Over the Falls (Ryder Bay Book 1)

by Jordan Ford

  45

  The Only Girl

  AIDAN

  Skylar is settled into her own private room at Aviemore Hospital. Savannah’s dad is doing everything in his power to make sure she’s getting the best care possible.

  When Grayson and I first arrive, Skylar is being bathed, so we’re asked to sit in a small waiting area near the nurses’ station.

  I find it nothing but frustrating.

  All I can think about is Harley and how once again she hasn’t replied to my text.

  I don’t get it.

  I thought she was into me. Had I read that completely wrong? Was our kiss just some heat-of-the-moment thing? Was she just pretending to like me?

  Raking a hand through my hair, I slump back in my seat, no doubt scowling at the wall.

  Grayson is playing on his iPad, and even though Mom’s asked him to turn the volume down twice, he still hasn’t. I’m tempted to rip the thing from his hands and force him to. I’m sick of hearing the sound effects for Temple Run—some guy grunting as he tries to avoid being eaten by an ugly-looking beast.

  Mom’s pacing in front of me, talking to Dad on the phone. “Well, when will you get here?” she snaps, then closes her eyes. “Okay. You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  Dr. Green appears around the corner, coming to a stop next to the coffee machine in our waiting area.

  “I’ve gotta go.” Mom hangs up and steps around me. “Kevin, how is she?”

  Dr. Green gives my mom a quick hug, then pats her on the shoulder. “No change from this morning. I’ve just gotten off the phone with a neurologist in LA, and he agrees with my diagnosis. It’s just going to be a matter of time while we wait for the swelling to decrease. Thankfully she doesn’t require surgery.”

  “Is there anything we can do to help her?”

  Dr. Green gives my mom a kind smile. “Talk to her. Hold her hand. Just be a presence in her life. Anything to draw her back to us.”

  Mom’s lips tremble and she bites them together, giving Dr. Green a silent nod.

  He rubs his hand between her shoulder blades. “It’s going to be okay, Sasha. She’s a strong girl. She’ll come back to us when she’s ready.”

  Mom sniffs and gives him a grateful smile.

  “You can go through and see her now.”

  Grayson and I trail after Mom, whose pumps clip on the shiny linoleum floor, alerting the world to the fact that she’s coming. People from every corner of the hospital can probably hear her.

  Mom slows behind the doctor and sucks in a breath as we turn into room 114. I don’t realize I’m doing the same thing, until I step into the room and spot Skylar. She looks so pale and tiny in the mechanical bed, tubes coming out of her arms, a nasty bruised lump on her forehead.

  It suddenly hurts to swallow.

  The deep gash on her forehead has been stitched and bandaged, but the bruising has spread beneath it, like purple liquid under her skin.

  She’s so freaking still.

  Savannah catches my eye from the other side of the bed and gives me a watery smile. Poor thing. She looks exhausted. Her hair hangs limp around her shoulders, and there are gray smudges under her eyes.

  I smile back, hoping to reassure her, and she bites her lips together and starts blinking at tears before moving around the bed and coming to stand beside me.

  She wants to snuggle against my side. I can sense it. For a second, it feels like the entire room is watching me, waiting for me to be the good boyfriend.

  But I’m not her boyfriend anymore.

  With a closed-mouth smile, I rub her back but don’t actually pull her against me.

  She does that on her own, pressing her body against my side.

  I’m not sure what to do.

  “You guys must be exhausted.” Mom starts talking to Skylar’s parents, finding out details that she already knows. There’s not really much to report. It’s all a waiting game now.

  “We need to keep talking to her.” Aunt Marlo glances at Savannah, her smile affectionate. “Savannah has been so good at that. You’re such an angel. Skylar’s lucky to have you.”

  “Thanks, Marlo,” Savannah whispers.

  I squeeze her shoulder and drop my arm.

  Shit. This sucks. I should be comforting her, being a good person. But all I can think is that I don’t want to encourage her, because in the time we’ve been apart, my heart has started beating for somebody else.

