AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He hops on the spot with excitement as we reach the Gelato-go store. Ten minutes later, we sit on the sand, him with his salted caramel and me with a cup of cappuccino mocha. The sun beats down, but the beach isn’t too busy. People wander up and down, soaking up the sun, jogging, and relaxing. The swell is low today but there are a few surfers in the water, hoping for a decent wave. If Mom wasn’t in hospital, if I wasn’t drowning in debt, then maybe I’d be happy.
But it’s OK because Joel is happy, and that’s all I care about.
“Ice cream makes my brain freeze,” he mumbles. His hands are already sticky and there are drips down his tee-shirt, but it doesn’t matter. I’m not sweating the small stuff today.
“It makes my brain freeze too,” I tell him.
I look up to see a guy in a suit walking toward me. There’s something about his golden blond hair and the cut of his jaw that looks familiar. People don’t usually wear suits on South Beach, which makes him stand out, so I look harder. But the sun is in my eyes and I can’t see all that clearly.
It isn’t until he reaches us and speaks that I realize who he is.
“Rory,” he says, with a grin that doesn’t reach his pretty blue eyes. “Fancy bumping into you here. It’s a small world, isn’t it?”
Chapter 27
Rory
4 years ago.
“Hey, baby.”Landon slides into the seat next to me and I smile up at him. He’s so pretty with his golden blond hair and blue eyes. An all-American boy through and through. I still find it hard to understand what he sees in me, but as Mom always says, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
I slurp my smoothie and gaze up at him. “Hey.”
“So there’s a party tonight at Cameron’s apartment. I thought we could go together.”
He reaches out and twirls a strand of my red hair around his fingers and smiles at me. The bottom falls out of my stomach,and I look away, unsure of what to say. We’ve been dating for a couple of months now, and aside from some kissing, he’s not pushed me for anything more, which I appreciate.
My V card is hanging over my head like a bad smell, but the truth is, I’m just not ready to toss it away. Landon said he was OK with waiting, but in the last couple of weeks, he’s definitely cooled toward me, not replying to my messages straight away, the usual stuff boys do. I kinda assumed he had lost interest. I’m not an idiot. Boys like him can have any girl they want, girls who will put out in a heartbeat, girls like Tamara.
“I thought maybe you didn’t want to see me anymore,” I tell him, part of me hoping he agrees. I do like him, but I’m beginning to realize attraction is more than enjoying the attention of a good-looking guy.
“Oh, baby, of course I want to be with you!” He strokes my cheek and leans in for a soft kiss. I wait for the butterflies, the overwhelming feeling of ‘rightness’ but it doesn’t come. Instead, I cringe at the way the kiss is all sloppy and he uses too much tongue. It’s a bit gross, but maybe I’m overthinking it. My roomie, Krystal, says I just need to get it over with and sex is never romantic or nice to start with. She assures me it gets better with practice.
I know she’s right, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting my first time to be special. Mom always said I should wait for the right guy to come along. She told me giving it up too easily was a mistake. I thought maybe Landon was the right guy; now I’m not so sure. But he smiles at me again with those cute dimplesand I think to myself how damn gorgeous he is and surely any normal girl would be thrilled to give it up for him. Perhaps I’m just not normal.
Then I realize he’s been talking to me. I haven’t heard a damn word he’s said so I force myself to focus on his handsome face with his perfectly straight patrician nose and chiseled jaw.
“So I’ll pick you up at 7, yeah?” He frowns slightly, looking a tad irritated that my attention isn’t 100% on him.
“Uhm, OK, great.” I’m not great at thinking on my feet and an excuse doesn’t spring to mind.
“Wear something cute, I want to show you off.”
My cheeks flush and I look down at my old sweats and threadbare tee. It’s all I wear most days because I have so many dance classes. I also don’t have much money to spend on clothes whereas Landon is the beneficiary of a generous trust fund and throws money around like it’s growing on trees. It’s one of the reasons why I regret getting involved with him. Our backgrounds are too different and there’s no way his family would welcome me, a small-town girl from Minnesota, with open arms.
It concerns me that he appears to be more serious about me than I thought, but maybe after this party, I’ll confess I’m not that into him. I’m pretty sure Tamara has her eye on him anyway; I caught her throwing flirtatious looks in his direction the other day. They’ll make a much better couple than he and I.
“OK,” I reply, wondering if Krystal will lend me something to wear. I hope so or Landon will be mad.
?
The party is sweaty, loud, and really not my scene. My classes are brutal and most nights, I’m so exhausted all I have the energy to do is eat something and fall into bed. Landon is studying business at Columbia, not dance.
We met in a coffee shop, of all places. He bowled me over with his charm and our first date was a picnic in Central Park. He brought champagne and strawberries and I thought it was the most romantic thing ever.
Landon leads me through the writhing bodies, nodding at some preppy boys in Henleys and slacks. They smirk at me, openly ogling my boobs in the stupidly tight dress Krystal persuaded me to wear. I hate the damn dress, but Landon loves it. Of course, he does. His eyes lit up like it was Christmas when he saw me teeter down the steps from our dorm.
“You look so hot tonight, baby,” he says, his hand firmly on my ass as we walk outside onto a terrace. It’s less crowded here and there’s a great view of the city. “I’ll go fetch us some drinks.” He leaves me on my own and I relax a bit. My plan is to stay an hour and then make an excuse to leave. Tamara’s here with her friends, so I figure she can console Landon in my absence.
