Linden: Rocking Pleasure: New Adult College Romance (Coral Gables Series Book 3) (16 page)

“
I know.” Nate falls back, holds on to my hips, and pushes me ahead of him, while he picks up speed with his foot.

“
That’s not very reassuring. I thought the saying went something like: A fault confessed is half redressed.”

“
Bitch.”

“
Sometimes.” I laugh.

He gives me one more push, and I continue to roll along the promenade, while he stops and takes his board in his hand. My phone beeps with a text, and I move in a curve so I can slow down. I eventually stop and dig it out of my pocket.

I thought you were single but that didn’t look like it. I won’t bother you anymore. Linden.

My eyebrows shoot up. With a frustrated sigh, I shove my phone back into my pocket and look for Nate.

He’s walking toward me. “Oh, you look annoyed. What happened?”

“
Linden just texted me. He thinks you and I are a couple.”

Nate breaks into laughter. “Shall I catch up to him and tell him he’s wrong?”

“
You want to tell him the truth?” I say teasingly. “That you’re head over heels in love with me, but I’m unapproachable?”

“
Ha,” he says. “At least your confidence hasn’t suffered.”

“
Nope. I’ll just leave it at that and hope he doesn’t ask me out again,” I say, feigning relief.

Nate steps closer and pushes me toward the nearby bench, where we sit down. “Do you want to hear my opinion?”

“
I don’t think so,” I say warily.

“
The guy is crazy about you. Okay, so he’s taken, and that is screwed up, but maybe he’ll leave her once you guys get to know each other better. If I were you, I’d go for it. I mean, what have you got to lose?”

“
Nothing.”

“
Exactly. And what does a winner do?”

“
He gets up from where the loser lies defeated?”

“
And who is a winner?”

“
I’m a winner, is that what you’re saying?”

“
You get up every time life screws you over—or someone screws you, if you know what I mean. Now you have to fight.” Nate’s clearly trying to give me a pep talk.

“
But I don’t even want him,” I protest.

“
Tell that to your grandma. I saw how you were looking at him, Thally. You’re crazy about him, too. Any fool can see that,” Nate says with conviction.

I let out a theatrical sigh. “I don’t want to destroy a working relationship.”

“
I don’t think it’s working very well if the guy’s chasing another woman, right?”

“
But—”

“
No,” he says firmly. “He wouldn’t be so eager to see you again if he were happy with his relationship. Believe me.”

“
I can’t believe you want me to throw all my principles overboard,” I whine. I want him to stop suggesting I should steal Linden from Trish. I’m not even in love with him or anything serious, so why would I?

“
Go ahead.” He laughs, adding, “Let’s get back to the pipe before Draven calls 9-1-1 and reports us missing.” He rises and pulls me up after him.

We return to the skatepark hand in hand and make it there without any further close encounters of the difficult kind.

When we arrive, Draven is still on the half-pipe, and there’s another guy with him. I’d recognize that baseball cap anywhere—Delsin.

“
I’m gonna hit the pipe, too, okay?” Nate says.

“
Sure. Go ahead and break your neck,” I tease, pulling my hand from his grip. “I’ll make another round on my safe skates and then I’ll come back to see how you fared.” I turn and take out my phone, rolling slowly across the smooth concrete. I reread the text from Linden and ponder whether or not—and what—to reply.

Finally, I type:
I’m not taken. Nate and I are friends. I don’t know why he kissed me, but I think you’re the last person who has a right to get upset about it.

Venting my frustration immediately makes me feel better. I hope my message doesn’t sound too bitchy, but even if it does, I really don’t care. I should stay away from him anyway. But it’s just so damn difficult. Can it really be a coincidence that I keep tumbling into his arms? It’s almost as if my body is magnetically drawn to his.

I roll down the promenade for a while, until I’ve reached the bench again. Just when I sit down on it, my phone begins to ring. Without looking at the display, I take the call. “Hi—”

I can’t even finish the word. “I know I shouldn’t get upset about it, but … it’s like I’m under your spell, and the thought of another man possessing you makes me mad!” Linden’s voice is heated.

I blink and stammer, “Uh … but—”

“
I don’t want to hear that I’m taken!”

What has made him so angry? “Well
I
don’t want to drive a wedge into what you have. Just yesterday, when we were driving home from Dizzles, you told me your relationship with Trish is working fine.”

“
Things are
not
going great between me and Trish,” he protests, but it sounds like a desperate attempt to maintain the connection between us.

“
I don’t believe you,” I whisper.

“
All I want is that you give me a chance to establish a friendship.”

My head is spinning. Does he really want friendship, or does he want more? “Linden, we can be friends, but that doesn’t mean you have to throw away your relationship. Fight for Trish!”

Did I really just say that?
I wonder.
Holy crap, I think I did.

“
When can I see you?” Linden asks.

“
I’m busy today and tomorrow. Maybe Monday?”

“
What are your plans for tonight?” he asks.

“
I’m spending the rest of the day at the beach with Draven and Nate, and then later my friends are throwing a ‘surprise’ party for me.”

“
Where?”

“
At The Heat. That’s a club in—”

“
I know where The Heat is. We played a gig there once.”

I sigh in despair. “Don’t come tonight, please.”

“
Why not?”

“
Because it’s a late birthday party for me, and I want to spend the evening without having to avoid you.”

“
Then don’t avoid me, goddammit, Thally!” he barks.

I take the phone away from my ear and look at it, dumbfounded. That doesn’t sound like Linden. “Is it possible you’re completely wasted?” I ask.

“
Yes, it is … and I am. I just had a major fight with Trish. She told me to go fuck myself and kiss her ass. Basically, she broke up with me.”

Oh no. Fuck!
How can I avoid him now? “Fight for her,” I repeat. “You’ve been together for such a long time! It would be crazy to throw it away now.”

