I was about to make a huge mistake. I would be leaving soon, and I couldn’t touch her. Even if I wanted to, real damn bad. Bethy was too sweet. Too innocent. I wasn’t someone who should get to touch her. “No. It’s not too big. It’s sexy, Bethy. Your whole body is sexy as hell. You make guys think things and want things. You need to be aware of that. Wearing a swimsuit like that can push a guy over the edge. You’ve got a body guys fantasize over. I won’t be able to get it out of my head for a very long time. So this shit about you being overweight is insane. Don’t ever think you are less than gorgeous. And protect that. Now, put that cover-up back on. Please,” I said.
Bethy didn’t move right away, and I soaked in the last view I was going to get of her body. When she pulled the cover-up back over her head, I took a deep breath again. “Thank you,” she said finally.
“For what?” I asked.
“For making me feel beautiful.”
Bethy
One week working in the sun, and my tan was darker than it had ever been. I had been dreading wearing a swimsuit and sitting on a lifeguard stand where people could see me. But thanks to Tripp, this week hadn’t been the awful experience I thought it would be. I didn’t feel fat. I felt like I looked nice. The lifeguard suit covered up a lot more than the one Meredith had let me borrow for the party.
I rarely saw people my age at the pool, so it wasn’t that big a deal anyway. It was mostly young mothers and their kids. Some girls my age and older came to lie out, but most of them did that at the beach, not the pool. My biggest problem this week had been Chad. He was one of the lifeguards and had taken an interest in me. Which was proving to be annoying. I wasn’t interested back, but he wasn’t getting the hint.
I coated my face with some more sunblock and put my sunglasses back on before climbing down the ladder to switch spots with Fern, another lifeguard, who had been working the shallow end. Everyone wanted one of the stands with the umbrellas. Working the shallow end was exhausting, but I was ready to get wet and cool off, so I didn’t mind the switch.
“Hottie alert. Tripp Newark just walked in,” Fern whispered as she walked over to me, grinning.
I quickly searched for him and found him standing near the entrance, already stopped by one of the servers who catered to the pool area. I felt a twinge of jealousy as he bent his head and whispered in her ear. The server giggled, and he smirked before walking toward the pool. I watched as his eyes went to the lifeguard stand and scanned the crowd until they met mine.
The silly smile on my face was there before I could stop it. Tripp grinned, and he did a slow scan of me in the swimsuit before he met my eyes again. He nodded with an appreciative gleam in his eyes that made butterflies in my stomach take flight.
“Ohmygod, he’s looking at you,” Fern said in an awed tone.
“He’s a friend,” I explained before she embarrassed me. I didn’t want Tripp to think that he had to come speak to me or that I expected it.
I gave him one last smile before heading to the shallow end of the pool. He had a towel in his hand, but I wasn’t going to assume he was here to hang out at the pool. He might just have been passing through.
I also had to make sure no kid drowned on my watch. Lusting over Tripp wasn’t a good idea any way you looked at it.
I walked into the pool and cooled off before sitting down on the edge, where the lifeguard for the section was supposed to stay. I didn’t give in and look for Tripp. It took all my self-control, but I managed it for at least ten minutes.
When the lack of action in the pool became too much, I glanced casually over toward the lounge chairs lined up under umbrellas and found Tripp easily enough. He was talking to the server who had flirted with him when he got here. She was older. I would guess she was even a year or two older than Tripp. He seemed to enjoy her attention, and that was too painful to watch. I jerked my gaze off him and back to the kids in the pool.
“It’s your break,” Chad’s familiar voice said as he sat down beside me. “I’m here to rescue you.”
I glanced at him and forced a smile. I wasn’t sure I liked him much. He had made several comments about my body that embarrassed me. “Thanks,” I said, standing up.
“That’s a nice view,” he said as I turned my back to him. I cringed at the idea of him staring at my bottom.
I didn’t respond or react. It was best just to ignore Chad’s comments. I headed for the break room where I had left my lunch box this morning. I had been here for three hours, but I was starving.
When I walked around the corner into the staff-only section, I heard footsteps behind me. Glancing back, I saw Tripp and stopped short. What was he doing?
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” I replied, but it sounded like I was asking a question. Which I kind of was.
“You on break?” he asked.
I nod
ded, still not sure why he had followed me.
