Page 19 of After the Storm

“Don’t hurt her.” Ravyn points a butter knife at me.

“That’s literally the opposite of what I’m doing, Jesus,” I huff. I know they mean well, butholy shitis it annoying. Since we were kids all I’ve wanted to do is make her laugh and smile. Of course I can’t tell these two that, or I’d never hear the end of it.

* * *

After the weirdestbreakfast of my life, I go to the shop to teach surf lessons and finish up some admin work. Partially to get some things done, but mostly to get out of my house and away from my brother. I walk into the shop and Beck is painting someone’s board while listening to his music loud as hell, as usual. It’s loud enough that when the bell above the door chimes, he doesn’t even look up. It’s not until he sees my face that he finally turns the music down to greet me.

“What’s up? You’re here early.” I consider bullshitting him and telling him I had work that needed done today. But it’s Beck, there’s no use.

“I needed to get out of my house. My brother’s driving me crazy. I had some lessons later, so I figured I’d just come in early.” I shrug. It’s not the first time I’ve come here to get away from Ares. We don’t necessarily have trouble getting along, we just bicker like siblings do. Sometimes it gets to be too much and I have to get out of there.

“What’d he do?” Beck asks, coming around the counter to sit on the couch. I groan, sitting next to him.

“Nothing, I guess. Just questioning me about Audra. Telling me not to hurt her.Me!” I emphasize, pointing to myself. “I mean, how many times have I gotten drunk and talked your ear off about her? Why in the world would I hurt her?” I exclaim and he laughs. This asshole actually laughs.

“Finally got the girl, huh?” He beams at me with his bright ass smile. All I can do is roll my eyes.

“No, Beck, I did not get the girl. Ares justthinksthat I’m sleeping with her,” I groan.

“You know he doesn’t know how you feel, right? That’s why he’s worried you’re going to hurt her,” he offers with a shrug. It’s a little annoying how he always finds a way to be the voice of reason. He’s right though. I’ve gone out of my way to make sure that Ares never knows how I feel because I don’t want to fight with him about it. I know Audra doesn’t feel the same way, so there’s no reason to embarrass myself by telling Ares I have unreciprocated feelings for his best friend.

“I guess so.” I shrug, flopping back on the couch.

“And you’re closer now than ever before, right? To getting the girl?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. It’s just complicated.” I drag my hands down my face. I don’t know how something so simple got so complicated. It used to be crystal clear, I was in love with Audra and she didn’t give me a second thought. She was Ares’ friend and not mine. Now, it feels like all the wires are crossed.

“What’s complicated about it? I saw the way she threw her arms around you and cried to you. At the very least, it feels like you’ve got a foot in the door, dude.”

I huff a dry laugh. “I don’t know, Beck. It’s just complicated, like I said,” I reiterate. He raises a brow and scoots closer to me on the couch.

“Tell daddy all about it,” he says in his baby voice. I fake gag.

“Pleasedo not call yourself daddy, especially to me.” I cringe, scooting away from him.

“That’s a lot to ask of me.” Beck laughs before continuing, “but tell me why it’s so complicated so we can uncomplicate it.”

“She has a lot going on right now and I’ve been there for her. Now we’re friends. Real friends, not just through my younger brother,” I groan.

“Isn’t that a good thing? Isn’t that kind of an essential stepping stone to where you want to be?” he questions like I’m an idiot. To be fair, I might be.

“That’s the thing. I don’t want her to feel like I’m only being her friend as a stepping stone to being more. I don’t want her to look back on this and think I was only helping her because I thought it would get me laid, because it isn’t like that. I’d be here even if I knew this is all she’d ever want.”

“You’ve got it so bad.” He huffs a laugh. “Your answer is right there though, Ro. You’d be happy to be just her friend. I don’t think anyone can be mad at you for wanting more if you don’t push the issue, especially because you’ve wanted that longer than you’ve been her friend. There’s no way you could have known this would happen when you first developed feelings for her. They won’t magically go away now that you’re friends.”

“You think so?”

“Yes. Now thank your dad for the great advice,” he says, looking at me expectantly. I just shake my head and roll my eyes. I just hope that he’s right.

I spend the rest of my afternoon doing my daily tasks like paperwork, invoices, and cleaning the shop. Once the evening rolls around, I head out to the beach and do a couple last minute surf lessons. As usual, tourists can’t help themselves and book me solid for the entire evening. By the time I finish up with my last couple, it’s dark outside. As I head back into the shop to do my last minute tasks, I pull out my phone to finally text Audra.

Roman

A heads up could have saved me some embarrassment this morning.

Audra

Not sure what you’re talking about?

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