HIDDEN CREEK KISS: a hidden creek high novel, page 6
“This isn’t romance, babe. It’s a bet. You lost. Pay up.”
“I didn’t lose a thing.”
“I’m pretty sure you lost something to me,” I said.
Nova pursed her lips together and shook her head. “You’ll always go back to that, huh?”
“What? I did something nobody else could do. All those guys had all year to work on you. I show up for one summer and you’re tossing away your v card like it was on fire.”
Nova squinted her eyes. “Is that the best you’ve got? I mean, come on, Elijah, I had to lose it at some point, right? So why not to you? You were going to be gone anyway. Get that first horrible experience out of the way and then enjoy myself.”
I felt jealousy creep through my body.
“I don’t think it was horrible, babe. You kept asking for more.”
“That’s because I was told eventually it would feel good. Law of numbers.”
She shrugged her shoulders and kissed the air.
Quite honestly, it took everything I had in me to fight off getting rock hard right there. Seeing her in the water, waist deep, throwing those sexy jabs at me…
I ran into the water after her.
“Elijah,” she said, pointing at me. “I swear on my life…”
“You owe me,” I said. “Pay your debt, babe.”
She splashed water at me.
I kept charging through the water at her.
“Elijah!” she screamed.
I kept going.
She finally turned and dove into the water.
I dove after her.
My fingertips grazed her ankle.
She kicked and started swimming faster.
I kept pace with her, touching her foot over and over.
We battled through the waves that were crashing.
Coming up for air and crashing back down.
When I finally got my hand on her ankle, I pulled.
She kicked with her foot and kicked me in the water.
My neck snapped back and I let her go.
Nova came up out of the water and spun around, covering her mouth. “Fuck. Elijah. I’m so sorry.”
I wiped my top lip and saw blood. “Damn, babe. It was just a game. You didn’t have to go and kick me like that. Shit.”
“Elijah… I didn’t mean to… I’m ticklish. You know that.”
“Still,” I said. “I was just… wow. I can’t believe you did that.”
“Let me see,” she said.
She closed in on me.
That’s when I made my move.
My arms wrapped around her and I pulled her close.
She gasped as I pressed my lips to hers. Blood and all.
She pulled away and looked pissed.
“Not yet,” I said.
I kissed her again.
Harder.
Faster.
Her hands grabbed for my hair and pulled. But not to pull me away. She pulled me closer.
I tasted the residue of the saltwater on her lips.
Her tongue danced with mine, a very dangerous dance.
The waves tried to toss us around but I had my feet planted hard in the ocean’s bed. Nova had one leg wrapped around me. That was fucking sexier than if she had both legs around me.
She broke the kiss again. “No. This is terrible. You tricked me.”
“Oops,” I said.
I wiped my top lip again. “You did get me good though, babe.”
“Serves you right,” she said. “Remember that. I’m not afraid to kick your ass.”
“It was my lip, not my ass,” I said.
“Yeah, but the way you talk shit…”
“Funny. You were just kissing these shit talking lips.”
Nova wiped her lips. “There. All gone.”
I jumped at her and had her in my arms again.
This time she threw her head back and laughed.
I planted my lips to the upper part of her chest.
She screamed and laughed harder.
“Hey, babe, that was just half the bet,” I said.
“What was?”
“The kiss,” I said. “Now you have to show me.”
“Okay, I’ll show you,” she said. “Let me go first.”
I let her go.
She backed up in the water.
She stood there so perfect and beautiful. Her hands slowly touching her chest. Her fingertips gripping the bottom of her bikini top.
Oh… fuck…
“You ready?” she asked.
“Believe me, babe, I am more than ready,” I said.
Nova lifted her hands, but not her top. She turned her hands and showed me her middle fingers instead of her breasts.
“You’ll have to do better than that, Elijah,” she said.
“If you say so, babe,” I said.
We both paused for a second.
Then she dove back into the water.
And I went after her.
It was a rare few seconds when my life felt like it was perfect and had purpose.
* * *
She was still wrapped up in a towel when I took her back to Cherry’s.
It was dark out and we made a pact to not go surfing in the dark ever again. The dark was best kept for other things. We could still go into the ocean, just not surfing.
Nova sat in my car and put her feet up on the seat and turned to face me.
“Do you think I’m dangerous?” she asked.
“Dangerous?” I asked. “You’re dangerous for me. To me. You drive me crazy.”
“That’s not what I meant, Elijah. Miss Carson pointed out about surfing at night. That it’s dangerous…”
“So that’s why you talked about it,” I said. “You’re worried about what she says?”
“I don’t know. I mean, I went out there looking for danger. She said that sometimes if you’re angry or lived in a bad situation you look for it.”
