Break Me (The Summer Series) (8 page)

 “Eeep, I knew it!” Kate bounced up and down in
excitement.

“Shut up. Go to sleep. I’m exhausted.” Gemma
had almost shut the door when Kate started laughing. “What?”

“I bet you’re tired. Dealing with that fine
specimen all night. Poor baby.” Gemma rolled her eyes and shut her door to the
continued laugher of Kate.

Gemma stood under the warm spray of water and
was relieved to feel the grime of the beach and water wash away. She
unfortunately discovered on her way home from the beach that there was a little
sand left in places she didn’t want to admit to and as she walked she was sure
she was getting a rash. Her body still felt slightly fluid from the pleasure of
her night. The one time she had tried sex before it was awkward, uncomfortable,
and over almost before it got started. One night with Abe and she knew without
a doubt this time it would be completely different.

Nine

The next few days consisted of time
spent together at the beach in the afternoon, each day allowing Gemma to get
more and more comfortable with her body and the girls she was surrounded by,
and then nights under the stars sans the hammock and with the added perk of a
beach towel. That’s not to say that sand didn’t end up in some uncomfortable
places or that they were able to keep themselves on the towel for long, but at
least Abe was trying. Their physical relationship had stalled, and Gemma was
getting more and more frustrated each night. She could tell Abe was feeling the
same frustrations, but he was still the one who halted the progress of their
physical relationship each night. Her confidence seemed to be growing and
suffering at the same time.

She had plans to meet everyone at the beach as
she had every day that week, but since it was Friday, they were all able to
meet in the morning. Kate was almost ready and Gray had already left with his
friends when Karen came into the kitchen. Gemma was throwing away the wrapper
of her NutriGrain bar and turned just in time to see Karen smiling at her.

“What?” Gemma asked, trying to hide her
annoyance with Karen. She may have come a long way in her relationship with
Kate, but Karen was still Karen, and that meant she would never trust nor
desire a relationship with the woman.

“Nothing.” Karen paused. “It’s just”—she smiled
wistfully—“you look happy. You look beautiful. I don’t know. I’ve never seen
you like this. It’s nice.”

Gemma furrowed her brows. “Hmm, I wonder why
you wouldn’t see me happy very often?” Gemma scoffed as she stepped toward the
back door. “Perhaps it’s because you didn’t think twice about tearing my family
apart and leaving me to grow up without a father while you went ahead and
created your perfect, cookie-cutter family.”

“Gemma . . .” Karen’s eyes filled with tears as
she started to follow Gemma toward the door.

“Don’t, Karen. I can’t.” Gemma hurried out of
the house, confused by her outburst as well as her remorse. Why had she attacked
Karen for saying she looked beautiful, and further, since when did hurting
Karen’s feelings make her feel this terrible. She had made it a habit of going
out of her way to let Karen and her father know her distaste for them since she
was a child.

“Gemma, wait up,” Kate yelled from behind her. Gemma
could hear her feet pounding on the concrete as she ran after her. “That was
pretty brutal. You okay?”

“Yeah, I just . . . I’m sorry if that made you
mad or whatever. I just lost if for a minute.” Gemma shook her head and took a
deep, calming breath.

“Hey, they screwed up. I get it. I’m just going
to say this once, so please don’t get mad and write me off like before, but
Gem, you have to let it go eventually. You can’t carry this stuff around
forever; it’ll drive you nuts.”

Gemma studied her little sister for a moment,
letting the words she knew in the back of her head were true fully sink in. “Wow,
cheerleader, that almost sounded like an insightful statement,” she said,
letting sarcasm mask her confusion.

Kate clicked her tongue. “Almost.”

“I
know
that I have to let it go, but
you can’t possibly understand what it was like for me.” Gemma turned and
started to walk, hoping the conversation would just disappear.

“So explain it.” Kate grabbed Gemma’s arm and
pulled her to a stop. Facing her and waiting, Kate crossed her arms almost
protectively. Gemma knew then that whatever she said would affect them forever
and Kate’s reply would do the same.

