Fearless (The Story of Samantha Smith #1) (10 page)

I think I put in five miles jogging the empty night streets before I walked the rest of the way home and crawled into bed, completely exhausted but still unable to sleep.

At least I didn’t have to worry about fat thighs from all that ice cream still in my freezer. Because someone was going to have to eat it, for my stomach’s sake.

I’d do my best to pace myself to one pint an evening. That I could handle without being forced to hit my stomach’s eject button every night before bed.
 

Maybe I needed to buy a bigger hand bag, or dig out an old coat, so I could start swiping wine. Or, maybe between Madison and my new friends Romeo and Kamiko, I could get the line on the best college keg parties. Wasn’t college all about getting drunk while still under age?
 

I’d have to work on that. It was too damn warm for the winter coats.

I grimaced. Fuck, I hated myself.

How was it that after leaving all the jackholes and asshats behind in D.C.—

Emo. Goth. Witch. Sorceress…

—I was still managing to make my own self miserable without any help?

With friends like me, I didn’t need enemies. Maybe all those labels were accurate.

Suicide Watch.

I really hoped I could prove them all wrong.

Even my parents.

Sam Smith, CPA.

Fuck me.

Chapter 7

I was disappointed when Adonis didn’t show up for the next Life Drawing class two days later. The model was a wrinkly old man with a wrinkly old, you know.
 

Kamiko told me that Life Drawing classes usually had a different model every time. It helped you learn, she said. I knew it was much easier for me to concentrate on my drawing without naked Adonis five feet away.

I was even more bummed when Adonis didn’t show up for the next
several
life drawing classes. I couldn’t stop wondering if he was still in jail.
 

I hadn’t seen him anywhere on campus in awhile. I’d seen Skylar, Tiffany, and various other Delta Pi Deltas around, but I wasn’t about to ask any of them where Adonis was. I hoped he was okay.

I finally told everything to Romeo and Kamiko over burgers and fries one afternoon.

Romeo chewed on a fry. “I wouldn’t mind being locked up with Adonis. I’d be his jailhouse bitch any day.”

Kamiko stuck out her tongue. “Gross!”

“Kamiko, darling.” Romeo put a fatherly hand on her shoulder. “The entire world is NOT one big cartoon, dearest. The birds and the bees have S-E-X. They do NOT talk, wear little white gloves on their hands, nor do they go on rainbow adventures looking for magical pumpkins. Just sayin’.”

“I KNOW that, Romeo. But please keep your jailhouse rock talk to yourself.”

“You love it,” Romeo taunted.

I laughed. “Okay, you two!”

Madison joined us with a tray of fish tacos. She sure loved them. She also brought her good humor, which I badly needed. The four of us engaged in meaningless girl talk for thirty minutes.
 

My mood lightened considerably. What a relief. It was impossible to remain in a bad mood around the three of them. I wished I could keep them in my freezer for emergencies, instead of my ice cream. That sounded creepy, but you get the idea.

Madison dipped her last chip in her salsa. “Anyone want to join me at the beach after classes today?”

“Hells to the yeah!” I said. I had a bathing suit on underneath my t-shirt and shorts. Madison had trained me well. Between my running and my steely resolve, I’d stuck to no more than one pint of ice cream per night. Sometimes less.

 
Romeo wore his elegantly tailored burgundy jacket and black skinny jeans, as usual. He put his monocle in his eye and made his half frown. “Totally. I’m
so
dressed for it,” he said sarcastically.

“You never go to the beach, Count Dracula,” Kamiko quipped.

“Look who’s talking, Coraline! Or should I say, Adventure Time’s Marceline!”

“And proud out it!” They toasted each other by clinking french fries.

I laughed and picked up my drink, sipping from the straw.

“What’s with the black nail polish, Sam?” Madison asked.

I folded my hands in my lap nervously, hiding the evidence. I’d been struggling to limit my nightly ice cream intake to only a pint or less. Painting my nails was the next best distraction, even if all I had was black polish, and it meant I was backsliding.

Emo. Goth. Witch. Sorceress…

I hoped nobody noticed my mouth quavering.

“You going all goth on us, Sam?” Romeo asked.

“Uh,” I stammered, “no, I just wanted to do my nails last night.”

“I think it looks kind of cool,” Kamiko said. “Sam, you can be like, surf goth.”

“Vampires don’t surf, dearest,” Romeo said.

