Beach Side Beds and Sandy Paths (21 page)

A week after we returned home from
spring break we were all at Ryan’s ready to give a proper goodbye to the Lincoln. Kaylee had insisted, stating the Lincoln was basically a part of our friend group. None of us could argue.

So here we are all standing in the driveway, where the Lincoln spent a majority of its life, dressed in our Sunday’s best.

“I’ll start,” Kaylee says, pushing her braid off her shoulder. She smiles at Nate and gets that sinister look in her eyes. “My favorite memory of the Lincoln is when Nate and I—”

“Wow. Okay,” Ryan blurts out well aware that whatever was about to slip out of Ka
ylee’s mouth wouldn’t be Grams and Pop-pop approved. “I think I’d like to start. You know it being my car and all.”

“Oh. Well sure,” Kaylee says, and steps back to Nate’s waiting arms.

Ryan takes a deep breath, and I squeeze his hand for support. “I’m not really good with words.” He shrugs and continues. “You all know the Lincoln was my dad’s. It’s all I had left of him. At least I thought I did. Then I realized it’s not the car it’s the memories. Whether the Lincoln lasted another thirty years or not, I’d still remember sitting in the driveway handing my dad tools as he did a tune up, or going really fast down that road with all the hills like we were on a roller coaster. Dad knew how much I loved that drop in my gut I always got when we hit the bottom and shot back up. So yeah those memories aren’t going anywhere.

“
How it took you guys on your first date,” Ryan lifts his chin to Kaylee and Nate “Nate tips his fedora at Ryan before Ryan turns to Pop-pop. “Or how you spent your nights under the hood with me to get it working.” He turns to his grandma. “How I’d drive you to the grocery store on Saturday’s, and we’d talk about everything going on in my life.”

“And Lexie.”
Grams turns to me. “You’re all he ever talked about, dear.”

My heart swells at her words
, and a smile spreads across my face.

“Thank you, G
rams.” His cheeks flare up and he flashes me that sexy grin of his.“A lot of great memories.”

“I think you forgot someone,” I say and he takes my other hand, turning me away from everyone. “I saved the best for last,” he says barely loud enough for me to hear him. Kaylee starts talking to Pop-pop and Grams
, and I know she’s doing it so Ryan can say what he wants without an audience.

“
I’ve had a lot of memories in that car. So many. But my favorites are all start with you. Picking you up for school, you being the first person other than Grams and Pop-pop I saw in the morning, singing Hunter Hayes at the top of our lungs and hoping that you’d realize those lyrics were more than a song, they were basically about us.” A smile tugs at the corner of my lips and Ryan presses a finger to my dimple.

“
They are. Aren’t they?” I ask and he nods.

“Took you long enough,” he jokes. “My favorite day being when you finally realized how awesome I
am, and you beat the crap out of me before telling me you loved me.”

My eyes catch his
, and I know that was only a small portion of it. But talking about our epic make-out session in the backseat is not going to happen with Grams and Pop-pop in earshot, even if Kaylee is distracting them. So instead of saying it out loud, a knowing look flashes between us and we both start to blush.

“Are you guys going to start making out? Because
you’re making these googly eyes and it’s getting awkward,” Brett says, and everyone stops talking. All eyes settle on Ryan still unsure how he’ll react. A lot happened on top of that mountain, and things seem to be different between them two, but no one really knows for sure.

Ryan laughs
, and a relieved sigh settles across the group. “Dick.”

“Watch your mouth before I go get the soap,” Gram says and Pop-
pop laughs.

She smacks him in the chest
, which makes him laugh harder. “Let the boy speak,” he says.

“You saved the best for last, but you still forgot someone.” I say, nudging Ryan’s side.

He gives me a look then turns to Brett. “You’re a pain in the
butt
.”

Grams nods
her approval.

“But you saved my life. So I guess you’re not all that bad.”

“Not all that bad? I could’ve let you fall off the mountain.”

“Wait a dang minute,” Gram says, hands landing firmly on her hips. “You fell off a mountain!”

It t
akes an hour to calm Grams down. We put her in her chair and hand her a bunch of yarn while assuring her that neither Ryan nor Brett were ever in real danger, even if it is a total lie.

