Pull (A Seaside Novel Book 2) Read online

  “It’s the wet suit!” I shouted as I fell for the hundredth time.

  “Sure it is!” She called to me as she yet again completed

  another perfect skim across the waves.

  I gave up and lay down against the sand, letting the cold

  water run over me. Maybe if I pretended to need CPR she would

  have pity.

  “What are you doing?” Her body cast a shadow over me,

  stealing my warmth.

  “I’m cold. Hungry. I suck. Take me home,” I whined, though

  I would rather lie here all day with her than go home.

  “You’re cold because you’re sitting there like a beached

  whale. You’re tired because you keep falling, and you’re hungry

  because we skipped lunch.”

  “I like your deduction skills.”

  She put her hands on her hips. “I like that you know how to

  use a word like deduction.”

  I propped myself up on my elbows. “I did graduate from

  high school, you know.”

  She patted my hand. Awesome.

  “So you want to quit? I mean, you were the one that was

  banging down my door early this morning begging me to be your

  friend…”

  “I didn’t beg. Rock stars never beg.”

  “You must be really lonely if you want me for company.”

  Alyssa blushed and looked away licking her dry lips.

  “I’ve been watching you.”

  Shit. That came out wrong.

  Her horrified glance told me I needed to make it better and

  fast. “I’ve seen you a few times around town and, honestly, ever

  since you yelled at me, I kinda realized something about myself.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  I nodded. “I like being yelled at. I like being held

  accountable. I thought, you know, since you have magic taffy

  powers, you could probably handle all my shit just as good as

  anyone.”

  She sighed heavily. “I’m not so sure about that.” Without

  hesitation she jumped to her feet and attempted to dust the wet

  sand from her body. “Look, maybe this was a bad idea. I mean,

  can’t you just pay people to be your friends?”

  “Do normal people do that?” I asked, incredulous.

  She grinned, nearly blinding me with the way her face lit up.

  “No, not normal, but you aren’t really normal.”

  “I prefer abnormally awesome.”

  “Okay, abnormally awesome person I can’t get rid of…

  What’s the verdict? We going to quit and walk away friendless, or

  are you going to get your ass in the water and make me proud?”

  I hung my head and cursed. “I’m not a quitter, but you need

  to at least show me how to do this. I feel like a four-year-old

  watching an Olympian.”

  “Deal.” She held out her hand to help me up.

  The next hour went way better than the first. I was actually

  starting to get the hang of it when a huge wave rolled in. I missed it

  and jumped off the board. Alyssa was facing me, a huge grin on her

  face. The tide had started to come in, so the water was up past her

  waist. Either she didn’t see the giant wave heading for her, or she

  was going to go for it. At my alarmed look she must have known

  something was up; she turned around just in time for the wave to

  crash onto her.

  I tried running toward her, but the wave crashed on top of

  me. I spit out the sea water and swam to where I thought I saw her

  fall. My eyes burned as I dove into the water. I saw a flicker of

  something dark. I reached out and touched it. The wetsuit.

  With a curse, I pulled her to the surface. She wasn’t moving.

  I knew we were close to rocks, but not that close.

  My muscles burned as I swam for a few feet then carried her

  to the shore and put her onto the sand.

  “Alyssa?” Frantic, I put my head against her chest listening

  for any sort of breathing. No sound.

  I unzipped her wetsuit and began CPR, breathing into her

  mouth. I was so freaked out I wasn’t even counting the

  compressions, just singing the stupid song they taught everyone to

  sing when learning First Aid.

  “Come on, baby, come on.” I breathed in to her mouth again.

  A large red gash was bleeding from the top of her head. I needed to

  get help.

  Just as I was getting ready to jump up and attack an old man

  who just happened by. She coughed up water.

  I dropped to my knees next to her and rubbed her back as

  she coughed the sea water near my legs. Her lips were turning

  blue. I pulled her into my lap and pulled down the rest of her wet

  suit and covered her with the towel we’d brought out. I knew she

  was probably just in her bra and underwear, but she needed heat. It

  was warm outside, but Oregon water was frigid.

  My skin sizzled as it made contact with hers. I wrapped my

  arms around her tightly and began running my hands fast over her

  arms.

  “You scared the hell out of me.” My voice wavered.

  “Sorry.” She croaked. “I didn’t see the wave.”

  “No shit.”

  She laughed and looked up at me. “I promise it wasn’t part

  of the plan.”

  “Plan?” I didn’t like that her teeth were still chattering.

  “To drown so you’d give me CPR.”

  “Oh, right.” I tucked her head under my chin. “Actually,

  you kind of stole my plan.”

  “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. Maybe I’ll let you save me tomorrow.” My hands

  froze on her arms as the reality of what I just said hit me. Was that

  what I was doing? Using her to save myself? No. I wasn’t using

  her, but I wanted her. I wanted her more than I’d ever wanted

  another girl.

