"And she has a boyfriend," Ollie added. "He"s a bit of a dork, though."
"Hey, Dean is cool," I defended.
Ollie snorted. "Funny you say that considering all the death glares you gave him."
I groaned and scrubbed my hands roughly down my face. "That"s only because he"s banging her, and she"s practically my sister. Of course I"m going to give him the third degree."
Jeremiah chortled. "You guys gossip more than girls."
I leaned forward on my board to see him. "Coming from you, that means very little, Dreaded Wonder."
"You know, when you guys call me that," he chuckled, his legs kicking at the water, "it sounds like you"re jealous."
"Of course we"re jealous." Ollie reached over to tug on one of his dreads, but Jeremiah moved his board further away. "Come back, snook.u.ms, I want to pet you."
Jeremiah roared with laughter. "If that"s how you talk to Talia I don"t know how you ever get laid."
Ollie grinned and rubbed a hand over his stomach and down to his crotch where he grabbed his d.i.c.k. "I have a big d.i.c.k. "Nuff said."
I"d already tuned him out, because in front of us the perfect wave was forming.
"You snooze, you lose, a.s.sholes." I laughed raucously as I paddled toward the wave.
"Come on," Ollie groaned. "Why does Liam always get the first good wave?"
"Because I pay attention," I called back.
Nothing in the world compared to paddling out in the ocean, heading straight for a giant a.s.s wave. It was my high, and I craved it more than anything else. Those moments, when I was up on my board, cruising along on the water, I forgot everything.
The wave began to close in, and I commanded my board forward, toward the opening. I heard my friends catcalling and being overall ridiculous, but I ignored them, keeping my eyes set on the prize of finishing out the wave. I made it, and swerved my board before dismounting into the water.
That moment, right then, had made it worth getting up early on the small amount of sleep I"d gotten.
But like a druggie, my high was short-lived, and I already found myself searching for the next wave.
I climbed back on my board and paddled back to the guys.
Brady whistled. "h.e.l.ls yeah, man, now that was amazing. No wonder you"re a legend."
"I wouldn"t say I"m a legend." I sat up and crossed my arms over my chest with my eyes narrowed on the horizon.
"That"s what all legends say," Brady jested, reaching over to punch my arm.
I shrugged him off. I"d never taken compliments well.
Before I could catch another wave, we ended up heading back to sh.o.r.e due to Ollie"s continuous complaints about his hunger. It was irritating because Ollie was always hungry. The guy was rarely without some sort of snack in his hands. I didn"t think he ever got full.
As much as I would"ve rather gone home and been by myself, I knew all the guys would"ve given me a hard time for that, so I sucked it up.
We met at a local restaurant that had some of the best pancakes in town. The pancakes sort of made up for having to endure actual socialization.
I"d always been a bit of a hermit, but it"d gotten worse since I moved to California. I didn"t do well with people I didn"t know, and it"d taken a while for me to warm up to Ollie, Jeremiah, and Brady. Even then, I was closest with Ollie out of the three, and he was kept at arm"s-length.
n.o.body really knew me.
And that was because I didn"t even know myself.
Ari.
My day was not going according to plan.
First, I overslept, and from there everything spiraled out of control.
I discovered that while Liam had gotten me clothes, he hadn"t thought about shampoo or conditioner. Not that it was his responsibility, but it was my first day at the restaurant, and I couldn"t show up with greasy hair. That certainly wouldn"t score me any points.
I took a deep breath.
Maybe I could borrow Liam"s shampoo. That would be better than nothing, right?
The thought of asking him for it made me sick, though. He"d probably be all p.i.s.sy, and I didn"t really want to deal with that, but I had no choice.
I always seemed to have no choice.
I eased open my bedroom door and peered out into the hallway. Sunlight streamed into the loft area from the big window above the front door.
"Liam?" I called hesitantly.
Nothing.
I eased down the hall to his room.
The door was wide open, and his bed was made. His room looked as neat as the rest of the house. He was probably the type to walk around with a white glove on to see if he could pick up any dust off the furniture.
I tiptoed into the carpeted s.p.a.ce. "Liam?" I asked again, searching for a bathroom.
Still, there was no response. I figured he was out on the beach again.
I hoped, at least.
I glanced to my right at a closed door and held my breath.
"Please don"t let him be in there," I muttered under my breath.
I pressed my ear to the closed door, searching for any sound. After a moment, when I heard nothing, I wrapped my hand around the k.n.o.b and turned it.
It swung open, and my eyes squished closed, prepared for harsh words and maybe a slap to the face. That"s what Blaise would"ve done at least.
Silence greeted me still, and I cracked one eye open. The bathroom was empty, and I was freaking out for nothing.
My bare feet padded across the cold marble tiles before I stepped into the sleek gla.s.s shower. I grabbed the black bottles of shampoo and body wash and went to turn around.