“He left. She was a few months pregnant and he
just bailed not because he was scared but because he just didn’t want us.” She
looked at Kate, begging her with her eyes for understanding not only of the
words but the emotional toll all those years had taken. “I have had to live
with that my entire life. And any time I’d let myself forget it, my mother
would remind me. Even when he did see me during the summer, he spent all of his
time hiding in the loft, writing. I think in my entire life I have spent less
time with him than I have with you this summer. You can’t imagine how that
feels. I’m sorry, but your mother is the one that he replaced us with. It’s
just too hard.” Gemma dropped her eyes to the road, scared to look at Kate any
longer and scared to see how their new relationship would suffer because of her
words.

“You aren’t the only one who had to grow up
with him as a father, you know?” Kate’s words surprised Gemma enough that she
looked up and couldn’t miss the hurt that swam in Kate’s eyes. “Gray and I,
we’re so ashamed of him.” Kate shrugged and cleared her throat, clearly
affected by her own words. “Why do you think I tried so hard to get you to like
me and Gray tried so hard to be invisible? We knew we were part of why you
hated him—part of the reason you
thought
he didn’t care about you. But
this summer it’s been different for the three of us. It’s as if you finally
understood that none of us kids are to blame. It’s him. The thing is it was Dad
who made the decision. My mom is just as innocent as yours. She didn’t know
about you, not until it was too late. I’m not saying you need to be best
friends with her. I’m just saying try not to hate her so much.”

Gemma wrapped the now-crying Kate in her arms,
guilt setting in, but she knew somewhere in the back of her mind it just wasn’t
enough. She still wasn’t ready to embrace Karen, and she wasn’t sure that she
ever would be. “Kate, it’s okay. I’ll try. I promise.” Gemma lied as Kate
relaxed into her.

Kate smiled at Gemma and wiped her eyes. “I’m
sorry; apparently, I’m a cry baby.”

“Nah.” Gemma rubbed her back. “Just a girl.”

“Shut up.” Kate laughed. They quickly composed
themselves and started walking again.

~~~

“What’s up, my ladies?” Emily yelled
from down the beach. Both girls laughed as they approached her. They could see
the boys skim surfing along the water line. “Where have you been?”

“Just running late.” Gemma looked over her
shoulder and smiled at Kate before returning her attention to Emily. She was
distracted by the scene in the distance and quietly watched as Abe stood on his
board, riding a mild wave into the shore. Gemma turned and tilted her head to
the side, sighing at the sight of Abe.

“Shut up.” Kate growled. “No one likes a
braggart.”

“She’s not bragging, Emily said. She’s just enjoying
what is all hers. Shall we all enjoy the view?”

“You two suck.” Kate whined. “But, yes, this is
the most action I’ve had all summer; I’ll take it.” Gemma was mortified to have
been caught staring but couldn’t help turning back for one more peek.

“Aw, poor Kate,” Emily reached out and pulled
Kate to her side. “You want me to see what I can find?”

“No, you and Ryan are forever fired from that
job. I got this.” Kate already had her eyes roaming the sand, seeking out
someone who would suffice.

“There’s my girl,” Abe yelled as he ran up the
beach, lifting Gemma in his arms as she wrapped her legs around his waist. “Morning,
baby.”

“Morning,” she whispered as her lips met his,
both of them smiling.

“Aw, isn’t that cute?” Emily reached out and
pulled Ryan’s hand to her chest, laying her head on his shoulder.

“Seriously getting sick over here. Can we
please play volleyball or something? At least then you’ll all have to keep your
hands off one another.” Kate grumbled as she walked toward the makeshift court
the guys had set up earlier that morning.

“You must be playing wrong if there isn’t any touching.”
Ryan yelled after her.

“I don’t even want to know.” She glared at him
and covered her ears. Everyone laughed as they made their way to the court
behind her.

Abe leaned over and whispered into Gemma’s ear,
“Try not to make it obvious, but I invited my friend Simon today. He’s been
away with family and just got in a couple days ago. I figured he and Kate may
hit it off.”

Gemma smiled up at him. “You’re a saint. Did
you know that?” She rose up on her toes and kissed him, taking a little longer
to finish than she originally planned.

“Gemma Andrews, if you don’t get over here
right now, I’m going to kick your scrawny butt,” Kate yelled across the beach.

“Totally worth it.” She winked at Abe before
running toward the other girls. To Kate she said, “You’re going to regret being
mean to me when you hear what my sexy man did for you.”

“What?” Kate jumped up and down excitedly, no
doubt drawing the eyes of a few different guys on the beach.

“Patience, girl.” Emily smiled knowingly.

They played one game, and the guys, though
trying to take it easy on them, annihilated them within ten minutes. “No fair.”
Emily pouted. “Let’s mix and match the teams. At least then it’ll be fun and
last a little longer.”

“Need one more?” A deep voice said from behind
the girls. Gemma smiled over at Kate and nodded her head behind them. Kate’s
eyes went large with excitement, and she whipped her hair over her shoulder and
turned to see who was there. Gemma looked as well and had to hand it to Abe; he
had done well. This boy was no boy at all. He had to be at least six foot five
and his wavy dark hair looked as if it were about a week past needing a
haircut, sexy and crazy but still in control. How did guys do that? He had
light green eyes, not hazel but not far from it, and was darker than the rest
of the boys. Clearly wherever he had been on vacation there was sun and lots of
it.

“We may need a hand, just to even us out,” Kate
said as she walked toward Simon.

“Well, I guess you and I will need a third
then, huh?” He smiled down at her, not even waiting for the teams to be divided,
taking what he wanted instead. Again, Abe had picked correctly.

“Not it,” Emily yelled and ran to join Abe and
Ryan on their side of the tent. Gemma turned and scowled at her before pouting
her lip at Abe.

“Sorry, babe.” He smiled apologetically. “Those
are the rules of ‘not it.’”

“Well, let’s see what happens when you ask for
someone to wander down the beach with you later. I think I’ll be the one saying
‘not it’.” Gemma teased.

“All right,” Ryan interrupted, “would you two
care to join us?” He hollered at the still chatting, only much more quietly,
duo off to the side.

“Oh, sorry.” Kate ran toward Gemma. “Our serve—we
got the two-girl team.”

“Sounds fair.” Ryan tossed the ball at Kate,
and she started toward the back of the court.

