"Jare," I said as we were walking back. "You need to drive him home. He shouldn"t be driving like this. It"s not safe."
"I will," Jared groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand, his other firmly grasped mine. "I don"t know what"s up with him. Something"s bothering him and he won"t talk to me about it. We"ve been friends so long that we tell each other everything, but he"s not talking. I"m worried he"s headed for a self-destructive path."
"I"m sure he"ll get straightened out," I squeezed his hand rea.s.suringly.
"Yeah... I hope so," he said as we set foot in the parking lot of the apartment building.
I hugged Rollo goodbye while Jared argued with Holden about driving him home.
"Give me the keys, Holden," Jared growled, already having said the same thing five times.
"No," Holden snapped. "I"m fine, I can drive myself."
Jared"s temper snapped.
He grabbed Holden by the collar of the shirt and shoved him into the side of his truck. "Give me the f.u.c.king keys you idiot. You"re not driving."
Holden looked at Jared, shock written clearly in his eyes. He dropped the keys to the ground. I doubted Jared had ever spoken to Holden that way.
"Get your a.s.s in the truck, Holden," Jared snarled, getting in the driver"s seat.
I looked at Karlie and her eyes were wide with shock.
"I"ll take you home," I told her.
She nodded, getting in my car, but her eyes were glued to the retreating truck.
39.
SINCE I MET JARED, TIME SEEMED TO Pa.s.s BY FASTER AND FASTER.
Memorial Day weekend was here. We had Friday and Monday off and I was thankful for the much-needed break.
We dropped Karlie off at Patsy and Dan"s. They"d even agreed to watch Mable for me.
"Karlie, be on your best behavior," Jared lectured his younger sister.
"When am I not?" she laughed. "You have nothing to worry about, Jare."
"Okay. I"m going to miss you," he pulled her against him. "Love you, kiddo."
"Love you too," she said.
Patsy smiled as she watched the siblings.
"Thank you for doing this," I said as I handed her Mable"s cat crate.
"It"s not a problem, dear, I love cats," she smiled, taking the crate from me.
"Bye Mable," I said, sadly. I would miss my sweet little cat. "Bye Karlie," I said, reaching up to hug the tall girl. When you were as short as me, everyone seemed overly tall.
"Alright, we"ve got to get on the road," Jared clapped his hands together, and then motioned for me to get in the car.
"Thank you, again," I hugged Patsy.
"Have fun, dear," she patted my cheek.
Jared helped me into his ma.s.sive SUV and I waved to Patsy and Karlie as we drove away.
"Ready to have some fun?" Jared grinned, entwining our fingers together and lifting my hand to his lips.
"You have no idea," I leaned back into the seat, preparing for the two-hour drive to the beach. There were so many beaches dotting the coast of North Carolina that I didn"t even bother asking which one we were going to. I knew it would be beautiful.
We didn"t talk much, because we didn"t need to.
I watched the scenery change, completely engrossed in looking out the window.
Jared was playing music through his iPhone. A song came on and I smiled, listening to the lyrics and bobbing my head to the beat.
I pushed the b.u.t.ton for the window to go down, and leaned out the window.
My hair whipped around my face, and I let out a whoop of joy.
I didn"t care if I looked crazy. I needed this.
"What are you doing, Katy? Get back in the car!" Jared cried. "Are you crazy?"
I knew his question was rhetorical but I answered anyway. "No, I"m free."
"Please get back in the car, Katy," he begged, pulling on the belt loop of my shorts.
"Let me have my fun," I pouted.
I felt him let go of shorts and sigh. "Just don"t get yourself killed."
Pretty soon, the wind got to me and I slid back into the car, but I kept my window down.
Jared reached up and turned off the AC, putting his window down.
My hair swirled around my shoulders and I pulled it back, into a messy bun, tying it with a ponytail holder I had on my wrist.
"You"re beautiful," Jared said, suddenly.
I blushed at his words. "Thank you," I mumbled.
He chuckled. "You are, inside and out, kitten. You shine like the brightest star in the sky."
I laughed at his words. "That"s so cheesy, Jared."
His eyes remained steady on the road. "Yeah, it did come out pretty cheesy. It sounded more romantic in my head."
I leaned over and kissed his stubbled cheek. "It may have been cheesy, but it was sweet, too."
"Thanks, my wounded ego feels so much better now," he flicked his brown eyed gaze to me, a grin spreading across his face.
"Who"s going to be at the beach with us?" I asked.
I knew Holden, Piper, and Rollo were coming. We were all staying at the same hotel together, but I also knew, friends of Jared"s I had never met before would be there too.
Apparently, there was a big bonfire party on the beach Memorial Day. Jared, Holden, and their friends went every year.
