“Of course. How are you?” she asked.
“Oh, ticking along, like always. The boys are outside, if that's who you're looking for.”
After exchanging a couple more pleasantries, Katya headed through the house. As she approached the glass door, she could see Liam standing in front of the pool. When she got next to him, she saw that he was looking down into the water.
“This thing is huge,” he mumbled, not bothering to look at her.
“Yup,” she replied, sliding her hands into her back pockets.
“I mean, I knew he used to swim. That he was like an actual swimmer. But this is kinda insane,” he continued.
“Hey, some people have parents who cry out of pure joy every time they see them. Others have parents who try to buy their love,” she told him. He chuckled and looked over at her.
“Explains a lot about our pal Wulf. And what about you? What kind of weird stuff is normal for your parents?” he asked. She shrugged.
“They used to measure my skirts before I left the house,” she threw out there.
“Holy shit. Your rebellion makes so much more sense now.”
She biffed him in the arm.
“Where's Wulf?” she asked, looking around. He gestured over his shoulder.
“Some office or something,” he explained.
“Uh huh. So. How do you feel about being roommates?” she asked, not resisting the shit eating grin that took over her face.
“Like it sucks. But his mom is super nice, and the room is downstairs, far away from him. Which room is yours, again?” he asked, glancing at her house.
“The one on the … wait, why?” she was suddenly suspicious.
“So I know which room to sneak into later,” he teased, wiggling his eyebrows at her. She looked away, praying her face wasn't turning completely red.
“My room is closed this weekend, sorry. My parents have planned a big backyard party thing for tomorrow, so looks like today is our only chance for the beach,” she changed the subject.
“Sounds good, I'm good to go. His mom offered to roast a lamb shank. Roast a lamb shank. Do you just keep lamb shank in your freezer on the off chance family comes to town? You would think the fucking king of England was visiting, the way she treats him. She said she ironed his sheets this morning,” he told her.
“I know. I think she's never stopped being amazed by him. I'm gonna go tell him the plans, then head back home and get some stuff. Fifteen, twenty minutes?”
“Okay, meet you out front.”
Katya entered the house and slowly made her way to the office. She felt a little nervous. The last time she'd been in that office, they'd been getting ready for a date. The last time her and Wulf had been alone, they'd kissed. They hadn't really spoken much since the incident. So when she got to the office door, she took a deep breath and knocked once before walking inside.
“What did I say?” he snapped, not bothering to turn away from the desk. “Not to fucking bother me unless it involved you going home or dying of something, so please -”
“Are you five?” she laughed. “You seriously told Liam he couldn't speak to you while he's here?”
Wulf spun around in his desk chair, coolly eyeing her while he moved.
“No. I thought you were my mother.”
It took her a second to realize he was joking.
“Liam said your mother wanted to defrost lamb for you,” she said. He nodded.
“Yes. She put it back in the freezer when I told her we had other plans,” he said, spinning back around and scribbling away at something on a piece of paper.
“I didn't think about that – I feel kinda bad, maybe we should stay and eat here or something,” Katya said, walking up to the desk.
“No, bad would be telling her we're not going and making her feel like she does have to cook dinner for all of us. My mother doesn't particularly enjoy cooking, and she doesn't even like lamb,” he replied.
“Wow. You're actually a pretty good son,” she teased.
“Why are you bothering me?” he asked, flipping over the page he'd been working on and grabbing another one.
“Because it's so fun.”
“I think you just like being in my presence,” he said.
“You think wrong, then.”
“Seriously. I was supposed to be in Malibu this weekend, closing on a property. I'm now trying to do it via e-mail and phone calls. So unless you have something important to stay, I'd appreciate it if you made yourself scarce.”
“Malibu ...” she let her voice trail off as something about that struck a chord. Then she remembered when she'd invited him. “That's why you wanted to take me to Malibu! You didn't want a romantic beach weekend, you wanted to close a deal.”
“I didn't see why I couldn't do both,” he murmured, concentrating on what he was writing.
Katya glared down at him. This was supposed to be her chance to mess with them. Make them feel awkward and embarrassed and just plain awful. Instead, Wulf was being pampered by his mother and continuing on with work as normal, as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
“Nice, Wulf. Nice to see you putting in a real effort,” she said snidely, crossing her arms in front of her chest. He snorted.
“I'll put in a real effort when you stop playing games.”
She was glad he was looking down, so he couldn't watch her face turn red as anger bubbled up in her veins. She sputtered for a moment, trying to think of a suitable comeback. Then she remembered what her roommate had told her.
You have the power here, not him. He can only get to you if you let him. Take a deep breath and let it go.
“You're no fun now,” she sighed. “Liam and I are going to the beach, so have fun hiding in here, letting work run your life.”
He spun around in his chair, but she wasn't standing near him anymore. She was striding out the door, not even waiting for a response.
Ha. Not so hard. Just gotta keep this attitude for the whole weekend and by the time we're done, neither of them will want anything to do with me anymore.
*
They had often joked about Liam's laid back personality – his “comfortable” style, his funny t-shirts, the way he slept in all day, every day. “Surfer” had been used to describe his attitude, but again, it had always been a joke. Katya hadn't ever thought he was really a surfer. It seemed like it would require too much energy and concentration.
