Page 62 of Tell Me You Like It

The second we hit the sand, Roman pulls his flip-flops off and tosses them aside. I do the same—removing the tennis shoes I have on, along with my little white ankle socks. I stuff the socks inside my shoes, then toss them next to Roman’s.

“What is this place?” I ask.

Roman glances back at me, before starting toward the water. I follow behind him, struggling to keep up with his long strides. When we reach the edge of the water, he stops and turns toward me. “This is my family’s private beach.” He points up to Rush House perched on the edge of a cliff right above us. It’s the same beach where I first locked eyes with him. Where he branded someone. “And it’s one of my favorite places in the world.”

I dip my toes into the water, watching my footprints disappear as the foamy water rushes up to claim them.

“It’s beautiful,” I say cautiously, because, honestly, I don’t know why he brought me here. It’s oddly romantic, and Roman doesn’t strike me as a romantic person. He’s more of a fuck ‘em and leave ‘em type, so I’m not quite sure what to do with this.

And honestly, after what happened between us last night, I woke up this morning half-expecting, half-hopinghe would ignore me now.

Fat chance of that, I guess.

He walks up the beach a little and sits down in the sand, legs drawn up in front of him, arms resting on his knees, looking out into the wild blue ocean.

I follow suit, plopping down next to him, and we sit like that for long minutes in silence. Usually, silence like this would feel awkward, and internally, I’d be warring with myself about whether or not I should say something. A comment on the weather, maybe? A comment about school?

But with Roman…I don’t know, I wouldn’t say I’m comfortable with him, because, if I’m being honest with myself, Roman Rush terrifies me. But he’s also brutally honest, and if he wanted to talk, I know he’d take the lead, so I don’t feel any pressure to fill the silence with mindless chatter. Thank God.

As we sit here, the sun slowly begins to dip below the horizon, painting the sky in beautiful hues of pink and orange. There’s no one on this stretch of beach–which makes sense, considering it’s private—so we have the whole place to ourselves. It feels like something out of a fairytale, and I’m beginning to see why this is his favorite spot. It’s magical. The waves crash, and seagulls call out overhead. Roman’s large, protective frame sitting next to me.

I’m oddly content, and I suck in a breath, trying to hold onto this feeling. The last few days have been pretty hellish, and this, right here, is a welcome calm amid the chaos.

I lean back onto the palms of my hands, watching the pink and orange splash across the sky like bleeding watercolors. Nature is wild.

“From this spot, you can almost forget the rest of the world exists,” I say, not because I feel compelled to, but out of genuine awe.

Roman stretches his right leg out in front of him, keeping one arm perched on his other knee. He looks over at me, and I swallow. How can one person be so beautiful? That question strikes me whenever I see him, but now, with us just quietly contemplating the ocean, his perfectly sculpted face is somehow more prominent.

“Now you know why I love it.”

I nod and purse my lips. It’s the first indication that Roman loves anything—besides his bros, of course. It’s a little peek into who Roman is, which honestly, is still an enigma at this point.

“Listen, Lux,” he says. “Before we take this any further, I need to make something clear to you…”

Uh.

I pause, because I’m not even sure Iwantto take this further. Honestly, I’m afraid of where it might lead. He’s already throwing red flags up left and right, and I’ve only known him for a short time. But I find myself nodding anyway, curious about what he’s going to say.

“Okay,” I say slowly, encouraging him to continue.

“Family is everything to me.” He takes a breath. “And anyone inside my circle is my family.” Yep, already knew that. The way he is with his guys makes that quite clear. “I would doanythingfor my brothers.”

“Yeah.” I shrug. “I mean, who wouldn’t? I’d do anything for my friends, too.”

He dips his head and shakes it. “No, I don’t think you get it. There’s darkness in me. Darkness I can’t control. And when someone I care about is threatened, I get kinda…” He glances down at me, his pale gaze colliding with mine. “Crazy.”

I swallow. I’ve had my fair share of crazy, and I wonder if he knows that. Has he looked into me? Is he aware of my past? Someone with his resources would have looked into someone he’s dating–orwantingto date, in my case. It’s the only reason I assume he’s telling me all of this.

Every muscle in my body tightens, but I struggle not to show how affected I am by what he’s saying. “Okay, so, why are you telling me this?”

I don’t ask him point-blank if he’s looked into my past, because I’m a fucking coward. Worst-case scenario, he saysyes, and then…yeah, I don’t know what I’d do. We’re out here on a beach…alone. And I know for a fact, that if I hear he’sbeen investigating my life, my fight or flight mode will kick inquickly.

I summon Dr. Cunningham’s voice inside my head. What would he say?

You’re fine, Lux. Sit with the uncomfortable feeling.

I decide to give Roman the benefit of the doubt. He may be just warning me that he has a dark side, which I’ve seen for myself already. With Ash last night. Roman looked positively murderous, and it had freaked me out. Maybe Roman picked up on that, and this is his clumsy attempt at explaining himself.

---