Dreaming at Seaside (Sweet with Heat: Seaside Summers Book 2)

by Addison Cole

  Caden draped an arm across the back of Bella’s chair. “Can’t live on chicken nuggets and fries forever.” He patted his stomach.

  “I could, but you won’t let me.” Evan glanced up at Caden from beneath his thick bangs.

  “Old fight, different town.” Caden shifted his eyes to Bella. “Evan had a few friends in Boston who ate fast food for lunch and dinner most days. Being the odd man out was tough sometimes, but I didn’t want him eating that garbage all the time.”

  “I think that’s nice,” she said. “You’re lucky, Evan. Think about what it would be like if your dad was an awful cook.”

  Evan shoved his phone in his pocket and shrugged. Bella noticed he wasn’t nearly as engaged as he’d been at the barbeque, and as Evan withdrew his phone from his pocket again and Caden sighed, she knew she didn’t have to mention Jamie’s concerns.

  “Ev, how about you give the texting a rest for a while?”

  Evan continued texting.

  The muscle in Caden’s jaw jumped. “Ev,” he said in a stern voice.

  Evan sighed, finished texting, and shoved the phone back in his pocket.

  “Thank you.” Caden smiled, but Bella could see that it was forced, and she tried to ease the thickening tension.

  “I saw you riding your bike out of Payton’s Campground the other day. Do you have friends staying there?”

  “Payton’s?” Evan squinted and shook his head, as if he had no idea what she was talking about.

  “Yeah. The campground behind our development? I took the back road home the other day, and you and your friends flew out of there on your bikes, or at least I thought it was you.” She smiled at Caden, but it was wasted. His eyes were locked on Evan. “It brought back memories of riding our bikes to the beach when we were younger. It’s one of the most fun things I remember about summers here. There were times me, Jenna, Amy, and Leanna would leave Seaside in the mornings and not come back until dinnertime.”

  Evan shook his head and fiddled with the arm of his chair. “I wasn’t at a campground. It must have been someone else.”

  “Payton’s had a break-in the other day.” Caden pulled his arm from Bella’s chair and turned his attention to Evan.

  Bella felt the heat of his scrutiny and she wasn’t even the focus of it.

  Evan shrugged again, and when he met his father’s gaze, his eyes were cold, his voice serious. “Like I said, I don’t even know the place. Can I be excused? My friends are all online, and I want to play a game with them.”

  “Don’t you want to stay and visit a few minutes?” Caden asked.

  Evan rolled his eyes, and Bella set her hand on Caden’s tense thigh.

  “It’s okay. He’ll have more fun playing with his friends than entertaining me.”

  Evan lifted hopeful eyes to Caden.

  “Fine. You’re right. Go ahead, buddy, but take your dishes inside.”

  Evan gathered his dishes, and before he walked inside, he turned back to Bella and Caden. “Thanks for dinner, Dad. Bella, I’m glad you’re here, and thanks for introducing me to Jamie. He’s cool.”

  After Evan went inside, Bella leaned closer to Caden and said, “Breathe, Dad.”

  Caden shook his head. “It’s like he changed overnight, isn’t it?”

  “He’s making friends, settling in.”

  “I hope that’s all it is. What made you think it was him coming out of Payton’s?” His voice was serious again.

  She shrugged. “It looked like him, but kids all look alike these days. Shaggy hair, shorts, T-shirts. He said it wasn’t him, so obviously I was wrong.” I hope I was wrong, given his reaction.

  Caden nodded, but she could tell he was chewing on the information.

  “You’re worried?”

  He shifted her chair so her knees were between his legs. “Not really. I trust Evan.”

  “I know I draw on what my mom said a lot, but she used to say that when you have children, you teach them right from wrong, giving them the tools they need to make good decisions, but you can’t force them down the right path.” She leaned forward, and he met her halfway, so they were eye to eye. “Then all you can do is hope they do the right thing.”

  He kissed her and smiled. “She’s right, but the fatal flaw in that thinking is that you only know if they’ve made the wrong decision after they’ve already made it. That’s the part that’s hard to swallow. I spent my life taking care of Evan. Now my job is the same, to keep him safe, but it’s hindered by a teenage attitude.”

