Chapter 33
chapter thirty-three
Summer
Aseagull flies overhead as I’m strolling down the beach toward the Seaside Bed-and-Breakfast Wendy and Josie’s family owns.
It’s been the longest day of my life. Thankfully, the flight from Miami to here is short.
The salty ocean breeze is playing with my hair, and the sun is dipping behind the horizon, painting the clouds a peachy pink.
The temperature is finally cooling off. I almost wish I’d brought something to cover my shoulders.
My phone buzzes with a text. I look down to see Dayton’s name.
Russell Dayton Copeland II (Satan):
I made us a reservation on the balcony for eight. As friends.
I chew on my lower lip as I stare at the screen. He must have managed to catch a flight this afternoon.
“Hey, pretty lady. Going somewhere?”
I look up, smiling at the woman standing in the sand.
Wendy is dressed in cream linen pants and a matching button-down shirt.
I’m surprised she’s allowing herself a quiet moment to enjoy the sound of the waves.
She’s usually bustling about, doing everything at once to manage the Seaside Bed-and-Breakfast and never slowing down.
Practicing yoga on the beach three times a week would do wonders for her sleeping habits.
She wraps her arms around my shoulders, pulling me in tight for a hug. I sink into her, realizing how badly I needed it.
“Hi,” I mumble against her shoulder.
“Did you miss me that bad, or is something going on?”
“Boy trouble.”
“Oh, I see. Well, in that case, let’s sit down.”
She leads me to the Adirondack chairs she has spaced out for her guests to enjoy near the firepit. There’s miraculously no one else out here right now.
After we sit, I turn to face her. She has that knowing maternal smile on her lips.
Wendy has always felt like a big sister to me. She’s always had a listening ear and a few extra years of wisdom under her belt. With Josie as her little sister, she has plenty of experience giving advice, knowing it might go in one ear and out the other.
“Did Josie tell you that Dayton and I recently …”
“Yes, she mentioned it.”
I nod, unsure of how to go on.
“She also said you seem torn about it.”
“He wants to go on an official date tonight. Well, he said that earlier, but now he’s saying we can go just as friends.”
“That’s … confusing.”
I sigh. “I sort of had a freak-out moment earlier today. He had flown me to Miami, and we hooked up last night.” I peek up at her face to see her reaction, but she’s simply listening, which is one reason I’ve always loved Wendy.
“It was … amazing. Like, the best sex I’ve ever had.
Then he wanted me to come by his office for lunch, so I did.
But when I got there, another girl was already there.
” I suck in a sob. “And she was this gorgeous model, his ex, wearing lingerie under a trench coat.” Tears start spilling down my cheeks again.
“I just had this horrible flashback to Andrew cheating on me with his secretary. It’s not like Dayton and I are together or anything, but if I’m going to do this with him, I want to be his first choice. Not some girl he has in a lineup.”
I wipe the tears off my cheek with the back of my hand. Wendy waits silently for me to get control of myself before reaching a hand over to squeeze mine.
“Oh, honey, first off, I’m so sorry. Being triggered like that, just when you’re trying to open up to someone, is one of the worst feelings in the world.
You have a right to feel everything you’re going through.
Andrew was a pig. There’s no excuse for cheating—ever.
Did you confront Dayton about it? Did he offer any explanation? ”
I exhale, trying to calm myself down. “He said she’d been trying to get back together with him for a while. She showed up, unannounced, to seduce him, I guess.”
“And you don’t believe him?”
“It’s not that … I guess I don’t know. At first, I didn’t, no. I mean, what a coincidence, you know? But after thinking about it all day, it could be possible. It’s just that Dayton has always played games with my head. I never know what he’s really thinking.”
“That’s hard. Did the mind games continue after high school?”
I shake my head. “Before the funeral, we hadn’t spoken in ten years.”
“Hmm.”
“What?”
She shrugs, looking out over the water. “A lot can change in ten years. He was a teenager back then, and I remember him always being hotheaded, impulsive, and angry about his mom’s death.
The man he is now isn’t really the same person from what I can see.
People grow up. Have you ever asked him about the way he treated you back then or told him how it made you feel? ”
“He says he’s always wanted me, ever since then. He was trying to resist. His father wouldn’t approve, obviously.”
“How does he make you feel? Insecure, like Andrew did?”
