True North Book 3 - Finding Now Kate and Sam (7 page)

Kate used to love snowboarding almost as much as she loved surfing. “No, I’m not much of a skiing fan.” Another partial truth.  “What made you choose Washington? Why not UND?”

“I wanted the pace and activity Seattle had to offer. Plus, U of W is a kick-ass university.”

“That’s true.” I nodded just as the dryer went off. “I’ll get your stuff.” I jumped up from the edge of my bed where I’d been sitting and rushed to the bathroom.

I came back out with his warm t-shirt, which I’d folded. “Here, all better,” I assured.

“Thanks.” He took the t-shirt and pulled it over his head right in front of me. His physique made my head spin. “Let’s go get some food, I’m starving.”

Kendra, the afternoon waitress, lifted her eyebrows when I came in and wasn’t alone. Guess that’s what happens when you eat at the same place at the same table for months all alone.

“The usual?” she asked, a little snarky. She eyed Sam greedily.

“Do you have a usual?” he asked me brightly.

“I come in here for dinner most nights.” I had that squirmy, uncomfortable-in-my- own-skin feeling. Kate would have been all over this shit Kendra was dishing out. Catherine, however, was too busy trying to keep everything sane and was thus dressed like Sam’s mother—
okay, little harsh
—older sister. FUCK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? Let him notice her! You have no intentions of seeing him outside of class again!

“Fish is good, so are the burgers,” I said flatly.

“I’ll take your house burger then.” He handed his menu to Kendra, who tried to capture his eyes, but he put them right back on me.

Why did that have to
feel
so good?

“I’ll take the same,” I said, staring at the table. I wasn’t sure how to handle the confusion I felt.

“What would you like to drink?” Sam asked.

“Diet Coke would be fine.”

“Two please,” he told Kendra.

“Certainly.” She smiled, but it was tense. She was pretty and, I was sure, unaccustomed to guys
not
looking her over.

“So how long have you lived in Seattle?” he started, leaning forward on his elbows, showing I had his undivided attention.

“A few months,” I answered awkwardly. “How about you?”

“Going on five years. I love it here,” he said jovially.

“What’s your favorite place?”

“Space Needle,” he answered without hesitation. “How about yours?”

I hesitated. Kells didn’t quite cut it, and my apartment’s terrace was even worse.

“I haven’t had a lot of sightseeing time.” More lies. Didn’t matter, I wouldn’t be seeing him outside of class again anyway, I’d already established that.

“You haven’t been to the Space Needle?” He looked incredulous.

I shook my head.

“How about a ferry ride?” he tried again.

I shook my head and he lifted his eyebrows in disbelief.

“It’s been really … nice getting to know you, Sam …” I started to stand up. This was all wrong.

“No, don’t go. I get it. You haven’t had a chance to get out much. No big deal.” The way his eyes held me compelled me to sit back down and quickened my breath.

Kendra came back with our burgers and drinks.

Sam scarfed his down in a heartbeat.

“Did you even taste it?” I joked and immediately wished I hadn’t. The smile had come too easily.

He laughed. “Well I had a half bowl of Cheerios last night for dinner.”

Right, he’d been in my food barren apartment. I almost apologized but he said,

“Hey, when we’re done, would you like to go back to campus with me so I can get my car?”

“Oh, that’s right, you left your car.” I frowned. “I’m so sorry for yesterday.”

“Stop saying you’re sorry, I was happy to have been there,” he said graciously. “Plus, I told you I’d get that cup of coffee.”

I barked out a laugh without meaning to.
Damn it, damn it!

“You know, Sam, I’ve got papers to grade that I missed yesterday, so I’ll have to pass on the car excursion.” And that was more than a half truth; I did have papers to grade.

“Well, it’s Saturday and I’m playing The Highline tonight. How about I pick you up at seven?” He smiled.

“I told you, I can’t go on a date—” I started.

He interrupted, “With a student. I don’t buy it. We’re both consenting adults and it’s completely legal
and
ethical.”

“Plus, I’m four—”

“Years older than me? Right.” He leaned into the table on his elbows until his face was within kissing distance. I held my breath. “Chris Hemsworth’s wife is seven years older than he is. Hugh Jackman’s is thirteen years older. Going out with a slightly older woman is not socially strange. So would you please let it go and come out with me?”

“I’m gay,” I blurted.

He laughed so hard the surrounding lunch crowd all turned to look at us. “Liar! I saw how you looked at me this morning when I got out of the shower!” He made zero pretense of lowering his voice. I blushed to my toes.

“Okay,” I hissed low, “I’m not gay.”

“So come to my concert.” His voice had that low, sexy, gravelly tone to it now.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” I was running out of arguments.

“I want to be your friend,” he stated.

My friend. Yeah, right. And even if that was all he wanted …
I took a deep breath. “I don’t have friends, Sam.”
I have ghosts.
“I should go.”

He grabbed my arm. “If the big, noisy crowd isn’t your thing, how about Sunday morning I show up at your place with omelets and give you a private, preferred performance?”

His words and how he said them made places in me tingle that I forgotten existed.

Looking at him as he waited for my answer, I didn’t feel scared or panicked, I just felt sad. Like a sad, small, empty, cracked snail shell, tossed against the ocean waves with no control over itself. That thought made me miss my ocean. And that was the problem; Mr. Sam North made me
feel.
I couldn’t afford that; the conversation with my mom yesterday proved it was too soon, proved I couldn’t do it, proved I had no business trying and that I didn’t deserve it.

