Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Oliver
“You gotta trust me,” I coo softly as Sally stares at me incredulously.
She narrows her eyes at the board at her feet. “That’s a lot to ask of someone you only just met.”
Her words strike me a bit. We’ve only been hanging out for a week, but it feels like we are closer than most of my friends. I don’t really know why.
I hold my hands out, and I half expect her to bat them away, but she places hers in mine. A pang of excitement washes over me as I help her onto the board. “That’s my girl.”
Her body stiffens, and her breath hitches as the board starts to move, but I refuse to ever let her fall.
She noticed that I sometimes travel around with my skateboard. Gas is expensive, so I usually use it to get to and from work or if I need to get into town. The Commander is only for going to parties when it’s my turn to drive or if I need to leave town.
I never leave town. Even though it’s been my dream to run away, I still don’t.
“I have you, princess. I’ll never let you fall,” I say firmly.
As the words hit her, she visibly relaxes. I walk alongside the skateboard, leading her down the empty street. We’re just a few minutes from town, but I didn’t want to risk her getting anxious around people or one of them knocking into her without a care in the world.
We’ve been meeting up like this each day, doing something different or just walking around and talking.
It’s new, and it actually feels nice. I’m so used to my routine. I wake up, go for a morning swim or surf, depending on the winds, work on any repairs around this side of town, and then end the night with work at The Water's Edge.
I didn’t expect to enjoy seeing her standing in the same spot every morning after my morning swim. It’s been a week since we went to the pier, and she held my face like she was holding a wounded heart.
Every day, after my morning swim, I see her standing at the top of the beach, smiling at me.
Every day, I walk up to her, and she pretends she’s not staring at my body, but I know she’s checking me out.
The city pool begged me to be a lifeguard again.
The water might be nice and have a controlled temperature, but I know they want attractive lifeguards to generate more business.
I can do without the moms with too much time on their hands staring at me.
When I first saw her, I couldn’t believe how much she reminded me of Simon. Every time I rake my gaze over her body, it just feels familiar. I love just looking at her. Not just because she’s hot as hell…
Okay.
That’s definitely a big reason I like looking at her.
She has this whole modern-princess thing going on, constantly wearing different pastels with her skirts and crop tops—and man, do I love seeing her in a crop top.
The way it shows off her midriff like the perfect tease.
I need to stop thinking about her body because I’d rather not need to adjust the semi I can feel growing in my shorts.
I also love watching her because of how nostalgic I feel when she’s around. Her smile and the way her eyes light up when she’s excited. They just remind me so much of my best friend before he was stolen from me.
I filled up the void with Jaxon and my friends, but there was always a piece missing. It’s weird, though, because that void feels a little smaller each time we hang out.
“I think I want to get off now,” she says, and I stop leading her. With my hands on her waist to steady her, she steps off.
We made it all the way to town. The hustle of Central Garden Market sounds around us.
“How are you liking Alliance?” I ask as we round the corner into the market. “You seem pretty comfortable here.”
“Do I?” her voice trails off lightly, not making eye contact.
This isn’t the first time she has left a question without answering much. She talked more last week, but after that, she started becoming more reserved as the week went on. She brings her finger up to adjust her lace choker.
Every single day, she has a new choker, and every single day, I want to reach out and touch it. The image of hooking my finger through it and pulling her into a kiss fills my mind, and blood starts to rush to two specific places.
She stops walking, looking around for a second before her eyes focus on a little stand selling homemade jewelry. Her eyes gleam at the sight of all the necklaces, rings, and bracelets.
I take her hand in mine, ready to take us over, but her eyes dart to me, wide with surprise.
She then looks down at my fingers clasped around hers.
She purses her lips, tilting her head to the right.
We stand there, unmoving, for a few seconds as she continues to stare like she is piecing together a puzzle made up of our hands.
With a soft, half-hearted smile, she pulls away from my grasp and walks to the jewelry stand.
I’d be lying if I said disappointment isn’t bubbling through.
She hasn’t held or even attempted to touch me the way she did when she cradled my face.