I’m not sure if she believes a word we
say. We’ve been trying to leave for the past twenty minutes, and she keeps taking Ryan’s hand and squeezing it.

“I love you too, Grams,” Ryan says and kisses her cheek for the fourth time. “I really need to get Lexie home now.”

“Okay just be careful please,” she says and settles back into her recliner, picking up her knitting needles.

Ryan wraps his arms around my waist
, and we walk to the door with him pretending to talk in my ear, but is really trailing kisses down the length of my neck. A giggle slips from my lips and Ryan’s grip on my waist tightens.

We walk to Pop-pops car
, and Ryan holds the door open for me to get in. “I wish the Lincoln was here.” I reach into my bag and pull out a large envelope. “I always dreamed of opening this in it.”

“Is that?” Ryan asks, his hand wrapping around my wrist and pulling the envelope closer to him.

“From Colorado State. Yup. It’s big, so I’m hoping that’s a good sign.”

“You haven’t opened it yet? What are you waiting for?”

“For it to be just me and you. This envelope holds my future. Our future. It only seems right to open it with you.”

“The Lincoln might not be here, but I am. Open it.”

I slide my finger under the flap, my heart beating out of control as I pull out the letter on top.

“What does it say?

Tears fill my eyes and words are lost somewhere in my mind.

“Oh Lex.” Ryan swipes his finger under my eyes and kisses my forehead. “Don’t cry. We’ll figure something else out.”

I look up, catching his beautiful eyes and smile. “I got in.”

“As long as we’re together…
Wait. You got in?” Ryan rests his hands on either side of my face. “You got in.”

“I got in.” A smile spreads straight across
from ear to ear, and Ryan engulfs me in a big Ryan hug, picking me up and swinging me around.

“She got in!” he screams.

I laugh against his cheek then the world comes to a standstill as he places me back on the ground and presses his lips to mine. My breath catches and he pulls me tight against him.

“I’m so proud of you. I always knew you would do it.”

“You’re the only one who always believed in me.”

“How could I not?” He kisses my forehead then my nose. “Let’s go celebrate.”

“Burger at Skippy Lee’s?” He gives me a disgusted look and I laugh. “One day you will realize how delicious meat is.”

“Never going to happen…but I was thinking about a different kind of celebrating.” His hips push against me, until I’m flesh against the car. He licks my bottom lip and pulls back, his mouth mere centimeters away.

“Oh yeah. What kind is that?”

“With the Lincoln gone, I think it’s time we
christen my new IROC. Make some new memories.”

I gaze over at the car Pop-pop surprised Ryan with when we got home. Apparently as soon as it was fixed, Pop-pop was going to give it to Ryan. We’ve definitely got some christening to do.

“Sounds perfect. I just…I mean…”

“What is it Lex?” He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, his hand lingering on my ear.

“Did you get your acceptance letter yet?” I ask and my heart nearly stops, thinking about what will happen if college separates us.

He takes my face in his hands. “Not yet, but don’t worry about that. All you need to know is that wherever you go that’s where I’ll be. I just have one request.”

“What’s that?” I ask.

He flashes his Ryan smile and says, “A king sized bed.”

Now a sneak peek at TRUE LOVE AND MAGIC TRICKS

A prequel to Beds Series

Nate and Kaylee’s story

Coming Summer 2014

These gym shorts come with built in butt floss. Seriously, every time I move an inch, I get an instant wedgie and have to wiggle the material out.

“Oh these things!” I growl to the heavens, and Cindy Lawston who’s stretching next to me laughs as I yank the shorts down.

“You should’ve ordered the bigger size,” she says, her long tan legs poking out of her own wedgie inducing gym uniform.

I roll my eyes and rip my hair tie from my left pigtail and start rebraiding. “I should’ve ordered a boy’s one.” My eyes drift over to all the guys lined up on the track. Today’s a “work out however the heck you want” day, so most of the girls are lounged on the grass pretending to do something when Coach Harris looks over. The guys like to show off by how fast their legs can go, or do push-ups, or make complete idiots of themselves. These kinds of days are my favorite. It’s unbelievably entertaining.

