The Girl of Sand & Fog (14 page)

My eyes grow sparkly. “What does four mean?”

“Four? Really? That means you’re a freak of
nature because you should hurt too much to do it four times the first night. I
couldn’t stand the pain after my first time and I did it only once. But then my
first time sucked. It was with that jerk Tommy Brander.”

I frown. “Tommy Brander?”

She shudders. “You know. He’s in our class.
Short. Wrestler. He was drunk and got kind of rough. Such an asshole. At least
he was quick.”

I wince in sympathy. Poor Zoe.

She stares at me pointedly.

Her brows crinkle.

“Bullshit. You and Bobby did not do it four
times. You must think I’m so gullible. Nope, not falling for it. If you wanted
not to tell me the details, you should have just said so.”

“Fine. I won’t say anything else.”

I try to hide my overly happy, tell-all smile.

Zoe groans. “This isn’t fair. I told you
everything.”

I change course. “How many times did you do it
with Jake last night?”

She frowns. “Once.”

I lean up on an elbow, studying her. “What
happened?”

Zoe looks wistful. “It’s was OK. The sex was
good. Pretty good. I came and that hardly ever happens with penetration.”

I curl on my side facing her, my nose close to
her nose. “Then what’s wrong?”

She’s really bummed about something.

“Have you ever heard the phrase ‘Fat girls try
harder’?” she asks, and then grimaces. “Let’s just say Jake expected me to try
harder more than once last night.”

My temper spikes.

“You mean—” I break off.

“I hate it when guys push my head down and just
think I’m going to give them a blowjob.”

What an asshole.

I spot Bobby’s t-shirt from last night lying on
the floor, tug it over my head and then spring from the bed searching for
either my duffel or my discarded panties.

“Where is he? I swear I’m going to kick his ass.
You are not fat, Zoe. You’re a beautiful girl, he should treat you with
respect, and fuck any guy who expects you to try hard for him. I used to like
Jake, but I hate him now. I can’t believe Bobby has such an asshole friend.”

She stops me with an arm. “He’s not an asshole.
He’s a guy. They’re all like that. Stay out of it. It’s not like I did it. It
just bugged me. And we are official as of last night.”

I sink down on the bed. “Are you sure you don’t
want me to kick his ass? I’m still mad.”

Zoe shakes her head. “Well, I’m not mad at all so
stop it. Boy, do you have a temper. You go from zero to kick-ass in half a
second. You’re like fucking Rambo at times.”

For some reason that kind of stings.

I pout. “I do for the people I care about.”

She grins. “It’s all good so stop being angry.”

A knock on the bedroom door makes us both turn.

I stare at the repulsive creature standing in the
open doorway. Blond. Petite. Perfect.

Oh no. It can’t be.

My insides turn.

Caroline makes a fake apologetic smile. “Sorry to
interrupt. I just need to grab a blow dryer. I forgot mine.”

Before I can say anything she darts across the
room into the master bath.

I turn on Zoe. “What the hell is she doing here?”

Zoe’s eyes widen in surprise. “She’s Seth’s date.
I thought you knew. I’ve been trapped with her all morning.”

“No. I didn’t know,” I say in a heated whisper.
“She wasn’t there when we left yesterday. And Bobby didn’t tell me.”

I hear a cabinet open and close. A second later,
Caroline comes back into the room, holding the dryer up in a
mission
accomplished
sort of way.

“Thanks,” she purrs. “I’ll get out of your way.”

My eyes narrow as I follow her.

How did she know where the blow dryer was?

Oh fuck.

Everything inside me goes cold.

Somehow I wait until the door closes behind her.

I whirl on Zoe. “She’s been here before, hasn’t
she?”

Zoe’s face tightens with confusion. “Yes. Once.
Last summer. We were all here two weeks before school started. Right after Linda
gave Bobby the house. The guys came here to surf. What does it matter? Why do
you ask?”

Jealousy and hurt shoot through my body,
destroying the happy glow I’ve had all morning. “I can’t believe Bobby brought
me someplace he stayed with her and thought it would be special.”

She frowns. “He didn’t.”

“Don’t lie to me to make me feel better. I
despise when you give me pity props. She used to date Bobby.”

“Yeah, for like half a second,” Zoe counters. She
rolls her eyes. “If you fall for that one, Kaley, I swear I’m going to slap
you. This is nothing to get all butt-hurt over and ruin everyone’s week for.”

