Mia's Heart (The Paradise Diaries) (4 page)

And
now I’m being pathetic again.

I
can’t seem to help it.  Since my parents are always so wrapped up in their
political and social bullshit, and they don’t allow me to hang around with
anyone who isn’t “appropriate”, my circle of support is very limited. 
Dante, Reece and Gavin are all I have.

And
that’s not really that pathetic, I decide.

Because
everybody needs somebody.  No one is an island. 

Right?

As
if on cue, my cell phone buzzes from the pocket of my jeans which are in a pile
on the floor.  I reach from my bed and scoop it up.

“Gav?”

“How’d
you know it was me?”

I
can hear him smiling through the phone. And his eyes are probably
sparkling.  But that’s a safe bet, because they’re always sparkling. 
Gavin is always amused by something.

“I’m
magic,” I say glibly.  “See, there’s this cool new thing
technology
. 
I can see a person’s phone number when they call.”

“You’re
hilarious, do you know that?” Gavin grins again.  Even though I can’t see
it, I know.  I can’t help but smile back, even though he can’t see me.

“I
know,” I tell him.  “What’s up?”

“Nothing,”
he answers.  “Just thought you might want to hang out today.  Want to
go diving?”

The
answer to that question is almost always yes.

Day
or night.

I
love scuba diving or snorkeling or pretty much anything that involves me
swimming beneath the surface of the sea. 

Today
is no different.

“Sure
thing,” I tell him. “I’ll meet you at the pier in half an hour.”

Which
might be tricky since I’m supposed to be grounded for mouthing off to my mother
the other day about my stupid nose ring.

Hmm.
Quandary.

I’ll
have to put some thought into this.

But
then I give up thinking about it and just leave. 

What
are they going to do to me?  Take my birthday away? 

I
think not.

As
I speed toward the beach, I do ponder the fact that I’ve been such a bitch
lately.  And for just a moment, I feel bad for my mom.  She’s left
alone most of the time, trying to fulfill the duties of a political wife. 
I might sit down and have a talk with her when I get back.

Might.

If
she doesn’t kill me for leaving the house. 

Which
is unlikely.

So
if I’m still alive when I get back, I might talk to her.

I
nose my car into a parking spot and grab my gear.  I’m so looking forward
to this.  There is nothing better for forgetting all of your problems than
sinking below the surface of the sea where there is nothing but blue and
solitude. 

As
I cross the boardwalk pier, I spot Gavin pulling on his wetsuit on the stern of
his small boat,
The Shining.
  The large motorboat was a sixteenth
birthday gift to him from his parents and he named it because of his weird
obsession with an old American movie of the same name. 

I
can still remember popping popcorn and watching it with him over and over when
we were in junior high.  I’ll never forget Jack Nicholson’s creepy face as
he peeked in the door of the creepy hotel. Ugh. I had nightmares for weeks.

Gavin
might have issues buried behind his ever-present grin.

Who
else would be that obsessed with such a strange movie?

I
smile at him though and hop aboard, dropping my bag on the seat next to him.

He
gives me a quick hug and the rubber of his suit sticks to my skin.

“Hey,
Mi,” he says easily.  “Check out the current today.”

I
glance at the horizon and the waves are pretty tall, at least two to three
feet. 

“Is
there a wind advisory?” I ask, not worried, but curious.

He
shakes his head.  “Not yet,” he tells me. “But we’d better hurry up and
get out of the bay before there is.”

I
have to smile.  He wants to hurry up and get out of the bay before the
harbor master can tell him that it’s too dangerous to go out today. 
Seriously, Gavin has no fear.  He always just assumes that things will be
okay.  And I guess that’s something that he and I share.

I
usually feel the same way.

Things
will always turn out okay because they always have.

Even
this summer, when there was an assassination attempt on Dante’s father and
Dante himself was caught up in the same mess, everything turned out okay. 
And if something like that can work itself out, then pretty much anything else
can work out too.

I
know.

Skewed
logic.

“Well,
let’s hurry up then,” I tell Gavin.

He
grins his ornery grin.  “Just as soon as our guest arrives,” he answers,
glancing at his watch.  “He should be here any minute.”

“Guest?”
I raise an eyebrow.

“Yeah,”
Gavin answers. “The new guy.  I felt sorry for him- he doesn’t know anyone
here.”

“Oh.”
I feel like somebody kicked me in the stomach and I don’t know why. 
“Reece’s friend.”

I
have undefined feelings for this guy.  I can’t decide if I like that he
gets my heart going or if I hate it.  So right now, I’m reserving the
right to decide later. Honestly, that’s better than my usual gut instinct to
hate everything. 

And
in the meantime, I’ll just enjoy looking at him.

“Right,”
Gavin nods.  “Reece’s friend.  He seems nice enough.”

“Well,
Reece always says that people from the American Midwest are the friendliest in
the world,” I answer absently.  My eyes are glued to the pier, watching
for Quinn. 

Gavin
notices. 

“Do
you mind that I invited him?”

I
don’t know why he sounds surprised.  I’m not exactly what you would call a
people person.  It usually takes me a little while to warm up to someone.

“No,
of course not,” I say anyway.  “It’s your boat. You can invite anyone
you’d like.  Except Elena, of course.”

Gavin
laughs at this.  Elena Kontou is the notorious Mean Queen of our class.
Her mother is in Dimitri Giliberti’s Cabinet which has always put her into our
select little group. But she’s mean as a snake even though she has a perfect
face. 

