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“There was no reason to,” I reply with a shrug, hoping my response looks and sounds nonchalant. “I don’t consider her one.”
“No?” He lets out a short laugh, as I watch the foam of the wave that just hit roll back into the ocean. “How do you consider her then?”
“Man.” I shake my head. “Get out of here with that shit.”
“What?” His eyes widen when I give him a dirty look. “There is definitely some kind of weird tension between you two.”
“I hate to disappoint you, but the only tension you picked up on is running into someone I didn’t want to see.”
“Really?” He lifts his brows. “How could you not want toseethat? Was she an asshole? Or wait, were her friends always begging you to go out with them. No, hold up.” He snaps and points at me. “Her boyfriend didn’t like you.”
I drop my head back and close my eyes, the idea of Ellery having a boyfriend making my skin itch.
In fact, I’m a dick for even thinking it, especially since I’ve had my fair share of sex in college, but a part of me hopes she hasn’t dated anyone since me because the idea of anyone else touching her makes my mind burn.
But the reality is, someone probably has. Ellery’s a catch. She’s smart, funny, and hot as hell. All the guys at Elmhurst wanted to date her and had I not played the protective stepbrother card, they would have. I could only imagine how many guys were after her now, and the idea someone besides me had worked their way into her heart, and possibly bed, made me feel things I wasn’t prepared to feel again.
Shit. Wait. Was that why her tits looked so big? Was she fucking someone regularly to the point she needed birth control? Didn’t the hormones in birth control change a girl’s body?
“Cruz?”
I look over when I hear Jake say my name. “Hmm?”
“Where’d you go just now?”
“Me?”
“No, the fucker next to you.” He hits my arm. “Yeah, you.”
Jesus, I pinch my brow. It’d only been an hour since I saw her, and already I was unraveling.
This is exactly why I stayed away the past two years. The pull she had on me was strong and I needed to do everything that I could to stay away from her.
I knew we’d see each other again. With our parents being married it was all but certain. But I didn’t think it would be so soon. I’d always planned on it being years from now when we’d both moved on with our lives. Not here, in the town where wecollided, then shattered like glass.
Not enough time had passed because the moment I heard her voice, everything I tried to bury came crashing through to the surface. My feelings for her, memories of us from that summer…I can see and feel it now, coursing through me, and playing in my mind like a movie.
“Sorry man,” I exhale. “Guess being back here is fucking with me a bit.”
“Obviously,” Jake laughs. “Which makes me wonder, whydidyou come back?”
I sit up and stretch my arms out in front of me. “You know why.”
“Naw man.” He watches as I roll my wrists slowly, then drop my arms back down. “We could have gone to Mexico if you wanted a little sun and heat. But you suggested this place. In fact, you were insistent on it. So again I ask, why would you want to come back here if you knew she would be here, and seeing her rattles your cage?”
“Honestly…” I take a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “When my dad mentioned Ellery would be in Europe for the summer, I thought it would be cool to come down here. Baseball has pretty much dictated my life the past two years, and I felt bad for not visiting more. Figured, kill two birds with one stone—relax and chill with you guys, and spend a little time with my dad.”
“That’s cool,” he nods, “I get that. But is that all?”
“Of course.” I push up from the couch and make my way over to the patio door and slide it open. The sun has started to set and with it, the humidity is lifting. In its place, a warm breeze stirs and when it hits my face, I taste salt on my lips.
I can’t believe my dad didn’t tell me Ellery’s plans changed and that she wouldn’t be in Europe for the summer. I needed to talk to him and find out what was going on.
Right now, however, it wouldn’t do me any good to twist myself up in knots. It had been a long ass day and I wanted to cool off and relax.
Slipping out of my flip flops, I lift my shirt overhead, and make my way outside to the infinity pool that overlooks the beach. When I reach the deep end, I push off and slice through the surface, swimming half the length underwater, before coming back up and making my way over to the side.
After slicking my hair back, I bring both arms up over the edge, and look out at the ocean. Maybe I was fooling myself. Maybe deep down I did want to come to Cherry Cove because of her.
