Page 22 of Under the Waves
I wasn’t that heartless. I may have despised the girl but my mamma raised me better than to knock a girl out and leave her on the floor.Hell, she raised me better than to knock people out in the first place. But some people really fucking deserved it.
People likeNate.
Why the fuck had she come with him, anyway? Out of everyone in this town, she’d chosen that bastard.God, Wellsy. I thought she had better taste in guys than that.
My fists clenched at my sides as I walked down the stairs and out into the kitchen to where Kai and Lachlan stood, a bottle of beer in their hands. I opened the fridge and stared into it.
She hadn’t even recognized me earlier at the surf school. Ifshe had, would it have been different? Would she have refused to let me treat her? Would she have given me one of those bone shattering glares that left me wanting to kiss her with such force it knocked all the smugness out of her?
She’d probably curse my name to the devil and storm off.
Fuck.
There was no way I wasmissingher now too.
Nope.
This wasnothappening.
Not this year, not ever.
I’d make sure of it.
10
Jasper Ridge
“Earth to cap.”
“Shit. Maybe he’s having a stroke, Mali?”
“Lachy, he isnothaving a stroke.”
“He’s been staring into the fridge for the past ten minutes and you’re not concerned in the slightest?”
“He’s justthinking, stupid. You should try it sometime. Could work wonders for that songwriters block you’ve become ever so attached to.”
“One, I do not have writers block—”
“—Ha, and I’m not short sighted.”
“And two, Idothink. My brain is a wonderful place to be, Mali.”
“Your brain, Lachy, is far inferior—”
“—That’s not very nice.”
“I wasn’tfinished, asshole.”
“Sorry, Mali. Carry on.”
“But if you actuallyusedit in class, maybe everyone wouldn’t think of you as some thick songwriter destined for nothing more than his garage.”
“I do try! You know I do. It’s just…hard. The words, they don’t make sense, Mali. You know this! Lyrics,music…that’s my language.”
“I know, Lachlan. I know.”
“So…Cap isn’t having a stroke?”