  Someone who won’t call me back.

  Crap!

  It’d be so much easier to still be into Savannah. I could slot back into life as I knew it. Everyone would be happy.

  Except maybe me. I guess I’d find my groove, but I wouldn’t be vibrant, alight, exhilarated by life. That’s how Harley makes me feel, and I don’t want to give that up.

  “Can you excuse me for a second?” I whisper, slipping out of the room and pulling my phone from my pocket. I nearly bump into a chubby black guy. “Sorry,” I murmur, veering away from him and around his cleaning cart.

  “Aidan!” Mom calls me.

  I grit my teeth and spin to face her.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Bathroom,” I lie, then hold up my phone when she glares at me. “And then I need to make a quick phone call.”

  Her sharp gaze softens, and then she gives me a sad smile. “Okay, but just remember that there are people in here who need you too.”

  I bite the inside of my cheek and nod.

  Mom disappears back into the room and I turn, heading down the corridor and looking for a private spot to call Harley. Man, I hope she answers this time.

  I glance over my shoulder and do a double take when I notice the black guy following me. He doesn’t have his cart anymore. He’s just storming after me with this pissed-off look on his face. I don’t even know the guy. Why is he glaring at me?

  I pick up my pace and turn left at the vending machine, but when I glance back, he’s still on my tail.

  This is ridiculous.

  Jerking to a stop, I spin and stare down at him. “Can I help you?”

  “You Aidan?”

  “Yeah.” I cross my arms, happy when the guy stops a few feet away and I notice how much taller and stronger I am. He may be chunky, but it’s soft chunk and I’m not intimidated by that. “Who are you?”

  “Name’s Jed. I’m Harley’s—”

  “BMF!” All my cautious anger evaporates, and I have to resist the urge to grab his shoulders and beg for news. “She told me about you. Is she okay? I’ve been trying to text her and—”

  “No, of course she’s not okay!” he snaps, his glare dark and intense. “Why would she be okay?”

  “Uh…” My arms drop to my sides as I try to figure out why this guy seems to hate me.

  “You’re an asshole, you know that?”

  “Me? What are you talking about?”

  “I told her she should let you in.” He jabs a finger at my chest. “I told her you’d be a safe bet! How could you play her like that, man?”

  “I didn’t play her. I…” What the hell is he talking about?

  “You kissed her!” he snaps, then huffs, looking away from me and shaking his head. “Do you have any idea what a huge deal that is? She let you kiss her, and then you go off and start kissing your ex-girlfriend.”

  The air in my lungs evaporates, the temperature in the room suddenly sky-rocketing.

  “Oh, there it is.” He points at me. “Yeah, she saw you, and now she’s gonna push everyone away again, because love only means hurt to her. Don’t you get that? We were gaining ground. She was starting to trust, and now you’ve gone and screwed it up. You just made everything worse!”

  “I didn’t mean to.” I rush out an explanation. “Savannah kissed me, and she was upset and… shit!” Scraping my hand through my hair, I fist the back. “That’s why she won’t text me back. I’ve got to go find her. Where is she?”

  Jed’s dark eyebrows dip together in confusion. “At the beach, man. Where else would
she be? Do you not know her at all?”

  I close my eyes with a short laugh, then give Jed a grateful pat on the shoulder. “You’re a good friend. She’s lucky to have you.”

  “Right now she doesn’t even want me. If you don’t fix this, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

  “If I can’t make this right, I’ll give you permission to kick my ass.”

  Jed gives me a lopsided grin, then shakes his head. “HRB. You better be good for it.”

  I have no idea what that means, but I don’t really have time to ask, because he starts pointing over his shoulder and ordering me out the door. “Just go! Fix this!”

  I don’t need to be told again. Hauling ass through the hospital, I run out into the fading daylight and make a beeline for my car.

  I can’t believe what an idiot I was.

