HIDDEN CREEK KISS: a hidden creek high novel, page 8
His hand went back to the steering wheel.
Nova stepped forward and showed him the baseball bat in her left hand.
There was a moment when I thought words were going to be exchanged.
If that were to happen, then I was going to make it so Dr. Harold would need a doctor for himself. This was not a talking thing. This was not an excuse making thing. This was not an apology thing.
Dr. Harold was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.
He moved his stare forward and took off.
The car engine revved and he was gone.
He even blew right through a stop sign and turned right so hard and fast, the tires on his car squealed.
Nova turned and looked up at me. She smiled. Her eyes filled with tears again.
I simply nodded and wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to me.
She buried her face into my chest.
I rubbed her back and played with her hair.
“It doesn’t take anything back, babe,” I said. “It doesn’t make it go away. It doesn’t make anything more right or less wrong.”
“It just feels fucking good,” she said.
I looked down at her as she looked up at me.
I nodded. “Yeah. It just feels fucking good.”
“To have someone feel something you do.”
“Yeah.”
“Which is what you do to your father.”
“This isn’t about me, babe.”
“Why not, Elijah? Why can’t it be about you? You’re the one here. You’re the one trying to act tough like you care about Ryland. There’s so much you have hidden…”
“I came to the right place for that then,” I said with a grin.
“Please… just tell me everything…”
I touched her cheek. “I will.”
“Tonight.”
“Some night.”
“Tonight,” Nova said.
“Late night on the beach?” I asked.
Nova moved to her toes and kissed my cheek. “After I return Emma’s baseball bat.”
* * *
In typical Hidden fashion, Emma’s house was very large and very annoying looking. Then again, it wasn’t as though Emma chose to live there. She was just going with the motions of life until she was able to get out on her own. Unless of course she stayed close. Which some did. And why not? Beach town. Tons of cash. Enough drama to keep you busy for years. And the worst that could happen was Mom and Dad would get pissed and throw you seven figures to go away.
Goddamn… what a life.
I leaned against the side of my car and helped myself to a cigarette and watched Nova give Emma her baseball bat back. Without saying a word, Emma walked toward me. Bat and all.
I smoked like normal, not bothered by the baseball bat.
“Told you she’d be fine,” I said.
“Yeah, you did,” Emma said. “Do I want to know what the bat was used for?”
“Ask Nova.”
Emma turned her head to Nova.
“Destroyed a car,” Nova said.
“Damn,” Emma said. “With a bat…”
“And a golf club,” I added as smoke danced from between my lips.
“That doctor?” Emma asked.
“Yeah,” Nova said. “It’s done. No need to ever talk about it or talk to him.”
Emma touched Nova’s arm. “Proud of you. Vicious bitch. Might have to get you your own baseball bat.”
“Do I want to know why you have a baseball bat at all times?” I asked Emma.
“No,” she said without hesitation.
“Fair enough.”
“Do I want to know why you’re lingering around HCH knowing you’ll never get the answers you want?” Emma asked me.
“No,” I said to her.
I dropped my cigarette right at her feet and winked.
“I still think you’re a prick,” she said. “And a total asshole. But I respect what you did tonight.”
“Now my life is complete,” I said. “I have your respect.”
“Fuck you,” Emma said.
I winked again.
“Thank you for letting me use the bat,” Nova said.
“Yeah, sure,” Emma said. “Do I dare tell everyone else what’s going on now?”
“Go ahead,” Nova said. “I’m not done with my night yet.”
Emma glanced at me again.
I gave her a third wink.
I felt the desire pouring off of her to punch me in the eye.
I couldn’t blame her, and I probably deserved it.
“Have fun,” Emma said.
She took a step and Nova grabbed her hand.
“Hey. Thanks. I mean it.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Emma said. “Do you want to hug or something?”
“What’s the option for or something?” I asked.
They both looked at me.
I put my hands up and walked around the car to the driver’s seat.
They hugged and then Emma threw the bat over her shoulder and walked back inside.
Nova got into my car and I took off to the beach.
Late nights on the beach were always part of our thing.
After I parked the car, I reached into the back seat and grabbed more than a couple of towels for us to put down on the sand.
I laughed at myself because I had shit all over Conor for putting a giant blanket down for him and Nova to sit on together.
But this was different.
Simply because I wasn’t Conor. And Nova wasn’t pretending to love me.
Actually believing and knowing someone loved you was a pretty intense feeling. One I knew not much about. But with Nova, everything I didn’t know didn’t matter.
We held hands as we walked down to the beach.
I pulled her to the left, wanting to get close to a few of the large rocks that were the best place to sit and listen to the waves crash against. It just added that extra awesome sound from the ocean.
I laid out four towels and made it into an uneven square.
“Should have brought something to drink,” I said.
“Maybe next time you’ll be better prepared,” Nova threw at me.