“
She thinks I’m interested in you, because of the way I was looking at you. I thought it was a perfectly normal way of looking at someone.”

“
I thought so, too,” I agree.

But Nate told me the same thing just a few minutes earlier. That’s two people who think we’re in love. Could it actually be true?

“
So can I see you tonight?” he asks.

“
Come to The Heat around ten,” I say, my voice very small now. “I gotta go. Bye.” Before he can say anything else, I hang up.

Hanging my head, I hide my face in my hands. All of this seems like a crazy, bad dream. I’ve more or less inserted myself into their relationship, haven’t I?

“
I want to die,” I groan into my cupped hands.

“
The world would mourn its great loss, honey.” Delsin’s amused voice startles me. I didn’t hear him coming.

I slowly lift my head and stare at him. “How long have you been standing there?”

“
I followed you when you left the skatepark. What’s wrong?” he asks, taking in my wide-eyed expression.

“
I think I just destroyed a relationship.”

“
Whose?”

“
Linden’s. I didn’t know he was here today, too, and of course I had to run smack into him. It was an accident by the way! I didn’t do it on purpose!” I sigh. “Anyway, I met his girlfriend, and a few minutes later, after Nate and I moved on, I got a text from Linden.” I hand him my phone and show him the text to illustrate what I’m talking about. “And Nate already said earlier that he thinks Linden is in love with me, because of the way he looked at me. His girlfriend seems to think that, too, and now she’s given him the slip because of that, if I understood him correctly.” I blurt all of this out, sounding sheepish and slightly frantic at the same time.

Delsin puts an arm around me and pulls me close. “You know I treated you like crap when I was after you. And let’s not get into the way Colton treated you, because that was shitty, too. But this Linden seems really interested in you. Not in the way Colton and I were ‘interested,’ but in a genuine way. Maybe you should give it a chance and get to know him. Doesn’t have to mean you’ll dive headlong into a relationship. But you could enjoy being adored and cherished, being treated like a lady for once.”

I stare at the path before us. “Cami has changed you a lot.”

“
She has a little, but that doesn’t bother me. Deep down, I’m still a bad boy,” he says with a grin. “But Caramel is my life, and I love her more than anything in the world.”

I let out a heavy sigh. “I want something like that. But I think that after Damon, I’m no longer able to commit to a relationship.”

“
I said the very same thing to Camille, right before drinking myself unconscious at that frat party, remember? When Ave dragged me off and delivered me straight to her bed.”

I giggle. “Seems like you and I have a lot in common.”

“
That may well be the case. Thally, I’m not very good at giving pep talks. Somehow I always manage to say the worst things possible. But I just want to say: Don’t tell yourself you can’t let Linden get too close. Relax and let down your guard.”

“
How do you know that’s what I’ve been telling myself?” I ask, surprised by his accuracy.

Delsin grins sheepishly. “I talked to Draven when I got here. He told me about your conversation in the car.”

I exhale loudly. “I’m really being unnecessarily tense, right?”

“
Just a tiny little bit. But after everything that’s happened in the past few weeks, I can understand that. If I were you, I’d probably have taken the first flight to Austin to get away from all the bullshit.” He pats me on the shoulder.

“
Linden wants to come to the party at The Heat tonight,” I say, realizing too late that I just gave away the fact that I know about their surprise.

“
Who told you?” Delsin asks surprised, feigning anger. “Hailey or Ave?”

“
Ave warned me, but only because I was about to refuse to go out at all after last week’s craptastic attempt at a party,” I explain.

“
Please pretend to be surprised, okay? Caramel will be upset if she finds out you knew.”

“
I’m going to be so surprised and excited tonight, you’ll have to give me an Academy Award for my performance.” I grin.

“
Awesome.” Delsin plants a kiss on my forehead and then lets go of me. “I’m heading home now. Cami’s already called.”

“
Tell her hi from me, and tell Ave I’ll be ready at eight, okay?”

“
Will do. See you tonight, Thally.”

“
Bye, Delsin.”

We both rise and walk away in different directions. I roll back toward the skatepark, where I strain my eyes to find Draven and Nate, both of whom are having fun on the half-pipe.

I’m surprised by how many people are here today, both men and women. I’m mostly surprised by the number of girls who are just sitting around, making eyes at the guys. My stomach turns when I realize I was like them only a short while ago. I was really bent on chalking up the largest possible number of flings and adventures during my time at college.

With a sigh, I sit down on the low wall closest to where Draven and Nate are doing their acrobatics. While I take off my wrist, elbow, and knee protectors, I think about the phone conversation with Linden again. It was all too confusing. Yesterday, the relationship was working just fine, and today it’s supposedly over? I pull the skates from my feet and put on my shoes, which I left next to Draven’s backpack.

My eyes search for my friends in the pipe. Should I follow Nathaniel’s and Delsin’s advice and go after Linden, or would it be better to leave him alone? I don’t know what to do. It’s probably best if I wait to see what happens tonight. Maybe we won’t even get along and will mess it up completely. Or things go a bit too well, and I fall hard for him …

God, I hope I don’t lose my heart. I’m scared to. I thought our dinner would be all casual, a one-time thing, but he managed to confuse me completely with just one kiss. Now I don’t know what is right and what is wrong. Taking up with a taken man is definitely wrong. But seeing him more often now suddenly seems so very right.

At first, I didn’t want to see him at all, but that was when he was taken. Now he’s free, right? On the other hand, I don’t think he’ll want something new right away, let alone with me.
Oh, whatever!

I struggle to push back those thoughts, because I’m utterly confused. My mind reaches for a distraction.
Let’s think of summer break instead.
I’m looking forward to going home to Texas, even though I won’t be spending the entire summer there.