Chapter Forty-Six
Tyler
Once we were finished, I was finally able to grab something to eat. I was absolutely starved, but since it was nearly three in the morning, the only options we had in walking distance was a diner or convenience stores.
It was a fairly shitty way to celebrate freedom, but I would have made the same choice. Between fucking and food, if it came right down to it and by the way that Ashley seemed to enjoy our time together, I imagined she felt the same way.
So we decided to stay the night together and see where the morning took us. It was too fucking late to try to get a ride out of town and I was beat, between screwing and eating, especially after the day we had, so I suggested we go back to the beach, hide under a lifeguard stand and try to get some sleep under the stars.
Ashley smiled at me when I made the suggestion, before she bumped herself solidly into me and said, “Sure. That sounds like a lot of fun. Do you think we’ll get caught?”
“How the hell should I know? I have no idea what kind of police they have out here.” When she looked worried though, I added, “But really, what is the worst they are going to do, if they see us? We’re just sleeping.”
She shrugged. “Yeah…I guess.”
“Besides, we’re not going to cause any trouble. If they ask us to leave, we’ll leave, but we should probably get to sleep soon, just in case.”
“What are we going to do after tonight?” she asked as we made our way onto the pathway between the dunes.
The two of us had automatically put our shoes in our hands and we were walking barefoot, hand in hand in the sand. If I didn’t know better, I would say we had stepped right out of a fucking postcard. I had never thought that I would ever be caught dead in a situation like this.
The moon shone brightly overhead, lighting the water and making a romantic silhouette dance across the waves. The whole scene was pretty fucking disgusting.
It was just my luck to finally settle down, after pushing my body so far past the limits that a policeman would come, just as we were getting to sleep to kick us out. However, then it would stop being so damn cute.
Still, I figured I didn’t want to chance it, so I just sat down next to an overturned lifeguards stand and crawled underneath it. “Tomorrow, we will find a hotel that takes cash and doesn’t ask any fucking questions, but tonight, I just want to go to sleep.”
“I hear you…” She answered as she climbed in next to me and cuddled up beside me.
The cool sea breeze was fairly chilly when the sun went down and so, I made it a point to wrap my arms around her tightly and pull her into me.
She laughed slightly, just as I was about to say a dick comment about how much I did today, as opposed to what she did, but realized before my mouth opened fully that she did have a point. Even though it wasn’t physical, she had gone through a hell of a lot of distress today. I didn’t say anything at all.
I just closed my eyes and tried to find the sleep that I knew my body so desperately needed.
Then, just as I was drifting off, I heard Ashley’s voice as she said, “It’s so beautiful here…”
I sighed and opened one eye to see the moon once again, streaming through the spaces in the boards of the lifeguard stand. Immediately, I heard the rustling of the waves and became overwhelmed with the picture perfect ambiance, which was something that I certainly wasn’t used to.
After relishing in it for a moment, instead of just brushing her observation off with an aggravating comment, I answered honestly, “Yeah…It really is.” Then I sighed and answered, “Please don’t take this the wrong way, Ashley, but could you please go the fuck to sleep?”
She laughed at this before she answered easily, “Yes, Tyler. I’m sorry…”
Within seconds, I was back in the glorious bosom of dreamland and thankfully, that was where I remained for the extent of the evening.
When the sunlight began to stream through the lifeguard stand, I knew that it would only be a matter of time before people started to arrive and that would probably be where we ran into issues. I shook Ashley awake.
“Good morning!” I exclaimed as I began to slide out from beneath the overturned lifeguard stand.
It took a moment for Ashley to understand her surroundings, but when she did, she yawned and answered, “Good morning.”
“We should probably get out of here… At least until some people show up and we can look like we are just people on the beach like everyone else.”
Ashley nodded as she made her way out from underneath the stand. “Where are we going?”
“Breakfast?” I asked, realizing that I was still starving. The fast convenience store food had done almost nothing for me and I felt as though I hadn’t eaten in a week.
Ashley’s stomach growled as she covered it and answered with a smile, “Yeah, breakfast sounds great.”
I took her hand and we began to make our way back up the hill between the dunes as I hoped we didn’t stink too fucking much. However, my first priority was breakfast, so we began to walk to a place that served a lot for very little, with quick service.
While we were walking, Ashley said to me, “Hey Tyler…” Her voice sounded very sheepish then, almost as though she was afraid of something.
Afraid of me? I thought. Shit!
“Yes?” I asked, trying to sound approachable.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Whatever you want.”
She smiled awkwardly before she said, “Besides your Dad…did you do anything…like illegal?”
“Why the fuck would you ask that?” I demanded before I could stop myself.
“I’m sorry…” she spoke quickly now. “I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories. It’s just that everywhere you go, people seem to fear you and since we’re going to be on this little adventure together, I would really like to know what I am getting myself into.”
At this, I couldn’t help but laugh. “Really? Are you scared of me?”
“No,” she said, this time solidly. In an instant, her persona changed and she eyed me with a hard look before she added, “I just want to know who you are, since you seem to be the only person I can rely on.”
I nodded, being able to respect that and thankful that she wasn’t actually afraid of me. “Fine. If you must know, the only reason that people have that perception of me is because I give off a, don’t fuck with me, vibe. I know how to handle myself, but I’m not into any shit.” I shrugged. “Honest to God, all I do is strongman competitions. Nothing else. Nothing shady and nothing illegal.”
She thought about this for a moment, before she smiled and answered cheerfully, “Thank you.”
I thought it was a little strange, but after the shock of her bluntness wore off, I realized that I kind of liked answering her questions. This was partially because I really wanted to be honest with her, but it was also partially because with everyone I had ever gone out with or been around, Ashley was the only one who cared enough to ask.
After breakfast, we headed back to the beach to hang out, just as we said we would and I was pleased.
There was something about spending another day on the beach that made me feel like we were coming full-fucking-circle. Usually, I would have cleared out long before this, but right now, it was feeling damn good to be the one who was sticking around.