She still smiles and lets me touch her, but only for brief moments.
I don’t think she hates it when I’m around, or she wouldn’t be here, but now her walls are up, and she’s cautious.
Her hand reaches out, touching an assortment of bracelets made from string rather than metal.
“My sister doesn’t like to wear a lot of jewelry besides piercings.” Sally grabs a light-purple bracelet, tracing her fingers along the material. “We kind of got into an argument.”
I place my hand gently on her back, and this time, she doesn’t pull away.
She just leans slightly, applying pressure into my grasp.
She even lets out a relaxed breath, shooting a shiver down my spine and causing the hairs on my neck to spike.
My eyes focus on a yellow bracelet just like the one she’s holding, but this one has pink knots in it that look like little flowers.
“We don’t argue that much, but when we do, it can get pretty heated. We’re like peas in a pod, but that also means we’re both stubborn.”
She pulls out a little white-and-gold wallet with Minnie Mouse embroidered in some sort of gold glitter fabric, ready to pay for the bracelet.
I fight the urge to stop her from paying. This is a gift for her sister. It would almost be disrespectful for me to be the one to buy it.
“You guys haven’t talked all week?”
“No, well…not really.”
A flicker of sadness runs across her face as she smiles and gives a thank-you to the vendor, and we are off again, but the emotions from before are still present.
“I don’t know. Every time I work up the courage to actually apologize, something gets in the way. Mimi or Leon are in the room, or Jaxon wants to hang out with her, or you want to hang out.”
Jaxon has been hanging out with Sally’s sister and little brother a lot lately.
Almost as much as I’ve been talking to Sally.
I can’t remember the last time he gave a girl this much attention.
He even took Leon under his wing, saying the dude reminds him of himself when he was younger.
I don’t really see it, but I won’t stop him.
There’s also a pang of guilt that seeps through me, thinking about taking her away from Ella and their ability to talk.
I just want to talk to Sally all the time.
It’s weird since I’ve only known her for a week, but I still don’t get why she feels so familiar.
I just know her smile fills a part of my heart.
Now, there’s a frown, and I have to fight the sudden protective urge.
“We both suck at saying sorry, so we usually just let the fight die out, which it kind of has, but it is not the same, and I miss talking to her about everything under the sun.”
This is the most she’s talked all week.
I shouldn’t insert myself, but I say, “Maybe you can talk to her before the party tonight. Pregame a little and then talk. Alcohol can loosen your nerves.”
“Oh.” She sounds almost disappointed. That wasn’t the effect I was looking for. “I don’t drink.”
“That’s fine. I’ll make sure no one peer pressures you at the party.”
This puts a smile on her face, and I can’t help the pleasure it sends through my body. I want to kiss her, but she doesn’t seem to be there yet, and I’d rather not fuck this up.
Shortly after, her smile fades. “Your family is pretty close.”
This causes her head to perk up, and the smile returns in full bloom.
“I wouldn’t be here without them.” She pulls at the hem of her shirt before looking back up at me. “We will always have each other. I couldn’t ask for a better family.”
The way she talks about them almost makes me jealous.
I have my friends and Jaxon, but them leaving at the end of the summer for college makes me worry.
What if they move on and decide to leave Jaxon and me behind?
Jaxon’s been around since the beginning of high school, and then Piper, Tyler, and Casey joined soon after.
They’ve had my back, especially since my pops fucked off at the end of last year.
The way she talks about her family…it’s different, special.
Jaxon and I made a pact in high school. We decided that since the pompous people here don’t care about us, we would always have each other’s backs.
With families like ours, we needed to be family to each other. We’re both pretty much orphaned. His dad ran away from being a parent, and his mom decided she needed wine more than him to cope. Then, you have my dad, who fucked off the minute he could get away from me legally.
I immediately think of my childhood friend.
His parents hated him so much that they let their only son get taken away without so much as a peep.
I don’t know where he is now. Will we ever see each other again?
I can still see his scared face that fluttered with relief when we drowned out his parents’ hatred with music.