Forever (Cruiser & Lex, Book 3) (22 page)

Chapter One

My head throbs like someone smashed it against a pile of rocks.

I try to move my limbs, but they feel like they’re buried in cement. When I pry my eyes open, I’m blinded by something bright and strong. The sun? My eyes snap shut and tears seep out.

The throbbing travels from the back of my head to my forehead. I moan as images come. Memories. It all rushes back to me. The killer waves this morning, almost as high as towers. The itchy sensation pricking every nerve of my body as I imagined riding them. My stupid self ignoring the warning bells telling me it was too dangerous. Paddling into the ocean and popping onto my board. Getting swallowed by the massive wave. Thrashing my arms and legs as my mouth desperately sought oxygen, only to get salt water instead. My limbs growing weaker until I blacked out.

Something touches my fingers. No, touching isn’t the right word. Rubbing, maybe? It feels nice. Soothing. Slowly, I open my eyes. A face stares down at me. The sun shines behind his head, creating a halo.

An angel? Am I in heaven?

He has dark blue eyes and long, golden hair brushing his shoulders. Definitely an angel. I
am
in heaven.

“Cassie!” a voice calls.

The angel disappears and I hear a splash. I try to raise my head, but the throbbing turns into hammering, and I groan. When I turn my head to the side, I realize I’m on some sort of boulder in the middle of the ocean.

“Cassie!” the voice calls again. It sounds like my best friend, Leah. I hear an engine. She must be on a boat or Jet Ski.

I open my mouth to call to her, but nothing comes out. The action alone takes up so much energy that my eyes droop.

Through the fog in my head, I hear the engine approach. A hand shakes my shoulder. “Cassie? Are you okay?”

I open one eye. “Leah?”

She’s sitting on a Jet Ski, dressed in her wetsuit. Her green eyes are wide in alarm. “Thank God you’re alive.”

When I try to sit up, my head spins. “Easy,” she says, climbing out of the Jet Ski and settling near me on the boulder. She wraps an arm around my shoulder and helps me into a sitting position. “We need to get you to the hospital.”

“I’m fine,” I mutter. “What happened?”

“You wiped out. I saw you go down and I grabbed the Jet Ski to go after you. I’m taking you to the hospital. You have a nasty bump on your head.”

I finger the spot. Ouch. “How did I end up on the boulder?”

Her eyebrows crease. She scratches her dark brown hair. “Did you swim here and pass out?” She takes me in her arms, hugging me close. “You have no idea how freaked out I was when I saw you lying here. I’m so glad you’re okay.” She pulls out of the hug. “I was searching forever. I really thought…” Her voice cracks. “I really thought you died. Don’t you ever do anything like that again!”

I stare down at the small waves hitting the boulder. “There was a guy. An angel. An angel saved me.”

“An angel?” She surveys the area. “I didn’t see anyone.”

“Maybe I went to heaven.”

She doesn’t say anything. I know what she’s thinking—that I hit my head and am talking nonsense. Am I?

“And when you called my name, he disappeared. I’m telling you the truth, Leah. I’m not crazy.”

“O-kay. What did Angel Guy look like?”

Those eyes. So deep, so blue, like the ocean. And golden hair that I’ve never seen before, not even in the movies. “He was beautiful.”

Her eyebrows crease again. I know she doesn’t believe me, but I couldn’t have been hallucinating. The hands rubbing my fingers were real. His face was real.
He
was real.

Or was he? I shake my head because none of this makes sense. Maybe I am hallucinating.

Leah gets on the Jet Ski and helps me climb on behind her. I’m still a little groggy and dizzy, but my headache is disappearing by the minute. She steers us toward the shore.

I look back at the boulder. He had to be real.

We make it to the beach and climb off the Jet Ski. Leah wraps her arm over my shoulder. “Feeling okay?”

“Fine.” I keep looking back toward the ocean, hoping for—I don’t know. For Angel Guy to pop out of thin air and reveal himself?

“I still think you should see a doctor. We hear so many stories of people hitting their heads and thinking they’re fine, when they sustain major head injuries and—”

“Leah, quit worrying. You’re worse than my mom.” Mom has never really liked me spending most of my free time hitting the waves. I guess as her only daughter, she wants someone more…like her. A daughter who would go shopping with her and give her fashion advice and stay up into the early hours of the morning talking about guys.

Leah stops in front of Misty’s Juice Bar, the place she’s currently working at, and faces me. “You’re just so reckless, Cass. I know I’m not a great surfer, but even I know you shouldn’t have been in the ocean with those waves.”

I press my lips together.

She touches my arm. “I know you’re still hurting from the breakup with Kyle—”

“We are
not
talking about that.” I nod toward the shop. “Your boss is giving you the death glare. I’ll see you later, okay?”