“Ouch.”
“What? Want me to lie to you and tell you how romantic this is?”
I crashed down to my ass and hung my arms over my bent knees.
Nova just stood there, those bare legs showing for miles. The little frays on the ends of her jean shorts blowing in the breeze.
I slowly looked up to her and smiled.
She was watching the ocean.
Watching the waves.
Fucking beautiful and fucking perfect.
Nova finally decided to join me on the towels.
I inched close to her and my right hand touched her back and slowly climbed up.
“Can you do something for me, Elijah?” Nova asked.
“Sure. Name it.”
She looked at me. “Tonight. I never want to talk about it again. Ever.”
“Ever,” I said.
“I’m serious. For the rest of my life. I never want to talk about it. It’s done and over. I understand why you wanted to do it that way. He’s going to have to make something up about the car. And then either get it fixed or trash it. And I get that him seeing it was me who did it, he’ll never speak of it but he’ll also never forget about it.”
I nodded.
I didn’t say a word.
“Thank you for that, Elijah,” she whispered.
“Of course,” I said. I leaned my head down and touched her head. “Now we never talk about it again. Ever. Starting now.”
“Right now,” she said.
“Now? Or right now?”
“I said right now.”
“But right now is later than the other right now.”
“You know you’re pretty much a giant dork when you get to know you.”
“No. You just make me feel that way.”
I moved my head and stole a little kiss from her.
That little kiss turned into another one.
And another.
We kissed to the rhythm and sound of the waves.
I slowly grinned.
“What?” she asked in between kisses.
“Nothing,” I lied.
I put my right hand down to the blanket and touched her face with my other hand. I kissed her hard enough that she started to move down to the blanket. I went with her, making sure there wasn’t a second she wasn’t breathing the ocean air and tasting my lips.
And me the same.
I only broke the kiss long enough to give her a second to realize what was about to happen. My hand slid from her cheek down to her shoulder. Down again, over the oversized hoodie but still able to feel the curve of her breast.
She sucked in a breath and nodded.
I lowered my lips back down to hers and this time she took the lead, her tongue darting into my mouth first. Sighing as she did so, melting right into me.
My hand traveled down her body to the end of the hoodie. I slowly pulled it up and switched my grasp from the hoodie to the top of her jean shorts. Her body jumped as I pulled at the button, popping it free with ease. My fingertips flirted and danced along her stomach, circling around her belly button. Making her shiver for more than one reason.
I gently kissed from her sweet mouth down to the crook of her neck.
My fingers inched down, pressing under the top of her panties, seeking more warm and soft skin. Her hips slowly moved up and down, making a motion that I wasn’t even ready for yet.
I kissed to her ear and stopped there.
There were a lot of cheesy romantic and flirty things I could have said at that moment but I didn’t.
Nova turned her head and put her mouth to my ear.
I listened to her breathing faster the closer I got to her beautiful body.
When my fingertips grazed against her tender core, she let out a gasp.
I smiled.
I loved the way she felt. I loved the way she moved to my touch.
As I traced lines down and back up, her hips danced some more.
When I finally curled my fingers and pressed, she let out a groan right into my ear.
That was more than enough for me for the moment.
I lifted my head up and stared down at her as I let my fingers do the rest of the talking for the night.
Moving with her movements. Moving against her movements, leaving her back arching, her head falling back to the towels, her hands gripping the towels and pulling.
I brushed my nose against her chest, over the hoodie, teasing her and teasing myself. Knowing there was so much more to be had. To love. To hold for the rest of the night.
I sucked in a breath and gritted my teeth.
My hand stayed between her legs, mimicking the movements of the crashing waves, synching up with their beautiful sound that only served to collide with the beautiful sound of Nova.
She finally managed to take one hand off the blanket and grabbed my arm. She was shaking as she did, holding tight.
Her eyes met mine and the explosion between us took me back to our first summer. That first glance. That first second of knowing this thing was going to be a crazy, impossible thing to have together.
I had no choice but to kiss her again.
I knew how precious the seconds were with her.
No matter the promises we could have made, we didn’t know what was going to happen.
Other than my lips against hers.
Or my fingers against her.
Bringing her to the top of the wave that had been slowly building all night long.
Nova opened her mouth and sighed. “Fuck…”
She tried to say something else but I stole it from her with one last kiss.
Her body danced on the towel, beating out the rushing force of the waves behind us.
When she relaxed down to the towels again and for good, I slowly inched my hand away from her. I buttoned her shorts and pulled her hoodie back down.
Her face was blushing, her blue eyes on fire, a smile on her face.
“Shhh,” I whispered.
I crashed down to the towels next to her and we held hands.
We stared up at the night sky.
“Hey,” I whispered.
I turned my head.
She turned her head. “Hey.”
“Tonight was crazy.”
“I said we weren’t going to-”
“There’s one more thing I have to tell you.”
