Give Me Strength (16 page)

“It’s uploaded into your calendar, Mac! Trying
to cut down on all the paper,” I called back, ignoring the chatter
around me to focus on the laptop.

“Too fucking efficient,” I heard Mac mumble as
her shoes clicked back towards the office.

When Evie was singing a few trial bars and
trailed off into silence, I looked up. She was staring at the
entrance to the basement with wide eyes. Turning my head, I saw
Casey standing there, his blue eyes drinking Evie in.

“Casey,” she whispered. “You’re back.”

He gave her a short nod.

She whipped her guitar off her shoulders and a
moment later was folded in his arms.

“Hotdog!” Cooper whooped.

Casey chuckled and the basement chatter got
louder.

I looked sideways at Jake when he flopped down
on the couch next to me. “Why do they call him hotdog?” I
whispered.

He laughed at my pink face. “It’s not why you
think. It’s just a joke term used for flashy surfing. Evie started
it.”

“Casey surfs?”

Jake nodded. “He and Evie started surfing
together before he went overseas.”

The computer beeped an incoming email, and I
flicked it open, starting to read when Jake nudged my shoulder. “So
who’s the guy?”

Without taking my eyes from the screen, I said,
“So what’s going on with you and Mac?”

He patted me on the thigh. “I’m glad we had this
conversation.”

“Me too,” I muttered at his retreating back.

When Casey and Evie stood alone again, I heard
him ask, “Is everything good now?”

Evie nodded, saying softly, “Everything’s
good.”

Casey grinned before tipping his chin at the
guys. “Catch you all later. Surf tomorrow, Evie?”

She gave him two thumbs up. “You bet.”

Then Casey turned those blue eyes on me. “Quinn.
Walk me out?”

“Oh.” A few sets of eyebrows rose, and I fumbled
with the laptop, sitting it on the couch next to me before standing
up. “Um...okay.”

I followed him up the stairs, frowning when he
led me into the back office rather than the front door. When he
shut the door behind us, I folded my arms as he walked towards me
to lean casually against the edge of the desk.

His eyes searched my face. “How are you doing,
Quinn?”

My brows drew together. “Sorry?” Then I
remembered Mac telling me that Casey was a partner in Travis and
Jared’s consulting business.

I stared at my feet. “You know about David
too?”

He sighed heavily and rubbed at the back of his
neck. “Quinn, I know we don’t know each other, but I wanted to be
the one to let you know.”

My brow furrowed. “Let me know what?”

“David only got sixty days.”

“I see,” I whispered softly, but inside my mind
was reeling. After only a week I’d felt safe here, but safe was
just a big, fat lie.

“He’ll be out in a little under two months.”

My hands shook and I turned, blindly searching
for the chair and sat down.

“Quinn,” Casey said softly. His eyes were on me,
and they looked strained. “I wanted to let you know because I
understand what you’re going through. I’ve been there too.”

“You have?” My eyes ran the length of him. He
was almost as tall as Travis and just as wide. Muscles rippled
beneath a soft, grey shirt and dark jeans. Casey was good looking
enough to suck the air from a room, but that didn’t mean anything
when it came to abuse. Pain didn’t discriminate.

He nodded, sagging into the desk. “I know what
it’s like to lose what you love and have nothing left.” He paused.
“So if you need to talk to someone who understands, I’m here,
okay?”

Turning in my chair, I faced the view of the
backyard from the window. Rufus and Peter were splayed out on the
soft grass, taking in the heat of the morning sun. How easy they
made life look. “How do you escape it?”

“I don’t know, Quinn. I haven’t figured that out
yet.”

My chest tightened as I turned back to look at
him. “I’m going to have to move, aren’t I? Not just from here, but
further away. Interstate, maybe.”

“It’s an option,” he replied.

Helpless rage rushed through me, and when my
eyes fell on the stapler sitting harmlessly on the desk, I picked
it up and threw it against the wall. It hid with a loud, satisfying
clank.

Casey’s eyes shifted from the stapler to me.
“Feel better?”

I ground my teeth together. “No. Yes.” I looked
at him. “No.”

“Quinn,” he said, his eyes softening.

“Don’t!” I shouted. The urge to fall apart
whenever Travis gave me that look was enough. I didn’t need Casey
doing it too.