Rubbing my head, I notice the pain is almost completely gone. I squint toward the ocean. It’s wishful thinking, hoping my board will somehow emerge. Chances are it’s in pieces at the bottom of the ocean.

My eyes move to the sky, which is growing a little gray and cloudy. We’ll probably have a storm later today or tonight.

When I enter my beach house, a familiar scent tickles my nose.

“Mom?” I hurry into the kitchen and find her sitting at the table, munching on a chocolate bar and flipping through a magazine. I take in her familiar chin-length, dyed red hair and light pink nail polish.

“Cassie!” She stands and pulls me into her arms. I bury my face into the side of her neck, feeling the stiffness of her business suit against my arms. She’s been gone for over two weeks. As much as I enjoyed the freedom, I missed her terribly.

She steps out of the hug and studies me like she hasn’t seen me in years. “You look great, honey. Except, what happened to your head?” She reaches to touch the bump, but I move back.

“Oh, nothing. I tripped on the stairs. So um, how was your trip?”

“Busy, but good.”

I peer into the living room, where her suitcases are lined against the wall. “Need help unpacking?”

She bites her lower lip, regret clouding her eyes.

My heart sinks. “You’re leaving again?”

She sighs and drops down on the chair, running her hands through her hair. “I fly out again tonight. Sorry, Cass.”

I walk to the cupboard and rummage around until I find my gummy worms. Mom works in sales. She travels all over the country selling a new line of women’s cosmetics. It’s been her dream job ever since she started college. Then I came along when she was in her last semester and ruined her plans. She got her degree, but had to kiss the dream goodbye. Dad was chivalrous and married her, but he left us when I was ten. Not very chivalrous. Now that I’m eighteen and will start college in the fall, Mom can finally live her dream.

I stick a worm between my teeth and slice it in half. She was a complete mess when my dad left us, and now she’s finally putting her life back together. I can’t take that away from her, no matter how much I miss her.

She gets to her feet and takes me in her arms again. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I didn’t think I’d have to travel this much.” She draws back and looks into my eyes. “You know you’re always welcome at Uncle Jim and Aunt Lisa’s and the gang if you get too lonely. And Leah’s parents would love to have you over any time.”

I don’t say anything, just continue to devour my worms. I stayed with Leah the first few times my mom was away. We had a blast. But after a while, I wanted my mom. That’s how it’s been for the last few years of my life—just Mom and me. But I suppose I need to get used to this, to the future. College, a real job, my own apartment.

She touches one of my blonde braids that’s curled over my shoulder. “And there’s always your dad.”

I push away from her.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry.” She reaches for me again and plays with the bottom of my braid. “He’s trying, Cass. At least give him a chance.”

“Mom—”

“That’s all I’m going to say. Just to give him a chance.”

I clench my teeth.

Mom squeezes my shoulder. “We have the next six hours to spend together. Let’s make the most of it. What do you say?”

I force a smile onto my lips. “Okay.”

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Chapter One

“Waitress? Over here, waitress,” the four teenage guys call and whistle from table number eight. I sigh and give my best friend Macy a look. She lifts an eyebrow.

“Take them,” I say.

She shakes her head. “No way. I served them yesterday. It’s your turn.”

I can’t argue with that. Those jerks gave her a hard time. “Why are sixteen-year-olds so annoying?” They’re only two years younger than us, but it feels like ten years.

“Believe me, they’re no better at our age,” Macy says. “Just take their orders and leave.”

Easier said than done. I sigh again and tuck my curly auburn hair behind my ears. Time to get this over with. Putting on a fake smile, I head over to their table. “What would you like to order?”

One of the guys, a redhead, scans my nametag longer than it should take. “Hello, Lily. What a nice name.”

I try not to roll my eyes. Did he forget he says that to me every time? “Do you want to hear the special?” I ask.

A blond winks. “I already see something special standing before me. How about you come meet me out back when you’re on your break?”

I tap my foot. “We have many people waiting for a table. Can you please order?”

The guys laugh loudly and eventually order, making sure to sneak in obnoxious remarks, which I ignore.

Screw this job. Except, I can’t. How else am I going to pay for culinary school? When I applied for a job here at Inferno—a restaurant known for serving spicy food—I wanted to work in the kitchen, but they wouldn’t hire me because I had no experience. The only other choice was to be a waitress. I took it because it was better than nothing. The more experience in a restaurant I can get, the better.

The guys laugh and whistle when I return with their food. The blond raises his eyebrows and points his thumb toward the back doors. I pretend he’s wallpaper.

When my shift is over, I go to the dumpster to throw out all the trash. A shadow sprints away. Looks like it was someone dumpster diving. We get that a lot.