“Nova, I don’t think you’re dangerous like that. You didn’t go out there to try and hurt yourself. Or prove anything to yourself. Surfing has just always been your escape. That’s a good thing to have. Especially with everything that had been happening. No offense to her, but I think Miss Carson looks for trouble. She thinks she’s going to fix everyone. She looks for trouble in us when sometimes… we’re just a little fucked up.”
“A little?” Nova asked.
“Or a lot,” I said. “The thing is, we’re not kids. In her eyes, we’re kids and she’s going to help us grow up and figure out life. I call bullshit on that so hard, babe.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re adults. And we’ve been living in adult situations for years too. I’ll figure out life as it happens. I can’t stand when they make us talk to her. Makes the situation worse if you ask me. She tries to drum up feelings about me and Ryland that just aren’t there.”
“Yeah,” Nova said. “That makes sense.”
“Babe, look at me.” I reached and touched her chin. “You’re not dangerous. You’re figuring shit out.”
Nova swallowed hard. “You know, you were supposed to be vulnerable. That’s the whole reason I hung out with you today.”
“Yeah? And you were supposed to flash me.”
“I never agreed to that.”
“Yes you did.”
“That wasn’t a wave, Elijah.”
“Looked like a wave to me, babe.”
“Well, you’re wrong.”
“Actually, you’re wrong.”
“You’re impossible.”
“You’re beautiful.”
Nova laughed. “Smooth.”
“Get over here, babe,”
I grabbed the towel and pulled, making her meet me in the middle of the car.
We kissed for what felt like two days straight. I wished it would have been ten days straight.
“Go run to your friends now,” I teased.
“Shut up.”
Nova got out of the car and I leaned over the passenger seat. “Hey, babe. I love you.”
Nova looked down at me and nodded. “I love you too.”
I watched her walk away.
A million thoughts raced through my mind.
I took a slow ride from Cherry’s knowing I needed to go home. To Alexander and Rosemary’s home. To the place Ryland used to call home.
That made me go slower.
So slow that as I cruised along the road where Ryland had taken his last breath, bright white lights flashed behind me.
I looked in the mirror and saw someone riding my ass.
Flashing their high beams.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said.
I sped up.
They sped up too.
They flashed their lights again.
So I sped up more.
They sped up more.
I pulled to the side of the road and opened my door.
If someone wanted to mess with me they could do it to my face.
Before I could get one foot out of the car, the high beams went dark - along with all the lights on and in the vehicle following me.
The SUV then pulled back out onto the road and sped by me.
Never slowing down again.
I climbed out of my car and stood there.
I lit a cigarette and realized just how close I was to the spot where Ryland had died.
It was my fault for getting involved in his shady business stuff.
That put my name on the list along with his.
And with him gone, my name was at the top now.
Surfing with Nova and flirting and kissing and feeling all those summer feelings was one thing.
But knowing someone was out there to kill you… that was another feeling.
Hell, it wasn’t even someone out there…
They had been right here.
Just now.
Maybe that was a subtle hint to back the hell off.
Guess what?
I never backed off… ever.
Chapter 6
Nova
Emma grabbed my hand and pulled me through the hallway faster than needed.
As we charged toward the door, I tried to ask her what the hell she was doing, but I had to focus on not falling on my face.
When she opened the door and we were outside, she let me go.
Everyone was standing there.
Well… everyone being Emma, Kailey, Charlotte, Aira, and Wes.
“What the hell is this?” I asked.
“Need to talk to you about something,” Kailey said.
“Elijah,” Aira said.
Wes looked away.
“No,” I said. “Is this because I hung out with him? For real? Are you going stand there and tell me what to do? How to live?”
“No,” Emma said. “Not at all.”
“Elijah reached out to me,” Wes said.
“Oh?” I asked.
“He didn’t say much. Just that he wanted us to bring you somewhere tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Right before sunset,” Wes said. “He gave me an address.”
“Does the address mean anything to you?” I asked.
“Not personally, no.”
I looked at the rest of them. “So…?”
“He wants everyone there,” Wes said.
“That means us,” Charlotte said.
“All of us,” Emma said.
“I have no idea what’s going on,” Kailey said. “Maybe it has something to do with Ryland.”
I let out a long sigh. “He thinks he’s next.”
I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be telling them anything, but whatever at this point.
My heart had been so full and I went to bed giddy. Actually giddy. Like biting my bottom lip and kicking my feet on the bed giddy. So much so that I was tempted to text Elijah to come back and sneak through the window and finish the night the right way.
The only reason that didn’t happen was because Cherry decided to make hot cocoa and made me sit with her. We talked, laughed, and I went to bed still giddy.
Now it was the opposite of giddy.
It was the same bullshit of secrets.
“Next for what?” Wes asked.
“To be killed,” I said.
“Wait,” Kailey said. “He knows who…”
I shook my head. “No.”
“So he’s not here for revenge,” Emma said. “He’s here to save his own ass.”
“Dick move,” Wes said. “Typical.”
