Until Alex - J. Nathan Page 0,61

“Would you like to come next time I go up to your parents’ vineyard? Or maybe Austin?”

The mere mention of the vineyard and Austin brought on an onslaught of anguish. The memories. The pain. The people. The heartache. How could I ever be expected to return to places that were no longer home? “I don’t think so.”

She nodded, like she already anticipated my response. “Well, you just tell me when you’re ready. Obviously, there’s a lot to be done. I was going to grab some of your things, but I didn’t want to go riffling through your personal effects.”

“Thanks.” That word again. This woman single-handedly took charge of not only caring for me, but running my parents’ vineyard, settling their estate, and maintaining their home—after what they’d done to her. And all I could say was thanks.

Unfortunately, her broaching the subject at all gave me the sinking feeling that once I turned twenty-one in a couple weeks, she expected me to take over those responsibilities. I wished she’d realize that nothing involving me getting dropped back into my old life, surrounded by people who hated me and memories of my parents at every turn, was part of my plan.

But where did that leave me?

In an apartment with a woman I barely knew. Waking up on a sofa after being abandoned by a guy I barely knew. A guy who probably regretted his drunken confessions.

He was probably with the sluts right now. Unless, of course, I constructed the entire night in my head. Then I just walked the fine line between stable and crazy.

Could things get any worse?

I fell back onto the sofa and closed my eyes, needing time to regroup. Time to get my head back in check. Time to slip away from the here and now.

The moment was short-lived, interrupted by a persistent knocking on the front door. A gust of wind accompanied my aunt as she moved by me.

“Oh, good, you’re up.”

My eyes snapped open. Hayden, with damp hair and board shorts on, stood in the hallway eyeing me over my aunt’s shoulder with a devilish grin.

My aunt twisted toward me with inquisitive eyes. I wanted to shrug my confusion, but waited to hear what Hayden planned to say.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I’m taking Alex to the beach.”

“You are?” my aunt and I asked.

Hayden flashed that slow sexy grin. “I am.”

I stared across the room into the depths of his blue eyes, like they spoke something only I could understand. Maybe I had it right. Maybe he really was crazy.

HAYDEN

We hit minimal traffic on the highway to the coast. Though we’d been in my truck for ten minutes, Alex hadn’t spoken a single word. She just gazed out her window at the passing scenery like I wasn’t even there.

Picking the perfect time to break the silence, my stomach growled like a caged bear.

“What? No greasy feast this morning?” Alex’s eyes remained out the window.

I peeked over, taking in the strapless cotton dress she wore over a teal bikini that tied behind her neck. I couldn’t wait to see the rest of it. “Why would I need a greasy feast?”

“Oh, I don’t know. To help your hangover.”

I laughed. “I’m not hung over.”

She scoffed.

“I’m not.”

When I woke in Alex’s apartment, with her snuggled into my side, my head felt foggy. But when I found those two girls in my bed, the haze wore off and the night’s events came flooding back.

I guess I couldn’t blame Alex for her silence. I would’ve given me the cold shoulder, too.

At least I had one thing going for me. If she really hated me, really thought there was no redemption for my dark soul, she never would’ve agreed to come along with me.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see her watching curiously as we passed the beach entrance without turning into the lot. I drove another hundred yards then turned onto the dead end road at the end, parking my truck by a solid oak fence that blocked the view of the beach.

“What are we doing?”

I slipped my truck into park. “Erasing your memory.”

“Once wasn’t enough?”

I held back a smile. I knew the girl I’d met back in August, the one I’d come to know—come to care about—was in there somewhere. I’d take a small glimpse if that’s all I got. “We’re gonna replace those bad memories with some new ones.”

Alex turned toward me. And for the first time that day, her features softened and gratitude shone in her