I’m about to hurl the garbage into the dumpster when something shiny catches my attention. It’s buried deep inside, and I plow through all the smelly trash to get it out.

It’s a lamp. A golden lamp. Not the kind you’d have in your bedroom, but the kind from
Aladdin
. It looks similar to the genie’s lamp. It’s bigger than a football, and has these swirly designs all over that make it look exotic. Like something from a fairytale. Some kid must have had it for a Halloween costume and dropped it in here. It’s a shame to throw it out like that. It’s really a beautiful lamp, but I’m not going to keep it. I’ve learned to never take something from the trash, no matter how gorgeous it is.

I toss it back in the dumpster, except it won’t fall. My fingers are curled around the end of it, and no matter how many times I try to pry them off, it’s like they’re glued. What the hell? I shake my hand, but no luck. The thing won’t come off. Some kid must have put glue on it as a joke, and lucky me got caught. I’m having such an awesome day.

I look to my right and left. No one’s around. How ridiculous am I going to look when I walk into Inferno with a genie lamp attached to my hand? There’s no hiding it, so I figure I’ll just add this incident to the “sucky things that happened to Lily today” list.

When Macy sees me, she smiles. “Finally time to go home.”

I hold up my hand. “I found this in the dumpster. There must be glue on it or something. Can you help me get it off?”

Her eyebrows knit. “Get what off?”

“The lamp.”

“What lamp?”

I stare at my hand. “The genie la—you don’t see it?”

She gives me a look like I fell from Mars. “All I see are fingers that need to be manicured.”

How can she not see the lamp? Am I completely losing it? I rub my eyes. The lamp is still there.

“Lily, you sure you’re okay?”

No. I’m not sure about anything. There
is
a lamp attached to my hand. I’m not crazy. Am I? “Yeah. Just tired,” I lie. “I need to go home. I haven’t been sleeping well.”

“Have you called your mom?”

“Twice, but no luck.”

Her face softens. She opens her mouth to say something, when I change the subject. “So what are your plans with Andy for tonight?”

Her boyfriend got an internship over the summer with a great company in Boston and is in New York for the weekend. He and Macy barely see each other.

She knows I don’t like to talk about my mom, and never pressures me. We’ve been friends since kindergarten, but after everything that happened four months ago, we’ve drifted apart. It’s my fault, not hers. She’s been trying really hard to be there for me, and I appreciate it. I just can’t deal.

“He’s going to surprise me,” she says with a smile.

“Have fun,” I say.

“Thanks. Are you absolutely sure you’re okay?”

I force a smile. “Totally.”

We hug before I leave the restaurant and walk through the July heat to my apartment. I live in Brooklyn, five blocks away from work. The people passing by don’t seem to notice anything wrong with my hand. Do they not see the lamp, either? I give it a tug to check if it’s real. It is. What the hell is wrong with me?             

After throwing my front door open, I go straight to my room for Vaseline. I put some on and try to yank my fingers off the lamp. They won’t budge. This is crazy. I’ll have no choice but to try to smash the thing. In the kitchen, I’m about to slam it down on the granite countertop, when it suddenly flies off my hand and drops to the floor. It rolls around like it has a mind of its own. A second later, smoke starts to shoot out of it. It’s so thick that it fills up my entire kitchen. It has a strong smell of exotic spices.

The smoke enters my lungs and I fall to my knees, clutching my chest and coughing.

“State your wish,” a voice says.

The smoke disappears from my lungs and I can breathe again. When I look up, I see a tall guy standing above me with his arms crossed over his chest. I scramble back. He looks about my age, has long dark hair that falls into his blue eyes and an expression of annoyance, yet respect at the same time. He has golden skin. My gaze dips to his chest. His naked golden chest. He has nothing on except for long, black pants. No shoes, either. My eyes spring back to his chest and my breath gets caught in my throat. He’s beautiful. Exotic looking.

“I said, state your wish.”

I tear my gaze off his chest, my cheeks warming up. “W…what?”

The smoke is completely gone from the kitchen. The lamp is still on the floor, but it’s no longer moving. Did this guy come from it?

“State your wish so I can get out of here.”

I get up. “Wish? What are you talking about?”

He makes a face like he’s done this a million times and is bored out of his mind. “You rubbed the lamp. I’m here to grant you three wishes.”

I back up into the counter behind me. I won’t believe this. I
can’t
. My head spins. “You’re a…genie?” That’s impossible. Genies don’t exist.

“Uh huh. Here to grant you three wishes. So let’s get this over with, Master.”

His chest gleams under the strong kitchen light. As he crosses and uncrosses his arms, his muscles flex.

He sighs loudly. “When you make up your mind, give the lamp a rub.” Smoke appears once again, surrounding him.

“Wait!”

But it’s too late. He’s gone.

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