“Why not?” Kamiko asked.

“Because of the sun, duh.”

“Haven’t you heard of night surfing?” Madison asked.

“Ha!” Kamiko blurted.
 

At least they’d moved the subject away from my black nails. My baggage was safe with me. As long as I kept it to the nails and didn’t start wearing crypt couture again.

I promised myself I’d scrub the nail polish off as soon as I got home that night.

Two hours later, Madison and I flip-flopped down to the beach below the cliffs with our towels. I kept beach gear in the trunk of my car at all times because of our frequent beach trips. San Diego was awesome.

When we got to the beach, we stopped.

“Which way do you want to go today?” Madison asked.

“Let’s try something different.” We always went south. “Let’s go north.”

“Cool.”

We found a spot away from most of the scattered beach-goers, and set up our towels. I had a great tan going after a couple of weeks of training with Madison. She’d made sure that I eased myself into it and didn’t get burned. I was now brown from head to toe.
 

My hair was starting to lighten with the help of periodic lemon juice rinses. The rinses were a tip from Madison that had saved me from certain debt at the hands of those demons posing as colorists at the hair salons. I swear they made you sign away your soul in blood once you decided to own your blondness.

I wasn’t sure how winter was going to work out in terms of maintaining my California looks, but Madison assured me there would be beach weather well into fall, and again in early spring. Why hadn’t I moved here sooner?

We stripped down to our bikinis and laid out on the towels.

I almost fell asleep on my stomach, but Madison shook me to turn over. We propped ourselves on our elbows and watched the surfers and other beach goers. Something was off. “Um, Mads?”

“Yeah?”

“I think that guy’s naked.”

She shaded her eyes to get a better look. “I think you’re right. Wait, nope. He’s wearing a baseball cap. His cock’s sure a-walkin’.”

“Ew!”

“Look at that thing swing! It looks like a grandfather clock!”

“OMG! You did not just say that.” The guy was old enough to be someone’s grandfather.

“Hey, you know that old saying ‘Half past the old man’s ass, quarter till his balls?’”

“Gross! And it’s a
monkey’s
ass.”

“Same difference. Do you think if he got a hard-on right now, he could use it as a sun dial?” Madison laughed.
 

“Wait a second.” I squinted my eyes. “Does his hat say Lynyrd Skynyrd?”

Madison grinned. “Yes it does.” She cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted. “Play Freeballs!”

I smacked her arm. “It’s Freebird, dummy! Play
Freebird!
” I rolled onto my side and laughed.

We both succumbed to rampant giggling for several tear-filled minutes.

“What are you two fine ladies doing alone out here?” Two figures stood silhouetted against the glare of the sun. I shielded my eyes. I didn’t recognize them. They looked like douches. They plopped down on our towels. “Mind if we join you?”

I frowned. “Uh, yeah.”
 

Douche #1 didn’t seem to be paying attention. I’m sure that was normal for him. He had a sloppy mohawk, and the rest of his hair had grown in about half an inch. It looked terrible. Perfect for him “You guys go to SDU?” he asked.

“We go to state,” Douche #2 added. He had huge horse teeth. He was referring to San Diego State University, which I had learned was about fifteen miles southeast of SDU. It had a huge reputation as a party school.

“Congratulations,” I said sarcastically.

Both of them ran their eyes all over us. I was regretting wearing a bikini. I sat up and folded my arms over my chest. Madison sat up, crossed her legs and rested her elbows on her knees. Couldn’t these dummies tell they were making us uncomfortable?

“It’s pretty hot out here,” Horse-toothed Douche said.

“You know, this is a nude beach, right?” Mohawk Douche asked.

“Yeah.” I hadn’t until we saw Freeballs, but Mads and I had pretty much worked out the math on that one.

“So, why don’t you ladies take your clothes off?” Horse-toothed Douche scowled, but I’m pretty sure it was his version of a smile.

“You guys are wearing swimsuits,” Madison scoffed.

“I can roll with that,” Horse-toothed Douche said.
 

My eyes widened. “But don’t get any ideas!”

He stood up, preparing to push his trunks down with both hands.

“The swimsuit stays ON!” I shouted.

He sat back down. “I was only joking,” he sniveled.

“I think it’s time for you guys to leave,” I said sternly.

“Come on, we just got here.” Mohawk Douche stroked my foot.

“Get off!” I kicked my leg rapidly until he removed it.
 

