Tethered 01 - Catalyst (7 page)

“Ha, so she’s a lightweight, huh?” He grinned as his eyes flickered to Vera and then back to me in an instant.

“Guess so.”

“And you’re not?” A cocky grin splayed on his face, and I noticed he had just one dimple—on the right side. It was perfect, just like everything else about him.

“Probably, but I don’t drink enough to really find out. One and done, as they say.” God, I sounded like an idiot.

Kace’s head tipped back as he chuckled at my statement, and the rest of the world completely faded away. I was captivated by him once again. “Right? I’m not much of a drinker either. It dulls the senses.”

“My thoughts exactly—uh, as I take another sip of my beer.” I grinned and took another sip.

He moved to sit beside me. “No judging here.” He tipped his cup back and took a long swig of whatever was in it to prove his point, and I found my eyes zeroing in on his Adam’s apple, watching it bob up and down as he swallowed. “So how are you liking Soul Harbor so far?”

I cocked my head to the side and glanced back at Vera again. “It’s not too bad… I’m not sure about the people at Fisherman’s Brew though.” I crinkled my nose and then wondered why I’d singled someone out. Why couldn’t I have just left it at
it’s not too bad
?

“Fisherman’s Brew? Why not?” he asked with genuine concern lacing his words.

I shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t know. They just didn’t seem to like the idea of me being here for some reason. Then again, I could have just been tired from the drive and slightly paranoid.” I smiled and shook my head like I’d been being crazy.

“Well,
I
like the idea of you being here, for what it’s worth,” he said in a low tone as he leaned into me a little.

I turned to look at him. “Thanks.”

“You have gorgeous eyes, has anyone ever told you that? It’s like they can’t decide if they want to be green or brown.”

I grinned like a fool. “Actually no, no one’s ever told me that before.”

“Well, I’m glad to be the first then.” He licked his lips, drawing my attention to them. I watched as they curved into a little smile.

Was it bad to kiss a guy you’d just met yesterday? I was positive Vera would say no, but I wasn’t sure I agreed with her ease with guys. I couldn’t remember ever feeling this attracted to someone right off the get go, though. This was instant. As I sat there, staring at his lips, the only thing I could think about was what they would feel like pressed against mine. I literally wanted to throw myself at him and silently wondered if someone had slipped something in my drink when I hadn’t been looking because of it.

It wasn’t just his physical appearance that made him attractive. No. It was his attitude, his confidence, and that pulsating sense of connection I’d had with him when we’d touched. It throbbed within me now, because of his sudden nearness, because of my thoughts, willing me to press my lips to his just to feel it more. I gazed into his eyes and was rendered speechless when I realized he was holding back too.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” Vera asked in a slur of words way too loud for the distance she was from us. And just like that, the pull, the trance between Kace and I was broken. “Aren’t you gonna dance?” she asked me.

I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. I’m really not in a dancing sort of mood right now.”

“Oh, come on, have a little fun. Just once…please!” Vera begged.

“I am having fun.” I smiled wide to prove my point and tipped my cup back, taking another long sip. I hadn’t consumed nearly enough alcohol to be dancing yet. And with my insanely sexual thoughts about Kace—someone I’d just met—more alcohol was not a good idea.

“No, you’re not. You’re just sitting here,” she insisted.

Darren came up from behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Did you get a refill? Come on, let’s dance some more.”

Vera giggled and playfully swatted at his arm. “Of course I did. I was just trying to get my friend out there with us.”

Darren glanced at me, giving me a crooked grin as his eyes seemed to undress me. “Come on, there’s plenty of room, baby.”

“No, thank you,” I said. Wow, he seemed like a real charmer.

“Suit yourself,” Darren said, spinning Vera back out toward the fire.

“Geez, she’s lit,” Kace said.

“Yeah, and she doesn’t know it yet, but after this drink, she’s cut off.”

“I’ll agree. She’s reached her limit.” He grinned. “So, want to meet those people I told you I’d introduce you to?”

“Sure.”

“They’re over there,” he said, pointing to the same couple I’d seen him talking with on the beach yesterday.

They stood off to the side, sipping from cups and gazing out over the party with this air of superiority about them. My palms began to sweat as I stood to follow Kace. We were halfway to where they stood when both of them turned and glanced in our direction with cool eyes.

“Don’t be intimidated,” Kace said, as though he could feel my insecurities rising. “They’re really not that standoffish.”

I licked my lips and took in a deep breath. It didn’t seem that way from where I stood. “I’m fine,” I lied.

Kace grinned at me like he could see through the front I was attempting to put up and failing miserably at. “Sure.”

The brunette turned her head and whispered something to her boyfriend just before we reached them. He glanced at me up and down before shifting his gaze to Kace and smiling. “What’s up, man?”

“Not much.” Kace put a hand on my lower back, and I swore I could feel the warmth of it singe through my shirt. Maybe it was just me though—my temperature seemed to rise in his presence. “Guys, this is Addison. She’s staying in old lady Avery’s house.”

