Page 66 of Until Then

“I need some water.”

“Come on, one more.”

I laugh. “I’m thirsty.”

“All right, but come find me.” He flashes me a dimpled grin.

He’s cute. Nice, too. But he doesn’t make my heart skip a beat.

Not like the man brooding in the sand twelve or so feet away.

I stick my hand in the icy water and pull out a bottle. With a flick of my wrist, I twist the cap, then take a deep pull. The ocean breeze has the sweat on my skin feeling almost icy now that I’m not moving around.

With a sigh, I sink down into the sand, giving my feet a break and willing my heart to slow, and watch the waves lap against the shoreline. It really is so peaceful here.

A shadow looms over me, and without looking, I know who it is. I can feel the anger radiating from him.

“Let’s go.”

The growled command has me bristling. Who does hethink he is to make demands of me? It washisidea to come here.

My reaction to his selective hearing was immature, I can admit that, but only to myself. And I’m madder at myself than I am at him. I have to stop lusting after a man who’s never going to be interested in me. Sure, sometimes I swear I catch him watching me, and sometimes he makes comments that can be interpreted as flirty. But at the end of the day, he’ll never go there.

“I’m not ready to leave.” I twist the cap back onto the bottle and set it in the sand beside me.

“We’re going.”

I look up at him, annoyance clawing at my insides. “No, you can go. I’m an adult. I can find my own way home.” I lift my chin higher and glower. “Or maybe I’ll stay out tonight.”

His face, already white from the light reflecting off the full moon above us, goes ashen.

I shouldn’t take satisfaction from that.

“I know you think I’m just a kid,” I say, letting sand sift through my fingers. “But I’m twenty-seven. I’m a grown woman.”

He looks away, jaw ticking. “I know that.”

“Really? Because it doesn’t seem like you do.” Standing, I brush sand off the back of my dress. “Let’s go, butonlybecause I’m ready to leave.”

I doubt Dylan will miss me anyway. There are plenty of other girls for him to hang out with.

I pick up my water bottle and shuffle to the nearest trash can, then head for the parking lot.

Derrick sulks behind me. I don’t know what he’s so pressed about, since he’s getting what he wants. But he keeps his distance the whole way to the truck.

Annoyance flashes through me, directed at myself, not him. I need to get over this stupid crush. He’s never going to reciprocate my feelings.

I’m being pathetic.

He unlocks the truck, and I reluctantly climb inside. Via’s place is close enough that I could walk if I really didn’t want to go home with him, or demand he drop me off on the way, but frankly, I don’t want to risk finding her and Reid in a compromising position again.

We don’t speak the entire drive, and when we get back to the house, I take Wonton out, then shut myself away in my room. After a quick shower, I climb into bed and let the tears fall.

It’s painful, wanting a man who’ll never want me back.

God must hate me.

It’s the only logical reason. Because when I wake up, I find Derrick in the kitchen making breakfast.

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