My lips scrunch up and I cross my arms. “Don’t
tell me what I should get angry over and not. I’m at not staying here five days
with her. She bugs the hell out of me. I can’t believe she’s here. I can’t
believe Bobby let her come, he knows I hate her, and it was definitely a jerk
thing to do. I’m out of here as soon as he gets back—”

“God, she is
so
fucking obvious,” Zoe
exclaims, interrupting me. “And you are
so
blind when you get angry. You
react without even thinking things through. Leave? That’s what she wants you to
do, have some kind of big blow up with Bobby because she’s jealous as hell that
you’ve got him and she doesn’t. As if he’d ever want that fucking toxic fembot
back. Can you really not see what she just did? Coming in here all cutesy and
dressed in the morning. Blah. Blah. Sweet. Sweet.
‘I can get the blow dryer
myself.’
Nice little dramatic sashay to the bathroom. She wanted you to
know she’d been here before because she knew you’d fly off the handle and
assume she was here with Bobby. Which she wasn’t. She slept in my fucking room
for two weeks and that was a freaking nightmare. She knows exactly what to do
to bug you. How to find the right pin and you are such an easy grenade to
explode. Jeez, you need to knock off that shit. Stop letting her pull your
pins. She’s manipulative as hell, she’ll do it if you let her, and I hate
watching Caroline be happy.”

CHAPTER 14

I
press into Bobby’s side as his arm tightens around my shoulders and we walk
from the Boardwalk toward the street.

Zoe peeks around Jake so I can see her face and
scrunches her nose. “It sucks that they close the rides at five.”

I smile and nod, though the rides were sort of
lame and
so
not what I had in mind for today. But the long hours of
laughing and touching and kissing Bobby without full relief have made me more
than ready to go back to the house. I would have preferred to pass on today’s
big fun since our first three days here have been pretty freaking amazing even
if we didn’t ever leave our bedroom.

But Zoe begged and wheedled for us to spend the
day out with the group and Caroline is such a witch. It didn’t seem a very good
best-friend move to leave Zoe completely on her own with her for the entire five
days.

Bobby turns me into him. “Are you hungry? We
should probably grab some dinner somewhere. What do you want, Kaley?”

I curl into his chest and peek up at him. “I want
to go back to the house.”

I can tell my eyes are sparkly.

Bobby beats back a smile.

“Don’t give me that look,” he warns.

“What look?”

He lowers his forehead until it rests on mine.
“You know damn well what look. We might as well eat somewhere. We’re not going
back anytime soon.”

I pout, even though I am really tender
there
.
We pushed it—
well, I pushed it
—and he knows it. But I can’t keep my
hands off him. It just keeps getting more amazing each time we do it. The more
we have sex the more I want him again.

“Well, I’m hungry,” Zoe announces none too
subtly.

“Let’s just go to Longboards like we always do,”
Caroline suggests, her gaze fixing on Bobby.

Zoe locks eyes with me and behind Caroline’s back
she mouths
always
and then makes a face.

“Where do you want to go, Kaley?” Bobby asks.

“Longboards sounds fine to me,” I say sweetly,
startling Caroline since Zoe is right—Beach Barbie Bimbo is jealous as hell and
it shows on her face that she’s just itching to try to pull a pin on me again.

Bobby takes my hand and starts guiding me down
the street. I smile at Zoe walking next to me, earning an approving nod from
her.

We bypass the trendier, touristy places on the
main drag and stop outside a building that looks a bit rustic and has that
hole-in-the wall shabbiness. I can’t see through the smoked glass windows. Not
what I expected. But the food must be good. The parking lot is packed with
cars.

I glance at the menu posted outside the door.
Your standard California dive options. Really? Caroline picked this? I expected
frou-frou cuisine and bucks-up décor. I doubt they even have Pellegrino here for
her.

Bobby looks down at me. “Is this OK with you?”

Caroline rolls her eyes.

“Whatever you want,” I whisper, easing up into
Bobby to kiss him. 

I hear an annoyed exhale of breath: Caroline.

Then a choked-back laugh: Zoe.

Bobby pulls open the door and I step in before
him, a rush of warm air and noise hitting me. The interior is appropriately
tacky to match the exterior. Heavy dark wood walls. Surfboards and pictures
everywhere. Rock music blasting from the sound system. Dining tables all
through the room in a haphazard way. Peanut shells littering the floor. Pool
tables.