  The soda cans lined up in the corridor? I should have worked it out.

  I can’t believe she saw me kissing Savannah. Shaking my head with a growl, I slip into my car and reverse out of the parking space.

  Mom will kill me for ditching, but I can explain when I get back.

  All I can think about right now is making it right.

  I’d love to know what Jed meant about gaining ground and the whole trust thing, but I can find that out later, after I’ve convinced Harley that she’s the only girl for me.

  46

  Preservation

  HARLEY

  I’m drunk.

  I’ve never really been drunk before.

  I usually hate the taste of alcohol. Mom has always let me sip her wines and beers. Every time, I’ve made a face and gagged over them. But tonight, the hot liquid is making me giggle. It’s killing the hurt, just the way Axel said it would.

  With a silly laugh, I tip sideways and rest my head on Shane’s shoulder. He laughs, taking a long pull from his bottle before passing it on to Ripper.

  Ripper’s creepy.

  I want Aidan.

  Frowning at the random thought, I forcefully shove it to the back of my mind and focus on Axel’s creepy friend. I don’t know what it is about the guy, but I feel like his eyes keep having sex with me. Like he’s imagining it every time he looks my way.

  It’s gross. In a weird way it makes me feel dirty, like I need a shower or something.

  A shudder runs down my spine and I jerk straight, then struggle to stand up.

  “Where are you going?” Shane steadies me, but I flick his hand off my arm with a soft grunt.

  I don’t want to be touched.

  I just want Aidan.

  With a sharp snarl, I take a step away from Shane. The world is kind of spinning right now, but I keep my ground and stare out at the water.

  Hatchet Cove is pretty.

  It’s always been pretty.

  The sky is getting dark, but it’s still that deep, navy hue rather than blackness. I stare across the small fire at Axel. His black skin will disappear soon, fade into the darkness. He’ll become a shadow. A tall, strong shadow. One that’s helping me tonight. Killing the pain.

  I grin at him, swaying slightly to the music coming from his portable speaker.

  The lyrics of “Darkside” call to me. “Fall in—to the darksi—de,” they sing.

  “What are you doing?” His deep voice rumbles. “You dancing?”

  “No.” I flick my octopus tentacle through the air. I’ve become boneless. Floppy. “I don’t dance. I surf.” It’s hard to talk right now. It’s like the words are having to be pulled out of my mouth rather than just flowing smoothly. It sounds funny. I don’t know what’s up with it, but I don’t need to talk to surf. I bite my bottom lip as laughter rumbles in my chest.

  “Surfing’s fun.” I giggle. “I love surfing.” I swallow, my head too heavy for my body. When I nod it’s like the world goes down with me. But then I blink and point around the group. “I’m gonna surf.”

  Spinning in the sand, I head for Axel’s truck.

  “That’s not a good idea!” Shane calls to me.

  Pierce laughs. “It’s a shitty idea!”

  “Surfing’s never a shitty idea!” I argue, resting against the truck for a second. “The water’s my haven! It’s the only safe place in this whole damn world, so you can all stick it!”

  “You’re drunk, surfer girl.”

  “Maybe.” I turn to glare at Pierce, my body swaying as I point at him. “But I’m never too drunk to surf.”

  With that, I stomp to the back of the truck and struggle onto the bed.

  I don’t know whose surfboard I’m taking, but no one has jumped up to stop me, so I keep going, grunting as I wrestle the blue-and-white board free of its ties.

  “This should be entertaining,” one of the guys murmurs.

  “Are we gonna stop her?”

  “She’s too drunk to even get out to the water.” Axel’s deep voice breaks apart with laughter.

  It sets everyone off, and they’re soon howling at the idea of my drunk ass trying to ride a board.

  I’ll show those assholes! I’ll show everyone!

  Surfing’s my salvation. And I can do it anytime I damn well please. I don’t need any of them to help me or stop me. They can all just go screw themselves.