  It had been year since I’d felt even close to this way about

  someone. The last time I did feel this way, she betrayed me and

  then died.

  Talk about a poor track record.

  I sighed and continued moving my hands over her arms.

  “So you and Nat?” Alyssa whispered, her voice still sounded

  hoarse.

  “Wow, news does travel fast in this town. To be fair, she was

  actually on the news with me for like an entire year.”

  “Remember, I don’t watch TV.”

  “I thought you said you didn’t have TV.”

  “I lied.”

  It was torture trying to keep my eyes from looking down at

  her chest, as her breathing slowly came back to normal. I clenched

  my teeth and looked away.

  “What do you want to know?”

  “You guys dated?”

  “Yup.”

  “What happened?”

  “Lots happened.” I swallowed. It wasn’t that I wasn’t over

  Nat. I just had a hard time talking about my own stupidity to a girl

  I was trying to impress, and I knew that if I told her the whole sob

  story she’d run away screaming. I mean, I was a complete prick to

  my brother and to her. I didn’t want Alyssa thinking that I was the

  same guy anymore. Because I wasn’t.

  “It’s a long story. I’m happy for her, though, we’re still really

  close.”

  “That’s it?” She pushed away from me and shivered.

  I cursed and pulled her close again. “Tell you what. A sec
ret

  for a secret.”

  “W-what?”

  “You heard me.” I reached down and tilted her chin up. “If I

  tell you something that’s hard for me to discuss, then you need to

  tell me something that’s hard for you. That way we’ll be even.”

  Alyssa tried to pull her chin away. I wouldn’t let her.

  She glared.

  I smiled.

  We were like fire and ice, and I loved it.

  I could tell she was getting uncomfortable, because she

  refused to look at me; instead she bit her lip. “I’ll try.”

  “Good.” I released her chin, but she didn’t move to the

  position she was in before. Instead, she leaned forward.

  Alyssa’s lips were parted just slightly. Now that the panic

  was over, I remembered what they felt like to touch. Just one kiss.

  What girl freaks out over one kiss?

  I cupped her face and touched my lips to hers, just barely. I

  didn’t want to scare her, and I didn’t want the kiss to be one of

  those kisses that happen after a near-death experience.

  Her mouth was warm and inviting; it tasted like the ocean. I

  had never been one for good self-control. I used my tongue to part

  her lips, just a bit. I wanted to taste more.

  She stiffened, and then opened her mouth.

  I took full advantage.

  My arms went around her waist, pulling her tighter against

  me. In the back of my mind I remembered that my wetsuit was too

  tight for me to be in any state of arousal, but I didn’t care.

  Trouble. She was absolute trouble. Clearly she had no idea

  how good of a kisser she was. As her tongue tangled with mine, her

  cold hands came up to cup my face. I allowed myself to completely

  lose control. Never had I ever felt the need to be so vulnerable with

  another human being.

  It scared the hell out of me.

  I pulled back.

  Her face was flushed, her lips swollen. I wished in that

  moment I could convey to her how beautiful she was to me, how

  wanted she was, how treasured she was. I wanted to lay claim to

  her, but at the same time just hold her hand. I wanted to sleep with

  her, but at the same time, the idea was almost repulsive. She

  deserved more than what I knew I was capable of giving.

  But it didn’t keep me from wanting to give it to her.

  To give her everything.

  I sighed. “You’re a good friend.” And insert nail into

  relationship coffin here.

  I wrapped my arms around her and picked her up, not

  allowing her to say any sarcastic remark back. My lips found hers

  again as I twirled her around.

  After a few minutes I pulled away and placed her on her

  feet. “Can you walk?”

  “After the kiss or after my near drowning?” She lifted an

  eyebrow.

  “Oh, I totally forgot you almost died. I was just thinking

  about the kiss,” I teased.

  Her eyes widened and then a horrified look flashed across

  her face. She jumped away from me, jerking up her wetsuit.

  Without saying anything she took off toward the boardwalk.

  “Lyss, wait up.”

  “Don’t call me that.”

  “What? Lyss, what happened?” I grabbed her wrist to try to

  get her to stop.

  “This was a mistake. We can’t be friends, Demetri. It won’t

  work.”

  “I agree.” I cursed. “I want to be so much more than that.”

  What the hell was I doing? I’d known her a total of two

  weeks, and that didn’t really count, considering I’d been stalking

  her! Drugs. I needed drugs, not a girlfriend!

  Alyssa licked her lips and looked away. “I don’t know if I

  can handle it.”

  “And I can?”

  She looked at me. I mean, really looked, as if she could see to

  the depths of my soul. “We’re screwed up, you and me.”

  “Don’t I know it.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “But

  what if that’s what makes us perfect for each other?”

  “What if you take the one part of me that’s finally started to

  breathe without crying?”

  Her honesty shocked me. I didn’t have any words to give

  her. I didn’t think one mind-blowing kiss would cause us to get this

  serious.

