The Beginning of Us (7 page)

She gives me the finger. “It’s ten o’clock, bitch. I don’t know why you always drink so much. You always end up feeling like shit, oh and turning into a major shit head.”

“Because it’s fucking fun and I’m a damn rebel.” I down the glass of the water hoping that the pills will take effect pronto.

“You say rebel, I say dumb ass.”

“Fuck you. What did I do that was so bad?”

She laughs before turning back to face me, and leaning back against the counter. “Really?” I stare at her waiting to be enlightened. “Um, you attacked Dan the Douche’s mouth.”

“What are you talking about?” Then the memories start to come back. Damon, me making out with Dan in front of him, the cowboy, Damon again. Shit, we had sex. Wait, he wasn’t here this morning. Did he just fucking leave after? What an asshole.

“I see the wheels turning. What’s up?” I tell Lo everything that happened with Damon. “Seriously, Jess? I thought you were done with him.”

“I don’t know, I just— .”  A knock at the door cuts me off. I slowly walk over to it almost tip toeing, fearing that any quick movement may cause me to puke everywhere. When I open it the devil himself is standing in front of me.

He holds up a cup of coffee, and a brown bag from Dunkin Donuts. “Hey I—” I slam the door before walking back toward the kitchen.

Lo is looking at me. “Who the hell was that?”

“Satan.” There is another knock on the door and Lo walks toward it. “Don’t answer it.”

“Jess, you can’t just do that to people. Besides, it’s not like your hungover ass can beat me to the door.” She walks away.

“I hate you, bitch.”

“Love you, too, doll face.” She yells back before opening the door. They are talking but I can’t make out a thing they are saying. I hear footsteps behind me and bury my head in my arms. “I’ll leave you two alone. Listen though, Lucifer, most of the shit in here is mine so whether this conversation ends in sex or a fight don’t break anything.”

I hear Damon laugh behind me. “Didn’t know you were always so pleasant in the mornings.” He sits down on the stool next to me, but I refuse to even lift my head. I don’t have enough patience for this right now. “So what do you want to do today?”

I lift my head just enough to see him. “Get away from you and go back to bed.”

He shakes his head. “The first is a no-go but I have no problem with the second one.” He wiggles his eyebrows and I bury my head to hide the smile that forms on my face. “You can hide all you want, but I know I’m melting that ice queen attitude.”

I hate him. I lift my head up to look at him. “See that shit right there is why we could never work. You’re just a dickhead, and I don’t have time for it.” His hands grab my hips pulling me so I’m pressed against him, standing in between his legs.

“If I remember, you fucking loved my dick last night.” I can feel him through the jeans he is wearing and a chill runs through me.

I push away from him needing some space. “I’m going to get dressed, don’t be here when I get back.” Before he can shoot me some dumbass remark, I go into my room and close the door. Once it’s closed I lean against it, and close my eyes. Damon is like the fucking stray cat that you feed, it always comes back for more, thinking you owe it shit.

“You’re screwed, you know.”

I look up at my traitor best friend standing there smirking at me. “Oh yeah, thanks for letting him in, you bitch. What the hell, Lo?”

She laughs before plopping on my bed. “He has it bad, chick, and you might as well stop fighting it and figure out what is going on between the two of you.”

“Seriously? What about all the shit I have told you.”

Lo shakes her head before walking over to my closet and taking out a jean skirt and a shirt. “People make mistakes, Jess, it’s not like you’re Mother Fucking Theresa.” She shoves the clothes into my arms. “Now get dressed, take the bitch hat off, and give that hot piece of ass a damn chance.”

“Have I told you how much I hate you?”

“Yep. But I know your ass loves me no matter what you say. Remember less Maleficent more Princess Aurora.” Lo and her fucking Disney analogies.

I begrudgingly get dressed, and when I walk out of my room, Damon is sitting on the couch. “See, now was that so hard?”

I grab the coffee from him. “Watch it, buddy. You’re already on thin ice.”

As we are walking toward the door, Lo comes out of her room. “Have a good time, Aurora!”

I slam the door wanting to wring her neck. Damon turns around to face me, seeming confused. “Aurora?”

