Race Girl (20 page)

‘Oi!' Brandon yelled.

Tam's head popped up, her cheeks going beetroot.

‘Come here,' Tully said when they'd reached them, grabbing Tam's hands to pull her up out of the sand.

‘Nice work, Heffo—' Brandon burst with laughter, slapping his mate on the back— ‘C'mon, we were just goin' for a walk.'

Heffo grabbed Tam, a hand on her waist and one slipping into her back pocket. She swatted it away, then held his hand as the group strolled down the sunset-drenched beach. They grabbed ice cream cones from a little place just up from huge white frame of the main entrance and settled down on the beach, listening to the darkening crash of the waves. Tully sank down in front of Brandon, licking hard on her strawberries and cream. He wrapped his strong arms around her, his warm cheek pressed against hers.

Tam and Heffo slouched low in the sand. Brandon turned his body, giving Tully some privacy. Her heart gained pace, her skin seemed to almost sizzle against his – her stomach suddenly too queasy to eat. Brandon's masculine, earthy scent enveloped her, and her body responded, begging for more. Tully leaned back against him, looking up into his dark chocolate eyes.

Brandon brushed her forehead with his lips. He reached down, pushed a tendril of hair from Tully's neck with a steady hand, then he kissed her there just beneath her ear. Her body shuddered, her back curling and arching into him, her lips parting – dry and thirsty for her first kiss.

A strong breeze swept in off the ocean with the force of the sea and the earth and the sky, pushing her even further into him. No longer could Tully resist – not the desire or the curiosity . . . or him. She reached up, her hand coiling around the back of his neck into his wavy, sandy hair. Her lips found his, so warm, so soft and sweet. The need and the urgency in them both galloped forward with every touch.

New Year's fireworks erupted not long after Tully's first kiss, and she was sure there'd never been one to equal it in the history of mankind.

Brandon was the one to hug her tightly, then pull away, steadying her with a firm look and a bite of his lip that said regret. Tully forced herself to breathe and snuggled there, in the heat and safety of Brandon's arms until the sun was fully replaced by the moon and long, dark shadows enveloped them from the skyscrapers of Surfer's. The ocean turned black, leaving just the swell and break of the waves white in the circus of lights erupting from the three kilometres of parties behind them.

‘Thank you for inviting me, Athens,' Brandon said, stroking her hair. ‘I've been waiting for an invite to one of your birthday parties since I was five.'

Tully smiled, snuggling into his chest. ‘I've never even been in your front gates.'

‘
No
way.' Brandon sat up, looked down into her face. ‘For real?'

‘I've always dreamed about how amazing it is, and I've seen it from a distance – like from the lookout we found the other day. . .'

Brandon's dark eyes stayed locked with hers, searching, softening. He kissed her again, a gently lingering touch of lip to lip. His hands locked on her shoulders and pulled her in. The desire that swelled within Tully nearly split her in two.

‘I always knew you were cool,' he said, kissing her cheek once, then again. ‘But I never thought you'd be so . . . perfectly awesome. Happy birthday, Tully. You deserve the best.'

The words hung in Tully's brain, deconstructed down to individual letters out of disbelief, then strung themselves back together.
Definitely more than just business,
Tully thought, her stomach tightening.

Maybe I like Brandon Weston.

Maybe I like him a lot.

‘Thank you for the best night of my life,' she said, cringing at her lameness, peering up for his reaction.

‘Oi, man—' Heffo said, appearing in front of them. ‘Let's get back, eh?'

Brandon's eyes stayed deep in the moment with Tully, locked in the shared heat of their emotion until she was sure something like a cloud passed over his face and his eyes took on an even deeper, ebony tinge. He froze for a second, studying her face. Then his mate pulled him away, out of sight.

Tully's body reeled and she forced a smile when Tam bounded up, waving her phone in Tully's face. ‘I just got the
best
selfies with him,' she said, already clicking on her Instagram app. ‘
And
his number! We'll totally hook up again.'

Oh, Tam,
Tully thought, looping an arm through her bestie's.
I hope so . . .
Tully couldn't tear her eyes from the silhouette of Brandon's body as she and Tam followed the boys back down the beach to Fia's unit.

18

Growing up is Hard To Do

Tully dreamed she'd spend the next morning cuddling with Brandon on the patio before having to head home. In reality, however, he was packed and ready to go, waking the girls with banging on their door at six am and remaining practically silent until they piled into the ute, discussing where to get breakfast.

They decided on the Macca's drive-through, at Brandon's suggestion, but Tully was too queasy to eat.

Half the Gold Coast seemed to be sleeping, the other half still partying as they drove through the bright streets of Surfer's, heading out of town.

What was up with Brandon, Tully had no idea. Her mind laboured over and over the night before . . .
Did I make a mistake? Did I upset him somehow??
But all she could remember was perfection all the way until the moment he was torn away from her. Tully wanted to be elated; after all, she'd had a sweet sixteen bash any girl would envy, an unforgettable night with a boy so many girls wanted, had experienced an incredible first kiss – or more like a dozen . . . the icing on the cake. But all of it had lost its lustre. The ‘morning after' had dawned and Tully certainly was not feeling pretty.

Brandon held her hand for a bit on the way home, but wouldn't get any closer. Tam chatted away about her
thrilling
night.

