Falling Awake (8 page)

  “There he is,” Mellissa shrieked excitedly, attempting to run over to Drake barefoot. He picked her up, swinging her around. She pulled his face into her hands and kissed him passionately. Great, this was all I needed. Hello third wheel.

He put her down and stood behind her with his hands wrapped around her waist.

  “What’s up Pria?” He was dressed casual in charcoal coloured chinos and a fitted white tee with a red, white, and black checked shirt tied loosely around his waist. He was effortless, with his hair in his signature ponytail.

  “Not much,” I said, dying to ask him where Caleb was, but decided it was better not come across as needy.

  “Caleb wanted to come but he had too much on at the garage,” he said in almost a way of an apology. Yeah right, I thought. Even my dad was here. If it were that busy, no way would he have left Caleb alone to deal with it.

  My dad hated leaving work, especially for anything as silly as a bonfire. I looked over to where he stood chatting with Gracey, the owner of the Southern Oven on Spring Street. I knew she had a thing for my dad, but I doubted he had any clue. He was a typical man, he wouldn’t know a subtle hint unless it wacked him full force in the face.

I liked Gracey. She was from Dallas Texas and the sweetest person I had ever met. She was pretty too, with golden blonde hair that naturally settled into big loose curls around her shoulders. You never saw it though; she always tied it up into some sort of bun or fancy twist.

She brought her hand up and touched my dad on the arm as he they laughed together happily, and I wondered if she was the reason he always turned up to these events, seeing as though she was one of the organisers.

  I pulled my focus back to Mellissa and Drake. “I’m gonna go get something to eat,” I told them, even though I was anything but hungry.

  “Okay, were just gonna hang by the fire.” Mellissa took Drakes hand, guiding him over to an empty spot on the sand.

I decided on a soda instead, and took it over to sit on a vacant piece of driftwood. The sun was beginning to set and the sky was growing dark, the string of lights now twinkling high across the beach.

My thought’s drifted to Caleb, and I envisioned his sculpted tanned body and his hypnotic green eyes. I wanted to see him, I wanted to touch him and more than anything, I wanted to kiss him. I wondered if he was thinking about me, but somehow I very much doubted it. He had all the control over us, and he was working me like a puppet. I took a sip of my soda and then set it down, tasting the too warm liquid.

  “Mind if I sit with you?”

I looked up and Ressler stood in front of me, his molten chocolate eyes smiling at me, and I was surprised to find that I was instantly pleased to see him. He looked great in a tight long sleeved black top with Franklin scrawled across the front in neon yellow writing, and grey sweats that hung nicely from his hips.

  “No sit down.” I patted the spot next to me. I admired his brilliantly white Nike high tops as he sat down, and I could see people turning to look at us, probably admiring the Adonis that was sitting beside me.

Mellissa said she enjoyed Drake getting so much attention, loving the fact that he was hers. I, on the other hand, couldn’t help but feel slightly possessive of Caleb, and he wasn’t even mine.

  “You didn’t text me back.” He looked at me as if my ignorance had in fact hurt him.

  “I meant to.” It was a lie. “I just got caught up doing something else.”

  “No problem.”

  “I’m glad to see you though.” I spoke the words honestly. I was glad to see him. I thought maybe that first night was just meaningless flirtation from the alcohol, but here he was, and I was undeniably attracted to him. Ressler’s face lit up at my words and I felt a twinge of guilt as if I was cheating on Caleb, but he had made his feelings clear.

  “Well you know I’m happy to see you. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” he said, playing with a silver bracelet on his wrist, with a small pair of wings hanging down from it. I lifted his arm and ran my fingers over the intricate detail of the wings. “It was a gift,” he said, watching me.

  “It’s beautiful.” I let go of his arm and cleared my throat. “Ressler, I need to ask you something.”

  “Okay…” He sounded unsure.

  “You, Drake and Caleb, just turn up here out of the blue. You hang out in filthy bars, drive expensive cars. There is no mention of parents or where you live, or even what you’re doing here. Then Caleb for some reason wants to swoop in every time I run into the slightest hint of trouble and make everything better for me.” I turned to him and he looked almost relieved.

  “That’s a lot of thinking you’ve been doing there.”

I nodded in response. “What’s going on?”

  He inhaled a deep breath. “We came from California to stay with a friend, the same friend were here to help out. Drake and I- were too old for school. We don’t have or need parents, and Caleb-” He paused. “Just do as he says. And as for the cars…well they’re alright I suppose.” He smiled then. “I wouldn’t mind taking you for a ride one day in my Mercedes.”

  “What kind is it?” I asked, giving into my weak spot for anything with an engine. “CLA 45 MG in white.”

  “Impressive,” I said. “That’s a fancy car.”

  “I like it.”

  “So no parents?” I asked, unsure of the territory I was embarking on.

  “Nope,” was all he said, and I didn’t go any further getting the impression he didn’t want to elaborate. Maybe they went through life in foster care, and it made them so incredibly street wise, that they now just look after themselves. I’d have to just go with that because he wasn’t giving me anything else, and the only other alternative, was that they had turned into criminal masterminds, earning themselves a small fortune as they hustled from town to town.

  “What about you?” he asked, now looking at me with interest.

  “I live with my dad. My mom died giving birth to me.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” He sounded like he meant it.

  “It’s fine. I never knew her, and my dad’s doing a pretty good job on his own.”

He nodded. “I’d say so.”

  “That’s him over there.” I pointed to where he still stood with Grace, obviously enjoying her company.

  “That his girlfriend?”

  “Not yet,” I said, with a smile spreading across my lips. Even he had picked up on their unmistakeable chemistry.

  “Caleb say’s your dad’s a pretty great guy.”