“Is it everything I wanted to know?”
“Not quite, babe.”
“You know, you really suck that you keep getting out of this.”
“I don’t see your body complaining right now.”
“Whatever, Elijah. What do you have to tell me?”
“Remember how I told you about me being able to work on cars and shit?”
“I remember,” she said.
“I wanted to have everyone there tonight for two reasons. One was to try and find common ground.”
“What was the second reason?” Nova asked.
“We’re all about to get much closer than they like.”
“Meaning?” Nova asked. She propped up on arm.
I leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose. “I got a job working at Wes’s grandfather’s shop.”
Chapter 8
Nova
If it didn’t hurt so much I would have bitten my nails down to nothing.
The suspense with knowing that Elijah and Wes were working together was going to drive me literally insane. And the fact that the jerk waited until the last second to tell me. Of course he did though, right? So that way there was no chance of talking him out of it. According to Elijah he wanted to make some cash and get closer to Wes. I didn’t like any of it. He was still trying to dig his way into something to figure out what happened to Ryland. And since Ryland had been tied into Wes’s father with some stolen motorcycle parts or whatever, I guess it made sense that eventually Elijah would end up at Weaz Auto.
“What time is it?” Charlotte asked.
“Those things don’t tell time?” Kailey asked, pointing to Charlotte’s chest.
“Nope, sorry,” Charlotte said, rolling her eyes.
“It’s almost time,” Emma said. “Then I’m cleaning you all out.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“I’m already screwed,” Kailey said. “I picked a time way too early. Nova and Aira fucked me over.”
“Excuse me?” I asked.
“What did I have to do with this?” Aira asked.
“You’re each banging one of them,” Kailey said. “Of course they’d be relaxed and not kill each other today.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“They bet on it,” Aira said.
“What? Bet on what?”
“How long it would take for Wes and Elijah to fight,” Charlotte said.
“For real?” I asked. I looked at Aira. “Did you do this too?”
“Not me,” Aira said. “I’m freaking out just like you. I don’t trust Elijah. No offense.”
“Yeah,” I said. “It’s not cool that he’s there. Wes has too many people watching his back there.”
“For what?” Aira asked. “You think Wes wouldn’t fight Elijah face to face?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Easier to just have someone else do it, right?”
“No way,” Aira said. “Wes would kick his ass.”
“Elijah’s had a much tougher life, Aira. Be real.”
“I smell another fight,” Kailey said.
“I’ll put twenty on Nova,” Emma said.
Aira looked at Emma. “What the fuck?”
“Sorry,” Emma said. “Nova’s got some rage in her right now.”
“I think you’re all stupid bitches for this,” I said. “Betting on my… on Elijah… fighting Aira’s boyfriend.”
“What?” Kailey asked. “Do you really think it’s going to work out? I’m amazed Wes’s grandfather agreed to it.”
“It wasn’t Pop,” Aira said.
“How do you know?” I asked.
“I just do.”
Aira turned her back to me.
Oh hell no…
I spun her back around. I figured she was going to slap me or something.
But she looked ready to cry.
“Aira…”
“I hate it too,” she said. “Am I going to lose you over this? I mean, seriously? Am I really going to lose one of my best friends over a guy?”
“I guess you could always dump Wes’s ass,” I said.
“Not funny, bitch.”
“Sorry,” I said. “I was just kidding.”
“And you really love Elijah,” Aira said. “I really love Wes. So here we are.”
I looked back. “Betting on our guys beating the hell out of each other.”
“It was Emma’s idea,” Charlotte said.
“Hey,” Emma said. “Screw you, bitch. Thanks for ratting me out.”
“Damn, Charlotte,” Kailey said. “What the hell was that for?”
“You’re all still bitches to me,” I said.
“I’ll share the money with you,” Emma said.
I touched Aira’s arm and we walked away from our friends.
“Tell me what you know,” I said. “Please.”
“It was Jett,” Aira said. “I don’t know how much you know about him. But he’s always trying to keep things calm. Be reasonable. In reality he’s just madly in love with Julia and won’t do a damn thing about it.”
“That’s old love though.”
“No it’s not,” Aira said, laughing. “Julia loves him just the same. They’re both annoying with it. But anyway… I guess Elijah knows how to work on cars and motorcycles.”
I thought about him telling me that after he disabled Dr. Harold’s car alarm.
“Yeah,” I said. “I guess so.”
“I think Jett wants Elijah there. To see that Wes and his entire family had nothing to do with Ryland. All because of stupid fucking West.”
“I hate that guy,” I said.
“He’s creepy. And now he’s suddenly gone again. Because his ass is going to get into serious trouble.”
I sighed. “I’m sorry, Aira. I’m sorry this is all happening to us. I almost wish the cops or Alexander would just give Elijah all the information he wants. Or needs. Or whatever it is.”