At least it's filling the silence,
Tully thought, her heart twisting with pain and confusion.

‘Oh, I almost forgot,' Brandon said, just after they'd driven back down through Canungra. He dug around in his centre console without taking his eyes off the road, fished out a white card. Tully was sure she spotted a glint of blue next to the card and Brandon kept his hand on the console for a few moments after shutting it, then reached for his black sunnies, slipped them over his eyes and handed her the envelope. ‘Sorry . . . it's just a card. Lame I know.'

‘No worries,' Tully said, tapping the card on her knee before slipping it into her bag. Tam didn't notice – was consumed in giving a blow-by-blow account of the night to one of her rodeo girlfriends on her mobile. Tully let out a breath of relief when Brandon didn't insist she open the card. There was no way she could – just getting back to Tam's without bursting into tears was proving a serious challenge.

Tully's face felt gross: dry and gritty. She flicked down her sun visor, hoping there'd be a mirror . . . Tully's eyes widened with horror as she took in her reflection, and she shot Tam a narrowed glare in the back for not letting her know she looked like a vampire. But she stopped short when she got a good look at Tam – she had the same panda eyes where the leftover mascara from the night before had worn onto the skin around their eyes. Apparently not a big deal, but Tully felt dirty. She grabbed a tissue out of her bag, wet it with her tongue and spent a good deal of time rubbing the makeup off her face.

Tully's pain trebled when Brandon gave her a stiff hug and cold peck on the cheek when he dropped them off. ‘Stay out of trouble, Athens.' He cleared his throat, wouldn't meet her eyes.

‘Yeah,' she said. ‘Thanks again for the great night.'

Tully's heart throbbed and cracked with the sting of his rejection as she watched his ute rev up and pull out of the drive. She hovered on Tam's front verandah, watching Brandon's ute disappearing down the road, her arms remaining wrapped around her body.

How could I have been such an idiot?!

There was no question in Tully's mind:
I've been played.
She felt dirty and disappointed and angry and devastated all at the same time, and just wanted to crawl into her bed to never surface again.

‘C'mon, what-cha doin'?' Tam's face appeared from inside the house.

‘Oh, sorry,' Tully said. She swallowed down the bitter tears of rejection, forced a smile. ‘All good – we should go wake your mum up, hey? I really need to get home.'

‘Not before we open all your presents!' Tam pulled her into the house. ‘Can't believe we forgot to open them—' She grinned wickedly, nudged Tully's ribs— ‘Oh, no, I
totally
can. We had better things on our minds!'

Tully bit her bottom lip and shushed Tam with a finger, but when Tam insisted, helped her friend haul their bags and the huge basket of presents down the hall to Tam's room. Tam happily ripped off all the wrapping and recorded who gave Tully what so she could send out thankyou's. Tully had to force a smile through the spreading pain in her heart, but was genuinely surprised and filled with a welcome joy when Tam handed her a gleaming new pair of boots. A gift from Fia. Tully slipped them straight on and sent Fia a text to thank her. Tam squealed and clapped and chirped away as she piled the clothes, gift vouchers for shops Tully had never heard of and earrings she didn't have the holes in her ears for in a stack on the fluffy purple bed.

Judy appeared in the doorway, still in her nightgown, shortly after Tully had finished stuffing all the paper, ribbons and bows into a garbage bag. ‘Oh, wow!' Judy gushed, wrapping the girls up in a hug. ‘Tell me all about your night! I wish I hadn't been on night shift . . .'

Tam shot Tully an
I'm-
so
-glad-she-was-on-night-shift
smirk, then proceeded to tell her mother an outline of the night, minus any mention of a certain footy player named Heffo or their walk down the beach.

It was after lunch by the time Tully made it home. She bee-lined for her bedroom, praying she wouldn't encounter her father. Shoved her bags under her bed to unpack later, but did take Brandon's card out to shove under her laptop.
Later.
The more time she'd had to think about the night – about how he'd kissed her, then cooled right off – the more the anger and confusion had raged within Tully, pushing her to breaking point.

A voice within her had already whispered what had happened, but
knowing
certainly didn't make Brandon's rejection any easier, or less painful.
Brandon Weston is no more than an insensitive wanker
, she thought, miserably remembering how notorious he was. Everyone knew he had a lot of girls after him in the city and out here, and it wasn't hard to imagine why. Once again she was consumed by the pain and the shame for being so silly and stupid; for believing that they had some kind of connection beyond the brain in Brandon's pants and her own deluded imagination.

She curled up in her bed, ready to scream and rant and break down into her doona, when her little toy horse caught her eye. She sucked in a breath, picked it up. Tully stared at the rearing horse for a moment, turning it around and around in her hands.

It
was
meant
to be just business . . .
The rational thought appeared as clear as the sky in her mind and she knew then what she needed to do: cast away the romantic memories of him and their kisses and her sweet sixteen, something she feared would be impossible to do.
He might have rejected me,
Tully thought, closing her hand around the filly.
But he didn't say he wasn't going to help . . .
She'd wait a few days, Tully decided, and if she hadn't heard from Brandon, she'd get in touch to find out if he'd had a chance to speak to his father about Avalon. No harm in finding out.

Tully gave her horse a quick kiss, took a deep breath, then set it down on top of her laptop and hurried out into the yard to see her horses.