Fall: A Seaside Novel (The Seaside Series) (20 page)

“So?”

“Is he?”

Angelica popped her gum in the phone. “Yes, but how do you even know that?”

“I know it because he just told me and within the same breath may have mentioned dating another girl. An innocent girl.” I swallowed. “Ang, she’s not like us.”

She sighed heavily into the phone. “Local girl?”

“Pastor’s daughter.”

“Serious?”

“She’s pretty.”

“Well, no shit, Jay. I think it’s probably the same girl he was with last week. Alright, so why are you calling me?”

“Are you guys getting back together?”

“Not that it’s any of your business.” She snapped her gum. “But possibly. We just have a lot of drama to work out. It’s not easy dating a civilian.”

I laughed at that.

“Jay, why are you really calling?”

“I like her.”

Why the hell I was telling Angelica this? No idea.

“Shut the hell up!” She burst out laughing. “Aw, Jay, I almost feel sorry for you.”

“Don’t.”

“Fine.” She huffed out an exasperated breath. “You’re lucky I turned over a new leaf.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. I’m no longer evil. I traded in my magic wand and everything.”

“You had a wand?”

“It was white.” She sighed. “And filled with magic I snorted every freaking day until sunset.” I heard her honk her horn and curse. “At any rate. I’m over it. Where did they go?”

“Out to eat.”

“Duh, you said lunch, do you know where?”

“No, But I can find out.”

“Find out and text me.”

“I thought you put away your magic wand.”

Angelica cackled. “Yeah, I put it away. The drugs are gone but I’ve still got bitch written all over me. You want the girl. I want the guy. I’m just going to help things along.”

“And by help you mean… me?”

“And me.” She snorted. “I’m not entirely selfless.”

“I would never accuse you of such a thing, believe me.”

“Nice.”

I swallowed my pride. “Thanks, Angelica.”

With a heavy sigh she answered. “Well, you’re hot so I can’t really say no. And you were one of the only guys in the last year who didn’t try to murder me in my sleep, so I figure I owe you.”

“I’ll text you in a minute.”

“Sounds good. I’m headed downtown now.”

I hung up and quickly got on my messages.

Me:
What are you doing?

Priscilla S:
Driving to get food.

Me:
Where?

Priscilla S:
Um, Seaside? Where I live.

Me:
Silly, what restaurant?
I wanna look it up on Google Earth.

Priscilla S:
Creepy hobby, and it’s called Seaside Brewery.

Dammit! The same place I had taken her?

Me:
Oh cool.

I clicked over to my text messaging.

Me:
Seaside Brewery right off Main.

Angelica:
Great beer. Love that place. Cool, be there in ten.

The minute she sent me that last text, my heart dropped to my stomach. What the hell was I doing?

It was Angelica, what if she made a scene? What if it embarrassed Priscilla? And then my heart started hammering harder. What if it broke her heart? And it was because of me?

Dammit! I quickly locked up and ran out of the store.

Chapter Thirty-One

Priscilla

Was it wrong to think of Jaymeson and only Jaymeson while I watched Smith order the exact same beer and sit in the exact same spot we had just three days before?

Not one to mess with destiny, I ordered fish and chips. Again.

“So what are your plans tonight?” I casually took a sip of water as Smith cleared his throat and broke eye contact.

“Grandma.” He nodded. “Helping her walk the dog.”

I laughed. “That’s sweet.”

“Well.” He shrugged in an
aw-shucks
way and reached for my hand. “She’s adorable and we usually spend one night a week hanging out.”

Okay, so he took his grandma’s dog on a walk for her? And voluntarily spent time with her? He earned extra points for that.

His face fell.

“What?” I squeezed his hand. “What is it?”

“Nothing.” He laced his fingers in mine. “I just wish I was hanging out with you, that’s all.”

“Well, why don’t we hang out afterwards?”

“There’s an idea.” He smiled. “How about I text you when I’m done with her?”

I nodded and released his hand as the food was brought to our table. I was just about ready to grab a fry when Smith started choking.

“Are you okay?” I reached for him, but he jerked away and stood, still coughing.

“Asshole!” a feminine voice all but shouted, gaining attention from other patrons of the restaurant. “What do we have here?”

