HIDDEN CREEK KISS: a hidden creek high novel, page 21
I set up blankets on the floor in front of the fire and we sat there, her head on my shoulder, watching the flames move the way we would always watch the waves move.
“Can you do something for me, Elijah?”
“I can do anything for you, babe.”
“This BC stuff… does it really matter?”
“I figured we wouldn’t talk about serious shit up here, Nova.”
“I just watched you glue antlers to a dead animal’s head so we could hang it back up on a wall… I think we need serious for a minute.”
“Okay,” I said. “I can let anything go but you.”
“I mean it,” she said. She lifted her head and her gaze to me. “I really mean it.”
I gently touched her chin. “Nova, if they leave me alone, I’ll leave them alone. I don’t need to prove anymore points. Okay?”
“Swear on your life.”
“I swear on my life, babe.”
“Swear on my life,” she said.
“I swear on your life,” I said.
“I don’t want anyone else hurt.”
“Neither do I,” I said. “Truthfully, all I wanted was to make sure they knew I had nothing to do with whatever my brother was doing. They sent me a note, Nova. They made contact first. I just wanted to end it. If Ryland did something that made it so he…” I swallowed hard. “I mean, I’m not the police. I’m not going to catch the killer. It’s not my business.”
“Thank you,” Nova said.
She leaned in to kiss me.
When her lips touched mine, I said, “My turn.”
“For what?”
“You do something for me.”
“What?” Nova asked, looking pissed.
“Don’t get mean with me, babe,” I said.
“Just say it.”
“Your mother.”
“No.”
“Nova.”
“What?”
“Listen to what Cherry said, okay?”
“And do what? Apologize for trashing her SUV?”
“Fuck no,” I said. “I say we keep trashing the vehicles. It’s fun.”
“That’s because you’re messed up in the head.”
“Messed up enough to love a girl like you,” I said.
Nova elbowed me. “Asshole.”
“I’m being serious. Your mother will realize one day what the hell is going on and she’ll need someone.”
“What about you and your father?” Nova asked.
I laughed. “You already called in your favor a minute ago.”
“I get two.”
“Oh yeah? Why?”
“Because I’m Nova. I’m your Surfer Girl. You love me.”
“Let’s go back to gluing antlers,” I said.
“That’s what I thought.”
I wrapped my arms around her again and kept her close to me.
I casually watched Nova as her eyes grew heavier by the second. When she finally fell asleep in my arms, I moved carefully so I could put my back to the bottom of the couch. I sat up, Nova in my arms, and I watched the fire slowly die.
When it was just down to glowing embers, I kissed the top of Nova’s head.
I looked up and saw the silhouette of the deer mount.
I grinned.
Nova knew how to take every moment we were together and make it memorable.
And that’s all I ever wanted to do for her.
Chapter 18
Nova
I woke up before Elijah.
There was no way he was comfortable in the position he was in. Just like many other times, he would sleep sitting up so I could sleep on him.
Fuck, I loved him so much…
I pushed myself up without waking him up and straddled him.
I touched his face with both hands and lifted his head.
When I kissed him, he let out a groaning sound.
“It’s not some one night stand slut,” I whispered. “It’s your Surfer Girl.”
Elijah’s eyes popped open. “What?”
I smiled. “That got you awake.”
“I knew it was you,” he said.
“Sure you did. You were probably wishing I was gone.”
“Never,” he said.
Elijah leaned toward me and took control like he always did.
Kissing me the way I wanted to be kissed good morning for the rest of my life. Which felt so weird to think and cliché and all that crap, but whatever. It mattered to me.
As Elijah hovered over me, pinning me to the floor, I grabbed his face again.
“What?” he asked.
“Just taking this in. Because we’re going to leave here and it’s all going to get fucked up.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Nova. It’s not going to get fucked up. How can it? We know everything. And everything we talked about last night…”
“I know,” I said. “But I still have my heart guarded.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Elijah said. He touched my chest. “I’ve got you now.”
“You’re just trying to get a cheap feel,” I said.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing, babe.”
I laughed. “Such an asshole.”
“It’s all I know.”
“Well, what I know… is that for a cabin in the woods, this place has a kick ass shower. And I’m kind of in the mood for another shower. And I kind of want to show you what the shower looks like.”
“Right,” he said. “Show me what the shower looks like. You’re just trying to find a cheap way to get me in the shower with you.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “You say that like it’s a bad thing… babe…”
Elijah kissed me and scooped me up off the floor.
He tossed me over his shoulder and I let out a scream as I laughed.
He carried me into the bathroom and I showed him the custom stone walled shower. It had more than one shower head. By far the coolest part of the cabin.
“Not bad,” he said.
“I wasn’t lying.”
“And neither was I when I said that I’ve got you,” Elijah said. “I mean it. I’ve got you, Nova. You don’t need to guard your heart around me. We’ve seen everything. We’ve made it through. Fuck it.”
I turned on the water and turned to put my back to Elijah.
