Chapter 13
Chapter thirteen
Ebony slammed the sticks down without hesitation, no warm-up, no sound check, just pure release.
Her curls, down and loose, whipped and frothed around her head with each strike to the drum.
She probably looked like a wild woman, but she didn't care. Every beat echoed the pulse of anger she hadn’t said out loud, the words she had bitten back for weeks.
Her arms moved fast, like her body couldn't get the rhythm out fast enough.
The snare cracked and the bass thudded with each hit.
Out here on the open water it didn't matter how loud she played, the sea took it away. Allowing her—no, daring her—for more.
She wasn't really playing. The music, her favorite band Masked Gods, blared on the speakers and she was following along to the beat but her mind was racing.
For some delusional reason she had thought after the pool party Gavin would have been done with Sienna, after she had sent her shitty friends and brother in a coordinated attack to embarrass her. From the way he had glared murder at the girl, Ebony had thought that was the end of that.
What she had seen last night proved her wrong.
Her sticks crashed down out of sync with the song and Ebony let out a frustrated yell.
Snatching up her phone she changed the song and threw it onto the couch behind her.
She glared out at the deep blue water, her breathing rough.
Unable to stomach being in the house much less seeing Gavin's face she had come to the marina and taken out her family's boat. Technically it was a forty-two-inch catamaran, a huge vessel with three bedrooms, two baths, a living room, and a deck. A deck big enough for her small drum set. It wasn’t as big as the one in the den but it did the job.
Closing her eyes, Ebony frowned as the memory from last night leaked into her thoughts like poison slipping in through the cracks of her defenses.
It had been late and the house like a tomb.
Gavin's room door was open and the room empty.
Even Duke was nowhere to be seen. Curious she started searching.
Slowly trailing through the kitchen, living room, her mother's glass solarium on the far end of the house, she no doubt resembled a ghost as she went from room to room, even checking her father's massive office. Nothing. With no other options left, Ebony walked out into the night and passed the still pool toward the pool house. She didn’t even have to open the glass doors to find him.
As if it were happening all over again Ebony's heart wavered in her chest, threatening to stop at the memory. With his pants down around his thighs, she could see his bare ass. Something she had never seen before since moving into this house. But she couldn’t look away.
She just watched as his ass flexed with each thrust as he pinned the naked blonde to the wall.
Sienna Chase. She was watching Gavin fuck Sienna.
With her cheek pressed to the wall Sienna's moans filled the room as Gavin drove into her. With his face turned away from her Ebony couldn’t see his expression but she could see the hard almost punishing rhythm he was setting, she could see the flex in his bracing forearm against the wall overhead and the taut muscles in his thighs.
But worse she could hear his quiet grunts.
Somehow Ebony had pulled herself away from the devastating scene although it had haunted her every moment since.
Ebony let out a frustrated groan as she missed another beat in the song.
Dropping her sticks, she got up and abandoned the drums. Gently, the boat rocked beneath her feet, the waves lapping at the side of the vessel.
Plopping down on the couch she held her phone above her and swiped through the texts.
There were some from Taylor, wondering what she was up to, video links from Beryl, and a few others from random friends at school.
And about a dozen from Gavin. She didn't open any of them. She could see from the preview screen the all caps and the words "WHERE THE FUCK…"
She sneered at it and swiped it away. He was no doubt trying to track her phone and the thought brought an evil little smile to her face.
She had turned off the shared GPS location weeks ago when he first set the boundaries between them.
But she could bet he was just finding out today she found the secret tracking app he somehow buried in her phone, as well as the tracking tag he put under the seat of her car. She removed both.
She was just about to open up some mind-numbing social media when another text came through.
Cameron: I'm bored. Let's hang.
Ebony's mouth twisted with a smirk as she replied.
Me: This is a first. Why not hang with the guys?
Cameron: For starters, it’s only a first because Gavin finally stopped playing guard dog. Which means I get my shot. And secondly? The guys aren’t you.
That made her smile.
Turning over onto her stomach, she paused just for a moment before sending her next text.
