22. Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Two
T he salty air frolicking around me confirmed we were near the water, which meant wherever we were, there was no doubt in my mind that I’d been here before.
His voice was filled with so much certainty, I almost felt bad as I lifted my head from the inside of my beach bag and— I gasped.
My eyes darted in every direction, doing their best to land on something familiar, something I’d seen before. But each time they reached another spot, there was no familiarity to be found. Only something more beautiful than what they’d seen last.
What lay in front of me could not possibly be a part of my little town. There was no way in hell that something this beautiful had been kept hidden from me—and all the other locals for that matter. There were no secrets in this town, especially not ones that looked like this.
“Holy hell,” I uttered.
He could barely contain himself. “Unbelievable, isn’t it?”
“You could say that.”
Straight ahead lay the whitest sand I’d ever seen. The water was incredibly blue, almost to the point that I thought I might be looking at a photograph. It was so clear I could see straight to the bottom, but that wasn’t even the best part.
Because across the cove stood a waterfall.
We stepped out of the car, making our way to the drop-off. It wasn’t much, maybe a foot or two above the water. I put my feet right up on the edge, letting the adrenaline course through me. The view was indescribable, and I was fixated.
Grey cleared his throat, bringing my gaze off the view in front of me and onto the one next to me. He wore a short-sleeved linen shirt with a pair of navy-and-white-striped seersucker swim trunks. Swim trunks that I normally would’ve found annoyingly short, but for some reason I didn’t mind on him.
“Surprised?” He lifted an eyebrow.
“Only a little,” I teased, pinching my fingers to demonstrate. “But, really, where are we?”
“Just a little southeast of Montauk Point, but the overgrown vegetation makes the turn-off almost invisible to anyone passing by. I used to come to this spot and draw…” I could tell he had more to share, but he stopped before starting again somewhere else. “I used to come to this spot almost daily after things got really shitty. I’d come here and just be … for hours.”
“Okay, if I’m being honest, it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. It’s so serene, almost magical, and yet so simple. Just some rocks, water, and sand,” I responded. “How did you even find this place?”
“My grandfather was the first one who brought me here when I was five or six. He’d been coming here with my grandmother for years—it’s where they fell in love. After that, it became a beloved place. A calm place. Anytime my parents were looking for me, my grandfather was always the one to come get me because he knew I’d be here. He promised me it would be our secret, and still to this day, it has been.” Grey’s lips turned up slightly, leaving the smallest smile across his face.
“I can see why you’d want to keep it a secret. It’s like having your own little slice of heaven right here in Montauk. I would’ve loved to have a place like this after the accident. A quiet place where no one could find me.”
“Well, now you do. There’s only one stipulation…”
My focus went to him.
“It has to stay a secret.” The word secret slipped through his lips in a way that made me feel eager to keep it, simply because he was asking.
“I can do that,” I agreed. “But only if you answer one question.”
He pressed his lips together, but not before his tongue swiped quickly across them as he stared right at me. “Let’s hear it.”
“Why bring me here? Why share your favorite spot with me after keeping it a secret from everyone else for so long?”
I half expected a quick-witted smart-ass response, so his longer than normal silence surprised me.
“Honestly, MJ, I don’t really know.” His soft demeanor was charming. “I can’t explain most things I do when I’m around you. You quite literally came running into my life, and ever since then, I find myself gravitating toward you every chance I get. After leaving you the other night, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I might’ve permanently messed up whatever this is between us, and that bothered me. Drove me fucking insane actually. And on my way back to town last night, I knew I wanted to show you something, some place important to me. And you’re the first person I’ve ever met that I knew would appreciate it as much as I did. As I do,” he finished, never letting his eyes leave mine.
“Oh.” I bit my bottom lip.
He shook his head. “Sorry. I’m sure that’s not what you expected.”
“Please don’t be sorry.” I grasped his arm. “It wasn’t what I expected, you’re right about that, but you’ve been exceeding my expectations since the moment I met you. And I feel it too—that weird tug, the one that always seems to know when you’re near. It’s been there since the day you almost ran me over.” I sent a smile his way and winked. “Even when I try to pretend like it isn’t because I’m afraid what it might mean, it still tugs.”