It was the girl from the first night we’d gone on a date. The famous one. Angelica, I think.

“Hi,” I said cheerfully.

“You poor thing. I almost feel sorry for you.” The way she said it wasn’t mean. It was almost like she pitied me and wanted to rescue me at the same time. She patted my hand and gave it a squeeze then turned her full attention to Smith.

“Make your choice.”

“But—”

Angelica released my hand and smacked him on the shoulder. “I won’t ask again. Either we make this work or I walk.”

“Make this work?” I repeated, my mind unable to figure out what the heck was going on.

And then Jaymeson ran into the restaurant nearly colliding with a waitress as he made his way over to our table. “Bloody hell.”

“You did this!” Smith reached around Angelica trying to grab Jaymeson.

He took a step back and sneered. “You did this to yourself!”

“Let’s go, Pris.” Smith reached for my hand but I jerked back. Horrified, by what was taking place. Could I trust anyone?

“She doesn’t want you!” Jaymeson shouted. “Just leave her alone. Haven’t you done enough?”

“Me?” Smith’s eyes widened.

“Stop.” Angelica held up her hands. “Damn, I’ve never been accused of being the voice of reason.” She turned to me. “Look, local girl, I’m Smith’s ex, and we’ve been dating on and off for eight months. We were going to meet tonight since I was back in town meeting my counselor for the weekend. This guy…” She pointed to Jaymeson. “…panicked, and called me because the idiot I used to call my boyfriend let it slip about who I was. And… yeah, I think you’re all caught up.”

I was so embarrassed I almost couldn’t speak. Jaymeson had rejected me, Smith was basically occupying himself with me until Angelica was back, and that left me.

Alone.

And ashamed.

And feeling like a fool.

“Excuse me.” I stood, grabbed my purse, and walked to the bathroom, locking myself inside. Tears poured down my face as I tried to catch my breath, but it felt like my chest was going to explode.

“Pris!” Jaymeson knocked. “Pris, I know you’re in there. Come out, love, we need to talk. We should talk.”

“Give me a minute.”

“Fine, but if you don’t come out I’m just going to stalk you.”

“Jamie Hudson Jaymeson!” a voice shouted. “Get your ass over here and say thank you.”

I froze.

Jamie Hudson Jaymeson?

Jamie Hudson?

Oh no, no, no, no, no. With shaking hands I pulled out my phone and looked at my instant messages.

Jamie Hudson.

LA.

Movie Industry.

Feeling like I was going to be sick I leaned over the sink and gripped it with my hands.

“I’m back,” Jaymeson said softly. “I’m not leaving until you come out.”

He wanted me to come out?

Fine.

Me:
Rough day.

I wanted to swear. No wonder he always knew where I was, and what I was doing. It was almost like he could read my mind.

Jamie Hudson:
Aw, babe what happened?

I pulled open the door and glared.

“Some asshole pretended to be my friend, lied to me, lied to me some more, and then rejected me… oh, I don’t know, is it three times now?” I grabbed his phone out of his hand and slammed it onto the ground shattering it on contact.

“Pris, I can explain—”

“Go to hell, Jaymeson.”

****

Her cowboy boots slammed against the wood floor as she walked out of the restaurant, away from me, away from the fake me.

Leaving me with nothing.

“Ouch.” Angelica whistled. “What did you do? Try to take her pants off?”

“No.” My voice broke. “I lied.”

“Was it a big lie?” Angelica asked curiously. I noticed that Smith was nowhere to be seen.

“Huge.”

“Want a beer?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I want a do-over.”

Angelica’s face fell. “Jay, I’m not Dr. Phil, but maybe you should go after her, try to explain why you did what you did.”

“That’s just it.” I sighed. “I did it out of purely selfish reasons — and I can’t even feel sorry, because lying to her was the best time I’ve had with a girl. She didn’t treat me any different, she treated me like I was normal.”

Angelica’s hand moved to my shoulder. “Not to be a smart ass, but looks to me like she treated you pretty normal when she stormed out of here.”

I gave her a small smile. “Thanks, Ang.”

“Yeah, well…” She rolled her eyes. “New leaf.”