He moved as daring as always, grabbing my hoodie and lifting it over my head. I looked down as his hands touched my bare skin, sliding up, cupping my chest. I shut my eyes and shivered. I moved fast, taking my pajama bottoms off and stepped into the shower, shutting the frosted glass door behind me.
It took Elijah all of three seconds to undress and join me.
I grinned, knowing there was no way in hell he had ever moved that fast in his entire life.
We stood under the hot water together.
My hands at his chest.
His hands at my waist.
Goddamn him for making me feel what I felt then. Slowly taking the wall round my heart down, brick by brick. Leaving it all exposed for him to do with what he wanted.
Elijah brush his lips against mine.
I raced my hands into his hair and pulled.
“No slow romantic stuff right now,” I said.
He turned me and pushed me against the wall.
“Anything for you, babe.”
* * *
We held hands the entire drive back to Hidden.
I hated to leave the cabin but it wasn’t like we’d never go back there. We didn’t burn the place down and I was sure Cherry would let us use it again.
“I miss the deer,” Elijah said.
“You would,” I said.
“That guy didn’t do anything wrong to anyone.”
“He pissed off that blanket,” I said. “That’s why the blanket took him down.”
“I wonder how long it’ll take Cherry to notice.”
“She’d have to leave her house for that,” I said.
“Good point,” Elijah said. “You ever wonder about her? Her story and all that?”
“Yeah,” I said. “All the time. But I think the mystery is cool. And I know if I ask her something she doesn’t want to answer, she’ll sneak around it and then give you that death look.”
“I hate that look,” Elijah said.
“Me too,” I said.
I yawned.
I had no reason to be tired.
Maybe I was just relaxed for once in my life.
I put my head back against the seat and let out a deep breath.
“Can we just go to the beach?” I asked. “Like right to the beach? And just surf? Waste the entire day in the water.”
“Consider it done,” Elijah said. “I’ll swing by the house and grab my boards. Then it’s you and me. And the waves.”
“Sweet,” I said.
I caught myself actually dozing off as Elijah drove to his house.
He pulled into the driveway and I felt the tension in his hand change. The way he held my hand went from a calm, loving grip to something fiercer.
Just the sight of the house and the thought of his father and Rosemary really set him off.
“We could just go to Cherry’s,” I said. “She has boards. I have one we could share even…”
“We’re already here,” he said. “I’ll be quick.”
“I’ll go with you,” I said. “I’ll be your distraction.”
“You going to walk through the house naked?” Elijah asked.
“If that’s what you need from me right now, then so be it.”
Elijah nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind for later. After dark. In the water.”
I leaned toward him. “Depends on how good you surf today. You beat me… I’ll think about it.”
“Damn, babe, you have no idea what you do to me.”
I grinned. “I have an idea.”
My body tingled with the thoughts of what had happened in the cabin.
We got out of his car and didn’t even make it to the steps when the front door opened. A young woman stepped outside and folded her arms.
“Who’s that?” I asked.
She was gorgeous. Like insanely gorgeous. Like if somehow Britt and Emma were combined together.
“Holy fuck,” Elijah whispered.
“What?” I asked.
“Go back to the car, Nova.”
“No. Who is that?”
Elijah looked down at me. “That’s… Rory.”
“Your ex?” I asked, my eyes going wide.
Elijah broke away from me and ran up the steps.
I went after him.
“Rory,” he said. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Didn’t you get my note?” she asked.
“What note?” Elijah asked.
“I sent you a note. Told you I was coming for you.”
I gasped.
“That was you?” Elijah asked.
I covered my mouth.
The note that brought Elijah back to HCH had nothing to do with Ryland.
It was Rory… this beautiful young woman standing in the doorway to Elijah’s house…
“You’re out of your mind,” Elijah said. “I told you to stay away. Get out of here. Right now.”
“Don’t you want to meet her?” Rory asked. “That’s why I’m here.”
“Meet who?” Elijah asked.
He reached for my hand but I didn’t hold his hand back.
My eyes were fixated at the front door.
Rory stepped back and picked something up.
It took me a few seconds to realize what it was.
I ripped my hand from Elijah’s.
Rory was holding a car seat.
With a baby sleeping inside of it.
She grinned at Elijah. “This is your daughter…”
Want more #hch?
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* * *
HIDDEN CREEK KISS
Chapter 1
Elijah
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Look for more heart wrenching, emotional upcoming novels including:
A LETTER TO DELILAH
THE WRONG SIDE
* * *
Other bestselling novels by Jaxson include:
5 Years Later
Somebody Else (& Nobody Else)
Dear Everly,
Imagine Us
Anna’s Dress
Let You Go
When I’m Gone
What You Don’t Know
Every Other Weekend
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. (This also includes the cover image and/or cover model(s) appearing on the cover. The context of this book does not in any way depict the personal life of said cover model(s). Image is licensed and used purely for fictional purpose only.)
First electronic edition October 2019
Copyright © 2019 by Jaxson Kidman
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part of any form.
Copyright image iStock/DepositPhotos
Copyright cover Cosmic Letters
Kidman, Jaxson, HIDDEN CREEK KISS: a hidden creek high novel
