Heart Bones - Colleen Hoover Page 0,19
plate and walks it to the sink. “I’m tired.”
Well. Now that Samson isn’t going, I want to go.
“Don’t be rude,” Sara says. “You’re coming.”
“Yeah, you’re coming,” Marcos adds.
I can see Samson glance at me out of the corner of his eye. At least he seems as disinterested in me as I am in him. Sara starts walking toward the door.
“Let me grab some shoes,” I mutter, and head back upstairs.
Apparently, there isn’t a Walmart on Bolivar Peninsula, which means you have to take the ferry to Galveston Island. It makes no sense to me. You have to take a ferry from the mainland to an island to do any shopping. This place is confusing.
The ferry takes approximately twenty minutes to get from here to there. As soon as Marcos parked the car, everyone got out. Sara noticed I hadn’t opened my door, so she opened it for me. “Come on, let’s go to the top deck,” she said.
It wasn’t really an invite so much as a command.
We’ve been standing up here for less than five minutes and Sara and Marcos have already snuck off, leaving me alone with Samson. It’s getting late, probably around nine thirty, which makes for a mostly empty ferry. We’re both staring out over the water, pretending this isn’t awkward at all. But it is, because I don’t know what to say. I have nothing in common with this guy. He has nothing in common with me. We’ve already had two less-than-stellar interactions since I arrived a few hours ago. That’s two more than I’d like.
“I get the feeling they’re trying to set us up,” Samson says.
I glance over at him, but he’s staring out at the water. “It’s not a feeling. It’s a fact.”
He nods, but says nothing. I don’t know why he brought it up. Maybe to clear the air. Or maybe he’s entertaining the idea.
“Just so you know, I’m not interested,” I say. “And not the kind of not interested where I hope you still pursue me because I like games. I’m legit not interested. Not just in you, but in people in general, really.”
He smirks, but still doesn’t look over at me. It’s like he’s too good for eye contact. “I don’t remember expressing my interest,” he says coolly.
“You didn’t not express interest, so I’m putting it out there. Just so we’re clear.”
His eyes find mine with a slow turn of his head. “Thanks for clearing up something that wasn’t even confusing in the first place.”
My God, he is good-looking. Even when he’s being an asshole.
I can feel my cheeks burning. I quickly glance away, not sure how to come back from this. Every encounter I’ve had with him has been humiliating and I’m not sure if that’s his fault or mine.
I think it might be mine for allowing myself to get embarrassed by him. You can’t really be embarrassed in the presence of someone whose opinion you don’t give two shits about. That has to mean that somewhere inside me, I give a shit what he thinks.
Samson pushes off the railing and stands up straight. I’m tall for a girl. Five-ten. But even at my height, he towers over me. He has to be at least six-three. “Friends it is, then,” he says, shoving his hands in his pockets.
I unintentionally let out a dry laugh. “People like you aren’t friends with people like me.”
He tilts his head a little. “That’s a bit presumptuous.”
“Says the guy who assumed I was homeless.”
“You ate bread off the ground.”
“I was hungry. You’re rich, you wouldn’t understand.”
His eyes narrow a bit, then he looks out at the ocean again. He stares so hard at it, it’s like it’s speaking to him. Giving him silent answers to all his silent questions.
Samson eventually looks away from both me and the water. “I’m going back to the car.”
I watch him disappear down the stairs.
I don’t know why I’m so defensive around him. After all, if he really did think I was homeless, he didn’t ignore that. He offered me money. There must be a soul in there somewhere.
Maybe I’m the soulless one in this situation.
SIX
To say I was relieved when Marcos and Samson split apart from us when we arrived at the store is an understatement. I’ve only been in Texas for a few hours and too much of that time has been spent in Samson’s presence.
“What else do you need besides clothes?” Sara asks me as we walk through the health and beauty section.
“Pretty much everything,” I say.