Veer (Clayton Falls) (10 page)

Jake
got
a mischievous look on his face. “Do you ever on the first date?”

“Do I ever what?” I played stupid.

“Have sex on the first date.”

“No.” Of course
,
I hadn’t actually had sex on any date.

“Would you ever make an exception?”

“I don’t know. Every situation is different, right?”

“Do you have a usual amount of dates, or
do
you just go with it?”

“Why are you asking?” I
wished
we could change the subject.

“Curiosity. I want a girl’s perspective.”

“I’m probably not the girl to ask.”

“Why not?”

I swallowed. “Because I don’t ever have sex.”

“What?” He sat up. “Are you serious?
As in never
?”

Lying there
in the near darkness
, I felt like telling him the truth. With Mom gone,
now
no one knew
anymore, and somehow I wanted to get it off my chest.
But I couldn’t.
“
Yeah, but n
ow I just want to get
it over with
.”

“Meaning…?”

“I want to just have
had
sex already. It’s hard to reach
twenty-four
with no real experience. Guy
s expect it, and when you make it this far, you can’t exactly admit it
.”

“
Um, Becca? What guy wouldn’t want to be with a virgin?
” He looked at me
as if
I had tw
o heads
.

“Lots. I mean
,
they’d think there was something wrong with me.”

“No
,
they’d think you were waiting for the right guy to give it to. They’d be sure they were the one.”
He suddenly grinned. “Well if you’re that set on having sex, I’m always available.”

I laughed. “Your generosity astounds me sometimes.”

“I can sacrifice for the good of a friend.”
His grin widened
, and I had a feeling it was the look that usual got him girls
.
If he’
d been even remotely my type
,
it might have worked on me
.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You do that.”

“Well, I’m sorry you had a bad date, but better luck next time,” I said, ready to change the subject.

“Yeah, the allusive ‘next time
.
’”

“I think I’m going to turn in.”

“You sure? We can watch a movie or something if you want.” He put his hands behind his head, making himself comfortable.

“Thanks
,
but no thanks. I’m pretty exhausted.”

“All right then, see ya.”

“Good night
.”
I waved before going inside.

Chapter
Ten

Gavin

After a long week of working nights
,
I was ready for a weekend.
I managed to get a few hours of sleep on Friday before I got up to eat some leftover pizza. By the time I rinsed off my dish
,
Max wait
ed
by the door with his leash in his mouth.
It was about seven thirty
,
and the sun was just showing s
igns
of setting.
It was the
perfect time for a walk on the beach.

I let Max off his leash so he could run around for a while. I usually ignored the
leash rules
at night when no one else was around.
Max loved the freedom, and he usually didn’t stray far.
Without warning
,
Max took off down the sand. When I caught up with him,
I saw her.

I put Max back on his leash and watched
Becca
.
She star
ed
out at the ocean with her arms wrapped around her chest. She looked lonely, and I had the urge to fix it.
I had a lot of urges when it came to Becca. I still couldn’t get the girl out of my head. Day and night
,
I found myself thinking about her and feeling like a complete jerk for treating her the way I
did
. Whether she reminded me of Dawn or not, she deserved better. I figured it was the best chance I was going to get to make amends. Plus
,
maybe if I actually talked to her in a civilized way
,
I’d stop thinking about her so damn much.

She couldn’t hear us approaching over the
crash of the
waves
. T
he surf was wild that night. I called out, not wanting to startle her with my approach. “Hey.”

She turned toward me. “Oh, hi.”
Her eyes widened in surprise
.
S
he took a step back.

I tried not to let her lukewarm reception discourage me.
We could act like adults.

“What are you doing out here? No big plans tonight?”

“No, nothing planned.”

“I figured you’d be out with Molly or something.”
Max
rubbed up against my leg, trying to get my attention.

“I thought she could
use some alone time
with Ben
. Besides, I’m not really in the mood to do anything.”
She traced patterns in the sand with her foot, looking down instead of at me.

“Rough week?”

She sh
rugged. “Not the worst ever.”

“
But not the best either I take it.”

She smiled lightly. “Nope. How about you?”

“The usual
,
I guess. I hate working nights. I’m too much of a morning person for it.”
I bent down and gave Max the scratch he was waiting for.

“I’m a morning person too.”

“So
,
do you want to talk about what made your week less than stellar?”