“Drop it.” He holds his hands up in protest. Once we reach his car the thought of being in a moving vehicle turns my stomach. “I suggest you drive slow before I ruin your interior.”

“Thanks for the warning.” We get into the car and a song begins to blare from the speakers. It’s Hunter Hayes song “Wanted”. Damon reaches toward the radio to change it, but I grab his hand.

“Can we leave it on?” He smiles, nods his head, and puts his sunglasses on before pulling into traffic. As I’m listening to the song all I can help but think is how nice it would be, to have someone feel like that about you. To have someone that would jump through hoops for you, and expect nothing in return. I catch Damon staring at me and I feel like he can see into my damn soul.

I look away hoping to break the connection but I can still feel his eyes on me. Thankfully, the light turns green, and he is now effectively distracted. The song ends and I turn toward Damon. “So where are we going?”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s a surprise, kind of my way of apologizing for the other night.”

I look away to hide the smile. I’m not ready to show him that part of me again, after the way he has been so hot and cold.

Chapter Twelve

We have been driving for almost four hours and the anticipation is killing me. The car pulls into an exit lane and when I look at the sign it says Myrtle Beach. Holy shit. He’s taking me to the beach? I look over at him and he has a huge grin on his face.

“So how did I do?”

“I’m definitely surprised. I don’t have a suit or anything, though.”

He laughs. “It’s in the back. I asked your friend for some help and ran the bag downstairs while you were in your room.”

I shake my head amazed and dumbfounded at the same time. Damon Shaw made my head hurt. He was a yo-yo, and I was already dizzy. When he pulls into a hotel lot I look over at him. “I got us a room, that way we can go to the beach and go out tonight, too.”

“Very presumptuous of you, Mr. Shaw.”

“What can I say? You’re kind of a sure thing.”

My mouth drops open. “See, that’s the type of shit I’m talking about. Don’t be an asshole!”

“Chill out, Jessie.”

“No, it’s not funny, and I’m not dealing with that shit.”

Damon shakes his head as he parks the car. “Okay, okay.” We get out of the car and I see my suitcase.

“When the hell did Lo have time to do all this?”

He cocks his head to the side. “Lo? I thought her name was Lauren. Either way, she did it while you were verbally assaulting me.”

We walk into the hotel, check in, and head up to the room. “You want to head straight to the beach?”

I nod my head. My guard is still up with Damon. I’m not sure I’m ready to let him back in yet. I unzip my suitcase and grab the bathing suit out of it. Of course Lo grabbed the tiniest bikini she could find. Taking out my phone I decide to text her.

Me: Well-played bitch.

Lo: you’re welcome and remember, play nice like Glenda the good witch.

Me: I thought I was supposed to be Aurora?

Lo: Either will work. Just don’t be Jessie that girl is a bitch.

I laugh and throw the phone onto the counter. As I put on the bikini, trying to get it to cover everything at one time is proving to be really difficult. Whatever, it’s not like he hasn’t seen me naked. I grab the cover up that Lo packed, thank God, and slip it on.

When I walk out of the room Damon has his back to me and is tying the string of his bathing suit. I watch as the defined muscles of his back move and contract with each movement he makes. Damn. He is fucking gorgeous. He turns around, “You ready?”

I nod my head not trusting my voice to sound unaffected. The hotel is right on the beach so we grab a couple towels, walk downstairs, and find a spot on the sand. I look around taking everything in, I’ve never been to the beach and I have to say it’s everything that I thought it would be. Since it’s October, it isn’t that crowded, but that’s fine by me.

I lay down on my stomach and people watch, laughing at all of the people that walk up to the water only to run away because the water is freezing. Damon looks over at me. “You wanna go in?”

I look at him like he is out of his mind. “Hell no.”

“Come on! You’ve never been in the ocean either so it’s like a necessity.”

I shake my head. “I’ve also never gotten a tan on the beach, and I intend rectify that now.”

Before I know what’s happening, I am in Damon’s arms and he is running toward the water. “No! Put me down!”

He gets about waist deep and I shriek every time the water splashes up at me. “Hold your nose.”

“You wouldn’t da—” The next thing I know I’m sailing through the air, and landing in an salt water filled nightmare. When I resurface, Lucifer is laughing. “Did I mention I hate you?” I snap at him as I walk back toward the shore and collapse on the towel begging the sun to warm my skin. Damon walks back up wisely choosing not to utter a smart ass comment.