So color her shocked when they got to the beach and he rented a board. He warned her that not only had he not surfed in months, but rental boards weren't the best to use. He wasn't used to the weight or the heft, it hadn't been waxed right, so don't judge him if he fell off immediately.
“Just get out there and shred a barrel, Edenherring!”
“Shred a barrel!? And did you just call me a herring?”
Katya had never known anyone who could surf. She'd grown up in California, near a beach, so of course the natural assumption was that she had spent all her weekends there, getting tan and developing a valley accent and chilling with cute surfers. But that wasn't reality, California was a huge state with lots of different cultures depending on where a person was from – she'd barely spent any time at the beach growing up and hadn't known anyone who was particularly athletically inclined, aside from Wulf.
So watching Liam slice through the water on a large piece of foam, she finally felt like a true California girl. She lost her mind, felt like she was watching a celebrity. She ran up and down the shoreline, screaming and cheering and clapping.
“Jesus christ, you would think you'd never seen a surf board before.”
She rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder, holding her wide brimmed sun hat on her head. The only dark rain cloud at the beach – Wulf had decided to join them, after all. While she and Liam had been loading a cooler and towels into the car, he'd sauntered out, shocking her with his shorts and polo shirt. Very laid back, for him.
But once they'd gotten there, he'd gone right back to work. Usin
g a fancy tablet and writing things down in a folder. Why he'd even come, she wasn't sure.
Probably just to ruin my fun.
“I've never seen someone surf before,” she said as he stepped up next to her. “It's so exciting!”
“I've never understood the appeal,” he grumbled.
They stood side by side, watching as Liam climbed back onto his board. Katya smiled – he looked so happy. He didn't know any of the other guys out in the water, but of course he'd quickly made friends with them. A group of them floated around for a couple minutes, laughing and talking about something. Probably gnarly waves and sick wipe outs, or whatever.
“Maybe it's not about you,” she replied, glancing at him. “I don't understand why anyone would want to swim for miles, back and forth, never getting anywhere. And you probably don't understand why the thing I love most is standing in front of hot ovens all day.”
“I get it, I get it.” He paused for a while, and she thought that was it. Then he took a deep breath. “But it's all part of his thing.”
“What thing?”
“You love to bake because it's part of who you are – I love to swim because it's part of who I am. Eden surfs because it's another way to distract himself from the fact that he doesn't have anything,” Wulf explained. She frowned.
“That can't be true.”
“It is. He has no real sense of self,” Wulf explained. “Why do you think it's so easy for him to smile at you while lying to your face?”
That stung. It just reminded her of how stupid she'd been. Also, her instant reaction was to defend Liam, which she couldn't even do. Wulf wasn't saying anything that wasn't true.
“Maybe,” she agreed. “But … I mean, he has things. He likes his job.”
“Because saying he owns his own business makes him feel important – being a business owner isn't his life passion. I don't think he knows what it is, and that makes him bitter,” he said. She glanced at him.
“Real easy to be so judgemental of someone else. What makes you so bitter?” she snapped. He smiled tightly.
“Father issues.”
Liam was paddling back in, so Wulf returned to his spot on the beach. Katya smiled big and clapped for the returning surf hero.
“You're amazing!” she laughed. He rolled his eyes and chuckled.
“I was shit for a while,” he chuckled. “But it always comes back.”
“Well, I thought it was amazing. It looks like you're flying when you're out there. When did you learn?” she asked, falling into step with him as he headed back to the board rental shack.
“Oh god, like when we were ten? Eleven? My dad got Landon and I these ridiculous boards, huge. I thought it was the coolest thing ever – broke my nose on a rock, first time out. Landon wasn't as into it, but he eventually came around. We surfed religiously through high school,” he recounted.
“Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth?”
“Hey, not that long ago.”
“You were surfing while I was in elementary school.”
“God, when you say it like that, I kinda want to barf.”
She laughed loudly.
“Seriously,” she finally said, catching her breath. “You looked relaxed out there. Like you were having fun. You looked … good.”
He glanced down at her as they waited in line, his board shielding her from the people ahead of them.
“Thanks. I think you look good, too,” he complimented her, his eyes wandering over her body. She was wearing the tiny orange bikini she'd bought last time she'd been to Carmel, the one that had been meant as a surprise for Wulf.
“This old thing?” she laughed, glancing down at herself. “It's a little too much, huh.”
“Your body is a little too much.”
She glanced up, but he was still staring at her skin. The way his eyes ate up her lines and soft curves, she could tell he was falling back into memories. Going back to silly mornings spent wrapped up in sheets and hot moments under hotter showers. She took a deep breath and stepped closer to him.
“I've been exercising,” she said softly.
“Really?”
“Mmm hmmm,” she nodded. “No job and no men equals a lot of free time. Gotta stay in shape.”
“Any time you need help stretching out, just feel free to give me a call,” he offered, not once looking up into her eyes.
“I don't know, my work outs are pretty hard.”
“Angel cake, you don't even know what hard is.”
