Beach Side Beds and Sandy Paths (3 page)

Once Grams gets Lex’s butt at the table, she shoves the soup in my hand and mutters some gibberish about how I shouldn’t lie my rear off to my girlfriend, and how I better be civilized and not break any more pictures. My voice gets caught in my throat, making me sputter a defense that
he
started it. But Pop-pop puts his hands on my shoulders and pushes me into the chair next to Lex. Brett slides in across from her, his face pulling into a stupidass smirk I’m ready to beat off him.

Lex jolts in her
seat, and Brett smiles wider.

“Whoops. Sorry, didn’t mean to step on your toes.”

“I-it’s okay.”

I kick him under the tabl
e.

“Shit!”
he says, rubbing his shin.

“Sorry
,” I grunt, even though I’m not.

Pop-pop takes his spot at the head of the table. “You’re damn lucky May isn’t in here. Shitty language like that doesn’t fly—”

“Jack!”

Brett stifles his laughter
as Grams smacks Pop-pop with a spatula. Lex is too busy shooting me questions with her eyes, and I’m too busy contemplating on taking my fork and jabbing it into Brett’s hand to even manage a smile. Grams sits at the other end of the table, staring Pop-pop down. “Now say the prayer and ask for forgiveness on your soul.”

Lex clasp
s her hands together, shaking her head as she closes her eyes. Damn it. How much digging will I have to do to get out of this one?

Pop-pop grins
, unaware of all the tension in the air, and he snaps his eyes closed.

“Dear Lord, thank you for this meal and bless it to not poison our bodies. Heaven only knows wh
at May has cooked, and we’d like to stay on Earth and raise a little more hell before we pass on. Amen.”

An echoed
“amen” sounds across the table, followed by Lex’s light laughter and a thrown spoon at Pop-pop’s head.

“So, Ryan, hun,” Grams says,
wiggling her fingers for my plate. “Do you have any spring break trip details for us yet?”

I guess we’re going to ignore the fight Brett and I just had, the fight it looks like Lex and I are
going
to have, and just chit chat like there isn’t a pound of shit flying over our heads about to hit the ceiling fan.

“Nate and Ka
ylee’s car is full,” Lex answers, voice forced to a polite tone. “So I think—if Ryan can get the Lincoln running—we’ll be taking that while Nate and Kaylee are in Nate’s car.”

“Where’
s the beach house?” Grams asks before handing my plate over and getting Brett’s.

“It
’s a nineteen hour drive.” Lex looks at me. “But we’re splitting it up, right?”

I nod
, attempting a smile at my girlfriend since she’s finally looking at me without the eye daggers. “Nate booked a hotel room in St. George.”

“And his brother
, Nick… he’ll be at the beach house the whole time?” Pop-pop chimes in through a mouthful of food.

“Yeah.”
Nate’s brother will be there, but if Pop-pop and Grams knew that Nick will most likely throw the massive parties and only show up when he’s not locked in his bedroom with some random beach babe, they probably would glue my ass to the Colorado state line for the whole week.

“And you two won’t be sharing a room?”

Ah shit. My ears go up in smoke, and I can feel the scar on my eyebrow twitch. I start coughing on a stray piece of lettuce lodged in my throat.

Lex’s eyes
skim over my arm as I pound my chest, and she saves me.

“
Nope. Kaylee’s a much cleaner roommate than Ryan.”

It comes out clipped and for a moment I think, well shit, she might actually mean it. Her gaze latches onto mine and we have a silent conversation, lips twitching and eyebrows rising. Basically if I don’t tell her what the hell is going on, I might be sleeping next to Nate.

“MmmHmm,” Pop-pop says, and Brett snickers. First time he’s acknowledged any part of the conversation.

“The trip is in
a month, right sweetheart?” Grams asks.

“Yeah.” I wish
my ears would stop flaming. But it’s Lex this time who chokes on her salad.

“You okay?” I ask, rubbing her back.

She nods, forcing down the food in her throat. “Sorry… I-I just didn’t realize it was so soon.”

Brett leans forward, handing her water
, and I want to knock it out of his hands. You don’t talk shit about my family and then try to chum up to my girlfriend. But Lex takes it and downs a large gulp. Her eyes go back to her food, and she stabs another piece of lettuce, but doesn’t put it to her mouth.

“Uh… Lex. You sure you’re okay?” I ask again.

She looks up, and everyone is giving her the same confused as hell expression I’m sure I’m donning.

“Yeah, I was just… counting.” Her cheeks go pink
, and she’s back to playing with her food. I look up at Pop-pop who shrugs.

But it’s Grams who seems to get whatever the deal is with my girlfriend, her cheeks flaring pink as well.

“Next month,” Grams mutters through her flushed mouth. “Brett, what are you planning for spring break?”

Brett rubs the back of his head and mutters something at the table.
Grams leans in, but I slouch in my seat. I don’t give a shit what he’s planning, as long as I get the hell away from him.

“
Sorry, did you say Vegas?” Grams asks, then nods at me. “You’re driving right through there, aren’t you?” Her salad slides through her mouth and she shakes her head. “If you want to go back home for break, you’re not going alone. Maybe you should go with them.”

Brett shifts in his seat, and I’m trying to come up with excuses to leave his ass here, but he beats me to it.

“I was just kidding.” He flicks a crouton across his plate. “I don’t have any plans.”

Grams turns
to Pop-pop and starts having a silent conversation similar to the one Lex and I just had. Lex sets her fork down and strokes my knuckles. Whoa… when did I start gripping the tablecloth?

Pop-pop takes a drink,
then nods at Brett. “You should go with them anyway. Probably a lot more fun than hanging out with us old folks.”

My grip tightens on the tablecloth making Lex’s fingers tighten over mine.