~~~

The day crowd was starting to thin
out. There were only a few left on the beach, and they were either packing up
or planning to stay until the weekend security came and told them to move along.
The girls had all decided to stay in what they had on for the party, fully
aware they wouldn’t be staying long anyway. Apparently, before the first
volleyball game was over, Kate and Simon had made plans for the night. Abe told
Gemma not to worry. Even though Simon had a way with the ladies, he always
respected them in the end. She couldn’t help but study him just a little
closer, however. For all of Kate’s bravado, there was something so innocent
about her. Kate’s quick interest in Simon put Gemma on high alert.

The group started walking toward the people
building the fire, and Kate hurried to Gemma, pulling her away from Abe and
making her walk a little away from the group. “Seriously, have you ever seen
something so perfect? And oh my God, the way his muscles flex doing simple
stuff like lifting a volleyball . . . I need to have him, like now.”

“Good God, Kate, you need some hormone
stabilizers; you are seriously the most boy-crazy seventeen-year-old I have
ever met.”

“Okay, Miss Fooling-around-nightly-for-a-week,
I’ll take that into consideration. In the meantime, Simon and I are breaking
away from the group now. See you later.” Kate raised her eyebrows up and down
and giggled.

“Where are you going?” Gemma asked, suddenly nervous.

“His place. He has a place.” She squealed and
clapped her hands.

“Just call me if you need anything and text me
occasionally so I know you’re okay.”

“Yes, Mom. Anything else? I’m about to combust
from all the hot standing over there.” Kate nodded her head toward Simon who
stood smirking . . . waiting.”

“No, go.” Gemma laughed.

“Bye,” Kate called over her shoulder as she hurried
to Simon.

“You’re disgusting!” Gemma yelled, not caring
that the others turned to look at her in confusion.

“You have no idea.” Kate yelled back as Simon picked
her up and threw her over his shoulder. She was laughing and screaming as he
headed to the public parking lot.

“You two seriously have the most ridiculous
relationship,” Emily shook her head at Gemma as she made her way to Abe’s side.

“I know. Isn’t it great?” She laughed. Her face
grew concerned as Abe pulled her to his side. “Seriously though, is she going
to be okay?”

“You said she was looking for fun, babe. That’s
what she’ll get with him.”