Twisted Magic (8 page)

And I knew she would
have
. She was that kind of friend. Karsen would take a punch for me
or give one
.

“It was all disturbing. They acted like they had no sense. I don’t get it.” I shook my head.

“You mean the log rolling toward those guys on the beach?” Karsen asked. “Kidd told me about Audrey, she’s a
witch,
a
really big bitch apparently too.”

“So does that mean
it’s
okay for her to torture every living thing that she sees fit?” I turned over resting on my side. “She’s crazy. And she wants Slade.” This I was sure of. I
knew lust when I saw it. Audrey wanted Slade, it was written all over her face
every time she looked at him
.

Karsen pressed her cheek against her
arm. She
studied my worried expression. “That doesn’t mean he wants her. He’s a hot
guy. I'm
sure a lot of girls want him. We all know he wants you. Kidd says so all the time.”

I had to admit that was a bit reassuring to hear.
However,
the dark cloud swooped back into my thoughts raining on my sense of security. The vision of Slade’
s lip ring
, the way he
replied to her comment, I couldn’t get rid of the bad feeling. I drug a hand through my hair.

“Why was he mad that I left?” I asked, Karsen. “He was enjoying torturing those guys along with the two of them. I wasn’t going to sit there and be in on it.” I wasn’t some sadistic girl who got off on other’s people’s pain—I think that was called a
sadist,
and that I was not.

“It might have had something to do with the tall dashing male following you off the beach. The one that got up close and personal with those lips Slade loves to kiss all the time.” Karsen offered, she laughed at her stupid joke.

“You act as if I made out with the guy. It was a finger, not his mouth.” A mouth that
was oh so inviting,
I shook my head, what was I saying? I knew what I was saying, he had a mouth a girl wanted to meet up with and know personally. And the way he smiled at me last night, my stomach crawled with pangs of lust. I shook my head again, sitting up.

“First it’s a finger,
then
it’s
his tongue playing tag with your tongue. Don’t fool yourself.” She flipped over covering her chest with her hands. I h
urried for her bathing suit top.
Karsen fought me like a small child refusing to take a bite of dinner
when I tried to get her to put it back on
.

“Put your top on before the cops come and remove us.” I ordered, my eyes dashing around the beach. She shoved me with one hand, knocking me over and
laughing hysterically as I spit sand out of my mouth.

“Admit you think he’s
sexy,
and I just might cover these headlights up.”

I laughed at her.
“Never, put
your top on and I won’t bury you in the sand.”

Karsen stood, hands on her chest, there were several crowds of sunbathers dotting the sand, along with surfers. She pursed her lips, removing one finger at a time.

I screamed. “Okay, he was hot!” Panic setting in
my
veins I gave in
, Karsen yanked the top from my clutch and secured the tie
round
her neck.

“See, I knew it.” She put her hands on her hips. “If you want to get to Slade that is
definitely the way to go,
g
ive him a taste of his
own
medicine.”

“I’m not trying to get even. I’m not trying anything. I am just going to sit here and suntan. I am not even going to entertain your theory anymore I’ll have you know.” My words fell on deaf ears as Karsen ran
into
the water leaving me alone to mow over her theory that I had the
hots
for Hutch.

I relaxed, drifting off into a nice slumber.
I wasn’t
sure how much time elapsed, but I was awakened in a panic as something brushed across my stomach. Thinking the worse—like a swarm of hungry seagulls
,
I screamed, tearing my sunglasses from my eyes and swatted in every direction.

“
Ow
!”

I jumped, realizing I had socked someone in the face, and it wasn’t Karsen. It was Hutch, in nothing but
blue
swimming trunks, a hand clutching that perfect mouth.

“I hadn’t realized you startled so easily.” He sucked at his bottom lip, his tongue running the
length
of it. He surveyed his fingers for blood. “You have a mean right hook.”

My cheeks burned with an intense fire. “I thought you were a seagull.” What I meant to say was sorry, but that was the only sensible thing that came out. Dare I tell him my fear of the ocean?

I pulled his hand from his mouth, surveying his lips, maybe a little
too
closely. “
You’re
not bleeding.”

“No, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt.” He smirked, staring at the water.

“You here
alone,”
he asked.

I shook my head. “I came with my friend, Karsen.” She was somewhere in the
shark-infested waters
probably taunting the sharks with her
tatas
.
“You?”

“That would be a
yes. My
brothers decided on other activities today. I’ve always been one for sun and sand.” He crossed his
legs, lying
back on his elbows.

“Those were your brothers?”

He nodded. “Yes, they were.”

“
Where did you guys come from
?” I couldn’t begin to guess where he came from.

“All over, we can never stay in one place for
too
long.” He eyed
me. I
nodded. “
You’re
not going to ask me if I am a criminal or why on earth anyone would want to be a
nomad.
”

“No. I think it sounds better
than
one place your whole life.” I told him.

“Well, I am not a criminal just so you know. I like to
travel. My brothers like
to travel, and it’s a whole lot of fun,” he assured me.

