Under the Surface (23 page)

I rest my
weight on her, but only briefly before moving to my back. Both of us just lay
here trying to catch our breaths.

I excuse
myself briefly to get rid of the condom in the bathroom. Feeling a little
awkward walking around her apartment naked, only because our friends are asleep
in the living room.

When I get
back in Emmy’s room, she’s laying on her bed, so shamelessly nude and
beautiful.

She grabs my
face when I rejoin her on the bed, kissing me softly.

“I almost
can’t believe this is happening between us,”
she tells me.

“I can’t
either. But I’m sure as hell glad it is.”

She looks
hesitant about whatever she’s thinking about. “You make me happy, Ren.”
She says softly. “You make me realize that leaving home, and going
to school here, was the best decision I ever made. Because it led me to you.”
She says the last part so softly, if I wasn’t listening carefully
I would’ve missed it.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Emilie

I wake up in Ren’s arms. For the last week
I’ve told him I wanted to take our relationship slow, and that included
physically. And he was patient, never pushing me to do anything. And I thought
that’s what I wanted, or probably more thought that’s what I needed to be
doing.

But I was so
wrong.

When we were
in the kitchen last night my body craved him. I wanted nothing more than for
him to be inside of me. And when we had sex, it somehow topped the night in his
truck.

I’ve never
felt a connection like the one I feel with Ren. It’s so much more than how I’ve
felt with any of the other guys I’ve had sex with. It’s always been a physical
itch being scratched. But with Ren, it’s some deep need inside myself that I
can’t get off my mind.

And what I
told him, about how coming to Providence was the best decision because it led
me to him, was the truth.

He’s just
that important to me.

When I’m around
him I don’t find myself stressed, I don’t think about all the problems I face
living without family. All I think about is how happy I am, and how special he
makes me feel.

I can be
myself around Ren, not worry about when I lose myself in thought, or don’t want
to talk about something, Ren always know how to handle those situations.

I feel Ren
rouse next to me.

“Morning,”
he says with hooded eyes. Their green color is barely peeking out
behind his lids. His skin looks so warm and tan in the morning light.

“Good
morning. What do you have planned today?”
I ask.

“
Well
…I do have
something I’m looking forward to sharing with you. A project I’ve been working
on, and I want you to be a part of it.”

“A
photography project?”

“
Mmhm
. Truthfully I’m a bit nervous to show it to you, but I
think you’re going to like it.”

How can I
not? I love all of his photography. His pictures are always so beautiful.

“What time do
you want to head over to your place?”

He looks to
my alarm clock for the time. It’
s just past ten.
“We can go back whenever. But
there’s something we need to take care of here first.”

“And what’s
that?”

“There’s this
gorgeous blonde woman I’ve been seeing. And I woke up to her looking very sexy
this morning. And I’m in the mood to ravish her.”

He’s grinning
at me now. I love this playful side of him.

I lay back on
the bed, resting my arms above my head.

“By all
means,”
I say. “Ravish away.”

* *

“We have to go to my dad’s house to see
the project. I’ve been placing it together there in the studio. But there’s a
couple more pictures here that I need to wrap up and take.”

Ren talks to
me as he goes through storage boxes in his room. He’s been filing through
binders and making piles next to his desk of things he wants to bring back to
his dad’s house.

After asking
him several times, he’s yet to reveal any details of his project
—
just that is involves photography.

I go to take
a look at what Ren has stacked on the floor.

He swats my
hand away.

“No peeking.”

I pout.
“Come on. I’m dying to
know what you’ve been working on. I had a feeling you’ve been getting a big
project together since you’ve been building a website. But the anticipation is
killing me.”

“I’m not
telling you anything. I want your initial reaction to tell me how you really
feel about it. Now quit pouting. If you’re good, maybe I’ll buy you a coffee on
the way to Newport.”

Shamelessly
that shuts me up. I’m a sucker for coffee. I’m even more of one for
free
coffee.

“I knew that
would settle you down. Now I just need to wrap these things up and grab my
camera. I’ll be ready to go after that. You can flip through some of my old
binders if you’re board. But none of the stuff near my desk.”

I clap my
hands together in excitement. I pull a few binders and folders out from under Ren’s
bed. I flip through a few, enjoying the variety of photos. I stop when I see
one that surprises me.

That’s
because instead of a stranger in the picture it’s
me
.

“Okay, Emmy,
you have everything you need?”

I’m still
shocked. The picture must have been taken at the very beginning of this school
year. I remember laying out on the grass. I had fallen asleep and woke up after
having a bad dream. This was before I even met Ren.

“Why did you
take this?” I ask, holding up the picture for Ren to see.

He looks surprised
at what I found. He’s been keeping this from me. “I don’t really know. I just
saw you from a window and wanted to take your picture. I know that probably
sounds messed up and creepy, but it was just because you looked so interesting,
especially the shape of how your body was laid out.” He runs his fingers
through his hair. “What do you think about it?”

“I don’t know
if I like it. I do know that I don’t like that you took this without me
knowing. But it is beautiful. How come you didn’t tell me?”

“Honestly,
it’s because I thought it would be weird to show you. I thought you would be
creeped out. I realized after I saw you in the diner that first night, me
taking this picture was how I knew you. But it was too difficult for me to
bring up.”