The dark-haired guy nodded. “Hey, I’m Adam.”

“Callie,” the brunette said softly.

“Hey,” I said.

Awkwardness swam in the air around me, suffocating me from all angles. I didn’t know what else to say. Obviously I hadn’t had enough to drink to be meeting new people. Maybe I should have rethought my one and done rule for tonight. After all, it wasn’t like I was driving, because we’d walked here.

“So you’re the one who inherited the old Avery house, huh?” Adam said, his bright green eyes boring into me and giving me a once-over all at the same time. “You’re the missing Avery kid.”

I shook my head, confused. “The missing Avery kid?”

“Yeah, didn’t your mom like run away to have you or something?” Adam asked. A creepy grin twisted his lips as his eyes flashed as though he knew more than he was saying.

“Adam, stop,” Callie demanded, obviously noticing my confusion. “It’s just a story people created, that’s all.”

“I’m down for a good story,” I said, taking another swig of my beer. I was supposedly a missing kid? Why would my mom have run away from here? And why would she have done it and then given me up?

“Ah, it’s just a town story. You know, one every small town has,” Kace said. “You and your family were somewhat of a mystery around here for a while. No one understood why your mom ran away to have you and never returned.”

“Maybe you could clear it all up for us,” Adam insisted, taking a swig of his drink and peering at me from over the rim of the cup with his intense green eyes. “Where did your mom take you? People around here say she took you to some commune in the middle of Utah and became a hippie.”

I literally laughed out loud at the idea of being raised in a commune, but only because my childhood was so far from that it was laughable. “Umm, no.”

“So what happened, then? Did she become a stripper? Because that was another one.” Adam grinned, draping am arm across Callie’s shoulders.

I could see where this was going. I was some form of amusement to him at the moment and I didn’t much appreciate it. He reminded me too much of Ryan and that was not a good thing. Ryan was an ass…and I was betting Adam was too. “Actually, I have no clue why my mom ran off to have me. Are there any theories in town about why she gave me up for adoption too?”

Adam spit a swig of beer all over the place. The shock on his face was priceless. This was a bigger foot-in-mouth situation than what Vera had caused last night with Theo. “What?”

“Oh my God, we, umm…” Callie squirmed to come up with something to say other than she was sorry, because sorry didn’t cut it. Not with something as serious and sad as being given up for adoption by your parents. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen a person’s eyes shift from one emotion to straight-up sympathy at the knowledge that I had been adopted at birth. “We didn’t know.”

“I don’t… I had no idea, I wouldn’t have toyed with you like that if I had,” Adam insisted in a sincere tone. “Honestly.” He turned to Kace then, his eyes wide. “No one knew that. You know they didn’t. I wouldn’t have said anything if I’d known. Jesus, now I look like a freaking prick.” He muttered the last part to himself.

“I’m sorry my friends are such assholes,” Kace said, shifting his hard stare from Adam and turning to flash me a sympathetic smile. “Come on. Let’s go check on your friend.”

I glanced around for Vera. “Yeah, I probably should find her and drag her home before she does something stupid and hates me in the morning for letting her get away with it.”

“Well, it was nice meeting you, Addison,” Callie said as I started to walk away, led by Kace.

“Nice to meet you guys too,” I called over my shoulder.

“See you around, Avery,” Adam said.

Avery, there it was again, my middle name, which apparently should have been my last. I’d always assumed my adoptive parents had given me the name since I’d never been told any different. As horrible as it might seem, I found myself questioning if there was anything else they’d hidden from me.

Kace helped me drag Vera home. We even made it all the way up the stairs carrying her dead weight and dropped her onto her bed.

“Wow, I haven’t been in this house in years,” Kace said as we descended the stairs, heading back down to the first floor. “It still looks exactly the same.”

“The lawyer said that no one has lived here since my grandma passed.” I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. My skin tingled with the realization that Kace and I were incredibly alone. “I guess my mom never came back when she inherited it.”

He put his hands in his front pockets. “No, no one did. It’s been empty for a while.”

We stepped into the living room, and I walked to the couch and sat. “Did you know my grandma well?”

I couldn’t help asking. Being here opened my mind to questions about my family, my real family. Guilt spread through my mind as I thought this. I’d had a good childhood, a great one. I loved my adoptive parents, but there had always been something missing from my life. It was them. My biological family. There were questions that had always haunted the deepest parts of my mind, but now that I was here and had found someone who knew them even the tiniest bit, it made those questions arise in my mind and enter my every thought. Ones like: Why didn’t they want me? How could they have just given me away? What would my life have been like if I had grown up here?

“I did.” Kace smiled. “Like I said, she made the best peanut butter cookies. She was a really sweet lady. I always thought she seemed kind of sad though. My mom told me it was because Angela, your mom, had run away. They were friends, my mom and yours, best friends actually.”