“You have something to put on over your suit?”
I nodded again.
This time, he grinned. “Put it on, and let’s go eat.”
Let’s go eat. He wanted to eat. With me. “OK,” I said obediently. Like I was going to say no to this.
“I’ve already got a pizza waiting for us and a reserved room. I handled that when I got here.”
Oh, wow. OK. I reached into the bag on my shoulder and pulled out my cover-up and put it on. “Ready,” I said, and he held out his hand.
“Come on. I’m starving. I know you have to be.”
Again, I just nodded. I was so confused.
Tripp led me to the back entrance of the pool café and to a back room reserved for private parties. One table was set with a pizza and two drinks waiting for us.
“I just got regular Coke. If you want something else, just let me know, and I’ll have Crystal get it. She’s the one who set this up for me.”
“Coke is good,” I replied, stupidly.
“Did I take you away from lunch plans?” he asked, looking concerned.
I was acting like an idiot. I needed to snap out of this. I shook my head. “No. I was going to eat in the break room. I packed a lunch, but it’s just a turkey sandwich and an apple. This is so much better.”
Tripp grinned again and pulled out a chair for me. “Good.”
I sat down, and he took the chair across from me. “How’s the job going?” he asked, reaching for a piece of pizza and putting it on my plate.
I was beginning to think I may have passed out from heat stroke and this was some crazy dream I’d worked up. “I, uh, it’s OK. I mean, I like it.”
Tripp got a piece of pizza and put it on his plate. “I was right about the suit. You make it look good.”
I blushed and ducked my head to hide my stupid reaction.
“Been to any wild parties this week?” he asked in a teasing tone.
I laughed and shook my head. “No. It’s all work and no play,” I told him, and picked up the pizza. It smelled delicious, and my stomach was now growling.
“I left off the olives. I love olives, but I wasn’t sure you liked them,” he said as he watched me take a bite. I wouldn’t admit it, but I would have eaten anything he put on this pizza. Just because he got it for me. No guy had ever bought me food before.
“I like olives,” I said after I swallowed.
He nodded. “Noted. Next time, I can have my olives.”
Next time. OK. There was going to be a next time that he bought me pizza.
“Do you work weekends?” Tripp asked me.
“No. I’m only working Monday through Friday this summer.”
Tripp took a drink and studied me a moment. Having his complete attention made me nervous. “I’ve got to drive over to New Orleans on Saturday to pick something up. Want to take a ride?”
I had to be suffering from heat stroke. There was no other explanation. “Sure. Sounds fun,” I replied. If I was going to hallucinate, I might as well enjoy myself.
Tripp
Present day
I had parked my bike and was leaning against it with my arms crossed over my chest, waiting. Bethy still had ten more minutes before her shift was over, but I had gotten out of a board meeting with Woods an hour ago, and there was no point leaving and coming back so soon.
Heels clicked on the pavement, and I turned to see Della walking toward me. Her normally happy smile was gone, and a worried frown replaced it. She was getting married in a couple of weeks. I had the invitation on my kitchen counter. I still hadn’t bought them a gift.
“You waiting on Bethy?” she asked as she stopped in front of me.
I nodded. She knew I did this on the days Bethy worked.
“She still refusing to talk to you?”
I nodded again. I didn’t want to talk about last week and everything Bethy had said. Some things were too painful to verbalize.
“I hate seeing you like this. I wish you’d explain what’s going on. No one understands why Bethy hates you so much and why you follow her daily to make sure she’s OK. It’s a devotion that I’ve only seen from men who are in love, but how can you be in love with Bethy? You hardly know her. You weren’t here long enough to get to know her, and she was Jace’s girlfriend. Something isn’t adding up, Tripp. You’re my friend. When I needed someone, you were there for me every time. I love you, and I hate seeing you do this to yourself. Maybe you need to get away again and put some distance between you and Rosemary Beach.”
I once hoped I could feel something more for Della, but her heart had been with Woods Kerrington before I even met her. I just hadn’t known it. Didn’t matter, though. We were always meant to be friends.
“I can’t leave her” was all I said. Della deserved to know more. She had confided in me when she had no one else to talk to, and I knew she’d be there for me in the same way. We had been close. But this . . . this was more than I could tell anyone. It was a story I wasn’t ready to share.