“Wes,” Aira said. “Stop.”
“I don’t know what anything is,” I said.
“Well, I say we tell him to fuck himself,” Wes said. “Whatever he wants us to do, he can tell us in advance.”
“I say we should meet him,” Aira said.
“I’ll just call him,” I said.
“Think he’ll answer?” Charlotte asked.
“Why wouldn’t he?” I asked, getting defensive.
“Look, it’s your deal, Nova,” Wes said. “We’re on your side.”
“Then we do what he says,” I said. “He hasn’t hurt me yet.”
“Yes, he has,” Kailey yelled.
“Then I don’t care,” I yelled back. “He saved me. And my mother.”
“Which we would have done too,” Wes said.
“So I’ve heard,” I said.
“We’ll all meet later,” Emma said. “Nova, I’ll drive you.”
“Drive me?” I asked.
“He said for someone to bring you,” Wes said. “I swear if he has something stupid planned, I will destroy him. Because he said he doesn’t want any other guy there but me.”
I swallowed hard.
Everyone just stared at me.
What the hell did Elijah want?
* * *
“It’s just us here,” Emma said as she drove. “We’re pretty close. I mean, with things in life. So tell me about Elijah. What does it for you.”
“Seriously?” I asked. “What does it for me? It’s… him. It’s Elijah. He’s the… he’s the Summer Boy. And the one I dream of having all the time.”
“No matter what happens?”
“I guess.”
“So, you really do love him.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry for the way the others act around you and him,” Emma said. “They did the same to me before.”
“Except they were right. No offense.”
“They were right,” Emma said. “That’s what worries me. Are they right again?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
We drove the rest of the way in silence.
Along some back roads and finally turning down some fancy looking road.
Fancy because of the way the trees were positioned. Everything placed a certain way. I saw a golf course and realized we were at the country club. Where the super-rich asshole adults loved to hang out. There was always an excuse for a party. So everyone could dress up and brag about how much money they had. The men could drink until they were stupid and flirt with each other’s wives. The wives dressed in dresses that were designed to outdo the person next to them.
Such bullshit.
And I knew it all too well… because my mother and father would go there all the time. There were plenty of times after one of these fake parties they’d come home and things would turn very dark. My father would accuse my mother of accepting advances from other men. And the night would end up…
“There’s Elijah,” Emma said.
She parked the car and reached into the backseat and got her baseball bat.
“Are you kidding me?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “Can never be too safe, Nova.”
Emma carried her baseball bat, staying close to Wes, Aira, Kailey, and Charlotte.
I was once again lost in the middle.
Stuck between Elijah and them.
“What is this?” Wes asked. “We showed up.”
“I see that,” Elijah said. He looked at me. “Should you tell them or me?”
“Tell them what?” I asked.
Elijah pointed to the building off in the distance.
The chandelier lights glowed out the windows and across a vast balcony.
“You know who’s in there, babe,” Elijah said.
“No I don’t… unless… my father?”
“No,” Elijah said. “The other part of the story.”
“Her mother isn’t there,” Wes said.
“No shit, asshole,” Elijah said. “I’m not talking about her parents.”
I opened my mouth and my heart sank.
I shook my head.
“Yes,” Elijah said. “They need to know. And then I have something for you.”
“Nova, what’s he talking about?” Kailey asked.
I walked toward Elijah and balled up a fist.
“You can hit me, babe,” he said. “I’ll take the punches. But you know I’m right.”
“I told you to stay away from him,” I said.
“No,” he said.
Elijah looked beyond me. “I wanted everyone here for this. Whether we all love or hate each other doesn’t matter. This is for Nova. This is so there’s no more secrets hidden. So you can see my intentions too.”
“You’re looking for approval?” Wes asked.
“Trust me, I’m not,” Elijah said. “Just common ground. For the sake of Nova’s heart.”
“If you cared about her heart, then you’d leave,” Emma said.
“He’s right,” I said before they kept arguing. “He’s right.”
“About what?” Charlotte asked.
“Inside that building,” I said. “Dr. Harold.”
“Who?” Kailey asked.
“When my father would… do what he did,” I said, “he would call Dr. Harold for help. And Dr. Harold would always show up. He’d check on my mother. He’d do whatever needed to be done. Bandage her. Stitch her. Whatever she needed.”
“Did he know?” Wes asked.
“He knew,” I said. “They laughed about it. It was a big joke for them. He’d tell my mother to be careful with the stairs. And my mother would sit there and say nothing. She never said a word to him.”
Elijah put his hand to my back. “Keep going, babe.”
I nodded. “My father would pay him. Cash. In an envelope. Always cash. And they’d laugh. They’d talk about golf. Flying on their private jets together. Just regular man stuff or whatever.”
“What a piece of shit,” Emma said.
“So, what are we doing here?” Kailey asked. “Are we going to bust in there and beat him up?”