  “Oh yes, that fine line between boy and man.”

  “It would be easier if we hadn’t moved. I knew his friends, and they were good kids. Here the kids are a mystery to me. I saw them in town, and then again at the beach the other day, and the kids were, I don’t know, rougher, maybe. Hardened in a way that his old friends weren’t.”

  Bella leaned back in her chair. “Well, this is a tourist town, so I’d imagine that the kids who live here year-round probably spend summers the way I did. I was always with a pack of friends, riding bikes from one place to the next. It wasn’t the ocean breeze that blew through my hair at that age. It was newfound freedom. I had a bike, a new teenage body, and friends who wanted to have fun. Life was good. And what makes it even better for kids who live here year-round is that a new crop of hot girls or guys arrive weekly.”

  Caden rose and began clearing the table. “Let’s not go there. I’m still getting used to him wanting to text someone more than he wants to hang with me.”

  “Maybe it’s me he doesn’t want to hang with. It’s an adjustment for him to have to share you.”

  “It’s not you. He told me he likes you, and that you’re…” Caden arched a brow. “Hot.”

  Bella smiled as she carried the dishes inside. “At least you know the boy has good taste.”

  Caden followed her inside. “He saw that picture you sent in your sexy little nightie and boots.”

  Bella gasped. “Oh no. He did not.”

  “Sure did. But he decided you were hot before that.”

  She fisted her hands in his shirt and buried her face in his chest. “I’m so sorry. I’ll be more careful.”

  “It didn’t seem to faze him. He just asked if we were dating.” Caden lifted her chin and kissed her. “I’m so glad we are.”

  “Mm. Me too. I’m sorry about being so wishy-washy today. I’m definitely falling for you and Evan.”

  Caden narrowed his eyes. “Me and Evan?”

  “You’re a package deal. How could I fall for you and not him?”

  “He’s not easy to fall for at the moment,” Caden said with a serious tone. “But you couldn’t have made me happier than you did by including him.”

  “He’s just being a teenager, and besides, I’ve seen flashes from the non-testosterone zone, and I like them. He’s not going to be a teenager forever. I would like to spend time with him, though. I can’t just monopolize you.”

  “I think at the moment he’s happy to let you monopolize me.” He kissed her again. “When we first moved here, we went surf fishing a lot. We’d get up at five o’clock in the morning, some days before school, and last night when I asked him if he wanted to go this morning, he said, Get up at five? No way.”

  “That doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to spend time with you. It means he’s realizing that he can be separate from you. He can sleep later and go out and have as much fun with his friends as he would with you. He’s cutting the umbilical cord.”

  Caden leaned against the sink and folded her into his arms. “Like I said, I get it. It’s just not easy. He’ll always be my number one responsibility, and I’m not giving that up because he wants some freedom.”

  “You shouldn’t give it up. Just don’t take it personally.”

  “What are you up for? Want to go for a walk? Watch a movie? Sit outside and count the stars?”

  Evan burst from his bedroom mumbling under his breath. He stormed out the back doors and paced the yard.

  Caden st
epped toward the door, and Bella grabbed his arm. “Don’t you want to let him blow off steam first?”

  His concerned eyes locked on Evan, then shifted to her, then back to Evan. “He never storms off.”

  “If you follow him, won’t he just snap at you?” Bella felt Caden’s muscles tense.

  Caden shrugged from her grasp. “Let him snap.”

  Her heart went out to Caden as he stalked out the door. She knew all he wanted to do was fix whatever had sent Evan into a tizzy. If Evan was anything like the teenagers she knew, when Caden asked Evan what was wrong, Evan would snap, Nothing, in a spiteful way that would cut Caden to his core, when really, whatever had sent Evan storming outside felt bigger than life in his teenage mind.

  She went into the living room and sat down on the couch, debating whether she should leave and give them time alone. She didn’t hear any yelling, which she took as a good sign. After twenty minutes, Bella began to wonder again if she should leave. She went in search of Caden so she could bow out of the evening politely. She found them sitting on the steps of the deck with their backs to her, both leaning their elbows on their legs. Evan’s narrow shoulders and waist looked even smaller beside Caden’s broad body. Bella hesitated by the screen door, unsure if she should interrupt them. She didn’t want to leave without saying anything, and simply by being there she knew she was putting added pressure on Caden to return to her.

