Chapter Three

 

It was ridiculous to think about.

I was twenty-one years old, in college, had been on my own longer than I cared to admit, and here I was nervous about a first date. It wasn’t technically my first date because I’d been on more than I’d ever counted, but those hadn’t been for me.

I still didn’t know how to say no, obviously, since I’d told Cash no. And then I said yes. Working for my parents, no wasn’t part of my vocabulary. Whatever a guy wanted, I was supposed to be the yes girl, even when it made my skin crawl.

I needed to find my own voice in this whole thing.

Sal and Gio seemed to find their voices fairly easily and that pissed me off. Sex must be different for guys. They clearly had active love lives and I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to do it again.

No.

This nervousness came from the fact that I’d acknowledged how attractive Cash was. I noticed guys here and there but never admitted an attraction, even to myself.

I talked a good game, especially when I was trying to be a normal college girl, but didn’t actually know what I liked in a guy. But with Cash… He was the first guy whom I regarded in that way. Like a girl who liked what she saw.

Thankfully, my doorbell rang because I could freak out completely if left alone too long. Thirty seconds before he showed up at my door, I was searching for a reason to cancel. Now that he was here, I couldn’t do that.

“Wow.” Cash smiled as he took me in from head to toe. “You look great.”

“Thanks.” I picked at my fingernails—a nervous habit that needed to be broken. I wasn’t sure about returning the compliment. But crap, he looked nice.

Long, loose khaki cargo shorts with a V-neck gray T-shirt that was snug enough to show off some of those lean muscles underneath. The outfit worked for him. It worked for me.

After grabbing my purse, I locked the door behind us and we made our way to his dark blue pickup truck. Not brand new but in great condition. And not as freaking huge as Gio’s.

I never understood how a city boy like my brother had decided to buy a giant truck.

“Ok,” Cash said, revving the engine. “I’ve got a few things planned to acclimate you to Harbor Point. Think you’re up for it?” He cocked a half grin my way and looked like the guy in high school every girl had a crush on.

“I can handle whatever you throw at me.” Because that was what I did. I handled situations.

He pulled the truck away from the curb. I hated the silence. In general and specifically in this situation.

“So, a truck?” I asked.

“Yup.”

“Any reason? Are you a country boy?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He let go of a southern drawl that wasn’t natural on him before returning to his regular voice. “My parents have a farm about fifteen minutes inland. It just makes sense.”

I liked his normal voice better than the fake one.

“Farmers?”

“It’s hard, but they love it.”

He made a quick turn and I realized that I hadn’t been paying attention to where we were going, which was “Find Yourself Dead in a Shallow Grave 101.”

I was never supposed to let my guard down.

“So are you a farmer, too?”

He didn’t seem the part, but I knew nothing about him.

“I work the farm here and there, but honestly, I haven’t figured out what I am yet. One of my brothers owns the tow company in town. Another is in med school in the city. We’re kind of all over the place that way.”

“How many brothers do you have?”

“Four.”

“Four?” My face blanched and he laughed.

“Yeah. The five Waterford boys have wreaked havoc all over this town.”

Cash went on to tell me about how one month his mother had been called up to the schools every single day which resulted in a lot of extra chores for each of the boys. Before school and before the sun rose to after school, after dinner, and into the night. The calls got less after that. Though when I asked what exactly they’d done to get their parents called to school he took evasive measures and changed the subject.

It wasn’t until he opened his door that I realized we’d stopped, so I hopped out after him. And immediately wished I had paid attention to where we were and how we had gotten there. A carnival laid spread out before me. Laughter and screams filled the air along with the whoosh of several nearby rides. My feet remained planted right where they were outside the truck door.

“Ready?” Cash asked once he got around the truck to me. Then he saw my face and his smile dropped. “Do you not like carnivals? Or rides?”

“I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head. “I’ve never been to one.”

“Never?”

“No.”

“Well, this is an annual kick-off thing in Harbor Point. Typically, everyone under the age of thirty comes and sometimes those over sixty. Feel like giving it a whirl?” He was so sincere, his voice so tender that I didn’t have a choice.

As we walked toward the entrance, Cash placed his hand on my lower back, which made my spine go pin-straight. Fuck, I wished I was normal. He, in turn, dropped his hand immediately but didn’t say anything. Then he purchased us each a wristband so we could ride any and all rides.

“What do you think you want to try first?” he asked as we passed a few games.

“I’ll do whatever you want to do.” My words made me cringe, but either Cash didn’t catch it or he was nice enough not to respond.

Instead, he grabbed my hand and pulled me to this spinning wheel of death. The ride wasn’t actually called that, but in my mind, it may as well have been. It was similar to a roller coaster but only had one track that made a complete circle. My stomach immediately started to churn. It’d feel like we were falling and then we’d go upside down. Talk about starting big.