Cindy stands upright and stretches her arms to the sun, sticking her jiggly C-cups out towards the guys stretching before their run. I think Sean Dixon’s tongue is about to touch the asphalt.

I smack her across the boob and she automatically curls in.

“Stop torturing them.” I laugh, bending over to touch my right toe. My shorts creep up my butt again. Gar!

The boys start running, and I get wolf-whistled at as I stretch to my other foot. Just for them, I straighten and pick my wedgie with grand bravado.

A high-pitched laugh echoes across the track, and I spot Lexie Boggs with Ryan Parker, and he’s dumped his entire water bottle over her head. I thought they were laughing at me, but now I’m laughing at them. Ryan takes off down the track, Lexie right on his heels screaming obscenities.

Lexie is probably the only girl who doesn’t hang out with… well, the girls. But she’s not a total flirt. I mean, she bats her eyes at Sean Dixon every twenty seconds, but the guy is hot, so I don’t blame her. Not
my
type. My type is currently picking up the water bottle Ryan dropped and examining it.

Nate Hatfield’s brow furrows and his jaw
moves up and down like he’s clucking his tongue. He scratches his dark hair that looks soft as a feather and flicks the cap off the bottle. To anyone else, that water bottle would be trash, but to him, I know he’s thinking of some brilliant way to use it for an illusion.

My cheeks blossom with warmth when his eyes flick up and catch me staring. Oiy… how many times is this? Eight million? I force a big smile and wave,
then I turn back to my final stretch before I start cartwheeling the crap out of this turf.

“You want to do a lap?” Cindy asks, and I shake my head, pigtails swinging off my shoulders. She shrugs and starts toward the track, nearly running into Ryan as he turns around
and throws a charging Lexie over his shoulder. Seriously, those two… I can never tell if they’re dating, or if they’re just friends, or if they’re head-over-heels in love.

I’m one of four girls left on the small piece of grass we’ve claimed for our tumbling. Mindy Peters is amazing, she’s already doing a back-flip double twisty something or other,
and Kiki Oliver does a handspring, landing pretty solidly for it being grass. Me? I can rock a handstand. I just don’t want to do anything else today.

That, and
it’s hard enough being around Nate in gym. Physical activity makes me sweat so much I can ring the armpits of my gym shirt and fill a jug. Or two.

So not attractive.

I turn around, stuffing my stomach butterflies into a jar. Better keep those suckers under control.

The grass is a little wet since I got stuck in first period gym. I do a quick cartwheel, but with my shorts riding up my butt and not enough stretches, I slip on the landing and fall straight on my rear. Kiki lets out a high-pitched laugh and rubs it in by doing a double backhand spring. Show off.

I fold myself in half and growl into my knees. The stretch in my hamstring feels good, so I press farther down till my face is grazing the grass and my fingers latched on my toes. Ah, there we go. Releasing my feet, I lie flat on my back, placing my hands by my ears and do a quick bridge. My shirt is pulling up at my bellybutton, and if I hold it much longer I’ll be giving the guys a great show. My sports bra isn’t extremely effective.

Once I’m back on my feet, I shake my arms and legs loose, loving the feel of after-stretched limbs. I’m going to kick this cartwheel’s booty.

I take in a long breath, hold it, and then fling my body into the air.

Thwack!

“Aiy!” Nate cries as I tumble to the ground, foot throbbing. When my world turns right-side-up, his hand flies over his nose, eyes watering to the brim.

“Omigosh omigosh omigosh,” I sputter, crawling over to him. I don’t know what possesses me to pull him to my level, but I yank on his gym shorts, urging him to a crouch. “Sorry, I didn’t see you. Lemme see—”

“Immmokay,” he muffles through his fingers. I tap my hand over his, tingles shooting through my skin as we make contact. He quirks a semi-smile when I coax his hand from his face. No blood. Thank heavens.

“I’m so sorry,” I say again, totally breathless. “I was in the zone, and I didn’t see you, and normally I’m really observant, but I fell on my butt and I wanted to prove to all those tumbler girls I could do a simple cartwheel, but I guess that didn’t work and I ended up…oh my gosh, like seriously, I’m sorry. I should be restricted from doing any physical activity ever ever ever.”

