Chapter 24 #2
“I know you do. I know, Julien. But it’s not the same kind of love as what you have with Elijah. Don’t throw that away because you're afraid. You can’t make such a huge decision based on fear. You told me how you and Elijah fought so hard to be together.”
Julien nods his head slowly and looks over at the breaking waves rolling in. “God, I’m a mess. I’m sorry. Can you promise me that you won’t disappear again?” he asks in a shattered voice.
“Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.”
He snorts. “Why do people say such stupid things like that?”
“My guess is someone at some time was actually dragged away by wild horses.”
This time he full-out laughs.
“Better,” I smile at him. “Such a gorgeous face when you smile.”
His smile deepens. “Thank you, Liz.”
“You’re welcome. I think you needed to get that stuff off your chest as much as I needed to hear it. Promise me that if you ever start to feel unsure or afraid again, come talk to me first. Don’t allow it to build up inside of you.”
He nods his head again. “You and Ryder, huh?”
“Yes. Me and Ryder.”
“Lucky guy.”
“Honestly? I think I’m the lucky one.”
I look back down the beach. Ryder, Elijah, and Jayson are mere specks on the horizon.
We must have walked over half a mile down the shoreline.
Julien turns my face toward his and tips it up with a finger.
He’s a good six inches taller than I am.
He bends down, and his lips kiss my cheek in a soft, barely-there airbrush of the lips.
“Jay isn’t going to be happy about you and Ryder.”
“Are you okay with me being with Ryder?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I love my brother. But Ry is one of the best guys I have ever known. There is no other person I would be happier for you to be with than him.” He takes my hand as we walk back towards the guys.
“Wow. That was really eloquently put.”
“I have my moments.”
I splash his feet with the fringes of a dissipating wave that rolls ashore at our feet. Julien splashes me back, making me giggle.
“I really do love him, Julien. I know it must seem fast. I mean, we just had our first date last night.”
He stops and looks down at me in question, but I plow on. “But I’ve fallen hard for him. There’s just something about being with him that seems right, you know?”
We start walking again. “Then that’s all that matters. I won’t tell E or Jay until you give me the go-ahead. You kept my secret about Elijah. I can keep yours.”
“I appreciate that.”
“Have you told Ryder how you feel about him? Because I can assure you, that boy loves you to the moon and back.”
I stumble in the sand at the lightheaded feeling I get from his words. “No, I haven't told him yet.”
“First date was really last night, huh? he asks me.
“Yeah,” I reply dreamily. “It was a great date.”
“Ry was with you all night long, wasn’t he? That’s why he didn’t answer our texts.”
My eyes widen at his correct assumption. “Are we being that obvious?”
Julien twirls me around in the sand like we’re dancing. “Not at all. You guys have played some good poker faces all day. I kind of figured out something was up when Jay said Ry spent the night at Fallon’s. Ry never crashes at Fallon’s place when Fallon throws one his parties.”
“What's the story with Fallon? I’ve heard some rumors at school, and Ryder and he are friends, but Jayson seems to despise him. And Fallon kind of acts weird around me.”
“Where do I begin? Actually, you should ask Ry about him since he knows him best. All I can say is that I think Fallon had a thing for you, but you never gave him the time of day. I could be wrong, though.”
We’re almost back to where we laid down our towels.
I look for Ryder but it’s hard to make out shapes as the sun has almost set.
The sky is growing ever darker with each passing minute.
Jayson and Elijah are sitting down on the beach near the cooler.
Where’s my guy? Julien notices me looking and points to the ocean.
Ryder is floating on his back, bobbing along with the ocean swells close to shore.
“Go on,” Julien tells me. I give him a quick kiss to his stubbled cheek and run off to join Ryder.
As soon as Jayson sees me enter the breakers, he runs over and dives into an oncoming wave. I watch his graceful movements as he slices easily through the water. He must be one heck of a swimmer at school. I look forward to going to one of his swim meets.
Within seconds, Jayson pops up out of the water beside me. I cock my eyebrow up at him and he winks at me. I look beyond Jayson’s shoulder to see Julien take Elijah’s outstretched hand. Julien kisses Elijah and lays his head on his shoulder.
“They are so cute together.”
Jayson turns to look at his brother. “E is a great guy. I'm glad that they don't have to hide their relationship anymore.”
Jayson grabs my waist and lifts me, then tosses me high in the air.
I land ungracefully with a resounding plop in the water.
When I come back up to the surface, Jayson and Ryder are in a game of water wrestling, so naturally I leap in and spider monkey myself to Ryder’s back.
Jayson dives for me and I fall backward into the salty water again.
When I come up a second time, laughing and threatening Jayson with retaliation, Julien and Elijah are heading our way to join our game.
We spend the next fifteen minutes dunking and splashing each other until the sun finally goes down and night falls over the beach.
We have school tomorrow, so we need to get on the road soon if we're going to get home before ten.
After drying off, we pack everything up and put it in the bed of Jayson’s truck.
I slide into the back row of seats along with Ryder and Elijah.
Julien sits up front, and Jayson drives.
I rest my head against Ryder’s shoulder and close my eyes, letting the bumps and the noise of the road lull me.
This is how it should be, I think, as I fall asleep. I’m home.