“Don’t what?”

“Nothing.” My lips pressed together. “Shit. I
can’t do this anymore. I can’t.”

“You can.” He took hold of my shoulders. “You
can. One day at a time.”

I shook my head at Casey.

“Breathe, Quinn.”

I sucked in a deep lungful of air.

Shouting could be heard outside the door, and
then it was slamming open as Travis yelled at Mitch. “…completely
fucked up. Two months Mitch, and you can’t do shit.”

Mitch threw his hands up in frustration,
storming off as Travis stood in the doorway wearing his leather and
dark jeans, customary sunglasses hanging in the neckline of his
shirt. His chest was heaving, anger making his eyes wild.

He held out his hand, palm up and commanded,
“Quinn. Come with me.”

My hand was in his before I could think. When
his fingers closed around mine and held tight, I was pulled from
Casey’s hold and led up the stairs and into my bedroom. The door
slammed shut behind us, and letting go of my hand, he turned to
face me.

“I don’t want to talk about David anymore today,
Travis.”

He searched my pale, drawn face. “What
do
you want?”

You. Because you’re the one that eases the
ache in my chest. It’s you that takes my mind off everything that
hurts. You that makes me lose all sense just from wanting you. And
if I can’t have you, I want to be like Rufus and Peter and lie out
in the sun as though I didn’t have a care in the world
.

“I want a day where David doesn’t exist.”

He nodded, his mind ticking over. “Okay. You
told me you liked the beach, so pack your shit.”

“My shit?”

“All that crap you girls pack in those giant
bags and cart to the beach with you.”

“You’re taking me to the beach?”

His eyes skimmed me over in a way that left me
tingling. “Don’t forget your bikini.”

“My bikini?”

Travis started walking towards the door. “And
pack snacks with your shit. I’m hungry.” He opened the door. “Don’t
be long,” he said over his shoulder with a wink.

I blinked.

I was going to the beach. With Travis.

How did that just happen?

I opened the bedroom door and yelled for
Mac.

She breezed in a minute later in a pair of navy
Lorna Jayne sweats and a white tank top. “You called?”

“I was thinking about going to the beach
today.”

“Congratulations,” she replied. “Isn’t it a bit
cool now? Winter’s coming.”

“I’m going with Travis.”

“Oh my God.” She hurled herself on the bed and a
pillow flew off the other side and landed on the floor. “This is
just like old times! What are you wearing?”

I picked up the pillow and tossed it back on the
bed. “Old times?”

“Yeah, when Evie and Jared got together.” She
grabbed the pillow and stuck it under her head, wriggling her
shoulders to form a groove. When she was comfortable, she sighed
deeply. “That took some serious fucking work.”

“Well this isn’t like that. Travis and I
are…”

Mac arched her brow. “Are what?”

My cheeks puffed out as I tried to think while I
opened the wardrobe door. My eyes ran over the contents, forgetting
what I was supposed to be looking for.

“I have no idea,” I said eventually.

“Well I’m sure Travis has enough ideas for the
both of you. Now show me what bikinis you’ve got.”

At the reminder, I rummaged through the shelving
of clothes inside the wardrobe. “I’ve only got one,” I said
absentmindedly.

“What?”

“I’ve only got one bikini,” I repeated.

“What?”

“Mac!”

She laughed. “Okay, okay, but seriously though.
That’s fucked up. We need to fix that.”

“I don’t even know where it is,” I told Mac when
I walked from the wardrobe empty handed. It was probably a good
thing. The suit was faded and tired looking. Lucy may well have
thrown it out like she’d threatened to do last time we went to the
beach.

“Quinn!” Travis called out from downstairs.
“Let’s go.”

“I’ll be right down!” I called back.

“Mac is that the phone ringing?” Henry asked,
wandering into my room, head down as his fingers flew across the
keypad of his phone.

“Rubbish. My phone is right here, so that only
means your shitty guitar playing skills have sent you deaf. Now get
out. Quinn’s getting dressed.”

Henry hit a button and jumped on the bed.
“Awesome.” He snatched the pillow from underneath Mac, and her head
snapped back. With a growl, she wrenched it from his arms. “I
haven’t missed anything yet, have I?”

The pillow smacked Henry in the face. “We’re
picking out a bikini. Quinn’s going to the beach.”