“He did in high school. But I was also just insecure back then. But now …” I trail off, my mind going back to the way I felt, dancing with his eyes on me. I shiver. “No, not anymore. He makes me feel … desirable. But that doesn’t mean he’d be a good partner.”
“That’s true. There’s just this nagging thought in the back of my mind, wondering what would happen if you gave him a real chance,” she muses. “He’s kind of always been … I don’t know how to phrase it. Obsessed with you, I guess? Cheri’s told me how frustrated she’s been with him for years.”
“What does she think about it?” Surely, Cheri would disapprove.
“She used to joke that you’d get married one day, but now she says Dayton missed his chance years ago.”
That surprises me, but I don’t voice it. Maybe I should talk to Cheri about it.
“What should I do, Wendy?”
“What do you want? Like, in your gut, what do you want to do right now? Don’t think about it, just answer.”
“I want to give him a chance,” I whisper, realizing for the first time that despite everything, that is what I want. I sigh, laying my head back against the chair. “I just can’t. I can’t go there right now. I need to see how hard he’s willing to try.”
She squeezes my hand before standing up. “Well, in that case, make him sweat. You’re worth it.”
I don’t go to dinner, and I don’t hear from Dayton. The next day, I mope around the studio. The crew shows up to work on the back deck. Jack is making finishing touches to the mural, and he yells at one of the construction guys who steps in his paint tray.
I survive on shriveled green grapes and a three-day-old grilled cheese and tomato soup from Tide and Table. I check my phone every ten minutes, but I don’t get a single text all day.
By the time the sun starts setting, I wonder if I made a grave mistake in skipping out on dinner.
I could’ve at least heard him out.
He doesn’t deserve it!
But what if he was telling the truth?
The endless ping-pong volley in my head is making me crazy.
I’m mad at myself for being so affected by what happened at his office, but I’m starting to accept that when it comes to Dayton, I’ve always been affected.
He just has a way of burying himself underneath my skin, no matter how hard I try not to care.
I’m sitting on the beach, doodling in the sand near the water, when January finally pokes her head out of her kitchen window.
“If you get scared later, come hunker down with me in the wine cellar.”
“Scared of what?” I ask.
“The storm, honey. It’ll start raining any minute.”
I look up at the sky to see that despite being a clear, cloudless day, there is a little crop of gray clouds beginning to roll in.
“Hmm, your gift is uncanny.”
She smirks, shaking her head of pink hair. “Let me know if you need help deciding what to do with that big man of yours.”
I huff. “He’s not mine.”
“Just holler! Back door is always open.” She slams the window shut, presumably to keep out the rain.
Sure enough, not even five minutes later, the rain starts. It’s light at first, but after ten minutes, it’s a downpour. I get up, intending to go inside for cover when I spot a dark figure walking toward me on the beach. I pause, knowing I would recognize those shoulders anywhere.
I wrap my arms around myself. Lightning strikes in the distance, making me jump. When the thunder claps a few seconds later, I gasp.
Dayton is only ten yards away now. He stops in the sand, hands tucked in the pockets of his linen white pants, which are now see-through. The good bits are hidden by his underwear.
“What do you want?” I shout over the rain.
He looks around before settling his eyes on me again. “I can go.”
I can barely hear him.
“You might as well tell me why you’re here first.”
He nods, taking one step closer.
“Unless you’re interested in playing more games with my head—in which case, you can start swimming that way and stop when you find someone who gives a fuck because I promise you, I don’t.” I point out over the vast Atlantic Ocean.
He takes two steps closer. “I’m not here to mess with you, Summer. I started walking, and this is where I ended up.”
“Right, because you don’t know your way around this island that you grew up on.” I roll my eyes.
Lightning strikes again, closer this time. Dayton walks toward me, and I can finally see the hurt in his eyes.
“You need to get inside. It’s not safe out here.”
I shrink back from him, spinning around just as the thunder hits. My heart jumps in my chest. I start to move quicker to the door of my studio. I’m already soaked through to the bone. The temperature dropped surprisingly fast, making me shiver when I step into the AC.
I turn around on the stoop to see him walking away, back toward town.
“Hey!”
He turns to face me.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Just stay inside, Summer. The windows are impact-resistant.”
He turns away again, and fear spikes in my veins.
I run out after him, grabbing his elbow. “You can’t go out in this! Get in here, you crazy asshole.”