As we waited in line, a couple of guys approached calling Cash’s name. They did that weird-guy-handshake-shoulder-hug-whatever before he turned to me.

“This is Gemma. These guys are Travis, Matt, and Conner.”

I gave a little wave as the guys tried to figure out what to make of me. This I’d done before, but back then, I’d had my guard completely up, and I’d owned the situation. Cash and I were standing close but not touching in any way so who knew what they thought. Cash noticed, though, and took a little step closer.

“She just moved here,” Cash explained.

“Are you coming to the beach tonight?” The tallest of the other three, whom I thought was Matt, asked.

“It’s on the list.” Cash shrugged.

A few more moments of chatter and the guys went their separate ways.

The longer we waited in line, the worse my nerves became. My palms were so sweaty and my heart was racing. If Cash tried to hold my hand, things would get embarrassing. It got so bad I had to wipe my hands down the front of my shorts more than once.

“We don’t have to go on this if you don’t want to,” he said when he saw me do it the second time.

I hadn’t realized he was watching me so closely.

“I’m good.”

Then it was our turn. The moment we got strapped in, I wanted to say uncle, but I sucked it up and kept my mouth shut. This was something normal people did all the time. So I took a deep breath, wrapped my hands around my shoulder straps, and tried to enjoy the ride.

The first climb was torture. But the free fall back was freeing. When we made our first full rotation, I couldn’t help the wide grin that broke out across my face. The ride was scary but exciting.

“So what’d you think?” he asked after we stepped off.

I smiled up at him. “I loved it.”

We spent the next couple of hours riding every single thing the carnival had to offer and talking. Lots and lots of talking.

I discovered that Cash was right in the middle of his family line up. Two older brothers, two younger. The two younger ones were twins and still in high school, seniors in the fall. I told him that it was me and Gio, but when he asked about our parents, I simply told him that they weren’t around. I’d just met the guy and wasn’t about to say, “Hey, they’re in jail for their illegal business practices.”

No thanks.

Cash hadn’t gone to college, though he didn’t rule it out for the future. He didn’t want to go right out of high school. He worked with his parents and drove the tow truck for his brother sometimes. Basically, he did whatever he needed to pay the bills.

I filled him in on as much as I felt comfortable with. My college situation, why I’d moved here, and that I was working with Sal.

That was about everything I had that didn’t sound utterly ridiculous.

The conversation was easy—too easy—but I found myself relaxing. I’d never been so at ease around a guy, which sort of put me on edge. Ugh, I was all kinds of fucked in the head.

The last thing he wanted to go on was a Ferris wheel only because I’d never been on one, he said. The Ferris wheel wasn’t one he’d normally ride because it didn’t spin him until he was ready to vomit or anything, but he wanted me to have the full experience. We loaded up and the wheel started to turn. I think I would’ve preferred if it went faster. I was high off the ground at least. Cash was there and put me at ease when my fingers gripped the metal railing.

“Having fun?” he asked when we stopped at the very top.

I thought we were stuck at first until he said it was so others could get on. I felt dumb not having known that.

“Yeah. I didn’t even know this was here, so I never would’ve come by myself.”

“Well, that’s the idea. There’s still more to do. After tonight, you’ll officially be part of Harbor Point.”

“I like the sound of that.” I smiled but couldn’t linger on him. The way he watched me, I was afraid he’d see what I was trying to hide. “Besides, I need to make friends with people who aren’t sleeping with a member of my family. I figure you’re a safe bet.”

Cash snorted. “I don’t know. Gio’s pretty hot. I could date him but I think Bianca would kick my ass.”

“She would. For some reason, she loves him.”

He leaned back, sort of running his hand over the back of his hair as he regarded me. “Friends, huh?”

I turned toward him with a smile.

“You don’t want to be friends?”

“Maybe to start.”

By then, the ride had started up and we’d made three or four complete revolutions before coming to an abrupt halt at the bottom.

Back in his truck, the food I’d eaten sat like a rock in the pit of my stomach. We’d eaten elephant ears, funnel cakes, French fries, and anything else we could get our hands on in between rides.

What Cash didn’t realize was that I didn’t eat much of anything we purchased.

A bite here, a bite there, but nothing too significant. Since I wasn’t used to fried and greasy, it still sat there mocking me with a whiny, high-calorie pitch.

Once I hoisted myself up and into his truck, I sighed deeply. “I think I’m going to have to run ten miles to work this day off.”

Cash laughed loudly. “I think you can afford a few extra calories.”

I ignored that comment.

We chatted the rest of the way until he maneuvered us into a parking spot near the beach. I could already see the bonfire Gio had mentioned to me last week flickering in the distance. This was another time-honored Harbor Point/Romano’s tradition.

