He comes by that honestly too. I don’t open up to people. I’ve never been that way and never wanted to be that way, and it feels like when I’m stupid enough to decide to open up, that’s when people hurtme.
“So you never told me about Jesse on a board. Did he totally suck?” Ty asks as he sets his menudown.
Jesse eyes him curiously. “I didn’t suck.” He shifts his gaze to me. “Did you tell him Isucked?”
And of course my mind takes that to the worst placepossible.
“He didn’t suck at all,” I say. “He actually did good for his firsttry.”
“How long did it take him to get it?” Ty has this sort of competitive look in hiseyes.
“Five or six tries, I guess,” Isay.
“It was a little more than that,” Jesse adds. “But Eric was a pretty good teacher. Is that how youlearned?”
As soon as the words pass his lips, he glances around uneasily, like he should have known better than to askthat.
Ty and I exchange an awkward look before Ty says, “No. I learned in Florida, from a guy my mom hired to showme.”
Again, there it is. I can feel him fucking emanating thisresentment.
And I also feel like there’s some jealousy toward Jesse, who hasn’t done a goddamn thingwrong.
“We should all go surfing one day while we’re here,” Jessesays.
Why the fuck didn’t I think ofthat?
“Oh yeah. For sure. Ty, we can go tomorrow morning if you want. I was just thinking this afternoon that I’ve been spending too much time working onstuff.”
“I don’t know. I haven’t really done it in awhile.”
“You can get back in the swing of it,” Isay.
He smirks. “Okay. Let’s do it then. Tomorrow morning. All three of us. Then I can watch and make fun of Jesse while he tries to get back that beginner’sluck.”
“I should’ve known this was a bad idea,” Jesseteases.
When we finish eating, we head back to the condo, and I consider bailing, just calling it a night. But Ty insists I come out with them, and I take him up on theopportunity.
Hell, I can always sneak off if I feel like I’m crowdingthem.
Soon, we’re making our way through a local bar Ty said the girl he’s been hanging out with here recommended to him. It’s not the sort of place I normally come to when I’m here. It’s mostly packed with tourists getting drunk off their asses, shouting across the bar, and waving their arms about wildly. Ty sees some guys on the other end of the bar and leads us over tothem.
“Mandy,” Ty says as he approaches a blonde with bright blue eyes and a generous chest. “This isEric.”
“Hi, Eric. Is this your dad?” she asksTy.
Jesse glances between us, and I catch his gaze briefly. He must know how awkward this situation is, and once again, I wonder what Ty’s told him about me. How Ty really feels about someone calling me hisdad.
I can only imagine, when the only thing he ever knew was a father who wasn’t there forhim.
“Yeah. He’s…” Ty stops short of confirming who Iam.
“It’s good meeting you, Mandy,” I say, hoping to distract from Ty’suneasiness.
“Oh, you can tell, for sure,” she says. “You guys have the same eyes andjawline.”
Ty makes quick with introducing me to some of the other guys in the group, I’m assuming to deflect from how royally awkward Mandy just madethat.