After a little while I decide to turn over so my front can get some sun, too. When I look over at Damon next to me he is asleep. I lean up on my elbows and smile at the family near us and their three kids laughing and playing. They have built a moat and are filling it with water from one of the biggest buckets I have ever seen. That’s when a light bulb goes off.

I walk over to the kids and bend down to one of the girls. “Hey, do you mind if I borrow your bucket for a minute? I want to play a prank on my friend.”

“Can I watch?” I nod my head and she hands me the bucket.

I apprehensively walk into the water losing feeling in my toes as I’m trying to fill the bucket. I walk back toward where Damon is peacefully sleeping. My audience is watching and I dump the bucket over his head. He screams and jumps up, looking around frantically. “Honey, I thought I would wake you up, don’t want you to get burned or anything.”

I walk back toward the kids who are now laughing in hysterics. When I go back to my towel I lay down glancing at Damon. He is sitting up on the towel his chest still heaving up and down from the shock of the cold water.

“Well played.”

I laugh as his hair drips water onto his face. Damon leans in and kisses me. There is no fire, no intensity, this isn’t a rough sexual kiss at all. This kiss has emotion, and it scares the shit out of me.

I pull away needing to distance myself both emotionally and physically. “So, what’s up?”

Damon gives me a strange look and then laughs. “Well, I can’t lie back down on a soaking wet towel. You want to go back, get changed, and then explore?”

“Sure.” I stand up feeling his eyes on me the entire time. As we walk back toward the hotel Damon laces his fingers through mine. I look down at them trying to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach. He makes it so hard to keep my distance. I want to trust him and let him in, but I don’t feel safe enough to.

Once we get back to the room, I rush into the bathroom and close the door. Whenever I’m near Damon, I feel like I can’t breathe. The effect he has on me is suffocating and invigorating at the same time. I step into the shower hoping to be able to collect myself enough to keep my guard up for the rest of the night. The hot water feels so good against my skin that I lean against the shower wall and just relax.

“What are you doing?”

I scream at the sudden interruption. “What are you doing in here?!”

“Taking a shower, which I thought that you were doing too.” Damon’s hands rest on my hips and looks into my eyes. This is the first time I have seen him completely naked and I can’t stop staring. His tattooed sculpted arms are firm as he holds my body against the wall. His chest is slowly moving up and down making the muscles in his stomach clench. When I look down even further I gasp, he is standing in front of me and is at full attention.

“You can’t be in here.” I try to move to the side, but his hands force me to stay in front of him.

“Don’t run.” His knuckle brushes my cheek. “Stop running from me, Jessie. Let me in.”

I shake my head in response.

“Why?”

I look down at the floor as the water slowly runs down my face. Damon removes one of his hands from my hip and grasps my chin in between his fingers. When he lifts my head up and I meet his eyes a shiver runs through me. The way he is looking at me tells me he wants more, but that is something that I can’t give him.

“I get that I hurt you, Jess. I’m sorry. Let me in. I can see you want to. Let me be there for you. Let me see the part of you that you hide from everyone.”

A single tear escapes my eye. I don’t want to let him in because if I do and he walks away, I don’t know if I could deal with it. Damon’s mouth lowers to mine and once our lips touch, my body catches fire. I pull him toward me needing the contact and the comfort that he gives me. It’s like my mind and my heart are two separate entities. They are constantly conflicted and right now I think my heart might win.

Damon pulls away from me. “You aren’t going to push me away. I’m not going anywhere.” He releases me and grabs the soap, I watch him amazed as he runs the soap over his skin. Damon finishes washing himself and turns toward me. I’m still standing there dumbfounded that all he did was kiss me. His hand reaches up and his knuckles brush over my cheek. “Everything doesn’t always need to be about sex.” He steps out of the shower and I scrub my hands over face. That man will be the death of me. 

After my shower, I get dressed in a simple pair of jean shorts, with a wide brown belt hanging over them, and a black V-neck t-shirt. I walk out of the bathroom to see Damon talking on the phone. He looks pissed off and when he sees me he hangs up. What the hell was that all about?