“I shouldn’t have said that.”
He grinned and slipped a mask over his emotions. “You’re good. My turn.”
I didn’t push him further. I didn’t even know this guy. I had no right to his secrets. Even if I desperately wanted to know them.
“I bet that you didn’t want to move here.”
“What makes you say that?” I crossed my arms. He was spot on.
“I don’t know.” He shook his head slightly. “I just get this feeling that you don’t want to be here.”
“I didn’t really have a choice in the matter. No.”
“It’s not too bad.” He kicked a small shell across the sand. “I’ve never lived anywhere else, but I don’t hate it.”
“Why do I get the feeling you can’t wait to get out then?” We were still walking down the beach and passed more and more houses that looked so damn similar to the one we had just left. Some were larger than others, but they were all grandiose.
Just like my father’s house. It was just up ahead.
“You’re a little too good at this game.” He chuckled and ran his fingers down the back of his neck. His bicep bunched under his t-shirt, and I saw the edge of a delicate tattoo peeking out. “I’m not leaving Clermont Bay.”
“Like ever?” I laughed, but he looked serious.
“I mean, maybe eventually, but not anytime soon.”
I understood how that felt. If it wasn’t for my mother’s life insurance policy, I wouldn’t be able to pay for college either. Even with it, there was no way I would make it through without working my ass off. It didn’t matter that my father had more money than I could ever dream of. I refused to touch any of it. “So, what? You just party with those rich assholes then?”
“Don’t forget you were there too.” He chuckled. “But unfortunately, I am one of those rich assholes.” He pointed behind us to a house we had just passed. It only sat a few away from my father’s, but it stood out from the rest. The large stone house looked like it had been there long before the rest of the homes even though it was still pristinely taken care of. It had a regal feel about it that made it seem old and established. Not like my father’s. Everything about it felt new. “That’s my house.”
“That one?” I pointed at it in shock. I had no idea of Beck’s last name, and I honestly didn’t care to know. But I knew that whoever his father was, he had to be important to live in a home like that.
“That would be it.”
“I can see why you don’t plan on leaving.”
He laughed and kept walking. We were passing my dad’s house as we spoke, but I didn’t point it out. There was a part of me that knew things may change between us if he knew who I was, if he knew who my dad was, and I didn’t want that.
I knew I didn’t want to run in the same crowd as Beck did. That party wasn’t my scene, and it certainly wasn’t a scene I wanted to be a part of. Plus, it was highly unlikely I would ever have another moment like this with Beck again, so I didn’t want to taint it with information about my father.
“It’s not that.” He smiled, but this one didn’t seem nearly as sincere as earlier. This was the fake Beck. This was the guy he put on for show. “I’m going to be helping my dad run his business.”
“You’re smiling, but you don’t seem happy about that.”
He chuckled, and it was like I could see his mask slipping firmer into place. “Isn’t it my turn to make an assumption about you? I think we skipped my turn.”
I waved my hand, telling him to go ahead. He took a moment to think, then snapped his fingers. “You, Josie… wait. What’s your last name?”
“I’m not telling you.”
“Why not?”
Because I don’t want you to think differently of me. I don’t want you to judge me solely based on who my family is.
“Because I don’t know you.” I laughed it off. “Next, you’ll be asking me for my social security number.”
He rolled his eyes, and the gesture was so cute on his handsome face.
“Fine. What about a middle name?”
“Rose.” It was a middle name I shared with my mother and just saying it out loud made my chest ache. “What’s yours?”
He winced just the slightest bit. “Eugene.”
“Aw.”
He pointed his finger so close to my face, and I immediately closed my mouth. “Do not say it’s cute.”
“But it is cute.”
“Josie Rose, I think that you probably have a thing for jocks.”
“Negative.” I shook my head.
“Why not?”
“Umm, most jocks are douchebags.” The beach curved to the right, and there was even less light the farther away we got from the party. I pulled out my cell phone and clicked on the screen.
I had one text from Lucas.
Where did you go?
I quickly responded to let him know I was on the beach as I listened to Beck talk.
“I take offense to that.”
“So you’re a rich boy and a jock?” I slid my phone back into my pocket.
“Does that mean I have two strikes against me?”
“Absolutely. You’re walking a thin line here.”
He chuckled and nudged my shoulder just as we made our way around the curve. I could barely see the beach behind us, but I wasn’t looking there. I was looking at the giant rocks up ahead of us that formed into a cliff. The waves crashed violently against the rocks like they were angered by their mere existence, and it was so vastly different from the way they hit the beach.
It was absolutely breathtaking.
Beck pointed to a particularly dark spot among the rocks. “There’s a small cave in the rock over there. We swim out and climb into it every summer.”
“There’s no way I’m going in there.” I didn’t think he was asking, but I wanted to make sure I was clear from the beginning. I had goose bumps just thinking about it. If the waves were that violent on the outside, I couldn’t imagine what it would be like in there. Who knew what lurked in there?
I barely swam in the ocean. There was no way in hell I would purposely go into a cave.
He watched my facial expressions and laughed. “Even I’m not dumb enough to go into that cave in the middle of the night. Even though I’m a dumb jock.”
“I didn’t say jocks were dumb.” The sand beneath our feet was changing over to small rocks, and I picked one up and attempted to skip it across the water and failed. “I called you all douchebags.”
“Oh. Much better.” He laughed. “I can tell you didn’t grow up playing sports, your throw is weak as hell.”
“Hey.” I was actually offended by that.
“Here.” He picked up another rock and placed it in my hand. This one was much heavier than the last, but I barely noticed the weight as he moved behind me.
If I thought his smell was overwhelming before, it was suffocating now. But it was the most delicious suffocation. The ocean practically disappeared as I was consumed by him. His smell, his warmth at my back, his breath against my neck.
He lined his body up with mine, and he gently gripped my hand in his. I feared he could feel mine trembling, but if he noticed, he didn’t say. He simply moved my arm back and forth as he talked.