“I like this leaf.”

Her smile was warm. “I do too.”

With a sigh I stared at the door. “What do I do now?”

“It’s called apologizing. Men often engage in such activities after they’ve stuck their own foot in their mouths.”

“Great. And just how do I go about doing…
that
.”

“Truth.” Ang slapped my back. “Always the way to go.”

“And if she doesn’t listen?”

She held up her hand. “That part I do know. You kiss her.”

“I kiss her even when she’s mad?”

“You may get slapped.” She shrugged. “But it will be worth it.”

“Alright.” I stared at the door. “I’m going into the lion’s den.”

“Go get ’em, England.”

I made it as far as the door before turning around. “Where did Smith go?”

“He made a grand exit.” Angelica’s face lit up with humor. “And I flipped him off when his back was turned.”

“Dysfunctional.”

“Always.” She winked. “Now go get your woman.”

I saluted and ran to my car.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Priscilla

I walked to my house.

I just wanted to be home. I didn’t want to be at my cousin’s condo and I didn’t want to be anywhere near Jaymeson. He’d just try to break in now that he knew where the stupid key was. And I was pretty sure that if he started talking to me, I’d cry.

And I’d just suffered enough embarrassment to last me forever.

Sucking my tears in, I finally made it to my house and froze.

Construction workers were everywhere.

“Um…” I grabbed the first hard hat to walk by me. “What’s going on?”

He gave me a curious look. “There was a fire, we’re fixing the house.”

“I know there was a fire. It’s my house.”

His face lit up. “Oh, well did you want to see our progress?”

“No, that’s fine.” I crossed my arms and chewed my lower lip as people filed in and out of the house. “Do you know who’s in charge?”

“You’re looking at him.”

“Oh.” I shook my head. “Sorry, long day, um, so who told you to work on the house? Is this some sort of community donation or something?”

“Sorry.” He gave an apologetic smile. “I’ve gotta get back to work, the guy who’s paying us said we’d get bonuses if we finished early.”

“Who’s paying you?” I yelled as he walked away.

“Sorry!” He shrugged. “I’m not supposed to say. Have a great day!” He waved and disappeared into the house.

With nowhere to go, I dug my keys out of my purse and got into my car. I was too numb to be excited about the house.

At this point I didn’t care.

You know how when you’re little and nervous to talk in front of people — the advice is always to imagine everyone naked?

Well. I felt naked and exposed. How could he? How could he pretend to be my friend online for months? And then not tell me! I felt so stupid, all those times I was talking about Jaymeson, about missing him. My heart beat wildly. I had actually been talking to him.

And when I’d asked for advice.

Tears of embarrassment stung my eyes until I couldn’t hold them in anymore. The worst part? He knew every vulnerable thing about me. Everything. Jaymeson had cut me open and filleted me alive.

He’d pushed me into the arms of another guy only to be witness to that same guy basically cheating on me.

Nobody enjoys feeling unwanted, and maybe I was feeling extra sorry for myself, but how was it fair that Jaymeson acted the way he did?

He kept me close, he kissed me, he slept in the same bed — all without touching me. It was like he refused to let me go.

I needed him to let me go.

I needed to cut whatever string held us together.

With shaking hands I parked at the condo and pulled up my Facebook profile.

Delete.

Still trembling, I clicked through my photos from the wedding on my phone, and deleted every last one where Jaymeson was present.

My legs may as well have been lead as I walked up the stairs to the condo. Feeling like I was going to puke, I hurried and grabbed the key from under the pig and let myself in.

Fresh tears streamed down my cheeks as I slowly made my way into the kitchen, only to find Jaymeson sitting at the breakfast bar.

“Don’t go,” he whispered without turning around. His hands were wrapped around a mug.

“If I stay — then you need to go.”

“If you stay,” he repeated, lifting his head. I could see the muscles tense in his back. Did he have to be so perfect? Was he really that bored with his life? So bored that he needed to use me as entertainment?

“I’m not apologizing,” he finally said.

Seriously?

“I love your curves. I love your smile. Your hands. Even your feet. I love every piece of you — every piece fits perfectly together to make you who you are.”