Me: I'm on my family's boat. If you can convince the harbor patrol to bring you out, you can come hang with me.
His text was immediate.
Cameron: I'll be there.
Ebony had been more than positive when she made the offer that Cameron would never be able to get out to her.
She had the boat anchored at the edge of Stardust's famous cove.
With it being the weekend and the weather amazing, there were dozens of other boats peppering the water.
But amazingly enough thirty minutes later she heard the sound of a motor pulling up to the side of her boat.
Stepping out onto the deck, she gave a quick wave to Sean, the grim-faced harbor patrolman. Behind dark sunglasses and crossed arms, he offered her a polite smile before shifting his silent stare back to Cameron, watching as he hopped aboard her boat.
Cameron pointed a thumb over his shoulder as Sean pulled the cruiser away. "You have no idea what it took to convince that man to bring me out here."
Ebony laughed. She did in fact believe it and was equally surprised he managed it.
Sean had made it very clear he didn't like the idea of her sailing alone today and would be keeping a close eye on her.
She supposed anything happening to the daughter of the town's richest man on his watch would be something he would like to avoid.
They stood together for a moment watching the boat drift away, leaving them alone.
Ebony chewed on her lip. She was trying to think if there was ever a time where she had been alone with Cameron.
She couldn't think of one instance. There had always been someone else around but now it was just the two of them.
Towering next to her, he turned and gave her a handsome smile, the type of infectious smile you couldn’t help but return.
Looking over her head his eyes scanned the boat and he let out a low whistle, clearly impressed. "I swear this is a different boat than the one I was on last time."
A breeze caught the open ends of his button down showing off the defined lines of his bare chest.
Ebony looked away and nodded. "Yeah, this is a catamaran. Dad lost the other one in a card game."
He gave her a wide-eyed look before shaking his head. "I see he kept the name."
Ebony walked toward the kitchenette and began to fiddle with the bag of pretzels she had left on the counter. The name of the boat was a bit embarrassing. The Ebony Rose. She could still remember him on the phone telling the man he lost the boat to that he won the boat but not its name.
"Aww are you shy?" she could hear the teasing smile in his voice behind her as he leaned over her shoulder trying to see her face. "What, you don't like the name?"
Schooling her expression, she turned and gave him her most commanding look, a look her mother wielded often. "It's not that I don’t like it. It's just…embarrassing."
A wolfish grin tilted his mouth, lighting up his perfectly handsome face. "Why? Everyone in town knows how obsessed your dad is about you. I'm surprised he didn’t name it Ebony's My Favorite."
"Stop it or I'll kick you off." She pointed to the water.
Cameron held up a hand in surrender. Holding out the bag he had been shouldering, he held it up like a truce offering. "I brought drinks and snacks."
"Drinks?" she repeated slowly, a pit forming in the base of her stomach. Cameron knew she didn’t drink, so why would he bring-
"No, not alcohol, officer Sean." He teased, cutting off her spiraling worries. "That bastard already checked," he said tilting his head in the direction of the retreating boat. "I swear it felt as if he wanted me to bring something just so he could shove me off the boat and make me swim to shore."
Ebony laughed. The crazy part was both would do it. Officer Sean would indeed shove him off and out of anyone in Stardust, Cameron could swim to shore even from this distance.
Pulling out the drinks from the bag, Cameron held them up. The second her eyes landed on the pink can a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Strawberry soda," she exclaimed. Immediately, she reached for it, even more pleased when she realized the can was cold. "You remembered."
His mouth twisted with a wry slanting smile. "How could I not? I watched you chase Gavin around your living room with a pillow and beat him with it because he drank the last one." He had a pleased look on his face as if he was recalling a favorite memory.
Ebony covered her eyes while holding up the other hand to stop him. "Please," she begged. "That was so embarrassing. I was so mad at him and forgot y'all were there."
Cameron shook his head, satisfaction brightening his eyes. "Nope. That's a top five memory." He paused suddenly, his eyes catching something as he looked over her head. "Oh shit, you brought your drums?"
Surprised by the change in topic, she glanced back at the drums and shook her head. “No, this is another set.”