There was my brain, screaming into my ear. Only I found myself hurrying to catch up with her like she wanted. It was the exact reason I had accompanied her to breakfast because she had wanted me to. I would probably eat glass, commit murder, or rob a bank if the girl asked me to. Just to see her smile at me again.
I blinked as I realized she was almost knee-deep in the ocean. She didn’t seem to care that the hem of her shorts was starting to get damp or that people were watching as she splashed around in the water like a little kid. No, Jillian was someone who loved life. She caught me watching and waved me over, but I only shook my head.
“Hutch.” Christ, the way she said my name like that should be illegal. “You’re being a party pooper.” She blew a raspberry before she brought her thumb up to her nose and waved the rest of her fingers in the air at me. I had never seen a woman more beautiful.
Jillian was the one that insisted we go up to the beach after breakfast to “walk off our food” as she put it, but she didn’t look like she needed to walk off anything. Her body was... hell, her body was perfect. Not like any eighteen-year-old I had ever seen before. I had only agreed because I didn’t want the time I was spending with her to end, because I knew once it did? Jillian would simply forget about me. Forget my name, forget this happened, and go on living her charmed life before she disappeared to New York forever at the end of the summer.
“You’re no fun.” She splashed water in my direction, but it didn’t even come close to hitting me. “Jerk,” Jillian called before she stuck her tongue out at me. Fuck me right in the taint; that was hot. I could imagine what she could do with that.
I took a couple of steps closer and then nodded in agreement. I hated bringing attention to myself. Going out with her to breakfast today was bad enough, but now, the beach? Hell, everyone would make a big deal out of it, and I just wanted to disappear into the background. Being a person of my size was already hard enough. Everyone would be talking about how Jillian Robinson had gone to the Angry Egg with me and me alone, which was something I was not okay with. People already spoke enough about me behind my back.
Jillian folded her arms over her chest. “Please? For me?” She pouted like a child not getting their way. When I shook my head again, she simply turned to drop into the water and submerged her entire body into the ocean. I watched, mesmerized, as Jillian ducked her head under the water, swam around, and then stood back up, pushing her damp hair from her eyes as a big smile spread across her beautiful face before she began walking back to me.
I was seriously, totally, and completely fucked right now. There was no other way to explain my feelings. When Jillian emerged from the water seconds later, I couldn’t help but notice how her shirt clung to her perfect breasts, and the fact that her nipples were rock hard. Kill me now. As she moved closer to where I was standing, Jillian started squeezing the water from her shirt, the one with little ballet slippers all over it, giving me a peek at her toned stomach and abs.
“Tell me you know how to swim. You’ve lived here your entire life?”
I nodded.
Jillian brushed the water from her arms. “You just didn’t want to swim with me?” She tilted her head up at me when she got closer.
My brows dipped as I tried to get out of this. “No trunks.” I’m not a big swimmer actually, but I didn’t tell her that part. I don’t like not being able to see my feet, or the feel of seaweed on my legs, or the thought of getting eaten by a shark. It freaks me the fuck out now, but beforeithappened, I had spent hours upon hours in that water with my friends.
“Sure. I didn’t have a bathing suit on, but that didn’t stop me.” She looked up at me from under her lashes as she continued to brush the access water from her body, and I noticed the goosebumps that had started to break out on her skin. She must be freezing right now.
Without even thinking about it, I yanked my shirt up over my head. “Here.” I held it out like an idiot. “You’re cold.”
Jillian wrapped her slim fingers around the cloth. “How very gentlemanly of you.” There was no teasing in her voice. “But now you’re going to what? Walk around shirtless?” Her eyes slid over my bare chest, and I suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious. “Thank you, Hutch, but the sun will dry me off.” She held her hand out with my shirt in it, which I took and slipped back on.
We started to walk in silence farther down the beach, Jillian carrying her shoes while my boots were filling with sand. It was only a matter of time before I had to stop to remove them. I sat down on one of the many benches that were lined up to empty them out, only to have Jillian sit right next to me.
“Can I ask you a question?” She turned her face up toward the sun and closed her eyes to soak it in, and I had to resist the urge to run my fingers over her flawless skin.
Here we go. “Okay,” I answered, emptying out my second boot, and anticipated the question I knew was coming.
Jillian twisted her small body to look at me. “Is this how you thought your life would turn out? I mean, did you always know you wanted to be a mechanic growing up or did you want something more than that? Something bigger in your life?” That was not the question I had expected to come from her plump pink lips.
“No,” I answered honestly.
Her brows dipped. “That’s all you’re going to give me?” Jillian sighed. “Look, Hutch, I know you’re a man of few words, but I was hoping for something more.” She glanced out to look at the water. The beach was quiet for now, but soon the tourists would arrive, and the sound would be overpowering. I tried to avoid this place as much as possible when that happened. “I’ve always wanted to be a dancer.” I watched as her tongue slid out so she could moisten her lips. Cruel and unusual punishment, but I couldn’t drag my gaze away. “But, lately...” She didn’t finish her sentence, but I understood what she was getting at.
I squared my shoulders as I tried to prepare myself to answer her. “What I meant, Jillian, was that this was not the life I expected for myself. I had dreams of getting out of this town. Of making a name for myself, but things happened, and well, here I am.” Her head swirled around like that little girl inThe Exorcist.“What?” I saw the way Jillian was watching me with big, wide eyes. God, she was simply stunning beyond words. She must have guys lined up at the door to date her, two feet wide and six feet deep.
“You formed complete sentences, Hutch. Not just a grunt or a word, but actual sentences and everything.” She knocked my shoulder. “I’m teasing you, of course.” She leaned into me, and I swear I stopped breathing. She smelled like the ocean but mixed with something else too. Something sweeter; a delicacy I wanted to eat with a spoon. “What did you want to do?” Her green eyes had little specks of gold in them that I hadn’t noticed before until now. Must have been the way the sun caught them outside right now.
“Hutch?” We both looked up as my brother, Pat, who suddenly seemed to appear out of nowhere.Cockblocker. “Jillian.” His tone changed when he noticed who I was sitting with. What? He was the only Kelly allowed to be seen with a Robinson girl? “What’s going on here?” I didn’t like that question. In fact, I didn’t like the way he was looking at me right now, like I had been caught with my hand in the cookie jar.
Jillian didn’t flinch or made any move to get up. “Where’s Jo?” She simply asked because usually those two were connected at the hip at all times.
“At the taco truck.” He glanced at me before he looked back at Jillian. “What are you two—?”
I jumped to my feet. “I was just leaving.” I shoved my feet back into my boots before I took off. I heard Jillian calling out to me as I hurried down the beach and back up onto the footpath, but it didn’t stop me. Patrick was right behind me.
“What are you doing?” he hissed between clenched teeth. “Jillian, Hutch?”
“None of your business.” I kept walking, but Pat was hot on my heels. When his hand landed on my arm, I spun around. “Don’t touch me,” I warned.
He popped his jaw. “I’m not leaving until you tell me what that was.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder back to where I knew Jillian was probably wondering what the hell just happened. Maybe not. She probably didn’t even care. Last I heard, she had been dating Knox Carson, so she probably wasn’t even interested in me.