  “Slow.” I reached out to her, grazing her arm with my hand.

  “Let’s go slow, because I really need a friend right now.”

  “So it’s about you?” Her eyes crinkled as if she was trying

  not to smile.

  “Always is. I am a celebrity you know.”

  “Right.” She laughed and kicked some sand with her foot.

  “We should get cleaned up.”

  “Dinner.” I blurted before I could retract the statement and

  punch myself in the face. “Let me cook you dinner.”

  “Are you good?”

  Confused that she would ask such a silly question I laughed.

  “I’m good at everything. Yeah, I can handle dinner.”

  Alyssa didn’t look convinced.

  “Please?” I was ready to get on my hands and knees. She

  was the first person since Cassie who had made me feel things I

  thought I didn’t possess anymore.

  With a huff she kicked more sand. “Fine, but no kissing.”

  “I can’t promise that I won’t kiss you.”

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “Fine, I promise I won’t kiss you unless you ask me to.”

  “Confident.” She arched an eyebrow and laughed.

  I didn’t really know what to say to that, so instead I leveled

  my gaze in a challenge. “I’ll see you at seven.”

  “But I don’t know where you live.”

  “The piece of paper you probably threw in the trash — my

  address is on that.”

  “It’s trash day. It’s already gone.”

  I sighed. “Do you really want to play this game? You know

  you dug it back out, minutes after you tossed it. So see you at

  seven.”

  My self-control completely shot, so I left before I mauled her

  on the beach and had my way with her.

  Chapter Eleven

  Alyssa

  I knocked on the door and cursed myself for being so

  nervous. It was Demetri. Annoying, irritating, gorgeous Demetri. I

  had wanted him to kiss me, but after the kiss I felt naked. As if he

  had pulled down walls I had worked so hard to put up. The part

  that scared me the most was that for a moment I forgot all about

  Brady, all about everything.

  I lost my pain, and it scared me more than I was willing to

  admit. I wanted to keep Brady’s memory alive. It was my job, after

  all. I wasn’t able to do it in the physical sense, so in the emotional

  sense was all I had.

  And then Demetri had said something about death and I

  freaked. I completely panicked. A vision flashed through my mind

  of Demetri and me driving and him dying. I knew he was reckless,

  knew he used to have a drug addiction. Chances were higher with

  Demetri than any other boy that he would either break my heart or

  die from some sort of stupid choice. Yet I couldn’t bring myself to

  stay away from him.

  I even dug out some of my nicer clothes. I hadn’t really put

  an effort into dressing since Brady lef
t, mainly because most of my

  clothes held memories of him. It felt like I was cheating when I

  wore them without him there. Well, except the sweatshirt.

  My mom finally made me wash it after six months.

  I sighed and looked down. I was wearing torn jeans, an

  oversized black band t-shirt, and flip flops. I knew I looked at least

  trendy compared to the oversized sweater and Uggs I’d been

  sporting.

  I lifted my hand to knock, when the door swung open.

  “Right on time.” Demetri opened the screen door and pulled

  me into a warm hug. He smelled like spaghetti. I smiled, unable to

  help the way he was able to so completely disarm me.

  “Punctuality. It’s my thing.” I gulped and walked into the

  house. His hands came down on my shoulders.

  “Wanna know what my thing is?”

  I gulped. “Cooking? Drugs? Music? Fish?”

  His hands slid down my arms, sending chills all the way

  down to my toes. “Wow. I sound really lame. Is that all you could

  come up with?” He chuckled.

  Why hadn’t his hands moved? Why was I letting him pull

  me back against his firm chest?

  “Girls with brown hair,” he murmured into my hair. “Short

  ones.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that.

  “Anyway.” He released me and walked around, leading me

  down the hallway. “Here’s the kitchen. Dinner’s almost ready.

  Would have been done sooner, but somebody burnt the noodles.”

  “You burnt the noodles, I take it?” I grabbed a bar stool and

  sat down.

  “No. Mr. Concentration over there.” He nodded toward the

  couch where a large man was sitting with a grimace on his face.

  Holy crap. I’d only seen the guy from far away. Up close he looked

  like a hit man, like the type of guy you pay to off drug dealers.

  Wait, maybe he was a drug dealer?

  I pushed my hair behind my ear and swallowed nervously.

  “Bob!” Demetri yelled his name like a curse. “Didn’t think it

  would be important to tell me that he’d never cooked noodles

  before.”

  “How does one burn noodles?” I directed my attention to

  Bob, who stood up and made his way over to the kitchen. His face

  betrayed his lack of amusement as his eyebrows drew together.

  “Hmph.” He grabbed a soda out of the fridge and gave

  Demetri another glare before stopping in front of me. “I’m Bob, Mr.

  Daniels’ security guard.”

  “Oh.” I laughed. “I thought you were a drug dealer or some