  She opened the screen door, and they both glanced over their shoulders. Evan’s eyes were hidden beneath his hair. Caden’s were dark and serious.

  “Hey.” She hoped she sounded casual. “I think I’ll take off.”

  “Bella, stay.” Caden came to her side.

  “You don’t have to leave,” Evan said from the steps.

  She had no idea if she should leave or stay. They both sounded sincere, but she didn’t want to take Caden’s attention away from Evan when he needed him most.

  “I’m sorry,” Caden said.

  He might have wanted her to stay, but she knew that a bigger part of him needed time alone with Evan.

  “It’s okay. Evan needs you more than I do right now. Thanks for dinner. It was amazing.”

  He touched his forehead to hers. “I’m sorry, babe,” he whispered.

  “Don’t be. I’m a big girl. Besides, I had you all to myself today.” She kissed him and felt his disappointment tangle with hers on the way out the door.

  Chapter Fifteen

  BELLA PULLED INTO Seaside still nursing her disappointment. She was happy to see everyone hanging around the fire pit in the quad. She could use a few laughs.

  “Bella! Tony made Talking Monkeys.” Jenna hurried over to Bella with Pepper on her heels. She looked like a teenager in her purple hooded sweatshirt, jeans rolled up at the ankles, and purple flip-flops. “Where’s your man?” She looped her arm into Bella’s and pulled her across the grass.

  Pepper clawed at Bella’s legs, and she knelt to pet him. He rolled onto his back and Bella scratched his belly.

  “Evan needed a little daddy time.”

  “Well, good.” Jenna touched Bella’s back with her knee. “I needed a little Bella time.”

  “That’s why I love you.” Bella kissed Pepper’s fluffy head and rose to her feet.

  “C’mon, Pep.” Kurt’s stern voice had Pepper bounding back to him.

  “Remember when he used to sneer at Pepper?” Jenna whispered.

  “Love changes everything.” Everything is an understatement.

  “How’d it go today?” Jenna’s eyebrows jumped. “Did you break him of his goody-two-shoes ways?”

  Bella laughed. “Actually, I think it was the other way around.”

  Jenna’s eyes widened. “Yeah? Mr. Straitlaced Sexy Uniform has a bad-boy side?”

  Amy jumped up, sending her chair to the ground. “Bells!” She was wearing a pair of flannel pajama pants and a long sleeved T-shirt and ran with her arms open wide, nearly toppling Bella over when she fell against her.

  Amy stumbled back a few steps, and Tony caught her in one strong arm. She swayed on her feet and ran her finger along Tony’s chin. “Well, helloooo there, sexy.”

  “Okay. I think I’d better take our little girl home.” Tony wrapped an arm around Amy’s shoulder, and she melted against his side.

  “Holy crap, Jen. You let her get two sheets to the wind?” Bella glared at Jenna.

  “Hey, it’s Tony and his Talking Monkeys.” Jenna poked Tony’s side. “We were just hanging around eating dinner, and he came out with a couple pitchers and, well, you know Amy and drinks that taste like candy.”

  “I’m taking care of her, aren’t I?” Tony scooped Amy into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck, closed her eyes, and sighed.

  “She’s going to hate us if we let you carry her home.” Bella put her hands on her hips and shook her head. “Jenna? What’s the vote? Let him bring her home and we tuck her in?”

  Amy patted Tony’s chest. “Sexy man can tuck me in.”

  Tony shrugged, and the right side of his mouth quirked up.

  Bella poked his chest as she spoke. “Tony Black, if you take advantage of this situation, I swear I will cut your balls off in your sleep.”

  Tony looked down at her finger and shook his head. “I didn’t take advantage when she wanted me to. Do you really think I’d take advantage of her now?” He disappeared into the darkness between Vera and Leanna’s cottages with Amy safely in his arms.

  “Do you think that means he’s never going to be interested in Amy in that way?” Jenna asked.

  Bella sighed. “I’m not sure, but she’s going to be furious with herself, and with us. And I really wanted to go chunky-dunking tonight.” Chunky-dunking is what Bella and her friends called skinny-dipping.