Such a guy kind of hangout.

I stare. “Interesting place.”

“Great food, though,” Jake pipes in.

I look past him to Zoe, eyes wide. “Did Jake
really speak or am I hearing things?” I ask, but my cheeks redden when she
doesn’t laugh.

Jake glares and starts moving into the dining
area, pulling Zoe with him.

Bobby holds me back. “Are you done giving him
shit yet? You’ve been doing it all day. You’re really pissing Jake off. He
likes Zoe, and most of the guys she dates aren’t good guys to her. You need to
let up.”

I try to look contrite, but I’m still kind of
pissed for Zoe’s sake over Jake’s
fat girls try harder
moments their
first night together.

Bobby lifts a brow.

“I’ll let up,” I say.

He drops a kiss on my nose. “I can’t imagine what
he did to turn you all vigilante. If you tell me I’ll make sure he never does
it again.”

My eyes widen. “I can’t tell you Zoe’s private
stuff.”

“Oh,” he says with heaving meaning. “I don’t want
to know Zoe’s private shit. Jake’s either. And since it’s their issue, stay out
of it. You’re making them both uncomfortable, in case you haven’t noticed, and
he’s an all right guy.”

Barely all right
, I
retort inside my head, but I nod.

Bobby starts cutting through the crowd toward our
table and I realize people are staring at us in varying levels of obviousness,
but then we are a good-looking couple. My fingers tighten around his and I kiss
his bicep.

You can look. You can drool. But sorry, girls,
this guy is mine.

By the time we reach the table, there are only
two side-by-side vacant seats, one flanked by Caroline and the other Zoe. Bobby
motions me forward. Crap, both options suck. Either I’m stuck next to Caroline
or I put my guy next to her.

Both situations are
no bueno
.

I sink down onto the chair closest to Zoe. “Do
you know what you’re going to order?”

Zoe shakes her head. “Everything looks really
good. I’ve been watching the trays when the waitresses go by.”

“I wouldn’t take you anyplace you’d be unhappy,
Zoe,”
Jake
assures her and she beams. “I know what you like and it’s all good here.”

He quickly shifts his eyes to me to see if I’m
going to zap him again. Bobby’s right. I need to let up. Jake has been really
sweet to Zoe all day.

They start talking softly to each other. I watch
for a second, smiling, then bury my nose in my menu, settling my hand on my
guy’s thigh.

My guy.

I shift my gaze to Caroline. She’s leaning into
Bobby as if Seth isn’t even here, and her flirtatious obviousness is definitely
annoying. Why doesn’t she give up and leave us alone? I resolve to ignore her.

We order our food and by the end of dinner we’re
all laughing. Longboards is hopping now that the live band is on stage, and the
atmosphere around the table is more festive since Caroline hit the floor alone
to
throw some shapes to work off the calories
of that lame, tiny dinner
salad which comprised her entire meal.

Yep, Zoe’s right. She’s nothing but a plastic
fembot. I don’t know why I let her get under my skin. I hate girls who pretend
they don’t eat, toss their hair, and preen and strut for every guy who looks at
them.

Zoe and I stare at her, smirking. She’s all over
the floor, trying her damnedest to be sexy, but it’s not working. Seth isn’t
even paying attention to her since the second she left us he wandered off to
chat up some girl at the bar—though I doubt Seth is her target with this
performance—and Bobby has been in deep conversation with Jake from the moment
she left the table.

Frowning, I try to work my way into their
discussion. They’re trying to decide something but I can’t quite figure out
what it is.

Zoe points a finger at her mouth, as if gagging.
“Can she be any more nauseating?”

“That girl has got no moves,” I say, and we both
start pulsing in rhythm in our chairs since there is a nice thumping bass line
rocking the room.

Zoe’s eyes widen. “Do you want to hit the floor
and show her how it’s done?”

It’s not crowded, there’s lots of space, and I’m
a pretty good dancer. Still—

I shake my head, nestling into Bobby’s side. “I’m
ready to go back to the house. Aren’t you? If we slip out quietly maybe she
won’t notice and follow. Why don’t we leave?”

Zoe shakes her head. “Not yet. It’s early. It’s
Saturday night. It’s our last night here.”