“We’re not picking one out. I only have one,” I
reminded her. “And I can’t find it.”

“Cool.” Henry’s phone buzzed a reply, and he
propped himself up on an elbow to read it. “Can I come?”

“She’s going with Travis.”

He sighed dramatically. “The plot thickens.”

Opening a drawer from my dresser, I snorted and
yanked out a pair of denim shorts. “There is no plot. Besides…” I
waved my shorts around “...at this rate I’ll be swimming at the
beach in my underwear.”

Mac scooted to the edge of the bed and sat
upright. “Alright, Quinn. Show me your boobs.”

“Um, what?”

“You heard me.”

“Yeah, you heard her,” Henry repeated. He tossed
his phone into the middle of the bed and widened his eyes at me in
expectation.

Mac reached over and punched him in the arm.
“Out, Henry. I need to see what I have that will fit Quinn.”

“Ouch, Mactard. You really need to get laid.” He
crawled off the bed, rubbing his arm, and as he reached the door,
called out, “Hmm, so does Jake for that matter.”

His phone was hurled at him and with an
outstretched arm, he caught it effortlessly in his left hand,
laughter following him out the door.

“Mac!” Travis shouted up the stairs. “Leave
Quinn alone.”

Mac grinned.

“What?”

She shrugged and said airily, “Travis just seems
impatient to get his hands on you.”

Ten minutes later—dressed in a pale blue floral
bikini with a centre tie courtesy of Mac, my shorts, and a rose
coloured tank top—my bag of “shit” was stowed in the black Subaru,
and I was sliding into the passenger seat.

Travis, wearing nothing but a pair of long
boardshorts, gunned the engine. The throaty growl of it vibrated
through my body as I buckled myself in, careful to keep my eyes
averted from all that naked skin. Instead, I fixed them on the
clean windows and upholstery, marvelling that his car bore no ill
will from Rufus.

“All good?”

I gave him a nod. “All good.”

Arriving at the beach, Travis grabbed my bag and
started for the sand.

“You’re not actually serious about swimming, are
you?” I asked, my toes digging into the soft sand as I trudged
after him. A cool breeze was gusting in off the ocean, and the
horizon revealed a set of monster waves making their way towards
the shore.

He looked at me sideways as I caught up to him.
“Sure.”

I looked around. The beach wasn’t overly crowded
except for the relative few I could see bobbing about in the waves.
Death by chilly monster waves obviously wasn’t on most people’s
list of things to get done today.

Travis tossed his towel haphazardly in the sand
and looked out towards the waves. Trying to stave off my impending
doom, I pulled my neatly folded towel from the bag Travis dropped
in the sand and proceeded to lay it out carefully, ensuring the
edges were neat and sand free.

Removing a book and a bottle of water, I went to
sit down.

Travis shook his head. “Uh uh.”

“Are you serious?” I pressed my lips
together.

“As a heart attack,” he said solemnly.

Peeled down to my bikini, I hugged my body,
rubbing my arms to keep warm, I muttered, “Well come on then. Let’s
get this over with.”

Reaching the water’s edge, icy water rushed and
bubbled over my toes and my lungs closed up. I stepped back and
turned around, but before managing my escape, Travis took hold of
my bicep and grinned at me.

“Leaving so soon?”

“Hell yes,” I replied emphatically.

“You’ll get used to it in a moment,” the big
bully told me, dragging me forward until alarmingly cold water
splashed around my knees.

“Why are we doing this again?”

“Because it’s fun.”

I arched a brow of disbelief at him, but a wave
rocked me, and my efforts were turned to bracing against the
onslaught. “Ice torture is your definition of fun?”

Those monster waves were starting to roll in,
and as water swirled around my waist, he said, “Nothing makes you
feel more alive than swimming in a cold ocean.”

I beg to differ
, I thought wistfully,
watching as he let go of my arm and dived into the waves.
Nothing makes me feel more alive than when you touch me,
Travis.

Eventually he surfaced a few metres ahead,
turning to check on me as he pushed hair from his face. Seeing my
chance, I hollered to him that I was hopping out.

“You haven’t even got your hair wet, Quinn.”

“I’m cold.”

His eyes lowered to my chest and running a
tongue along his bottom lip, they returned to mine with a cheeky
glint. “I can tell.”