Page 25 of Black Wave

I drop my bag on the chair and take my shoes off. I undress and put on a tank and sleep shorts. I unbraid my hair, throwing it into a messy bun before I head to the bathroom to wash myface and brush my teeth. After completing my nighttime ritual, I dive into my cooling sheets and lavender-infused pillow.

I hear my phone chime, and I read the messages from Ainsley, Val, and Liv. She asks who that is with Brodie, but we don’t know. I reply that I am so sorry and ask if she is okay. Liv replies that she isn’t sure, but she needs to get back to work and will chat with us about it tomorrow.

I punch my pillow, attempting to make it more comfortable, but I know that it has little to do with my pillow and more to do with the thoughts that lay heavily on my mind. I close my eyes and dream of my best friend crying and I blame myself for causing her so much sadness.

Before I know it, morning is here, and Val and Ainsley have returned to pick me up. We are on our way to Liv’s apartment before heading out to the beach, and as promised, I arrive with her requested breakfast items. The weather is punishingly hot, and the air is sticky with humidity, ruining the best of hair days. We park next to Liv’s jeep and start loading things into the open back area.

When we get to the door, Liv answers, and we stare at each other, not saying a word. I feel responsible and reach out to her first. “Oh, sweetie, I am so sorry. Are you okay? I brought you breakfast.”

Ainsley enters and hugs her, too, as Liv shakes her head and holds back the tears. “Are you going to confront him today?’ Ainsley asks. “If you do, I think you should do it sooner than later.” We all agree with Ainsley, knowing about his problems with alcohol and drugs, not to mention Brodie’s decreased coping skills.

Val goes in for a hug next, adding her thoughts. “I think you should ignore him. You are way too classy to make a scene, Liv.” Luckily, Liv is a classy girl, and there is no way it would happen, and she confirms as much.

“Come on, guys. Let’s go have some fun.” We all pile into Liv’s jeep and soon head to the causeway. We spot our favorite mile marker and see that our small click of friends has indeed saved us a spot. Crispin is waving his hands in the air like air traffic control. I hear him call out to Rhett. He and Zach spring up from their chairs and begin maneuvering things out of the way to accommodate yet another vehicle in our circle.

I stick my fingers in my mouth and let out a whistle. “Come on, boys. It’s not going to unload itself.” They all laugh at my brazenness, and I know that, secretly, the guys love it. I flash them a pearly smile, and they laugh. I push my sunglasses up on the bridge of my nose and fan myself with my hand dramatically.

“Anything for you, doll,” Crispin retorts.

“Now, that’s the Texas hospitality we love,” Liv and I say in unison. We both laugh, and I am glad I can help alleviate her somber mood. I head over to the guys as they pick me up from the ground and carry me around as if I weigh nothing.

“Your chariot, milady.” Crispin places me in one of the lounge chairs, and I am not unhappy about it.

I let out a contented sigh. I place my finger to my chin and do my best pensive stare. “Now, if I just had a beverage,” I say to no one in particular.

Crispin picks up the not-so-subtle cue, snapping his fingers. He laughs, shaking his head. “Coming right up,” he says as he grabs me something to drink.

I see Liv looking at Brodie. I brace myself to run interference if need be, but when I think she will approach him, she turns around and goes to the water. She stares at the Gulf wavesrolling on the shore, and my heart breaks for her.“Cheaters are the worst,”I say under my breath.

Just then, I hear footsteps approaching. I turn my head just in time to accept the beverage from Crispin.

“Here you go.” He drops a cold beer on my leg and several ice cubes.

“Yikes!” I jump up, screeching. “That’s cold. Oh my god, you did that on purpose.” I’m flinging residual ice that hadn’t melted on contact with my skin off my body as I plop myself back into the chair. Crispin chuckles and walks off.

I notice Liv looking intently at someone and walking past our cars. I walk a little over to where she is heading, and that is when I see a tall guy sitting in a chair with sunglasses on. He has his leg propped up and an air cast encasing his ankle. He gets up from the chair and begins walking toward Liv.Interesting.

I intercept Liv before she reaches him. I have so many questions. “Who’s that guy?” I ask in more of a playful tone.

”That’s the guy,” Liv says as if I should know who “the guy” is.

“Who?” I ask because I don’t know.

“His name is Dax, and he is ‘the’ guy.”

I laugh. “Girl, you have some explaining to do.” I touch her shoulder, encouraging her to move along. I witness this exchange, until suddenly, I feel like someone is watching me. I immediately become uneasy. I rub my arms back and forth as the hairs begin to rise.

Thoughts rush through my head—Did Julian find me? Am I in danger? I have had such a good time so far that I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. I have let down some of my guard. I swear that I felt this odd sensation at the club yesterday but chalked it up to the situation with Brodie. The cheating got to me. Despite their complicated history, I felt angry at his disregard for their long-time relationship.

With Julian, I wasn’t too upset about him cheating on me behind my back, but he did it in front of me, too. How I saw Brodie with that girl—he didn’t care about her friends being there, possibly witnessing his infidelity. I take some deep breaths to calm the anger I can feel rising within me.

When I am more relaxed, my skin starts to tingle again with that same awareness of being watched. This time, when I open my eyes and look around, scanning for a threat, nothing seems out of the ordinary.

I look toward Liv and Dax when I see a blond-haired guy of similar stature staring intently at me. At first, I figure he must be looking at someone else, and I glance around to see if that’s true. Nope. His smile increases, and I hear him laugh across the lot.

Well, this day just became more interesting.

CHAPTER 14

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