"What the f.u.c.k are you doing?"
I screamed and dropped the bottles, one landing roughly on my big toe.
"You scared me." My heart thundered in an out-of-control beat. I took a deep breath, trying to regain my composure.
"I scared you? You"re the one snooping in my bathroom." He narrowed his icy-blue eyes on me and crossed his arms over his chest. His lips were pursed in distaste, and a muscle in his jaw ticked.
"I wasn"t snooping," I defended, steeling my shoulders. "I was borrowing your shampoo. I have none, and I need to get ready for work."
His lips twitched slightly with amus.e.m.e.nt. "Did you look in the cabinet under the sink?"
"No," I drew out the word. "I didn"t."
He stepped forward, so close to me that our chests brushed. He bent slightly, closer to my height, and pinched a piece of my hair between his fingers. "Look there," he whispered, like he was letting me in on one of the world"s greatest secrets.
"Oh." I stood dumbfounded as he took a step back. I couldn"t seem to move, though-I was completely frozen by the intensity of his gaze. It was so similar to Blaise"s, but while his eyes held an intense danger, Liam"s seemed to come from a deeply imbedded hurt. I wondered what could"ve possibly happened to him to make him that way.
A sly grin lifted his lips and he wagged a finger between us. "You"re still standing there... Does that mean you want to shower together?"
I knew from the teasing glimmer in his eyes that he was only kidding, but I jumped anyway.
"No, no, definitely not," I rambled as I scrambled past him.
His chuckle carried after me as I sprinted from his room.
Back in the safety of my room, I closed the door and leaned against it, pressing a hand to my racing heart. With a shake of my head, I dismissed the incident like I was erasing an etch-a-sketch. I was good at that-at forgetting uncomfortable situations.
I padded into the bathroom and looked in the cabinet under the sink.
There was a plethora of towels, washcloths, and the shampoo and conditioner Liam had said was there. I set the things in the shower alcove, turned it on, and removed my clothes. Under the steaming spray, I let out an audible sigh of relief. The hot water relaxed my tightly coiled muscles, and for a moment, I could relax.
It was short-lived, though, because once I got out and saw the time on the clock, I was cursing everything.
I searched frantically through the bags, looking for something work-appropriate, and ended up finding a whole bag of khaki shorts and brightly-colored polo shirts. I"d noticed the waitresses at Mo"s wearing them yesterday, and figured Ollie had told Liam to get them.
Once I was dressed, I tried my best to tame my hair into a sleek ponytail, but it wasn"t cooperating and little curls escaped to frame my face.
Glancing at the clock again, I groaned.
I was going to be late.
On my first day.
And I didn"t even have a ride there.
I felt on the verge of tears, but I dammed them back, reminding myself that I was free and that"s all that really mattered.
I hurried downstairs and nearly collided with Liam when I rounded the corner. I stumbled, but he didn"t reach out to help me regain my balance. I ended up b.u.mping my thigh into the corner of a side table and air hissed between my teeth.
That hurt like h.e.l.l.
"Ollie told me I needed to give you a ride to work. He"s working out something for you to have transportation, but for now you"re stuck with me." He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and leaned forward slightly. There was an awkwardness to him, almost like he didn"t know the right way to communicate with people.
"You"re going to drive me to work?" I looked at him dubiously.
He raised one shoulder in a half-shrug. "I mean, unless you"d rather walk."
"A ride would be nice, thank you," I said hastily, before he changed his mind.
"Just don"t expect this to become an everyday thing." He leveled me with a glare before turning and heading down the other hall. "I have a life, and I"m not stopping it for some girl I don"t know."
"Understood." I nodded, even though he couldn"t see me.
He opened the door leading into the garage, and I was forced to follow. Being stuck in a car with Liam for even ten minutes was not on my list of fun things to do.
He let me pa.s.s him and then he shut and locked the door behind us.
I took a deep breath before opening the pa.s.senger door to the white Jeep Cherokee. Liam slid effortlessly into the driver"s seat, and a moment later the engine purred to life. He reached up and adjusted the beanie he wore. He went to put the car in reverse, but stopped suddenly and glanced at me in confusion.
"Did you eat breakfast?"
"Uh..."
"You didn"t, did you?" He glared at me, like the fact that I"d skipped breakfast was the most offensive thing on the planet.
"No," I said softly, ducking my head.
He mumbled something unintelligible under his breath and stormed from the car into the house.
A minute later he returned with an orange and a paper towel. He slid into the car and plopped the items in my lap.
"There. Eat that."
My nose wrinkled with distaste. "You"re so bossy."
I hadn"t left one controlling man to end up with another.
"I prefer the term concerned." He grabbed a pair of sungla.s.ses from the cup holder and put them on.
"Concerned, huh?" I laughed, raising a brow. "If that"s what you call concerned, then..." I trailed off, letting him fill in the blanks.