Page 11 of Wilder Love
“But you did offer… a week ago.” She turned to face me, pinning me with her eyes. A person could drown in those eyes. “I’m still the same person.”
“You lied to me.”
“I didn’t lie.”
“You misled me.”
“And yet I was more honest with you than I’ve ever been with anyone.”
It was the same for me. I’d never told anyone all the things I’d confided in her and that pissed me off. “You should have said something.”
You should have asked sooner, dumb shit.
“Maybe I just wanted…” She bit her bottom lip. Kissable lips—bee-stung, naturally pink-tinted, and pillow-soft, if you must know. I’d forgotten how beautiful she was. No, that was a goddamn lie. I remembered. She didn’t have the kind of beauty that snuck up on you. No, it was like a sucker punch to the gut. Boom. One punch and it knocks the air out of your lungs. “Never mind.”
I strode out of the shop without saying goodbye to my dad and without the fucking board wax, the original purpose of my visit.
4
Shane
“What’s up?” I asked, pulling down the garage door. Tucking my cell between my ear and shoulder, I locked the door to keep my prized possessions safe—thirty surfboards and my Triumph Bonneville.
“Ryan said he saw you carrying rocks this morning,” Trav said. “What was all that about?”
“Just getting my rocks off. Are you plying me for my training secrets?”
“Friends share.”
“It was my dad’s idea,” I said, watching a car pull into the parking lot across the street. The motion detectors kicked in, triggering a fluorescent light that illuminated the drunk woman stumbling out of the car. “To help deal with the fear factor so I don’t lose my shit if I wipe out in a heavy wave.”
“Share Jimmy’s infinite wisdom.”
“It’s going to cost you.”
“You can have my first-born.”
“You’re cold, Ice Man. It’s simple, really,” I said, distracted by the scene across the street. If I hadn’t known this was Remy’s mother, I wouldn’t pay any attention. But I had seen her coming out of their apartment a few days ago. The pitfalls of living across the street from the girl you were trying to forget. The same girl your dad, in his ‘infinite wisdom’ had hired to work in his shop. “Find a rock that weighs you down and keeps you underwater, so you can walk the ocean bottom. Stay under as long as you can.”
“Nice one,” he murmured, and I was certain Travis would be out there tomorrow morning walking the ocean bottom. He was my best friend, but he was also my competitor. Sometimes it was a strange dynamic.
“Hey, I’ll catch you later.” I cut the call and pocketed my phone.
A lit cigarette dangled from the woman’s hand, her feet unsteady in fuck-me stilettos, her skirt so short it barely covered her ass. The man walking up the stairs behind her slapped her on the ass, eliciting another laugh from the woman. “You’re a naughty boy.”
He growled. “You’re about to see just how naughty. You like it dirty, Rae?”
“The dirtier the better, baby.” She tossed her lit cigarette over the railing, unconcerned about the potential fire hazard.
The apartment door swung open, and Remy stood in the doorway.
This is none of your damn business. Just walk away. But I didn’t. I stayed, and I watched from across the street, in case she needed my help.
“You need to leave,” Remy said firmly, standing her ground, her arms crossed over her chest.
“And who are you, doll face? You gonna join the fun?”
“Party’s over. Like I said, you need to go.”