Della sighed and reached out to squeeze my arm. “I want someone to help her. I do. We all do. But Tripp, why you?”
I tore my eyes away from the door to glance down at Della. “Because I’ve loved her since I was eighteen years old. That’s all I can tell you. And please, don’t repeat that to anyone.” Admitting that to someone other than myself was freeing in a way.
Della’s eyes went wide in shock, and she was speechless. She knew more than anyone else now. “Oh, wow,” she whispered. “Did . . . OK. Um . . . wow,” she stuttered, unsure how to respond.
It was our secret, and now I had told someone. The time I had with Bethy wasn’t something I wanted to shove under a rug or keep hidden anymore. I was tired of hiding the truth. If Jace had lived, I’d have taken the secret to my grave. But he was gone. And I was going to be here for the day Bethy was ready to talk to me.
The door opened, and Bethy stepped out. She swung her gaze over to me, and for a brief moment, we stood there staring at each other. She was acknowledging me. Why?
“I gotta go,” I told Della, throwing a leg over my bike and watching as Bethy climbed into her car.
“Did she . . . did she cheat on Jace with you?” Della asked as if she was afraid of the answer.
“No. She loved Jace,” I replied, and the relief was obvious as Della let out a breath. I cranked up the bike and nodded a good-bye before following Bethy’s car out of the parking lot.
I stood on my balcony, watching the waves crash against the shore, unable to sleep. It was how I spent most of my evenings. I hadn’t wanted to leave Bethy’s tonight. I’d watched her shadow in the darkness as she watched me from her window. As long as I could see her watching me, I wasn’t leaving her. But once she finally walked away, I knew it was time to leave. She wanted me to leave.
A knock on my door brought me out of my thoughts. I walked back through the balcony’s French doors, wondering who it was. No one came over this late. The hope that it was Bethy was brief and fleeting. When I opened the front door and saw Woods standing there, I knew Della hadn’t been able to keep what I’d said to herself. I knew deep down when I admitted it to her that she’d tell one person. The one person she told everything to. I accepted that. I stepped back and waved him inside.
Woods didn’t speak as he stepped into the condo and walked into the living area.
“She told you what I said.” I decided to get to the point of this visit.
“She’s asleep and has no idea I’m here. But yes, she told me because she’s worried about you. And worried about Bethy. I’m here because I’m confused as hell. I’ve tried every fucking scenario in my head I could think of, and nothing makes sense. Eighteen? You left town when you were eighteen. Bethy would have been, what, sixteen?”
I walked over to the open doors and stared outside, unable to look at him. Admitting this to Della was one thing, but telling Woods, Jace’s best friend, was another. I already had Bethy’s hatred
to deal with. I didn’t want Woods’s, too. Even if I deserved it. “The summer before I left,” I reminded him. “You were around. And you know how I was missing a lot. No one knew where and with who.”
Woods blew out a breath and muttered a curse. “That was Bethy?”
He remembered. I’d been so caught up in her, and I’d gotten into the habit of giving excuses whenever they wanted to hang out. “Yeah,” I said simply.
“Holy fuck. I can’t believe that was Bethy.”
“I was coming back for her when I could. But she was too young, and I’d have ended up in jail if we’d been caught. She was my secret. I almost didn’t leave because of her. But then my dad found out and made it very clear that my time in Rosemary Beach was over. I’d spend the school year at Yale and my summers in Manhattan at the firm. If I stayed, I’d lose her. If I ran, then I had a chance of coming back for her.”
Woods didn’t respond at first.
This was a secret I’d carried for a long time. It was one that had changed everything for me. I understood that. I was ready to accept it. If everyone hated me, then I’d deal with that, too. All that mattered now was that I watched over Bethy. She was all I had left.
“Jace was going to ask her to marry him,” Woods said finally.
“I know. He was the better man. He was going to give her the life she deserved, and I wanted that for her. I wanted her happy. I wanted her to have a life she was meant for. She loved him. That’s what mattered. I was her past. A past she hates now.”
Woods walked over to stand beside me. “He never knew?”
I shook my head. “No. There was no reason to tell him. Bethy was his. I’d lost her long ago.”
“But you love her.”
“More than my next breath,” I replied.
“Shit,” Woods muttered.
I wouldn’t tell him any more. Her reasons for hating me were her secrets to share. Not mine.