She looked at me with surprise and hesitated before answering. “Not particularly.”

“
I
t must be really bad.”

“Just not
an
exciting co
nversation topic
.”

I stood back up.
“Try me.”
I found I
actually
cared. I needed to know what was upsetting her.

She smiled for real this time. “Do you have all night?”

I snapped myself out of the daze her smile put me in. “Actually
,
I do.”

Max chose that moment to pull on his leash. He was usually so obedient, but I guess all dogs have
their
limits.

“I don’t think he does.” She bent down to pet his head, and he nuzzled right up to her. Unbelievable
. H
e hated everyone but me.

“Want to walk?”

“Sure.” She stood up
,
and Max whimpered in protest. “I’ll finish that later, boy.”

We started down the beach.
“So, you were about to tell me about your week.”

“I’d hoped you’d forgotten.”
She turned back toward the ocean.

“No such luck.”

She sighed loudly.
“I don’t get this town.”

“What do you mean?”

She looked up at the darkening sky then back out at the water. “I just don’t know why people act the way they do, and how I’m supposed to act, or what’s appropriate and where lines are drawn.”

“
Any specifics to back that up
?
”

“You really want them?”
she asked.

I looked at her curiously
. I
t sounded like she was getting worked up. “Yeah, I want to know.”

“First, why is everyone in this place so touchy feely?”

“Touchy feely?”

“Yeah, I mean where I come from, you don’t put your hands on people unless
they’re your
family or super close friends—and even that’s questionable.”
She wrapped her arms around her. I wondered if it was because of our conversation or the breeze.

“
Who’s
been uh, overly friendly with you?” My body tensed. I didn’t like where this was going.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Sure
,
it does. I might be able to explain it better.”

“Only if you promise to keep it between us. I’m not trying to stir up trouble.”

A
light bulb went
on
. “It’s Matt then, isn’t it?”

“How’d you guess?”

“You’re working for him, he’s married
,
and he has a bit of a reputation.”
I was only f
riends with Matt because of Tom.
I’d never understood how someone with so much going for him could be so stupid sometimes.

“Why is it that no one bothered to tell me that ahead of time? Couldn’t Molly warn me? Or warn me that Mr.
Morgan
senior isn’t around
?”
She wrung her hands. “Okay, sorry. This isn’t Molly’s fault.”

“Either Molly didn’t want to scare you off, or it’s because
she
wants
to believe the best about
people. Maybe a little of both.”

“You’re probably right.”
She finally met my gaze.

“
How bad has he been?”

She looked away and picked up her pace.

“Whoah
. C
ome on.”
I caught up and matched her pace.

“Nothing awful
. H
e just always makes excuses to touch me, and it makes me uncomfortable.”

“I can talk to him for you.”

She shook her head adamantly. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t need problems. I’m sure it’s all innocent.”
I hoped she was right, but I had my doubts. Matt had been far too interested in her at the beach
.
“If you change your mind, let me know. We’re friends
,
so it would be really easy to do.
”

“Thanks.”
She sounded nervous. I hoped she realized I’d keep my
word
and stay out of it—at least for the time being.

“
I
s that the only thing getting you down, or is there more?”

She let out another deep breath.
“
I still don’t have my car back, and I feel bad using Molly’s.
S
he invited me down here to be nice
,
and all I do is keep getting in her way.”

“I’m sure you’re not in her way
.”
Molly wasn’t the kind of girl to be catty.

“Okay, no more complaining.”

“
I don’t mind
.”

“But I do. Let’s talk about something else.”
She brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“How about them Yankees?” s
he said with a grin.

“Aren’t you from Boston?”

“Yup. It was a joke. I hate the Yankees.”

“So a big Red Sox fan then?”
I vaguely
remembered
Molly mentioning it once.

“Diehard. My mom practically raised me on them.”

I wondered
about
her definition of
diehard
. I hadn’t met too many girls
who
really loved baseball. Usually if they said they did, it was just an attempt to sound more appealing to a guy
.
I didn’t think that’s what Becca was doing.
“That’s cool. You said your mom
. W
as your dad not into baseball?”

She paled
,
and I instantly regretted the question. “Sorry, it’s none of my business.”

Max started barking at something he saw down the beach and took off
again
. I jogged after him
,
and she kept pace. Once he slowed down
,
I looked toward her, hoping she’d still answer.