Grey pulled me to his chest, our bodies so close together I could feel his heartbeat pulsing against mine. His fingers traced my jawline before pushing a strand of my hair behind my ear. He inched his lips a mere breath from mine and whispered, “I told you this was going to be interesting.”
The last word left his mouth as he pushed our lips together. His tongue crashed through my lips and found mine. This kiss wasn’t like any of our previous ones. This kiss was softer, sweeter, more intentional.
In sync, our lips pulled away, our bodies still close.
“Now it’s my turn to ask a question,” he said.
“Go ahead.”
“Are you going to admit it now?”
My eyebrow perked up and I taunted, “I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” even though I absolutely did.
His jaw neared my ear, sending a warm vibration over my body when he spoke. “Oh, but I think you do.”
A tiny giggle slipped from my mouth. I edged my lips near his again, our skin barely touching. “You won,” I whispered.
Grey pulled back and a silent whimper left my mouth. “I’d already won before we even got here…” Perplexed, I titled my head a little to the right, and he continued. “I was spending the day with you regardless of the outcome.”
His response brought a hotness to my cheeks and my hands instinctively moved, wrapping themselves around the back of his neck. I went in for another kiss, but just as I closed in, he swooped me into his arms, cradling my weight under my knees and around my waist.
“Either way, I was getting you wet today.”
My head flung up from his shoulder in an attempt to see the look on his face. There he was, grinning from ear to ear, looking like he was about to indulge on his favorite snack.
“Excuse me?” I asked playfully.
In an instant, he lunged us both off the edge and into the blue water.
“Grey!” I squealed.
The cool water devoured us, and as I surfaced, I pushed my hair out of my face and wiped my eyes, grateful I’d gone with the waterproof mascara this morning.
“You’re a shit.” I giggled.
“I got you wet, didn’t I?”
“Very funny.”
“Oh, you didn’t…” He paused, combing his fingers through his thick brown hair that somehow came out of the water still looking styled. “You didn’t think that I was referring to something else, did you?”
The way his voice dropped sent my belly scrambling. Flashes of him and me together resurfaced, and I found myself biting my lip to keep my composure.
“Of course not. That was just a one-time thing.”
My words were meant to ruffle Grey’s feathers, but the way his mouth dipped open and his eyes darkened had me second-guessing.
Turning, I casually swam to the little beach below the edge where we’d been standing. I removed one salt-soaked item of clothing at a time as I stepped out of the water. As I found a spot on the beach, I unbuttoned my jean shorts and peeled them off my body, leaving only my navy bikini.
Grey was wading toward me in the water and I moved to face him, combing my fingers through my hair, hoping to look a little less like a wet rat. Peering up, I noticed he’d already taken his shirt off. His body glistened from the sun and water droplets trailed down his rigid abdomen.
Damn.
Dragging my gaze up his body before finally landing on his eyes, I watched as he did the same, his tongue tracing his lips in the process. Normally, my intrusive thoughts would’ve made me feel vulnerable in a moment like this, but something about the way he looked at me made me feel sexy as I stood there in nothing but my swimsuit.
“Just a one-time thing, huh?” he said, putting weight on the word just . He walked past me and moved toward the rocks. He winked and mumbled under his breath as he walked by, “Keep telling yourself that, MJ.”
Grey Prescott was a man full of surprises. When I’d first met him, he appeared to be just another well-dressed city boy who came to town for the summer with no intentions other than to hook up with strangers and party with his friends.
Now I wasn’t so sure that was the case. And while part of me was excited at the idea that he had similar feelings to the ones I’d been feeling, it also terrified me. At least before, when I thought this was just a random summer hookup, there weren’t any feelings involved. No messiness, no bullshit, and most importantly, no chance of losing someone.
I’d been there before, and ever since then, I’d been trying to avoid it at all costs. If I never allowed myself to feel that deeply, then I would never give someone else the chance to hurt me that deeply either.