Chapter 13
Aaron
The predawn light shining through my windows woke me from one of the best night’s sleep I’d had in a long time. It wasn’t that I had a woman with me, but it was HER. Melinda had spent most of the night cuddled into my side, and her soft breathing had lulled me into a deep sleep. I even dreamed that I told her I loved her.
I knew I had to take her back to Emma’s, so I reached across the bed to wake her, but was met with cold sheets. My eyes blinked open, not believing that she was gone, but she was. I sat up, rubbed my eyes, and glanced around the room. The only thing remaining was the torn condom wrapper on the floor by the bed. My red lifeguard sweats were neatly folded on my desk chair, and all signs she’d been there were wiped clean.
I stood and pulled on a pair of shorts before shuffling out to the living room. When I looked around, no sign of her existed. “What the hell?” I muttered before pulling a shirt on, slipping into my flip flops, and grabbing my keys. I had no idea why she would leave like that, but I planned to find out. She’d pulled a fast one on me, and now I wondered if all of this was just a game to her.
I rushed outside, and climbed into my Jeep, ignoring the beautiful sunrise that was coming up over the ocean. Normally I would sit and enjoy it. Nighttime and sunrise were the most beautiful times to be near the water. The breeze was chilly as it wrapped around me, causing me to shiver. I cursed and grumbled as I climbed in the Jeep and began heading toward my uncle Nick’s house. If I was lucky, I’d catch her before she got away, and we’d be alone.
When I pulled into the driveway, I saw Emma’s car was missing. I never knew my cousin to get up this early, so it surprised me that she had. I didn’t know if it was Em’s or Mel’s idea to leave early. My stomach dropped when I realized that she never planned to say goodbye. What was last night even about?
“You’re up early,” Ryan’s voice startled me when he stepped out of the storage shed from under the house. He was dressed in a wetsuit with his board under his arm. “Wanna come with?” his head jerked in the direction of the water.
“Not today. Where’s your sister?” I snapped. I knew I sounded annoyed, but he’d pissed me off enough lately that I didn’t need a reason to be mad at him.
“Left about an hour ago. You sure? The waves are killer this morning,” he strapped the cuff around his ankle before he began to jog away.
“Maybe next time,” I muttered before stomping up the steps. I came to a halt when I got to the back deck. Uncle Nick and Aunt Leah were sitting on a lounger sipping coffee. I glanced around thinking I might find my dad, but no such luck.
“What are you doing up so early?” Nick rocked forward and set the coffee cup he was holding on the small table beside him.
“Looking for your daughter,” I searched the area knowing I wouldn’t find her. Ryan had already said she left, but somewhere in the back of my mind I was hoping he was lying.
“They left a while ago,” he shifted in his chair before putting his arm around Aunt Leah’s shoulders. She leaned into his side, and rested her head on his chest.
“Sounded like you screwed up,” she murmured with a slight lilt in her voice.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I tapped my foot in annoyance.
“Em never leaves this early. I heard her talking to Mel real early this morning. She was trying to calm her down, but finally gave up and agreed to leave. What did you do?” the side of her mouth curved up on one side as she watched me. It was like she knew a secret that I was supposed to know too, but I didn’t.
“I didn’t do anything,” I muttered.
“Maybe that’s the problem,” Uncle Nick rolled his eyes.
“You two are worse than Dad. Just tell me what it is I’m supposed to know,” I waved my arms out to the side.
“You used the ‘L’ word. Ring any bells?” Uncle Nick chuckled. “Took your dad months to tell your mom that.”
“I did not,” I frowned. “Did I?”
“From what we heard, that’s exactly what you did,” Aunt Leah laughed.
“Fuck!” I hissed. “That wasn’t a dream.”
“Aaron,” Uncle Nick glared at me.
“Sorry,” I grimaced. I usually worked really hard not curse in front of them, but today I wasn’t really thinking straight. Had I really told her I loved her? In my dream, I said I loved her, and she didn’t say it back. Was that real? If it was, why didn’t she say it back? Had she been lying to me all this time about her feelings? I needed to call Brock. He would know what was going on. There was no way Em would leave town without telling him bye. “I gotta go,” I huffed as I turned and rushed down the stairs.
“Where ya going?” Uncle Nick teased.
“To fix this,” I shouted as my feet hit the pavement below the house. Brock could tell me what was going on, and then I was going to find her and straighten this out.
Melinda
“So you want to tell me why you’re so desperate to get back to school?” Emma nudged me as we cruised down the highway. The sun was barely above the trees, but I was wide awake.
“Not really,” I muttered as I shifted in my seat, and pulled the hood up on my hoodie.
“I just rushed out of my house like it was on fire. Lied to my parents so we could leave, and barely got a goodbye kiss from my fiancé. I need more than a ‘not really’, Mel,” Emma sighed.
“He said he loved me,” I mumbled as I stared out the window. I didn’t want to see her reaction. She was right, I was acting crazy.
“Excuse me?” the car swerved before she shoved me in the shoulder. “Did I hear you right?”
“Depends on what you heard?” I curled into a tighter ball before checking my phone to see if my mom had called me back.
“It sounded like you said he told you he loved you,” she waited as if I’d correct her.
“I did.”
“And?” she pressed.
“And nothing,” I shrugged.
“What do you mean, nothing? I thought you liked him too?” she glanced at me.
“I do, but I can’t love him,” I wiped at my eyes as I felt them well.
“Why?”
“You wouldn’t understand. I just can’t. I needed to leave to get away from him. Staying was only going to make it worse. I should have never come in the first place,” I chastised myself.
“What are you talking about? I saw you yesterday when you were getting ready for that date. You were happy. You were the happiest I’ve ever seen you. What changed since then?”
“He told me he loved me,” I swallowed as I got ready to divulge the rest. I’d never been one to kiss and tell, “right after I slept with him.”
“Whoa! What?” Emma’s head snapped back like I’d slapped her.
“We had a great night, and then we went back to his place, and it just kinda happened,” I murmured. “I kinda made it happen.”
“What are you so afraid of?” Emma whispered. I couldn’t tell if she was talking to me or herself.
“More than I can tell you,” I sighed as I went back to staring out the window. The truth was, I couldn’t tell her what she wanted to know, just like I couldn’t tell Aaron that I loved him. This whole thing was a mess, and the quicker I moved on and pretended it never happened, the better we’d all be.
We hit the state line before my phone started blowing up. I knew when Aaron woke up and found me gone, he’d start calling. The calls came every few minutes at first, then the texts started. When I didn’t answer him, he began calling Emma. After three hours into the drive, I let her answer him. I made her swear to not tell him anything I’d said, and after a few choice words from him, he finally let it go.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Emma sighed. “I don’t think he’s going to fight anymore. I think you’ve finally pushed him so hard that he’s going to give up.”
“That what he needs to do,” I mumbled as I leaned against the window and closed my eyes, effectively ending the conversation. I needed to him to stop trying so hard. I needed him to move on. Last night was amazing. Being with Aaron was better than I ever thought it could be. It would be a memory that I would always treasure, but it had to be just that… a memory. Anything more, and I wouldn’t survive the fallout that was inevitably going to happen. My past would blow us up, he just didn’t know it yet.