Bobby buries his lips in my hair. “So what do you
think? Snowboarding? Over winter break?”

What?

Snowboarding?

My eyes lock on Zoe’s and we explode with
laugher.

The guys frown, watching.

“What’s so funny?” Bobby asks, studying me
quizzically.

Zoe and I only laugh harder. I feel my phone
vibrating in my pocket again. Crap, obsess much, Chrissie? Fourth time since I
sat down for dinner.

Damn.

I’m having fun.

I don’t want to call home.

I sigh, tossing my napkin on the table, and
stand. “I’ve got to go call my mom. She’s not going to let up tonight until I
do. I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t be long,” Bobby murmurs sweetly.

“Never.” I lean in to him for a fast kiss.
Smiling, I look across the table at Zoe. “Want to come with me?”

She shakes her head and sinks closer into Jake.
“No, we ordered dessert. I want to be here when it arrives.”

“Fine, be that way.”

Zoe widens her eyes. “I will.”

I bury a smile. Confident Zoe. Happy Zoe. I like
this version even better. Yep, I was wrong. Jake is good for her.

I hurry across the crowded room and out the front
door. A cold blast of foggy night air hits me. Rubbing my arm with one hand, I
fish in my pocket for my cell as I sink down on the bench by the restaurant
entrance.

The screen lights up with another annoying
message.

Frowning, I stare.

Fuck, what is this?

Yahoo breaking news—

My heart drops.

I scroll through them, frantically reading.

Notifications from my news alert setting.

Icy pricks run the surface of my flesh as I read
the brief news blurbs. Oh God. Why doesn’t it say if he’s all right?

I swipe open my phone and hit my browser. Google
search: Alan Manzone. I click on a link. No. No. No. Car accident. Hospital in
the UK. Status and location unknown.

I rapidly click on more stories. Fuck, just the
same uninformative press release. Over and over again. Why the hell doesn’t
someone say if Alan is all right?

Leaning forward, I hug my stomach, trying to
still my spinning world. I don’t know what to do. I’m shaking and I can’t pull
in air.

Do I call Chrissie?

She must be out of her mind.

I check my voice mail.

Nothing from Mom.

I hit the callback button on Chrissie’s last
message.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Voice mail.

Fuck.

I click off the phone.

I feel frazzled, disoriented, and helpless.

Even if I knew what hospital Alan was in, the
nurses wouldn’t talk to me if I called. I’m not family. My stomach churns
painfully and tears start streaming down my cheeks. My dad could be dying, and
no one, not even my mom, called me…

The heavy wood door opens and I look to find Zoe
closing in on me. But I can’t move. I’m numb.

“What are you doing out here?” she asks,
exaggerated and feigning exasperation. “You’ve been gone forever. You better
have a good excuse—” Her eyes widen and her mouth stills in a wide O. “What’s
wrong, Kaley? Why are you crying?”

I shake my head. Crying? I wipe at my cheeks and
feel the moisture. Crap, I didn’t even feel the tears.

Zoe drops down on the bench beside me and slips an
arm around me. “Did Caroline do something? Don’t tell me you two mixed it up
again. I swear I’m going to rip off her face—”

“Get Bobby now.”

Her expression changes into one of alarm. “Kaley,
what’s wrong. You’re scaring me.”

I show her my phone. “It’s my dad. Will you go
get Bobby? Now.”

She springs to her feet. “I’ll be right back.”

She darts back into the restaurant and I start
rummaging through the news on my phone. New links keep appearing but they don’t
say anything.

The restaurant door bursts wide and Bobby hurries
to me with Zoe and Jake following close behind.

He sinks down in front of me, crouching in the
space between my legs. “Kaley, are you OK?”

I lift my stricken eyes to him, holding out my
phone. A frown appears, lowering and lowering as he read. “Oh fuck. Baby, you
need to calm down. It’s probably nothing.”

He slips his arms around my shaking body.

I curl into Bobby’s chest so he can hold me
tighter. “It’s not nothing. It says he’s in a hospital. That’s not nothing.”

He continues to read. “He’s fine. I’m sure of
it.” He pulls his phone from his pocket and taps through screens, shaking his
head. “I’ve got nothing from my mom. If it was something, my mom would have
called. Linda didn’t call, Kaley. That should tell you everything. Everything is
all right.”