Recklessly (14 page)

Wait. She wasn’t supposed to be there. And certainly not with Brody. Wes smiled, though with some bitterness. He liked her, but he
didn’t
have to like her company. “Yeah, it is…” As the group around Lana cleared, she remained standing with Brody, and the moment filled Wes equally with surprise and irritation. They looked like they were having a serious conversation. Wes’ eyes stretched when Brody’s hands went to her waist, and then she leaned in to his body and dropped her head to his chest.

“Whoa…” Abel said when Brody tapped his lips to hers. Holy hell. It wasn’t sensual and it didn’t linger but it was still a kiss. It was robotic, but in that way that came with familiarity, like they had kissed before.

“Shit! What the fuck!” both Elliotts said in the same whisper, though, Abel’s reaction had clearly come from a place of amusement, while Wes’ was rooted in further irritation. Either way, Wes hated when they did the “twin thing.”

Lana stiffened when Brody took her hand and pressed it to his mouth. He puckered his lips again, leaning toward her, but she turned her head and stormed away into the massive crowd, while Brody suddenly went in the other direction, fuming. Wes’ eyes narrowed and a struggle arose between him and his anger. He had no right to be bothered by the scene. But he was. Lana was free to be with whatever guy she wanted—hell, Wes was sure there were tons of women here he hooked up with on occasion—but of all the guys in the world, she had to be with
him
? The one guy who tried to seriously hurt him?

“Who’s Lana?” Dylan asked. Wes swung his head toward her, and her eyes were glued to the screen of her camcorder, reviewing recent footage.

That
was a
very
good question.

Abel slapped him on the back, a comical edge to his tone when he spoke. “So I gotta be honest, baby bro…that isn’t what I thought you meant when you said she
knew
surfing.”

*

The darkening sky was as violet as a bruise, like it had endured some brutal struggle during sunset, when Wes, with his crew in tow, walked from their rental house to the part of the beach where The Big O night surfing competition was being held. It was an unofficial U.S. Open event, but probably one of the favorites amongst the week’s attendees. It pit surfers from Oahu against those from Orange County, the crowd was much rowdier from nonstop day drinking, and when the waves allowed it, stunts were fair game. Night was when Wes really liked being out there anyway, when the sky got so black, the darkness itself seemed deep enough to drown in.

And he was claiming tonight as his.

Fuck what anyone else had to say about it.

As the event was also a huge party, large floodlights illuminated a bar area and a large stage for a DJ and dance floor, which were now occupying an area where vendor tents had been earlier in the day. The spectators awaiting the arrival of the surfers cheered when they spotted Wes.

“
Deuuuuuuuuce
!” the crowd called. “
Deuuuuuuuuce
!” It echoed into the night like a howl. No, a battle cry, and Wes, who delighted in the attention when he walked through a tunnel of people greeting him, was ready for war.

When he had a spare moment, Wes performed his ritual for luck, three hard taps to the spot on his arm where the date of his first ever contest win was tattooed, then he stripped out of his t-shirt and into his surf shirt. He thought he heard someone announce Brody Swift’s arrival, and on impulse, he swung his head around, trying to spot Lana. Although he had expected the spite he had felt from seeing them together—and that kiss—to disappear, it hadn’t. And it was only feeding his need to beat Brody tonight. The question of
why
she’d be hanging around such a douchebag was not only confounding him but also pissing him off.

He soon noticed an audience of women whose conversation slowly frayed to silence as they watched him, and he smiled and signaled for them to come over. But his smile fell immediately when Lana appeared in his line of sight, just behind the women, swerving through the crowd with her arms linked with the two girls at her side. She was in another pair of shorts and a tank top, and with her hair wavy and blowing all around her face, which was catching portions of the moonlight, she looked stunning. Wes’ gaze moved in the direction she was headed—right to Brody and the surfers on his team. A dark feeling pressed through his chest as he watched her. Anxiety.

What the fuck?

“Wesley, you are such an attention whore…” Dylan said, laughing and aiming her camcorder at him as she approached.

When he turned away from her, the women were gone. “Hey, Senorita Cock Block. And it sounds like you’ve got a case of the sour grapes, girl. Don’t be mad you missed your chance to get up on this.”