“Sam,” I fumbled, “I’m not really good with people.” As I spoke, I forced myself to close off the flurry of emotions that threatened me. Numbness was safe. “I’m really kind of a loner and you are … going to make some girl ecstatically happy one day, and I’m incredibly flattered you noticed me—”

He interrupted again. “That’s part of your charm, Jolie, you are stunningly gorgeous and don’t even know it.”

I reached up and allowed my fingers to graze against the morning stubble that had grown on his jaw overnight. My breath went shallow. I hadn’t touched another human being intimately since …

“I’m pleading with you now. Don’t follow me out, just let me go.” I wondered what it would be like to be kissed by him, to be held in his arms, to feel his body pressed to mine … to listen to him sing for me.

I got up from the table and walked quickly away.

Chapter Six

“She Talks to Angels”

The Black Crowes

Sam

“You know, there’s something wrong with her.” The waitress came back right after she saw Ms. Jolie bolt out the door.

“Really? I didn’t notice.” I drank down my Coke.

She sat in the seat Jolie had been sitting in and leaned close like we were good friends. “For three months straight, she’s come in here every night. She’ll only sit right here in this seat at this table and is always alone.” She sat back up smugly. “You’re the only person she’s ever brought here.”

I had heard and seen the way she’d treated Jolie and I personally didn’t like it. No need to be a bitch. “Is that supposed to make her less intriguing?” I asked.

“Fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She picked herself up and went back toward the kitchen.

“Maybe she just needs a friend,” I mumbled and threw a twenty on the table as I walked out.

Shit! I have to get my fucking car.

Kells wasn’t far from the university parking lot, so I walked.

I’d seen that woman teach a daily lecture for almost two months, I highly doubted she was crazy. She was probably lonely. But
why
the hell was she lonely? It had to be by her own choice. I thought of how she wore that long blonde hair of hers every day, tight against her scalp, attempting to make herself look severe. It didn’t work. I could imagine myself pulling the hairpin out and letting the long waves cascade over her shoulders.

Reel it in, asshat!
She needed a friend.

Damn, she didn’t even have a pet.

And this became
my
mission
how
?

Because she fell into my life, literally.

I wondered who else knew about her? Knew she only had four contacts, knew she ate at the same pub every night? Did her mom or dad? Did the soul-sucker?

I took my phone off my hip and dialed. “Hey, Will! Where are you?”

“Vancouver Island. Just did a little wind surfing with Eli and Parker. What’s up?”

“Did you know a Professor Jolie?”

“Never heard of him.”

“That him is a her. She teaches a class on renewable energy.”

“What’s the matter, is she busting your balls?” Will laughed.

“No, she’s just new to the school.” I knew I’d better change the subject fast or Will would take it somewhere I didn’t want it to go. “When are you coming back through?”

“I’m headed to Nor Cal for the dirt, but I’ll be back in the Seat in about six weeks for a comp.”

Interpretation: Northern California, the dirt was what he called the training facility, the Seat was Seattle, and the comp was a regional competition here. “Good. Six weeks. I got a gig tonight. The new management is really on fire. Logan’s booked over a hundred shows in the region and is even bragging he’s going to get us into the KeyArena to open for Headrush. Now he’s trying to talk the band into going out on tour.”

“Are you going to do it?”

“Before I get my master’s? I don’t know. I’m thinking we see how popular we get regionally first and decide at the end of the year.”

“So you’d do it?”

“What are you getting at?” I groaned.

“I’m getting at another North boy busting loose from the nest and leaving the business behind. Josh, Jake, me, now you …”

“I really don’t think they care so much. They’ve made more money than they’ll ever need, and Caleb and Nate aren’t going anywhere,” I reasoned.

“Then why aren’t you majoring in Music Business then?” Will chided.

I rolled my eyes. “My mama raised me right. I know enough of the business to get by. If that fails, there’s a lot of money in engineering, but I don’t have to tell you that, Trickster.”

“Man, Shaun White called me that one time and now I can’t get rid of it!”

“It’s a great moniker for a MotoX rider,” I said.

“Yeah, okay, Look I have to go. When I get there, I want to jam AC/DC at a gig.”

“Then you better practice.”

“Shit, I could play ‘Thunderstruck’ in my sleep.”

“Alright, talk to you later.”

“Bye, bro.” Will hung up.

My car!
I ran my fingers over the chrome detailing. I couldn’t believe I’d left her here overnight in the student parking lot. I had never done anything that stupid to her before. I thought of Jolie. I’d really had no choice.

I went to my apartment and changed into gig clothes. I pulled on my Rolling Stones t-shirt and my favorite blue denim jeans with the knees blown out. I was about to put back on my Vans when I realized Ms. Jolie had christened them as well.

How did that not bother me in the least? These were my favorite shoes.

I started to smile. Poor thing, she was so embarrassed. I liked her, she was real. I could buy a new pair of shoes if these didn’t come clean.

It was good not to worry about money. With a father and mother who owned almost all of the Bakken Oil Field not to mention a whole lot more, I’d come from privilege. The good thing though, was that my parents didn’t act like it. I had plowing jobs in the winter, and Will and I even had a lawn cutting business during the summer months. Our parents taught us the value of hard work and somehow kept us grounded.

I laughed. Okay I wasn’t always grounded, but I wasn’t a spoiled, rich kid prick either. My dad would have beaten my ass if I were.

I tied on my black Chucks, adjusted my leather and studded wrist bands and watch and wondered how Jolie was holding up. I really hated how she’d just run out of the restaurant, but I knew better than to go after her. She wanted her space. That might be the only thing I really knew about her. I’d seen the storms crossing her clear blue eyes like darkening skies.