  “We can still chunky-dunk. We’ll get Leanna, and the three of us will enjoy a little moonlight nakedness.” Jenna dragged her over to the fire, where Leanna and Kurt were cuddling on a bench, kissing between whispers.

  Just watching them kiss made her long to be cuddled up in Caden’s arms, kissing his lips, smelling his masculine scent. How could she miss him so much already?

  “Good evening, smoocheroos,” she said to Leanna and Kurt.

  Leanna rested her head on Kurt’s shoulder, turning the knot of longing in Bella’s stomach a little tighter.

  “You’re back early,” Leanna said.

  Bella shrugged. She wasn’t in the mood to talk about her date being cut short.

  Jamie sat in a beach chair on the other side of the fire, wearing a pair of faded Levi’s and a sweatshirt. He used his bare feet to push a chair toward Bella. The fire reflected in his dark eyes as he handed her his plastic wineglass full of Talking Monkey.

  “How’s it going, blondie?” Jamie asked.

  She didn’t know why she thought she’d keep the night’s happenings to herself. She wasn’t very good at it, and if she didn’t answer, then her friends would think something awful was going on. She guzzled Jamie’s drink.

  “Mm, that is good. Let’s see…Poor Ev had a teenage moment tonight, so I’m here instead of kissing my hunky boyfriend. Amy’s being tucked into bed by her dreamboat, but she’s too shnockered to realize it, and I can’t go chunky-dunking tonight because Amy will be really upset if she misses out on both Tony and our midnight sneak into the pool.”

  “Speaking of which, anyone seen Theresa?” Bella asked. She shifted her eyes away from Leanna and Kurt as they nuzzled against each other’s cheeks.

  “Yeah. She’s in bed.” Jamie nodded toward her house. “She reminded us to put out the fire, yadda, yadda, and turned in.”

  She took another sip of Jamie’s drink and handed it back to him. “One day we’ll have to drag her butt out here to join us. I think she has a side that we haven’t seen yet.”

  “We’ll liquor her up,” Jenna suggested.

  “We’d have to sneak it into her. She never drinks, and I would worry about slipping anything to anyone, so we’ll have to find another way
to loosen her up. We’ll think of something. Did you guys have fun tonight?”

  “Always,” Jamie said. “Kurt read us the first chapter of his new manuscript, Deadly Thoughts.”

  “Ugh. I can’t believe I missed that.”

  Kurt pulled his lips from Leanna’s long enough to respond. “Don’t sweat it. I’ll let you and Caden read it anytime you want.”

  She loved how her friends included Caden as one of their group.

  “Thanks, Kurt. Did Leanna tell you about how well the new pitch worked? I have four new signups, and I’m meeting with the school board this week. I think I might just be able to pull this off after all. Now, if only my house would sell.” She’d checked her message from the Realtor, and she was hopeful about the three showings she had scheduled this week.

  “Fantastic.” Kurt reached down and petted Pepper. “I guess if you and Caden decide you’re really serious, then you’ll definitely want to be here. If that’s not motivation, I don’t know what is.”

  “I think we’re pretty serious.” She grabbed Jamie’s drink and finished it, hoping it would quell the ache of missing Caden. Jenna dragged her chair next to Bella’s, and Bella took her drink and finished it, too.

  “Where’s the pitcher?” Bella asked.

  “Why? Do you want Tony to carry you to bed, too?” Jenna asked.

  “I like him, Bella. I’m glad for you. He seems like a good guy,” Kurt said.

  “Thanks. I think so, too, Kurt.”

  Jenna spun around and looked in the direction of Amy’s cottage. “Why isn’t Tony back yet?”

  “As a matter of fact…” Bella grabbed Jenna’s hand and dragged her to her feet. “You’re coming with me. You should have been watching out for her.”

  Jenna hurried along beside her. “What are you doing? If she is with him, you can’t barge in there.”

  “He’s not going to be with her in that way. It’s Tony, for heaven’s sake. But what if she’s puking? She would be mortified if he saw her like that.” Bella slid open Amy’s glass door. The cottage was silent. Bella and Jenna tiptoed into the bedroom clutching each other’s hand.