“Ok, so I’m going to warn you that my younger brothers will probably be here. They’re harmless, but they think they’re pretty funny. Especially Dante.”

“O… k… ” What the hell was I getting myself into?

“I would have offered to get you something to eat, but— ”

“Yeah, I think my stomach would have exploded.”

This time as we walked, Cash slipped my hand into his. I froze for a quick moment before talking myself into the fact that this was normal.

People held hands all the time.

I wanted what other people had, so I went with it, letting my fingers curl around his. And we walked. Toward the beach, and the fire, and about a million people I didn’t know. Almost immediately people started to greet Cash and then they’d glance at me.

They smiled and said hello; a few shook my hand, but it felt forced. Like it was weird that I was there with Cash or something.

“Ok, what’s going on?” I asked, bringing him to a halt.

“What do you mean?” He furrowed his brows. I did a quick scan to make sure no one else was in our immediate vicinity to hear anything we were saying.

“I just… why are people looking at me like… Well, like they are? Do I look fat? Did a tooth fall out that I don’t know about?”

“No.” He pulled me a little closer. My breasts almost touched his chest. His very hard chest. “You’re new, that’s all.”

“It doesn’t feel like that’s all.” I lifted an eyebrow and waited. “Are you the town whore and they think I’ve put you out of business for the night?”

He snorted. “No. They’re friends. I’ve never brought a girl here with me. It’s nothing, I promise.” He turned to walk away, but I didn’t move. “Also, I may have mentioned you.”

Then we were walking so fast, I had to take twice as many steps as he did to keep up. His legs were longer than mine because he was taller than me. Almost a full head taller. I fell somewhere between Bianca and Bailey’s fun size and Gio and Sal’s mountain size. Cash was closer to Gio and Sal.

I didn’t ask what he meant, but the fact that he’d mentioned me made me curious.

We were there about half an hour when I saw Bianca and Gio walking down the boardwalk. Thank goodness. People I actually knew.

“This is weird. Save me,” I said, stopping in front of them almost causing them to trip over me. They’d been curled into each other and hadn’t seen me coming.

“Aww… ” Bianca’s face fell. “Not clicking with Cash?”

“It’s not that. But I don’t know any of these people and they’re not talking to me.” My voice was higher-pitched than it usually was.

“It’s because you’re new,” Gio said, not letting his arm drop from Bianca’s shoulder. “They’ll warm up.”

I didn’t believe him, but I was cold and had to warm up so they walked with me over toward the fire. Apparently, this was a kick-off bonfire of sorts. Pretty much the only one Bianca went to the entire year and the place where she and Gio had shared their very first kiss.

Where Gio had gotten the first inclination that he wouldn’t be able to screw Bianca over the way our parents had wanted him to.

The place that had spurred into action the events that would change all of our lives.

Sal and Bailey showed up and the four of them started making plans to go to Bill’s, the dive bar they liked to hang out in. I mean, it wasn’t a real dive but enough that the tourists stayed away for the most part.

Cash had been talking to a couple of friends for a while though he hadn’t left my side once I’d come back from my family. I hadn’t officially introduced him to Gio and Sal. Did I need to? They’d already met at the very least in passing. Plus Cash was a friend. This wasn’t a real date. I was so bad at all of this.

“Hey, want to meet my family?” I blurted out. “They’re both here.”

He nodded while putting the cap back on the bottle of water he’d taken a drink of. Thinking twice, he offered the bottle to me, but I declined. We didn’t have to go far before we got to the other four. Yet all the while my stomach tossed and turned fifty times.

I didn’t get it.

While I had a few acquaintances—no one I was super close to—but I hadn’t introduced the guys to them either. Bailey saw us first. Her face broke into a wide smile when she did.

“Hey, Cash, how’re the parents?” Bailey asked, tapping Sal on the arm so he’d turn his attention to us as well.

“They’re good. Busy.”

“This is my gentleman friend, Sal.”

A little giggle escaped from my mouth. I couldn’t help it. Sal hated it when she called him her “gentleman friend,” but he let her do it anyway.

“And this is my brother, Gio,” I said, pointing over at him.

Gio shook Cash’s hand, a little harder than necessary if the veins in his hands were telling the story. And it lasted longer than it needed to as well.

“We’ve sort of met before, right?” Cash asked. “At the restaurant.”

“Yeah,” was all Gio said in return.

Gio kept giving Cash that brother glare.

I didn’t know he had it in him. Then again, our dynamic had started changing when he’d fallen in love with Bianca and wanted to put an end to what my parents had been doing to us. Cash’s attention went from Gio to something happening over Gio’s shoulder. I turned to see what had caught his attention. He obviously saw something I didn’t because I could only make out shadows.

“Shit,” Cash said under his breath. “I’ll be right back.” He stepped around me and disappeared into the darkness.