She pointed to her earbud wedged in her ear. “Kai just heard all of that. He’s threatening you with bodily harm.”

Ignoring her, he slung his arm around Dylan’s shoulders as they trudged through the sand. “Think your libido can handle you filming with all these surfers around?” he joked.

“You just got me in more trouble!”
she said, pinching his side. “You know I don’t have water-proof camera housing, right? And I kinda don’t want to get in.”

“Don’t worry about that, baby, there’s a guy who’s handling that. You just need to get me being awesome before the contest.”

She laughed. “Kai says call me ‘baby’ one more time and you’ll be a hit-and-run victim the next time he sees you. I gotta go. Miss you, too. Miss you more. No…I definitely miss you more. Okay. Love you bunches, babe. Lots of bunches. More. Bye.” Dylan pulled her earphones out.

“Y’all are disgusting. When are you going to make an honest man out of Kai White, Dyl?” he teased. Her eyes narrowed, and he thought he had offended her, but she was casting her gaze over Wes’ shoulder. He knew immediately who she was looking at, even before she spoke and confirmed his guess.

“You know that girl, don’t you? You were staring at her during the skateboarding semis. And a few minutes ago. Wes, is that her boyfriend? That Swift guy?” Dylan asked as they walked.

“Honestly, I don’t know, Dyl.” Casually hooking up was one thing, home wrecking was wholly another, even if it was Brody. He shrugged, decidedly not looking at Lana when they walked past her and her friends; it’s not like her stare was strong enough to impale them.

“It’s not my business, I know that.” Dylan stopped walking and gripped his wrists, her eyes filling with concern.

Wes made a face. “Dyl, you can talk to me about anything.”

She nodded. “It’s just that…this seems like more trouble than it’s worth. Abe filled me in on your issues with Brody—”

He smirked and rolled his eyes. “Oh my God, you’re
way
too hot to be my mom. Don’t give me that look.”

“I’m not trying to!” A tight smile bloomed on her lips. “Just be careful, okay? Please?”

“Of course…nothing to worry about, Dyl.” He kissed her forehead and gave her a tight hug.

“She’s cute though.”

“She is. Can you believe she rides a motorcycle?”

“Really?” He felt a little self-conscious as she pressed out a dreamy smile. “You really like her, don’t you?”

Wes shrugged, tossing an indifferent expression her way. “She’s cool. We have a good time.” He was trying to be nonchalant, for himself, for Dylan, he wasn’t sure, but the truth was he had unknowingly been investing in Lana emotionally. His reaction to her and Brody revealed as much; he couldn’t deny that to himself. “We both got what we wanted. Nothing serious at all. Nothing more than usual.” It was easy to speak about her in past tense but his feelings weren’t there yet.

“Deuce!” Christian was waving at him. “You’ve whored yourself enough tonight. Leave Kai White’s girl alone. Get over here, dude!”

Dylan burst out laughing. “I’m going to meet people and film a little. Have fun out there.” She ran off to where Leko was, grabbed his hand and they vanished into the forest of boisterous shadowed bodies. As Wes headed for the other surfers, his gaze slammed into Lana, and she responded with an enthusiastic wave, to which he swiveled his hand once or twice. Her smile fell.
The Brody thing
was serrating his nerves.

She raised her shoulders and mouthed,
What?

Brody
, he mouthed
in response and continued his walk without looking back in her direction. Brody and Lana? Seriously? Brody could get his share of women, no doubt, but Lana? How the hell did he get her? What did they even talk about?
Did
they talk? Was it a
purely
sexual relationship?
Fuck.
He shuddered.
Fuck.
Certainly they didn’t discuss books. The only lines he’d ever seen Brody get his face close to were made of white powder.
Shit.
The thought of Brody touching her was crawling through his mind now—he could actually feel its bristles—and burrowing images of them having sex in there. It was maddening not to look in Lana’s direction again.

Why is this even bothering me? She can have sex with who she wants.

But…

Brody fuckin’ Swift?

“Deuuuuuuce…” the guys said in unison when Wes approached, and he huddled with his teammates. They were not all guys from Lava or even sponsored surfers, but favorites from Oahu as voted on by surfing fans on a website set up for the event. The other surfers had selected him as their captain; Wes found this most amusing.