Actually,
make that
had
a perfect face. 

Her
cheek was scarred in the same yacht explosion that injured Dimitri Giliberti
this past summer.  She’s had a couple of surgeries to correct it, but you
can still see it.  And she sort of blames me, because my sort-of-boyfriend
at the time, Vincent, was the one who rigged the yacht to explode.

Have
I mentioned that my life is complicated?

Yeah.

It
is.

But
now Vincent is waiting for his trial and Elena’s face is still scarred. 
And she has to have someone to blame. And I’m it.

Lucky
me.

“Okay,”
Gavin agrees.  “I will never invite Elena when you’re here.”

“You’d
invite her otherwise?”

I
am shocked by this notion.

“She’s
a snake, Gav. And she can’t swim.  You shouldn’t take her out on the water
with you.”

He
starts to say something, but we’re interrupted by an American drawl.

“I’m
not a snake, but I can’t swim either.  Is that a problem?”

I
look up to find the tips of two battered cowboy boots poking over the edge of
the pier. 

Quinn’s
gaze meets mine and I find that he is completely unembarrassed by this.

“You
seriously can’t swim?” I ask, sure that he is kidding. “Everyone can swim.”

“No,
they can’t,” he answers easily as he hops into the boat.  “Apparently, the
snake and I can’t.  Hey, dude,” he greets Gavin.  “Thank you again
for the invite.  I was going crazy at Giliberti House. I was starting to
talk to myself.”

“No
problem,” Gavin slaps his shoulder and hands him a life jacket.  “You’d
better wear this if you really can’t swim.”

Quinn
takes off his shirt and I am instantly distracted by this.

HolySweetMotherOfGod. 

What
do they feed the boys in Kansas?

This
guy is built like a lean brick house.  I can easily count his ab muscles
and they ripple every time he moves.

Holy.
Cow.

He
straps on the bright orange life jacket and looks down at me.

“See
something you like?”

And
now he’s cocky.

And
I like it.

What
is wrong with me that I like cockiness as a character trait?

I
shake my head and lie.  “Nope.  Nothing in particular.”

He
grins, unabashed. “Whatever you say.”

His
expression is knowing.  And annoying.

“Look,
farmboy.  I know that you’re Mr. Hometown Football Hero back home, but
here, you’re not.  So, you should start out your relationships with a
little less ego. People will like you more.”

“Hmm,”
he says, staring at me thoughtfully.  “Kitten has claws.”

Gavin
is staring me in complete and utter surprise.  I’m not usually so bitchy
and to be honest, I don’t know what came over me.  I shake my head and
look away from both of them.  Gavin takes the wheel and we’re gliding our
way out onto open water.  Only now, the silence is sort of
uncomfortable. 

And
it’s my fault.

“Look,”
I turn to Quinn.  “I’m sorry.  I’m not that good with new people.”

“Really?”
he answers innocently with that lopsided grin.  “I hadn’t noticed.”

Gavin
busts out laughing and I have to laugh too. 

“I’m
really sorry,” I say again.  “I guess I have trust issues with new
people.  It seems like so often they just want something from me. 
But I know that’s not the case with you.”

He
eyes me up and down.  And then leans in to murmur into my ear.

“Don’t
be so sure.”

And
my cheeks are instantly flushed.

OhMyWord.

Did
he really just mean what I think he meant?

My
eyes meet his and he nods, as if he could hear my unspoken question.

I’m
starting to feel like he can read my freaking mind.

And
I’m still blushing.

So
I ignore him.

And
my racing heart.

Good
lord.

We
race from the bay and out into open water while the waves toss
The Shining
about.  We probably shouldn’t be out here, but the dangerousness of it
gives it a more exciting edge.

We’re
probably insane.

Gav
looks at me.  “Do you want to go out to the wrecks or stick to the reef?”

Either
way, we’d be insane.  The wrecks, a collection of old sunken ships, are
quite a ways from the bay and the waves will be crazy big there today. 
And the reef… well, let’s just say that sharks enjoy the reef.  A lot.

“Wrecks,”
I say. 

“Done,”
he grins.

He
turns the boat into that direction and the wind blows my hair from my face.

I
notice that Quinn is gripping the side pretty hard.  So hard, in fact,
that his fingers are white.  Interesting.  Is the Hometown Hero
afraid of boats?

And
then I feel bad for thinking of him as Hometown Hero.  I decide that I
will ask Reece about that before I do it again.  I might be way off base,
but I doubt it.

I
turn my attention away from both of the guys onboard and instead, stare out at
the water.  I was right.  The waves here are huge.  No wonder
Quinn is nervous.  He’s not used to the sea at all.  And he can’t
swim.  And since that’s the case, I decide that he must be pretty brave to
come out onto the sea in these waves in a little motorboat.

Or
maybe stupid.  I haven’t decided yet.

I
lean over and put my hand on his arm for a minute.

“Don’t
worry,” I tell him with a grin.  “I won’t let you drown.”

He
raises an eyebrow. 

“How
would you save me, Tiny Tot?  You’re half my size.”

And
that is a true statement.

I
eye him, at the way he is once again sprawled out, casually fitting himself
into the boat seat.

“How
tall are you, anyway?” I ask.

“6’6,”
he answers.  “I ate my spinach when I was growing up.”

Holy
crap.  I practically
am
half his size.  He’s gigantic.

He
leans over to me. 

“And
I wear size 14 shoe.  Do you know what they say about the size of a man’s
foot?”

My
cheeks flare into color.