Drawn To You (Paloma's Edge) (17 page)

“You are too,” I told her.

She shot me a seductive look that made me want to go for a quick swim to take the edge off. She drew her hand away from me and settled between my legs again, her hair lying on my shoulder. When we were more relaxed, she guided my hands over her stomach and rested her arms on top of mine. Her sandals were off and I looked at her tiny feet, now painted in sky-blue nail polish, yet her nails were a beige color. “Where I come from most people consider my mom, who I’ve called Cindy since I could talk, a slut,” she started. “Uncle Anton and her were born and raised in Franklin Parks. Since Cindy was a teenager, she’s slept with many men. So when I started developing in middle school, I got the looks that she got.”

She paused for a moment and I lifted her hand and kissed the front of it. She didn’t have to say that older men were in that category of perverse assholes
that had made her feel uncomfortable. The thought made me flaccid. Beth probably had to worry about her image and self-esteem more than other young girls had because of her mom.

“Everyone saw me and assumed that I was like her. I kept my head up and went to school. It wasn’t the end of the world. But what frustrated me most was that their assumptions about me didn’t come out of thin air. Cindy freely dated around and went to places in town that she’d frequented with other dates. Recently I learned that she’s
with a married man.” She let out a bitter laugh. “I was stupid enough to think that she’d never be with a married man because she told me that was a line she’d never cross.”

I shook my head.

“Yeah. When I came home from school, my home was mostly bare. She’d run out of town with him.” She opened her tote again and I watched her unzip a small pocket inside and she gave me a tiny piece of paper. It read:
Beth, Sorry but love doesn’t wait for you to be ready. – Cindy, xoxo.
“That’s the note I found on my bedroom counter when I arrived home. Some days later, I found out that the rent hadn’t been paid in months. And that she didn’t renew the lease.”

“
Damn.” I squeezed her hands. There was no need for her to have a tangible reminder of all of this. “So that’s why you’re here for summer, because you were gonna be out of a home?”

She nodded. “And no one was going to hire me because of Cindy. Word got out about who she left town with. Jake
is driving Mariska to work until she saves up enough to get her own car. So even if I got a job nearby, it would’ve been a burden for Jake to work around my schedule also.”

“Those women
at the gas station store were obnoxious because your mom left town with a married man?”

She bobbed her head. “And then they saw you and I…
I am sure they started a whole bunch of rumors. I know that living in Franklin Parks would’ve been easier for me if Cindy weren’t promiscuous. What hurt me is that people think they’re somehow above her. And most of all, what saddens me is that she doesn’t have to reduce herself to sleeping around. If she loved herself like I love her, she could meet a man who will love her honestly.”

As I studied
Beth, she sounded like a little girl. Her hands moved in mine with hope and longing for the woman who left her with limited means to support herself. How could she forgive her mom for leaving her without advance notice? Who left her a note saying that her an affair trampled their mother-daughter relationship? There was reverence and unconditional acceptance about the kind of person her mom was and who she could be that truly astounded me. That was a kind of love that I’d never thought existed. She didn’t play the victim card. She knew she was fortunate that her friends, Mr. and Mrs. Pruitt, Pierce, and Nancy cared about her, as well as me.

All that stress
in her face made sense to me now. Since she hadn’t heard from Mr. Pruitt, his wife, or Pierce in years, she hadn’t assumed that anything would be handed to her. That was why she’d been studying the history of the Paloma hotel.

“Have you and your mom communicated at all since
—”

“I called her a few times.” She
swallowed and attempted to smile, but she ended up looking sadder. “I even texted her and I didn’t get a reply. Cindy feels free now. She’ll come back to me if she wants to. The problem is that I wasn’t just her daughter; I was her friend. And that might be where we really got screwed up.”

I
combed my fingers through her hair as she ran circles my chest with her soft fingers. After she put the note back in her tote, Beth looked up at me and brought her lips to my scar, the right curve of my neck, nuzzling me. I pulled the hoodie from underneath her and covered her with it once more. Within minutes, a peaceful expression graced her face. I had it bad for Beth. I didn’t know any other way to be with her. I wouldn’t make the mistake that Cindy had of taking Beth for granted.

Bethany

“I’ll take their orders,”
Nico said as he got out of the counter, but Brianna put her hand to his chest and he stood still.

She
plastered on a false grin that I hadn’t seen her do before. It worried me because it was unlike her. “He’s not getting the best of me this time.” She gave him a chaste kiss on his cheek and he blushed a little. She had her notepad and pen in hand, and her expression looked more natural than it had seconds ago.

My schedule this week had been from ten in the morning to six o’clock
in the evening. We were inundated with updating personnel policies and following up on promising job applications for the Paloma Hotel and the upcoming hotel Uncle Anton was having built in the competitive Miami market. Pierce got off work at eight-thirty, so it’d be a while before he could drive me fifteen miles back to his parent’s house. No one had mentioned Chase in front of Uncle Anton like last week. Uncle Anton didn’t look well rested. If only he’d listen to his wife or son.