  The water’s my only friend in this world. It’s the only thing that’s never hurt me or let me down. Water can heal, and if I get into that ocean right now, maybe it’ll stop my insides from shredding.

  47

  Bad News from Mr. Dreadlocks

  AIDAN

  I pull into the parking lot and jump out of my car, running to the high point of the path and scanning the beach. It’ll be completely dark soon, but there’s still enough light for me to make out silhouettes. And none of them are Harley’s.

  With an irritated huff, I try to figure out where to look next. Do I start walking the beach? Which direction? Past the pier? Or maybe she’s at her place.

  An intense urgency to find her is building in my chest.

  I can’t explain why it’s getting so strong.

  Probably because I’m desperate to right my wrong. To explain why I let Savannah kiss me. To tell her that it was a final goodbye, because I’ve figured it out now.

  I finally know exactly what I want.

  Closing my eyes, I berate myself yet again for being such an idiot.

  “Aidan?” I spin at the sound of my name and notice Savannah getting out of her car and coming to join me.

  I sigh and walk towards her, stopping at the stairs leading down to the beach.

  “What are you doing here?” I murmur.

  She looks disappointed by my question, but it’s time for me to stop pretending.

  I sigh and look to the ground between us.

  She’s wearing her white Adidas sneakers with the three black stripes. I remember going shopping with her to get those.

  So much history.

  But I don’t want history anymore. I want future.

  I open my mouth to say it, but she stops me by answering my question. “I needed a break. I’ve been in the hospital all day. When I saw you take off into the parking lot, I followed you to make sure you were all right. You were running pretty fast. Is everything okay?”

  I shove my hands in my uniform pockets, wishing I’d gone home to change before hitting the hospital. At least I ditched my tie and blazer in the car. I’ve also rolled up the sleeves of my white shirt, but I still feel uncomfortable in these business-style clothes.

  I’d rather be in board shorts and a T-shirt.

  Or better yet, a rash guard, and out on the water with Harley.

  With a heavy sigh, I quietly confess, “I’m looking for someone.”

  “Who?”

  Glancing out at the water, I scan the waves for her, knowing she won’t be there. Instead I see that guy with the dreads, walking up the beach.

  “Is it a girl?” Savannah asks, her voice trembling.

  I let out another heavy sigh and nod.

  “Who is she?”

  “My surf instruc
tor. We’ve…grown close.”

  Savannah tips to the outer edges of her feet, a sure sign she’s feeling nervous. I hate that I’m gonna hurt her with this.

  “I really care about her. A lot. I mean, I’m falling for her.”

  “Oh.”

  I glance up in time to see Savannah’s face bunch with sadness.

  “I’m sorry.” I brush my finger lightly down her arm. “I shouldn’t have kissed you yesterday. That was wrong of me. I just wanted you to feel better, but it probably did more damage than good.”

  “I thought we were maybe getting back together.” Her voice is so weak and miserable.

  “That’s what I wanted for so long.” I blink, my chest tight as I let her down. “But then I met Harley, and things started to change. She…” I don’t know what else to say.

  Does Savannah really want to know that Harley makes me feel more alive than anyone ever has? That she’s not afraid to challenge me? That I feel like a better person when I’m with her?

  That’ll just hurt Savannah’s feelings even more, but damn, I wish there was a nice way of explaining how my feelings have done a complete 180.

  “Savvy, I—” I lick my lips as a tear slips down the side of her face.

  She quickly swipes it away and swivels her body when someone appears at the top of the stairs.

  I glance over and see it’s the Ryder Rental guy.

  He looks right at me, his expression dented with concern. “Aidan, right?”

  I nod. “Griffin?”

  “Yeah.” He nods, takes a quick look at Savannah, and then his intense gaze is back on me. I don’t know why he’s looking at me like that. “You still friends with the blonde surfer girl?”

  I want to say more than, but all I can manage is a nod, because hell, I don’t know. If I can’t find her and make it right, we might be a big fat pile of nothing.