Page 6 of Secrets in Love
“I’m not sure why, but I quite enjoy being bossed around by you, Polly Hart. Kind of gives me a thrill. Maybe even a little dick twitch.”
I knew why. It reminded me of Evie, and though I was drunk, I wasn’t drunk enough to make that confession.
“Mm. Lovely.” She gagged as she sat beside me and started the car. “I think, for both our sakes, it’s best if you do not speak from now on.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Leaving the noise and lights of town behind, we headed for the water, for home.
My family was full of farmers. Growing macadamia, chamomile, and sheep, we had been caretakers of our land for three generations, and I say caretakers in respect to the Arakwal people, to whom our land first belonged.
When Dad had a minor stroke just days after Evie left me, it became my job to run the place. I loved it and have never wanted to do anything else, but being responsible for the financial fate of my parents in my early twenties, wasn’t what I had planned. Neither was living in the small cabin within spying distance of my childhood home. But Byron Bay was home to rich, famous, and beautiful people. Regular Joes like me couldn’t afford to rent a gum tree, let alone a house.
For almost the entire drive, Polly’s window was down. I wasn’t sure if it was to help sober me up or because I smelled like puke, but either way, she looked gorgeous, like a model with a giant fan blowing her hair back and away from her stunning face. Following the twists and turns of the road altered the direction of the breeze and where her ebony locks would fall. Sometimes it blew into her eyes, tickled her nose, or caught on her plump, wet, and shiny pink lips. Like she’d done it a million times before, like it wasn’t sexy as fuck, she pursed those lips together and gently blew, freeing herself of its tangles and hardening my cock that little bit more. Occasionally, her hands would dip into the cool summer night air and glide back and forth like they were riding a wave. It was relaxing to watch, almost soothing…so much so that I drifted off to sleep.
Polly’s melodic voice awoke me as we turned off the highway. “The chamomile looks like daisies. It’s so pretty.” I turned to face her and watched a single brow rise. “Evie always liked daisies, didn’t she?”
Evie did love daisies. And I loved looking out at the fields from my bedroom window while I thought of her. That had nothing to do with my decision to farm them, though. No, that was purely commercial. There’s good money in medicinal herbs. Even in my inebriated state, I knew to ignore Polly’s insightfulness. Fortunately, she moved on to safer subjects—or so I thought.
“You know how lucky you are to have all this land near the beach, right?”
“Lucky is not the right word, Pol. We are blessed.”
“Especially to have the Austen’s as neighbors, eh? That’s gotta be the icing on the cake.”
Knife. Heart.
“Thatwasthe icing, Polly,” I corrected, “But now all the sweetness is gone because Evie is gone.”Fuck. I should not have said that.
Polly released a satisfied hum. “Hmm, what were you saying earlier about not having feelings for her?”
Oops.
Wanting to escape the truth and disappear into the darkness, I glanced out the window, but only my pitiful reflection shone back at me. “Alright, maybe I did have feelings once, but they’re gone now. Like Shelby is gone. Like Finn is gone. Iris and Evie are gone. Nate’s not gone, though. Nate is still right here,” I said, emphasizing my point by stabbing my middle finger into my thigh, “and he’s all alone.”
We pulled up outside my door, and a warm hand caressed my cheek. I turned to my right and found Polly’s beautiful face looking back at me, her eyes awash with what was likely pity, disgust, or both.
“You’re not alone, Nate. You’re just looking for company in the wrong places.”
Perfectly proving the validity of her reply, I then said, “You’re pretty, Polly. Would you come inside with me so I’m not lonely?”
Smiling, her lips joined her fingers in brushing against my cheek. “Not tonight, buddy. Maybe we can have another conversation if you remember this tomorrow.” She leaned over my body and opened the door with a cute grunt. “Get out of my car, Myers.”
Blushing like a nun in a brothel, I rolled from my seat onto my porch and lay down. “I’ll remember. Bye, Polly.”
As I watched the lights of her 2012 Toyota Corolla drive away, I declared to myself, “Polly Hart is going to be my girlfriend. Polly is going to fix me.”
Then I passed out.
Evie
Me: Hey, Nate. Guess what?
Delete, delete, delete.
Me: Hi, Nate. Wanna know a secret???
Delete, delete, delete.