Nico
provided customers with their drinks and he stood in front of me. We watched as Brianna scribbled orders on her notepad. A guy with slick dark-black hair and a shirt with too many unopened buttons that showed his hairy chest had a cocky mien as stared my friend down. The girl he had with him clearly enjoyed that Brianna was tolerating his behavior. Brianna’s feelings and thoughts weren’t noticeable. I didn’t know the guy. I hadn’t seen him around town, but he rubbed me the wrong way from just observing his behavior.

“That’s the arrogant
as swipe that had Bri drunk off her ass on Friday.” Nico interrupted my thoughts. It was then that I recalled that the same guy had been sitting at a table with the same girl close to where Brianna had been seated at La Floridita on Saturday. I only remembered him because he’d had his shirt opened unnecessarily, like he did today.

I slightly shook my head. “I
’d ask him them to leave if I had that kind of power,” I told him.

Nico
grimaced. “I’ll talk to Henerito about having them escorted outta here if they get stupid with Bri.” He left me with a tall glass of morir soñado.

Brianna served the tables and some patrons glanced her way
. When she served that guy and his date, she treated them like they were the other customers—at least from what I could see.

***

“Were you having an orgasm in that picture?” I asked, and Brianna giggled, staring at the photo of her with Austin before she touched his bald head.

Brianna arched a brow at me, a smile edging her lips. “I was pretty close to it.” She placed another picture on the table
and I burst out laughing as a dark flush rose across her face. She looked like a cute tomato. I’d downloaded the photos Brianna and I had taken of Double Dulce from our cell phones onto my computer and printed them. All of the photos we both took were drying up. Brianna and I looked like our faces hurt from smiling so wide in our only photo with Tainted Virtue.

I
sat in the middle of the bed. When Brianna brought the desk chair with her, I told her to stop. I was just happy that she finally agreed to come to my guestroom instead of going straight home afterwards.

“If I hadn’t met Chase, I would’ve been all over Renner,” I told her.

“Oh, they’re all sexy. Renner has that brooding thing about him that’s not over the top or annoying.”

I
gave her a smile. Brianna dragged the chair back to the desk. I exhaled and patted the open spot on the middle of the bed. She sat down and crossed her legs. “What’s up with you and that guy?” I queried. If she told me it was none of my business, I wouldn’t bring it up again.

“A guy I thought was
pretty great. Turned out he’s a major prick.”

I propped one of the pillows behind me
.

“So, you two hooked up or
…”

“
Derek and I dated during my senior year of high school. I met him at our football game.” Brianna let out a long breath. “His cousin was the wide receiver from the opposing school. I was a cheerleader. After we won, he asked me to come with us to eat. His cousin hadn’t wanted to go anywhere but straight home after the brutal loss. Everyone talked a lot of crap and he was a good sport, and had some solid comebacks. And he’s gorgeous.”

“He’s not hard to look at,” I reluctantly admitted.
I really didn’t think he was that attractive, and I knew that she could be with a really gorgeous guy if that was her type.

“He paid for my dinner and asked for my number. We talked on the phone for weeks and then
we went on a real date. When we started having sex, everything seemed special, you know? But he started pressuring me to get married and have kids. He told me that I wouldn’t be young forever and that since he finished his technical program, he could support
us
. And I was like, I am seventeen. I can’t go in that direction yet. I am not even sure if I want marriage and kids. I won’t deny that I considered it, because I didn’t want to lose him. Up until he started getting nasty with me I thought about what it would be like if we took that next step. Derek criticized how I looked and all this other stuff. I ended it when he wouldn’t stop. He sent me a bunch for a messages for weeks, telling me that it he’d give me another chance.” Her eyebrows shot to her forehead. “Give me another chance? I’d broken up with him.” She swallowed. “Anyway, he left me alone. I think Gavin had something to do with that even though I hadn’t told him what had been going on between us, or why we were over. He would’ve flipped out on him then and on Friday.”

“Did Gavin ever like him?”

“No.”

We both laughed.

“But I don’t know if Gavin will like any guy I date. It’s been a year since I saw Derek. And then when he was there on Friday with his new his girl, I figured that I should be the mature one, say hi to them, but they passed by me like I was gum they almost got underneath their shoes. And I had one drink after another.”

I crossed my arms and motioned
with my head. “What are you gonna do if Derek keeps popping up where you are?”

“
Take it till he stops,” she said. “I know how he is. He’s showing me that he’s moved on after our seven-month relationship, and I haven’t dated any guy since him. It’s his way of saying that I could’ve been the one he takes out. I care about him. I just don’t want to marry him. And he pressured me about marriage so that no one else could have me. Not because he felt that I was the one he wanted to live his life with. I would’ve hated myself had I stayed with him.” She cleared her throat a few times. “I always thought I had to have a boyfriend, you know?”

I nodded. “N
othing compares to being okay with being by yourself.”

***

Chase

Joel and Rylan had left with Maude and one of her friends. I didn’t want to leave the beach yet to go back to Bri and Gavin’s. I took my cell phone from my book bag and called Beth. We hadn’t talked all day.