"Jason, a guy I went to high school with, will be there with his fiance, Eva. Jayden, he goes by Jay, will be there. He used to fight MMA with Holden and me. I don"t know if anyone else is coming or not." He scratched his head. "Kane and his girlfriend Lacey might come, but I doubt it. She"s about to have a baby."
"So, not many?" I asked, nibbling on my lip. I was just starting to come out of my sh.e.l.l, thanks to Jared, but I was in no way ready to be introduced to a big bunch of his friends. Three or four, I could handle, more than that... and I might just chew my lip off in nervousness.
"No, not at all. The beach is usually crowded with other kids, but our group won"t be that big," he gave me a rea.s.suring smile.
I let out a breath I didn"t know I was holding.
I could do this.
I could spend the holiday weekend with Jared"s friends and act like a normal human being.
"You"ll be fine, Katy," Jared said, rea.s.suringly.
I swear, that man could read my mind sometimes.
"Stop worrying," he continued. "I know you think they won"t like you, or something silly like that, but that"s not true. They"ll love you."
"I"ll be fine. I can do this," I nodded my head.
He chuckled. "I never had any doubts, kitten."
We checked into the hotel and went up to our room. It was surprisingly nice; the walls were a pale blue-green with white furniture and bed coverings. It wasn"t over-done, the sole focus being the solid wall of windows overlooking the beach below.
A volleyball game was being set up and many people sunbathed. It was so peaceful that I instantly found myself relaxing.
Jared came up behind me, rubbing my shoulder blades.
"Beautiful, isn"t it?" he kissed the back of my neck.
"Incredible," I said. "I can"t wait to dig my toes into the sand."
"What are we waiting for then?" Jared asked, lightly pinching my side.
I changed into my bikini in the bathroom, while Jared changed in the bedroom.
Before my rape, I had worn bikinis to the pool and beach, but since then, I"d avoided both of those places like the plague.
Piper had helped me pick it out. It was pretty, but s.e.xier than something I would pick out.
The top covered the necessities, dipping into a V at the front, and tying at my neck. The bottoms didn"t cover up much either, the front and back connected by two wide strings. Both the top and bottoms had pale orange, gray, and white stripes. I looked at myself in the mirror, startled by the amount of skin, and was thankful I had talked Piper into letting me buy the sheer white cover-up; it would at least make me feel a little better.
I let my hair down from the messy bun, brushing through it, before pulling it back again.
"What"s taking so long in there?" Jared asked.
"Sorry, just give me a second," I said, pulling on the cover-up.
I opened the bathroom door and found Jared sitting on the bed, flipping through the limited number of channels.
He looked absolutely lickable, not that I was going to lick him, in his hot pink swim trunks. I didn"t see how any man could pull off pink swim trunks, but Jared definitely could. A sleeveless white top hid his tan chest.
"Ready?" he asked, focused on the TV, and not me.
"Yeah," I said, moving across the room to grab my beach bag. I pulled the sunscreen out; rubbing it into the areas I could reach with my cover-up on.
"I talked to Holden, he said they should be here in about thirty to forty minutes."
I laughed. "I still can"t believe you talked him into riding with Piper and Rollo. I"m sure he"s loving that."
Jared shrugged. "It was stupid for us all to come separately, but I wanted to drive down here, just you and me," he reached for my arm, pulling me against him. He leaned back so that I was lying flat on his chest.
"Jared!" I shrieked, my palms flat against his chest.
He was smiling at me, but there was seriousness in his eyes. He cupped my cheek. "What if I had never met you?" he whispered. "Do you have any idea what you"ve done to me? What you"ve made me feel?"
I shook my head.
He cupped my cheek. His Adam"s apple bobbed as he said, "You make me feel worthy, Katy. I don"t like to talk about my past, but before you came along, what my father did to me, made me feel like the lowest sc.u.m on earth. But you showed me that wasn"t true. I"ve loved you for a long time, even before I said the words, and I think you felt the same. Even if you didn"t, it doesn"t matter, because I know you cared for me. What he did to me was horrible, but it was out of my control. Just like what Preston did to you wasn"t your fault. What we went through was tragic, horrible, but it"s made us stronger people. It has made us worthy of each other, Katy," as the last syllable of my name was uttered; he crushed his lips to mine.
This kiss was rougher than any we had shared, almost desperate.
I gripped his shoulders, leaning into his mouth. My tongue flicked out, licking his bottom lip and he moaned in response, pressing against me.
My legs tightened around him and he gripped my thighs. My heart rate spiked in pleasure, not fear.
Jared pulled his lips from mine and I mewled in protest.
"Stop. We have to stop," he was breathless. "If you keep kissing me like that this is going to lead somewhere I don"t think you"re ready for."