Nate’s gorgeous face blooms red, and he offers a shaking hand out to me. “No, I-I shoulda announced myself or something. It’s okay. Really.”

He helps me to my feet, tiny pops crackle through my palm making my stretched limbs wobble.

“Glad I didn’t break your face.” I laugh. Oh my freaking heavens, I sound like a hyena.

Nate’s lip turns up at the corner. I love how it makes these teeny tiny crinkles by his crystal eyes. My mouth is hanging open.
Whoops!

“Yeah, me too.” His eyes latch with mine for the most amazing half a second of my life then he’s suddenly really interested in the grass by our feet. “So, uh… I noticed you can touch your toes.”

What the what? “You were watching me stretch?”

He nods. “You’re way flexible.”

“Thanks.” Wait… was that a compliment?

His eyes keep flicking up to mine then back to the grass like he’s not sure which one he’s talking to. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. I can’t stop the smile from stretching across my lips.

“I know this is gonna sound weird,” he says, “but you know the talent assembly coming up?”

“Sure.” Everyone knows about the junior talent show.
Freshman get the play. Sophomores get the Silver Wolf Olympics (I totally won the silver in Jell-O wrestling last year. Seniors get the ski trip. And juniors have the talent show.

“Well, uh, I made the last cut.”

“Awesome,” I say, and totally mean it. I’ve been not-so-discreetly admiring Nate’s illusions since I first caught eye of him our freshman year.

“Thing is… there’s a couple tricks I want to do, and I need an assistant.” His voice starts shaking. “A-and she needs to be… flexible.”

My feet bounce before I can stop them. I nearly jump on him as I squeal, “Of course! I’d love to help out. Anything you want.” Oh… maybe one step too far.

But he smiles and he says, “Great” like it really is great and then I curse the gym coach for blowing the whistle. Time to rack in.

“Um, I’ll catch you later? Maybe I can get your number. You know, for practices and stuff.”

“Yeah, definitely.”

“Awesome.” He turns toward the school, the wind blowing his short black hair. “Thanks.”

“It’s no prob—”

“Nate, help me out, man!” Ryan shouts from across the field. Lexie has one of his shoes and starts running toward the girls’ locker room. A giggle slips past my lips and Nate shoots me an apologetic glance, then jogs off after Lexie. I watch his butt the whole way.

***

My locker is in the worst place in this school—the one right by the exit. It’s nowhere near any classes, and I have to book it everywhere I go or carry every book I own.

So I don’t understand why someone would travel all the way to my locker—every day—just to slip notes in the top slat.

I bite back my smile as I open the crumpled blue notepaper.

Caela Sculptoris, the sculptor’s chisel. It was the closest constellation to the name “Kaylee” I could find. The brightest star in it is called Alpha Caeli. Seems fitting, I think.

A tiny sigh flits through my lips and I lean back against my locker. How many months does this make? Four? Five? I don’t know, but whoever this guy is, he sure is dedicated. And shy. Because after five months of notes in my locker, I’d think he’d have the guts to actually talk to me.

Marcus Clegg turns the corner, and he shakes his head when he spots me with my blue paper.

“Another one, huh?” He flicks the combination on the locker next to mine. “Girl, whoever that boy is has got it bad for you.”

“Maybe someone is just making my day a little bit brighter.”

“Mmmhmm.” His dark eyes roll and he pulls his bright green English folder out. “I still say we do detective work and find his sweet ass.”

“How do you know he has one?” I shut my locker with a smile.

“I’ve read some of those sweet nothings. He’s funny and ba-rilliant—like moi. So a sweet ass comes with the territory.”

“You are so right!” I shove his shoulder. “You track down all the adorable male butts in this school and let me know what you find.”

“Gladly.”

“Al
l right, I gotta run. I expect a report in fourth!”

He waves at me and I spin the corner, not able to stop my mind from running with my legs. I wouldn’t be lying if I wanted the notes to be from Nate.

But I don’t want to get my hopes up either.