Someone retrieved a bottle of liquor and showered their shot glasses with tequila, and as the men toasted, Wes said, “Surf your hearts out, boys. Bury them. Don’t die...because while I have
all
your mommas’ phone numbers, that isn’t what I planned to use them for.” They burst out laughing but the noise cut out abruptly as he watched all of them tense up.

“Hey, Deuce…” Brody swung his arm over Wes’ shoulders, appearing on his left. “Deuce. Number two...is that as in…
shit
?” Wes felt like something hot had just been dropped down his shirt, and somewhere on this beach Lana’s eyes were probably pinned to him. He could just feel it. A grumble rose amongst his friends, they were soon crowding around Brody, and Wes opted to curb his own irritation. Testosterone, alcohol, enemies and competition were the perfect recipe for multiple arrests and assault charges; so, it was time to diffuse.

“Why the fuck are you over here, dude?” Abel asked, walking straight up to Brody, but Wes strong-armed him with a palm to the chest and pushed him back. He was pretty sure Abel’s disdain for Brody had developed completely in loyalty to him. As much as Brody’s face would’ve benefitted from being at the end of Abel’s fist, it just wouldn’t be worth not getting to surf tonight.

“
The,
” Wes said with a smirk at Brody after he tore his arm off his shoulder.

Brody’s brow creased. “What?”

Somehow he found Lana in the crowd, and she was staring as he had suspected. She was close to them, but still in the background, and he suddenly had an unexpected urge to make sure she saw him embarrass Brody in the water. He turned back to Brody. “
The
shit, Brode.
The.
”

“Don’t call me
Brode
. And don’t think for a second you can beat me out here. You guys didn’t last year, and you won’t tonight. This is my house, dude.”

“But…I don’t think everything in it is
yours
…” Abel muttered, spiking his gaze over to Lana was just a beat.

“What the fuck does that mean, Elliott?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Wes said, intervening. “How about we just save the shit-talking until we settle it out on the water, all right?” He appreciated Abel’s efforts, but he suspected that Lana was more like him, incapable of
really
belonging
to anyone.

“Can I talk to you for a second, Wes?” Lana suddenly snatched his wrist and pulled him away from the group before he had any chance to respond. Her touch swept heat through his hand, drove electricity deep into his loins, as she pulled him all the way to the edge of the dance floor.

“
Hey, Lan
…I think you grabbed the wrong guy,” he said, his words wavering between jest and bitterness. “And you aren’t even supposed to be here.”

Lana sighed. “Plans change.”

“Is he your boyfriend? ‘Cause I don’t fuck girls with boyfriends.”

“No. But our situation is…complicated…” Lana’s stoic expression was perfectly coupled with the vague response. “And that better not be the ‘Are you going to screw him in the bathroom, too?’ look,” she warned.

“I have no judgment on where you get laid and with who. Trust me, my life would be a whole lot better if society
and women
would just let other women bang who and how they wanted.
But…
banging Brody being the exception. My problem is strictly that you’re hanging out with Brody Swift. I don’t know a whole lot about you, Lana, but I do know Brody. And even with the little that I know about you, I have a hard time believing you two have anything in common.”

“You’d be surprised,” she muttered before a huge grin broke out on her face. “What happened to the spirit of Roger and Jessica Rabbit? Opposites attracting?”

“Nice try. Roger’s no dick.”

She chuckled. “Brody’s not perfect, but he’s not
that
bad, Wes.”

Was she serious? “Once you stick a ‘that’ in there, you effectively let me compare him to whatever I want…” Wes tilted his head until Brody was in his line of sight and aimed an arrogant smirk at him before returning his gaze to Lana. “…Like, say, getting your dick caught in a meat grinder. So yes,
comparatively
, he’s not
that
bad.”

“When would you
ever
get your dick caught in a meat grinder?”

“It’s been in stranger places…” Wes replied and they both laughed, but then he got serious as he scanned her. The way she looked tonight induced fluttering in his stomach, and a need to touch her. And a desire to feel the rough dig of her nails when his mouth left hers and moved south along her torso. He wanted the viral anticipation of how wet she’d be by the time his tongue reached what he was craving.