“Oh, I think I do,” she whispered, almost closing the gap between them. He was finally forced to look her in the face. “I think I have a very good idea of what hard means.”
She watched as he took a deep breath. Struggled to keep his eyes on her face. He licked his lips, went to speak, thought better of it. Licked his lips again. Then opened his mouth.
“I think I'd like to show you what 'very hard' means.”
Katya threw back her head and laughed. So loud, everyone in line turned to look at them. Liam was startled so much, he stumbled backwards a couple steps. She finally lifted her sunglasses and wiped at her eyes.
“I think,” she snickered and gasped for air. “I've seen all you've got to show, and once was enough, thank you very much.”
Liam looked stunned at first, then a little bit pissed off. He stepped back up to her, obviously ready to speak his mind, but someone else beat him to the punch.
“Good for you, girl,” a middle aged woman from the front of the line spoke up. “Don't you take no sexual harassment from some sandy piece of ass.”
Katya started laughing all over again, bending at the waist and pressing her hands to her chest. Liam just grumbled and moved along with the line, leaving her to snort and wheeze all by herself.
*
They spent the rest of the day sunbathing and generally ignoring each other. It was clear that Katya's skimpy bikini was making the men uncomfortable in all kinds of ways, but Liam was still angry at her, and Wulf was trying to act like he didn't care. She smiled to herself and stretched out a couple feet in front of them, giving them a nice view while she got a nice tan.
She went up to a snack bar at one point, grabbing a hot dog, and came back with a friend. Some guy who'd struck up a conversation with her while waiting in line. She'd made it very clear from the first word that she wasn't there to meet guys, but he seemed nice enough and didn't hit on her, so they talked about growing up in Carmel, different restaurants and parks they liked. He walked her back down the beach, laughing about a mutual acquaintance it turned out they had. By the time they reached her towel, though, her two companions had turned into watch dogs, and were standing at the ready. Arms crossed, glares visible through sunglasses, wide stances. Her friend made a hasty goodbye and all but ran down the beach.
Katya didn't even acknowledge Wulf and Liam, just skipped past them and sat down, enjoying her snack.
To her San Francisco acclimated self, Carmel felt warm. But as it shifted into evening, it dropped down into the fifties. Still not terribly cold, but when combined with a stiff breeze that started rolling in off the ocean, Katya was shivering soon enough. Wulf was the one who finally called it and told them to start packing up – Liam could've stayed there all day, it seemed like. He really was a beach bum.
They loaded up the car, but still didn't head home. Surprising them all, Wulf had been productive during his down time at the shore and he'd found them a place for dinner. Almost a pub – which shocked Katya – with a whole outdoor terrace, complete with large heaters. She put on a huge maxi skirt and a long sleeved, tight crop top over her bikini and then followed the men into the restaurant.
“This is actually nice,” she sighed, pulling her hair up into a high ponytail as the waiter walked away with their drink orders.
“Yeah. I'd never been down here before,” Liam commented, glancing around the area. “A friend and I drove to Manhattan Beach once, but that's really the only other place in Cali I've been, besides home and S.F.�
��
“Wow!” Katya was surprised. She continued messing with her hair, piling it into a messy bun.
“I'm not surprised,” Wulf replied, tossing his menu to the side.
“Shut up. The entire time I've known you, you've never even left the state,” Liam snapped. Wulf cocked up an eyebrow.
“I've gone plenty of times – when you fly in a private plane, you can go and come back from just about anywhere in a day. In May, I spent every weekend in New York.”
Sensing a “who's got the biggest dick” competition, Katya cleared her throat.
“Favorite vacation,” she spoke loudly. “Mine was when I was twelve – my parents took me to Spain, and we did this whole mutli-country backpacking trek. My dad was super into that kind of stuff, back in those days.”
Liam smiled big and sat up straight.
“Favorite vacation – summer camp, when we were thirteen. My mom shipped us off to this Christian bible camp. You know, like we had to go to chapel once a day and sing songs, learn how to make friendship bracelets and brush down a horse, that kind of jazz.”
“That was your favorite vacation?” Katya was skeptical.
“Yup. Sandra Clement. She was fourteen, we'd known each other a couple years through the camp. A big tomboy, I always picked her for capture the flag, dodgeball, stuff like that. We got in trouble one time and they made us muck out the stables. She totally took my virginity in the hayloft, and for the rest of the summer, we'd sneak off whenever we could and had sex just about everywhere in that camp,” he chuckled.
“You lost your virginity at thirteen?” Katya scrunched up her nose. Both Liam and Wulf laughed at her.
“Yeah, and to an older woman. Talk about bragging rights. Also two full years before Landon – I still won't let him live that down,” Liam said with pride.
“When did you lose your virginity?” Wulf interrupted, staring at her. She shook her head.
“Uh uh, we're talking about vacations. What's your favorite?”
“When I came to Carmel with you last month.”
It was like he'd dropped a bomb. She stared at him and Liam stared at her. She refused to react, though. She didn't believe him, and wasn't about to dissect that comment right there in front of Liam. She took a deep breath.
The Neighborhood (Twin Estates #2) Page 12