  “Really?” I asked, amazed that they had spoken about him.

  “Yeah,” he said, taking note of my overly keen reaction.

I hugged my jacket tighter around myself, shivering from the cool breeze that rolled in from the sea. It was dark now and the stars winked at me from the velvety blue sky.

  “Are you cold?” Ressler asked, as I held my jacket securely to my body.

“A little.” It wasn’t actually cold. I knew I was only feeling the chill because I was sitting down not moving.

He shifted over closer to me and pulled me towards him, wrapping his arm around my shoulder, and I relaxed into him.

I glanced over at Mellissa sitting in Drakes lap, and she enthusiastically gave me the thumbs up as Drake looked on less than happy, and I quickly averted my eyes ignoring them.

The hired Indie band started up and a steady melody drifted over from the entrance of the beach. I sat in Ressler’s arms for most of the night laughing and talking idly about random things.

It surprised me how comfortable I felt in his company and at his ability to make me feel so relaxed. Despite his intimidating good looks, he exuded warmth and friendliness, which only made him more appealing.

  “Come on,” he said to me, getting up and offering me his hand.

  “Come where?” I asked, startled at the sudden movement. I had been quite comfortable cuddled up against his warm body.

  “You’ll see,” he said mischievously, so I took his hand and let him lead me further along the beach where it grew more desolate, until we were the only ones occupying the area. 

A short curving, wooden rickety pier protruded from the shore, the supporting beams holding it up like stick fingers, with a rope ladder handing down for access. The whole thing looked like it would collapse if a strong gust of wind caught it. The structure had been there as long as I could remember but the rope ladder- that was a new addition I hadn’t ever seen before.

  “This is where you brought me?” I really hoped he wasn’t thinking what I thought he was, but he was already removing his clothes piece by piece, and discarding them onto the deserted sands.

He stood there smiling, now wearing only his tight black boxers and silver bracelet, and I tried my hardest to keep my eyes level with his face, but I was struggling not to acknowledge how toned and muscular his body was.

  “Your turn,” he said eyeballing me.

  “My turn to what?”

  “Get your clothes off. We’re going in the water.”

I laughed in disbelief. “Are you kidding me, it’ll be freezing in there.”

  “Come on lighten up. It’s fun, I promise.”

  “I can’t get down to my underwear, my dad’s on this beach,” I argued hardly believing what he was asking me to do.

  “No one’s here. He won’t see you.” He waved his hand around the vastly empty space. Mellissa’s voice rang through my head, telling me how I needed to be more adventurous and stop being so boring. It was true, even though I wouldn’t call myself boring; I wasn’t exactly one for taking risks either. If Mellissa were here, she would have stripped off and been in the water by now.

  “Okay,” I said reluctantly. “Turn around.”

He laughed. “Why? I’m gonna see you anyway.”

  “Just turn around,” I scolded him. Doing as I asked, he turned around and stood patiently while I took off my clothes, until I was left in only my white bra and panties. At least they matched I thought to myself, as I fiddled with the pink rose that sat snug in the middle of my bra.

  “I’m ready,” I said, and he turned back around to face me giving me an appreciative glance.

  “Wow.” His eyes roamed over my scantily clad body.

  “Are we going in the water or what?” I asked, wrapping my arms around myself, feeling uncomfortable under his lingering stare.

He jogged over towards the pier and climbed the rope ladder skilfully, until he reached the top and stood facing me. “Come on then!”

  “You must be crazy if you think I’m getting up there,” I shouted back. “That thing looks like it’s ready to fall apart any second.”

  “You’re no fun!” He spun around and taking off in a run, he dived off the end gracefully, making a small splash as his body disturbed the dark water below. It was a high tide so it would be pretty deep.

  I stepped over the sand carefully in my bare feet and dubiously put my foot into the sea. After the first initial shock of the sub-zero temperature of the water, I argued one little jump would hardly kill me. Ressler had survived it. If I’d managed to strip down to my underwear on a public beach with a guy I hardly knew, I might as well go the full hog.

  I went over and climbed the rope carefully, until I reached the top and realised the ladder was the easy part.

I stood at the beginning of the pier. The wooden lats were few and far between, and changing my mind, I turned around to make my way back down when Ressler appeared behind me.

  “Hold my hand,” he said, offering me his outstretched palm, and I bit down hard on my lip. I was dubious but I took it, and together we stepped cautiously over the wide gaps until we stood at the end. I looked down. The distance from here to the water was scary high and I instantly regretted my decision.

  “It’s too high,” I said, still peering over the edge, my nerve totally lost.

  “It just looks that way,” he told me, his voice full of confidence.

  “I don’t know.” I wasn’t entirely convinced.

  “Let’s do it together then,” he suggested, smiling at me. Now that, I could maybe work with. If I was going down, at least I wasn’t going down alone.

  “Okay, together,” I said, and I felt his hand close tighter around mine.

  “On three,” he said. “One…two…three.” And we jumped. It was seconds before we hit the freezing water and emerged together, pushing water and our hair and our faces. At least I had tied mine back. “That was fun.” I laughed, spitting out water.

  “I told you.”

  “Let’s do it again,” I said enthusiastically.

Countless dives later, my chaperoned jumps had turned to thoughtless dives that grew from confidence, and as I took my last one, I swam over to where Ressler was now treading water under the supporting beams of the pier. It was darker out here, the safety of the lights left behind, where the music from the party could still be heard. 

  “So is this one of the things you like to do?” Swimming at night in the sea with girls you hardly know?” I teased.

  “I like to do whatever I feel like doing in that exact moment of time, and tonight, I wanted to be here with you.” I held onto a wooden beam to keep me afloat, and watched as he swam closer to me, grabbing a hold of the same beam.