Until Alex - J. Nathan Page 0,63
light. Now I could distinguish the tall white structure in all its glory, protecting sailors on their long journeys. At least today I didn’t need a lighthouse to protect me. I had Hayden. “Nothing’s going to ruin how much I love the beach. I could stay here forever.”
Hayden pointed down the shore. “We could probably set you up a nice little tent down there.”
“Yeah, right. You’d be lost if I didn’t live across the hall.”
He reclined on his elbows so our shoulders were even. “Oh, you think so?”
“I know so. Where else would you show up drunk knocking?”
“Drunk knocking?”
My eyes squeezed shut. I wanted him to remember on his own. There goes that. “Yeah, some people drunk dial. You drunk knock.” I glanced to him. His eyes, with their damp lashes clumped together, were locked on mine. It seemed like the perfect moment to discuss what occurred the previous night or make out until we were both delirious.
My eyes dared him to make the first move, but his seemed to be doing the same. We stayed in a stare down, our chests rising and falling, for a long intense moment.
“So, how’d you get the girls out of your apartment?” Sarcasm spewed from my mouth so casually sometimes it surprised even me.
His lips tightened. His eyes broke from mine and stared out at the horizon. “You weren’t supposed to see that.”
“Why not?”
He shrugged.
“That’s not much of an answer.”
He looked back, his eyes searching my face.
“Say it,” I urged.
“What?”
“Whatever it is you want to say. I’m here. I’ll listen. I’ll tell you you’re stupid. I’ll make revolted faces. I’ll disagree with you. Just say something.”
He sat up, wrapping his arms around his knees. It left me with a view of his back and that disturbing tattoo. “I don’t want you going to that dance tonight.”
A frustrated breath whooshed out of me. We were back to that? “Seriously, Hayden. You can’t tell me not to go.”
He clenched his fist around his water, crackling the plastic bottle. Then with a scary roar, he hurled it down the beach.
I sat up, pushing myself back on my towel. Sure, his temper unsettled me. But the fact that he ignored my question about the girls, and then had the nerve to get mad at me for going to the dance, gave me the green light to unleash my own anger. “What are you so upset about? You didn’t have to see me bring two guys home.”
His eyes remained on the horizon, but his jaw clenched, his teeth grinding together. “I slept with you, didn’t I?”
“Did you? Because you weren’t there when I woke up.” It took everything in me not to get up and leave, liked he’d done to me on more than one occasion. But for some reason, some reason I couldn’t control, I needed him to understand. “Hayden, you can’t not want me, but get angry when—”
His eyes shot over his shoulder. “I never said I didn’t want you.”
A tidal wave swelled in my belly. And while I loved his vulnerability, his words had the opposite effect on my head. Confusing me. Frustrating me. Infuriating me. I couldn’t take anymore. “Stop it. Just stop it.”
Vertical lines creased between his brows. His damn puppy dog eyes were enough to send me over the edge. “What?”
I threw my hand out at him. “Stop looking at me like that. Stop saying nice things to me. Stop being possessive over me. Stop treating me like I’m something precious then ignore me at school. And stop rescuing me.” The last I wanted to take back the second it left my lips. Because if he didn’t rescue me, who would?
He looked hurt. He looked hurt. The irony.
“I was stupid to agree to your terms. Agree to not ask questions or be seen with you. Because that’s just not me.”
He looked genuinely perplexed. “Then why did you?”
I drank in his beautiful face. Sometimes he looked like a lost little boy in need of love. This was one of those times. “Isn’t it obvious?”
He shook his head, his eyes staring blankly at me for a long moment. Then, as if I’d explained it to his satisfaction, he sat back on his elbows. His attention shifted back to the water. “I’m taking you.”
My head recoiled. “What?”
“To the dance.”
“Now I know you’re crazy.”
He shot me a sidelong glance. “You don’t want to go with me?”
I watched the seagulls swoop overhead, as my mind worked to keep up with his split personalities. I looked over at