He wants him to
what
?

Brett takes a few seconds to answer, flicking his gaze to me. I jerk my head because
hell no
is he ruining this trip.

“That sounds cool.” His grin widens at me, as my mouth tightens at the corners and my hands
fist so tight in the tablecloth Brett’s plate starts inching in my direction.

“Great!
” Grams says. “I’ll call Nate’s parents and double check if that’s all right. You okay with that, Ryan?”

No.
Hell no
. But the look I get from Grams says if I say what I’m thinking, I won’t be going either. And shit, that would kill Lex. She’s been waiting for this trip since we planned it in February. A chance to “take advantage of another king-sized bed.” Hell, I want that too.

Without answering, I stand up, the chair scraping across the wooden floor
, and bolt from the room. I pull at my hair, holding in the urge to hit something. I’m halfway down the hall to my room before I remember…I just left Lex.

I turn around fast
, and end up smacking right into her.

“Sorry,” we both say,
then she laughs… just a little. Her arms wrap around my torso. My eyebrows shoot upward.

“
You’re not mad?” I ask.

“Oh, I’m pissed.” Her arms tighten around me. “So talk before I change my mind on just
how
pissed I am.”

I knew this conversation would be coming, but I’m not prepared to answer. A prickle rises up behind my eyes
, and I squeeze them shut to force it back.

“I’m sorry,” I say
, and everything pours out. The affair. The almost abortion. But when I get to actually having a conversation with him, my voice cuts off. I hate that he said those things about my dad, and I don’t want to repeat the words. Ever. My hands run over her back and I sigh. “I should’ve told you. I didn’t even know I had a brother…
half
-brother… till he showed up the other day.”

“You should’ve told me. I think I’m pretty good at making you feel better.” She smiles against me, her lips tugging my shirt. “He doesn’t seem that bad, though.”

“I didn’t think he was either, but… we just don’t get along.”

“It’s been two days.”
She laughs and wiggles her nose against mine. “Did you like me in two days?”

“Hell yeah,” I say, finally f
eeling a real smile on my lips.

“Well, it took me forever to like you,” she teases, and I tuck a loose strand of brown hair behind her ear and kiss her. I wonder if she knows just how damn perfect she is. That she’s always my best friend first.

Her tongue slides into my mouth followed by a long moan and m
y mind erases the evening. I grab onto her neck, shove her against the wall, and force our rhythm into frantic need. I don’t even remember what the hell I was even mad about—

“Whoa! Get a room, yeah?”

I feel Lex’s face burn up as she pulls from me. How did my hand get in her shirt? How did hers land in my back pocket?

She puts about five feet between us,
looking straight at the floor.

“I-I’m gonna go.”

“Don’t leave ‘cause of me.” Brett smiles and blocks her way. “I don’t blame the big bro for copping a feel either.”

He checks her out, eyeing Lex’s long, sexy legs peeking from her miniskirt. I can’t believe I didn’t do that first thing, because damn, she looks amazing. She
always
looks amazing, but it looks like she, I don’t know, dressed up for soup?

But that outfit is for me, damn i
t.

“Um, thanks… I guess.” Lex grabs my hand and tugs me with her to the door. Brett nudges my shoulder with his as I pass, and if Lex wasn’t death-gripping my fingers, I’d have punched him.

I walk her out on the porch, hoping for some privacy, even though I know Grams and Pop-pop are watching from the window.

“Sorry about
that.”

She shrugs. “He’s gotta be like, fifteen?”

“Sixteen.”

“Horny boys. You were the sam
e way.”

I laugh, letting myself enjoy her and not kick my brother’s ass for eyeing my girlfriend. Leaning in, I breathe into her ear. “I’m
still
that way.”

Her cheeks go pink, and she wraps her arms around my neck. “Go to your room the second I leave.”

“What?”

She lets go, a sexy sparkle in her eye. “Just do it.”

Okay…

Before I even get two steps in the house, Brett pokes his head from his room. “You
know, spring break with you? I’d rather poison myself. But if she’s coming… maybe it’ll be worth it.”

His door slams just as I get there, ready to pound my fist in his face. I put a hole in the wood instead.

“Ryan!”

Grams looks half pissed, half terrified as she looks at the new design I added to their house. My knuckles are red, not bloody, but bruised as hell. Pop-pop stares at me, his mouth turned downward.

“Room. Now.”

I’ve been grounded twice my whole life. Never once by my grandparents. But right now, I’ll take being locked in my room over dealing with any of them.

“Ryan!” Pop-pop growls as I swing my door open. “You’re patching that up tomorrow. As well as that picture frame you broke.”

I nod once and
slam my door behind me. Shaking and unable to control anything, I knock all the crap on my dresser to the floor, then pace, running my hands through my hair. They don’t get it. They think having a brother is the best thing in the world. “Finally, family!” Shit. If he wasn’t a dick, maybe it’d be better. But then again, maybe not. He barges in here thinking his life is shit and mine is so much better because his mom left him for me.

Well, she left me
, too.

A tap echoes through my room. Ah, hell. I forgot about Lex. How could I forget about Lex…
again
?

I pull open the blinds and there she is, big evil grin on her flushed face
. She taps my window again, and I slide it up, grasping her face as she stumbles into my arms. I know she has something to say. About my brother or the trip or dinner, but I don’t want any of that. I can’t deal with it. I just want her. I need her to wipe it away so it’s as if it never happened—like she did earlier. It worked wonders.

With our lips pressed together, my mind goes to her and only her. The way her tongue moves against mine, the way her fingers tug at my collar, the way she folds into me like I’m the only thing keeping her from falling. I like that. How I’m the one who keeps her upright.
Because she sure as hell is that person for me.