“Easy! No need to play hard to get.”

“Get out of here, you guys.” I tried to sound commanding, but the hint of irritation in my voice betrayed my uncertainty.

A feral gleam flashed in Mohawk Douche’s eyes. His lips curled over yellowed teeth. “You know you want it.”

“Samantha?”

I looked up into the eyes of Adonis. He held a surfboard under a tattooed arm. So did his friend, who was tall, blond and bronzed.

I guess hot guys traveled in packs. Did they grow them around here?

Adonis and his friend were dripping wet. They must have just come out of the water. How had I missed Adonis riding the waves with the other surfers? I was genuinely excited to see him. He wasn’t in jail! “Hey, Adonis!”

“These guys bothering you?”
 

Horse-toothed Douche whipped around to face them. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Tsk, tsk,” Adonis admonished with faux diplomacy. “Language, gentlemen. Language.”

“Dude, we saw them first,” Mohawk said.

“So what?” Adonis’ surfer buddy said.

“So, fuck you, prick,” Mohawk spat.

WTF? Adonis had just gotten arrested a few weeks ago. These two douches were looking for a fight. That was the last thing Adonis needed. Was my presence in his life cursing him? Probably. It wouldn’t have been the first time.

Taylor.

“Easy, Jake,” Adonis said to his friend soothingly. “These guys don’t want any trouble, do they?” Adonis cocked his head and smiled at the douches.

“The fuck they don’t,” Jake growled. He wasn’t quite as muscular as Adonis, but he was tall and well-built. Not the kind of guy I imagined anyone would want to get in a fight with. Jake dropped his surfboard onto the sand.
 

Mohawk and Horse-tooth took a moment to survey the situation. While they were both sizable guys, neither of their physiques came close to Jake or Adonis’. Both of them were soft. They were in over their heads.

Jake took a step toward them. “Get the fuck out of here, or you’re gonna be spittin’ teeth, fuckholes.”

“Calm down, man,” Mohawk whined. “We’re going.” He and his pal stood up quickly and scampered off.

As soon as the douches were gone, I put my t-shirt on. They’d left me feeling naked and nervous.

“You guys okay?” Adonis asked with obvious concern.

“Yeah, thanks. Again.” I was genuinely relieved. I’m sure nothing terrible would’ve happened, even if Adonis and Jake hadn’t shown up. There were too many people around.
 

I was relieved there hadn’t been a fight. With my luck, Adonis would’ve put one of those douches in the hospital. He definitely looked more than capable of it. Then he’d be in jail for sure, because of me. Maybe for a long time. The last thing I wanted was for him to get into more fights because of me.

But it was nice to know someone was watching out for you. Someone with an amazing body. The way Adonis’ shorts hung low on his narrow hips made me squirm. I already knew what was in them, but all I could focus on were the indentations on his hips above the waistband of his swim trunks.

“Who’s your friend?” Madison asked. She eyed Jake up and down. She was in heat.

Jake held out his hand to shake hers. “Jake Stratton.”

“Madison.” She leaned forward with more chest than necessary. She was shameless. I couldn’t blame her. Jake was pretty freakin’ hot.

“Do you mind if we join you?” Adonis asked.
 

I chuckled. “Sure.”

He cocked a dimple at me. “I promise I won’t try to touch you. Without your permission.”
 

“Perv!” I’m pretty sure I would give him permission if he asked. But I wasn’t going to tell him that. I hoped he didn’t ask.
 

He and Jake sat Indian-style on the ends of our towels. I desperately wanted to ask him what happened with the police, but that would’ve been totally rude. I didn’t know what Jake did or did not know, and I didn’t know if Adonis would like talking about it in front of Madison either.

“How are the waves today?” Madison asked. She leaned back on her elbows, extending her legs. Her entire body was on display for Jake. He seemed to be enjoying it. He better. Madison was hot.

“Decent,” Jake answered. “Got a few floaters.”

“I thought I saw you drop in and carve some good ones earlier,” Madison said. “You’re goofy footed, aren’t you?”

Jake grinned. “Yeah, that was me. You surf?”

“Totally.”

I had no idea what those two were talking about. Maybe someday Mads would teach me to surf. I turned to Adonis. “I haven’t seen you around campus in awhile. Is everything okay?” Foot in Mouth! Why didn’t I just stand up and point at him and yell Jail, jail jail! I cringed.