He didn’t look like a criminal. He looked like
an
exquisite
specimen of a man. I quickly pulled my eyes away from the fine hairs on his
chest. A body that wasn’t
anything
to sneeze at, long and sleek, taught, muscular, tan. I
jumped
,
shocked I was wasting so much energy on his physical appearance.

“I like your bathing suit,” Hutch said, pulling his eyes from my bikini. I touched the material, my cheeks warming again. “The color suits you.”

I smiled. My turquoise suit was new and a color I hardly wore. It was nice to know he thought it was fitting. Well, that anyone thought it was.

“Have you eaten?” He asked, a smirk spreading across his
face. He
could sense how flustered I was I was sure of it. “There’s a cute little diner at the end of the main boardwalk. Would your friend mind if you took off for a bit?”

I shook my head lost in a trance, his eyes pinned to mine as I accepted his hand and headed down the beach with him.

“So you’re from Georgia, that’s one of my favorite travel destinations.” Hutch told me as we sat at the Shore diner. He worked on a double cheeseburger, while I had chicken tenders and French fries. Something simple enough that I didn’t look lik
e a fool
eating in front of
him,
I trailed a fry through a glob of ketchup and nodded.
I didn’t have anything to add about
Georgia;
anymore it was a place of old memories. Memories I didn’t want to think about.

“How’d you end up in
California,”
Hutch cut in.

I bit my lip. “
It’s
nothing I
want to talk about. I came with my dad and brothers.” I looked away from his eyes that were deeply interested in what I had to say.

“I get that. So
let’s
talk about something else then.” He took a sip of his coke. “What do you and your friends do for fun?”

And boyfriend, I had a boyfriend—well kind of.

“Bonfires.
Concerts on occasion, but since I’ve been
home
there hasn’t been much of that.” I shrugged. “I was away at CSU for
school. I'm
here for
a break."”

Hutch nodded understandingly.
“A college girl.”

“Yep.”

“So you like tattoos?” He asked
,
referring to my black heart. He placed his fingertips
tentatively
on my
wrist
. My heart quickened at his
touch. I
looked into his eyes, the words once again failing to come out. “Your boyfriend has a bunch.”

“I guess I don’t care either way,” I said, and I was being honest I really didn’t. He removed his hand from my wrist.

“Then why the black heart?”

I shifted in my seat. I wasn’t sure what to say about this heart on my wrist. The one that would forever make me think of Slade. It was so much more
than
a tattoo. He would never understand what it was or what it meant.

“Oh, you
know
a stupid
decision after
high school
.” I pointed at him. “What about
you, any tattoos,”
I scanned over his bare
torso
, my eyes gravitating to his tone chest.

“It’s a
secret, and
well hidden.” He raised an eyebrow and laughed gently at his joke, his eyes growing warm and sparkling. His teeth showing, he dropped his elbows to the table and whispered, “
Do you want to have a look?”

My eyes darted away from him. He was only wearing swim
trunks. I
couldn’t begin to imagine where it would be.
Suddenly,
he was laughing
again;
he hooked a finger under
my chin lifting my head so my eyes met back up with his. “
Just a joke,
I don’t have any tattoos.”

I smiled, amused with his cute
flirtation
. His fingers lingered for several moments before we parted ways and went back to our meals. A silence
settled
over the
table. I
worked on my French fries. Wondering what this tens
ion was. He was easy to talk to. H
e wanted to know about me. 

I looked up
,
catching his stare, his blue eyes searching mine for the meaning behind my silence.
But,
instead of saying anything he shot me a smile and lifted the bill from the table and slipped out of the booth to pay for it.

I watched, with a swarm of anxiety in the pit of my stomach. He waited patiently at the counter, twisting the ring on his finger. The waitress took the bill and gave a smile as she rang him up. Even she was easily enamored by
him. She offered him his change
, but he refused it.

I smiled when he returned. He took a seat beside me in the booth this time. Our bodies touching, the chill from the
air conditioner
apparent on his skin, he offered me his wallet. I stared at him confused.

“From my trip to the mountains in Colorado, I keep a picture in my wallet.” He looked the image over with me. There he stood clothed in a thick black jacket and
goggles. A
black hat tugged perfectly over his head
, his cheeks warm and red,
a
crooked smile on his face. One hand waving at the camera, the other clutching a walking stick, he leaned in, his breath hitting me in the ear at the close proximity. He ran a finger over the photograph grazing my thumb.

“It was fun that’s for sure.” He took his wallet. “
So
tell me, are you adventurous?”

I
swallowed. “Not as much as you.”

Why was Hutch affecting me as much as he was? There was this pull, this energy that was all around him. And he had no dark baggage like Slade. He was the opposite of Slade in every way.

I reminded myself of the girl I had become. The girl he could never know about. The girl I wasn’t sure I could be.

“Karsen call me. I don’t know where you are, but
you’re
suppose
d
to be here.” I shoved my phone in my pocket and took a seat at the counter of the malt shop at the shore theatre.
We were supposed to meet up for milkshakes, and a cheesy horror flick.
However,
she was
late,
and I didn’t see her anywhere.