I nod. “I can
understand why you didn’t bring it up before. I do love how it looks, though.
The colors and everything about it are so beautiful. I even like the pose I’m
in, but…no more taking mysterious pictures of me. Okay?”

“I promise I
won’t. And it’s kind of a relief you found this. It’s been weighing on me to
tell you.”

“It’s all
cleared up now. You ready with your stuff?”

Ren looks
relieved. “All packed. Let’
s roll out.
”

**

When I got to Ren’s house I expected to be
taken straight to the surprise project. But no, instead I was placed in the
kitchen and told to stay put while Ren worked. After finishing my coffee—Ren
pulled through on his promise—I’m now forced to do nothing but rumble through
the pantry looking for snacks.

“Can’t find
anything you like?”

I turn to the
voice of Richard, Ren’
s dad.

“Everything
in here looks too fancy to eat.”

He laughs at
me. His smile is so similar to Ren’s it’s crazy.

“I’ll admit I
am a bit of a food snob. I tend to shop at the local specialty stores that some
of my friends own. But don’t let the fancy labels stop you. You’re welcome to
whatever you want.”

I look at my
options. There’s packages of cookies labeled biscuits, dried fruit in clear
packages, and containers of mixed nuts. The whole pantry smells like spices and
grains. I’m hungry, but I’m overwhelmed by all my options.

“I can’t
decide. Your pantry looks like the dried food section of
New Seasons
.
How is anyone supposed to find the best things when there’s so much to choose
from?”
I tell him.

“Take a seat,
I’ll make you something.”

He has to be
kidding. I’m sure Mr. Warren has plenty of other things to do besides make me
lunch.

“You really
don’t need to do that, Mr. Warren. I can manage. I’m just being indecisive.”
A trait that somehow Ren puts up with.

“Don’t be
silly, I insist. I was about to make lunch for myself anyway. It won’t be any
trouble to make enough for you and Ren.”

“Okay,”
I say, dragging the word out.

“Don’t sound
like having a meal cooked for you is such a hardship.”

Mr. Warren
smiles to himself as he gathers items from around the kitchen. Pots and pans,
food from the fridge, and a few spice containers and items from the pantry. I
also see him grab flour and olive oil.

One of the
items pulled from the fridge are fillets of fish, which he batters and fries in
hot oil on the stove. His cooking is so effortless and smooth I can tell just
by looking at him that he’s an expert. We chat casually while he makes lunch.
He tells me about some of his earlier cooking jobs, and I tell him about the
time I once burned chicken so bad my next door neighbors called 911 and
firefighters came to my door.

The fried
fish and homemade tartar sauce he serves up is so delicious, I vow that every
time Ren comes to his dad’s house, I’m going to follow with the potential of
another good meal like this.

I’m just
finishing my food when I hear Ren enter the kitchen.

“You did
good
, Dad.”
I hear Ren say from behind me.

Mr. Warren goes
to fix a plate of food for Ren. “It was a lot easier than I thought it would
be. And she only mouthed off to me a little.”

“Wait are you
guys talking about me?”
I ask. What do they mean?

Ren puts his
hands on my shoulders and gives me a kiss on my forehead. “I told him to keep
you busy. And the smart man kept your mouth shut with food. Good call, Pops.”

I shoot Mr.
Warren a dirty look. “You were told to distract me?”

“I was only
doing what my son asked of me. And I was just keeping you busy; I was not trying
to shut you up, as Ren put it.”

“You know,”
I take the last bite of my food. “Now that I think of it, this
fish is kind of dry, and could use some salt.”

“
Ohh
, Emmy,
now
you’re asking for
trouble.”
Ren says sounding amused. His head is moving back and forth from
me to his dad. Looking like he’s watching a tennis match.

“Coming from
the person who was
oo
-ing and awing over how
delicious she thought the dish was, not even five minutes ago.”

I can’t even deny
that to him. But I can’t help my sass sometimes, it just comes out.

“Fine,”
I mumble. “I was only kidding about the food being dry. It was
delicious.”
I continue to talk through my teeth.

Mr. Warren
cups his hand around his ear and leans in closer to me. “What was that, Emmy?
Old ears and all, I couldn’t hear you.”

I huff.
“I said it was delicious.
Just like the rest of the food you cook. It’s absolutely delicious.”
I swallow my pride. “And I’m sorry for making that comment
earlier. I was lying.”

Mr. Warren
smiles. “Glad to hear it. Ren, you finish everything in the backroom?”
He passes a plate of food to his son.

Ren takes the
dish. “
Yup. All
set.
”

“Excellent. I
need to get ready for work, but I’ll see you kids around the house when I get
back.”

Ren stands up
when his dad walks around the kitchen island. He gives him a hug before saying
goodbye.

After Mr.
Warren leaves the kitchen I ask, “So, can I see it now?”

“I need to
finish my food first. Then maybe I’ll show you. Or we can go to the beach and I
can show you my project later.”

No, no no. I can
’t wait any
longer.

Ren continues
to eat his food. I help him out by taking my fork and moving more food into his
mouth. “Here, let me help you finish this.”

He shoves my
hands away. “Okay, I take it you don’t want to go to the beach after this?”

“Correct.”

“I’ll eat
this quick and I’ll show you. I promise…but I really want your honest opinion
on it. That’s important to me.”

“Of course
I’ll be honest about it. I wouldn’t lie to you about liking your work. I won’t
say it’s great unless I really mean it.”