I throw up my hands. “Then what excuse do you have? You made my life miserable in high school. After prom, no one wanted to date me. I was labeled an outcast because of you and Aurelia. You treated me like a leper, and everyone was afraid of you in school.”
“No one bullied you. No one called you names or ever laid a hand on you. I made sure of it.”
I stop dead in my tracks, blinking at him. He’s right; no one really messed with me at all, which stung almost as much as being actively hated by him did. Making friends was impossible. Some girls were nice to me, like Mia and Juniper and Josie, but they were already a close friend group when I moved here. I was shy, and after prom, I kept to myself.
“Well, still, it was so isolating.” I continue walking.
He falls into step beside me. We’re silent for the next few minutes, listening to the waves and the rustling of the palm trees.
Once the house is in sight, he clears his throat. “About this morning, I?—”
I cut him off, grabbing his arm to stop him. It’s warm under my touch, and I don’t let go as I look up into his eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it. Just don’t touch me again, and we can try to pretend like we don’t have the most fucked-up relationship on the planet. Our parents are dead, but it doesn’t mean we have to stop living. I need you to just be a somewhat-decent human being for thisoneday. Just this one day. Don’t tease me and play your stupid games, don’t fuck with my head, don’t make suggestive comments or tell me my ex-husband cheated on me because I’m not sexy enough or because I must be boring in bed. If you could just make that my only birthday gift, I’d be eternally grateful.”
His jaw clenches. He reaches up to rub a hand over the stubble of his jaw—it is so fucking sexy when he goes a couple of days without shaving. His amber eyes spark with something like anger or annoyance before he finally nods.
“All right, Cupcake, just for today.”
I roll my eyes, finally letting him go while I keep walking. “And if you’re feeling super generous, you could call me by myactual name for once or at least tell me the real reason why you’ve called me Cupcake for thirteen years.”
He chuckles behind me, sending a shiver up my spine with the gritty sound. “Why do you think I call you that?”
I toss him an annoyed look. “I don’t want to say it, but I know it’s not nice. We agreed on a truce.”
He nods. “You’re right. So, I guess we’ll have to talk about it another day.”
I knew it wasn’t nice.
chapter twenty
Summer
one month later
“Surprisingly, he hasn’t been back in four weeks. We left things on a good note … of sorts. We spent my birthday together, got a little tipsy, and even played Monopoly. Mom had the Peanuts version, and it turns out, we both used to play it with Mom and Russell when the other one wasn’t there. He kicked my ass, but he kept his word and didn’t act like a jerk for the rest of the day.”
Savannah is nodding along, pensively studying the water around our paddleboards. She came to town for the Big Wave Surfing Competition. We’ve texted and talked since Marg Fest, but this is our first time to see each other in person. She asked me how things were going with Dayton, so I’m filling her in on what happened over my birthday.
“I thought it was weird that you hadn’t brought up him being a pain in the ass over the phone. Things had been so awkward the last time I saw both of you together. I can’t believe he just showed up that night and stayed at your studio with you, then acted totally normal on your birthday. It’s odd.”
I laugh right as a huge sea turtle surfaces a few feet awayfrom our boards. We watch him silently take a breath of air before descending.
“That’s it; I’m moving here,” she says.
“Ha! You should. I’d let you sleep in my studio without a pillow boundary now that he’s finally gone.”
“Whoa! What? He slept inyour bed?!” Her eyes widen as she stares at me.
I shrug. “I put up a pillow boundary, but, yeah … kind of. Where did you think he slept?”
She scoffs. “Uh, the floor, a cot, the back porch? Anywhere butin your bed.”
I chew my bottom lip, debating how many details I want to share about exactly what happened when Dayton invaded my private space and we shared a bed … and a birthday-morning orgasm.
I inhale deeply, releasing it slowly before speaking. “Okay, so I don’t think this means anything at all, and I’m only telling you this now because nothing has happened since, and nothing else is ever going to happen and?—”
She squeals, her eyes lighting up as she paddles closer to me. “Tell me everything right now, bitch.”
I purse my lips, unable to look her in the eyes when I say it. I study the water as the story spills from my lips.