“Hey
, Chase.” Her voice sounded a little throaty.

“You busy?”

“No. Brianna should be there by now. She left an hour ago. I just came from the shower and now I am under the covers.”

“A
h, shit! Don’t tell me that.”

“I already did,” she said with humor. “What are you up to?”

“Finished swimming for the night. Now I am taking a rest.”

“Are you still at the beach?”

“Yeah.” I sighed.

“We should go to the beach tomorrow.”

“Then we’ll do that.”

“Al
l right.” It seemed like her phone was breaking up for a moment and then I heard her deep breathing. She was trying to disguise it.

“Babe,” I called out to her. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing.” Her tone conveyed that she’d just lied to me. My jaw automatically clenched. She was silent for a moment. “I wish you still lived here, when you were only a few feet away.” The frustration I’d felt from her lie dissipated.

“You’re never far from my mind
. Just remember how you felt when I was holding you.”

“I am, Chase,” she replied shakily.

“And how you squirmed when your ass brushed against my cock. Remember that?”

Beth softly moaned.
“Hmm-umm.”

“That’s right, babe. Show me how you love yourself.”

“But you’re not here.”

“I am.” I clamped my eyes closed and covered my crotch with my towel. I couldn’t believe that I’d driven her to touch herself while she was on the phone with me
. I opened my eyes. “There’s nothing to be shy about,” I encouraged through a tight throat.

“I-I, um, stroking my clit.” Her voice came out thick
.

“How?”

“Up and down…in circles.” She gulped. “Like how you touch my nipples.”

“Good, babe. Your pussy swollen yet?”

“Just my clit,” From the heavy silence, I knew that she was close to coming. I felt it. When I heard that slippery sound, I almost came in my swim trunks, which hadn’t happened in years.

“Hmmm,” she murmured. “
Ahhh.”

I shifted in my seat. “
You okay?”

“
Yes,” she breathed. “More than okay.”

“
Babe, wasn’t that pretty quick?”

Beth giggled. “I
started before you called. And I stopped when you called. Then I remembered you in your shorts…”

“Yeah,” I said, “I wanna take care of you any way I can—”

“I don’t want you to feel obli—”

“I wanna be the only one to make you
orgasm, but I know it’s tough because I need some time.”

“Chase,” she said. “You’
re the only who…makes me come. I was just using my hands.”

Damn, she made me feel a million bucks.

“Uh, I-I gotta change the sheets and clean up.” She gulped. “I am a little sticky.”

“Fuck! Beth. How are you gonna tell me that and expect me to go to the sleep tonight?” I slapped my thigh and chuckled at my self-imposed predicament.

“If you…still have that problem tonight…you can call me…”

I hit my head against the seat. “It’s no problem at all,” I told her with a heavy sigh. I peered at someone into the distance who became all too clear. “Hey, Beth, I gotta go
.”

“Oh, okay. Later.”

“Later, babe.”

She hung up and I put my phone behind me.

“Funny running into you here,” Cassidy said with mock surprise.

I fixed my face. She pressed her chest forward and flipped her pale blond hair on the side. I stood up and began to carefully fold my chair and put everything away. There were fewer people here then there had been on Sunday, so I knew she felt more confident to do just about anything. She seemed confused that I hadn’t said anything yet or shown any hostility despite the fact that every muscle in my body had tensed.

And then I braved a smile. “Just the person I was looking for,” I said.

***

Bethany

I passed by the kitchen and waved to Nancy when she called me back into the kitchen. I went
inside and Aunt Deborah was sitting by the island with a wrinkled forehead and a big cup of coffee in her hand. I wouldn’t have known she was here unless I came in. It was quiet, but not a harmonious quiet.

“Morning,” I said to both of them.

“Hey, Beth,” Aunt Deborah said, and I hated to see the deep black bags underneath her eyes. Uncle Anton was now sleeping in a guest bedroom and he’d looked worse for wear than Aunt Deborah. I hated that she was miserable.

Aunt Deborah finished her coffee
. Nancy took her tall mug, poured more coffee, and added agave to it. “Will you see Pierce today?” She tried to sound energetic. I was beginning to think that Pierce hadn’t spoken to her for days. Her pretty, light azure eyes sparkled when she mentioned Pierce. Even though I knew that Cindy loved me, I couldn’t say that I’d had that effect on her, and it made me feel a little envious of Pierce.

“Yes.
Have you heard from him?” I cautiously asked.

Her gaze shifted from her cup to me. “He’s called. But it’s not the same as seeing him every
day like I had been. He and Anton won’t speak to each other. And you already know that they had a very bad argument when they arrived home from their meeting in Miami.” She huffed. “I want my boys back.”

I nodded
, and Nancy placed Aunt Deborah’s coffee on the table. “You know Anton believes what Cassidy told him,” she told Aunt Deborah.

Momentarily, she flicked her eyes Nancy’s way before he
r focus returned to the counter. She tapped her French-manicured nails on the surface. “I don’t believe for one second that Chase has been sweet for Cassidy. Not one bit.”