Break Me (The Summer Series) (2 page)

Two

Three hours, the smell of her
favorite pasta dish, and a raging caffeine headache later, Gemma sat on her bed
and looked out her window at the dark night. The house was massive, yes, but
that didn’t mean she was able to get away within its walls. All of the bedrooms
were on the second floor. Her father had a large room at one end of the hall,
and then Gray had one that sat between her father’s and the room the girls
shared. The room Gemma shared with Kate was a pretty good size, able to hold
two full beds and a massive dresser that doubled as a media center. The beds
sat on opposite walls, and a large space between them seemed to be filled with
a little more than air. At times, the tension became so thick Gemma found
herself practically running for the door. Windows were all around the room, but
the one on her side went right out onto the back deck, and from there, it led
to freedom.

The community’s population didn’t swell for
another week or two. Most families were still getting done with school and
trying to get away. The fourth of July was always crazy, and then it would
slowly die down again. She could see the lights turning on in the various
occupied rentals and knew the beach was slowly emptying. Since their portion of
the beach was private, it was beautifully maintained and even offered seats and
umbrellas; however, it did close at 10:00 p.m. Gemma was a fan of this
inconvenience for most of the other tourists. It meant that after ten she could
sneak out and find a spot out of the way—one small break from all the noise and
stress of being around strangers.

“Ugh,” Kate whined as she threw the door open. Gemma
had been moments from crawling through the window, but the sound of the door
slamming open caused her to throw her back against the wall in shock. “I hate
when she makes that chicken Alfredo.” She set a granola bar, a Fruit by the Foot,
and a water bottle on their shared dresser. “I mean how the hell am I supposed
to hook up with a hottie, like that one we saw this afternoon, if I’m eating
carbs, cheese, and bacon all the damn time?”

Gemma knew for a fact that Kate loved that meal
and was the reason Karen made it once a week. She seriously hoped the reason
for the snack wasn’t what she thought it was; that would be just a little too .
. . nice for Gemma to stomach. “Hmm” was all she said in response.

“Anyway,”—Kate threw herself on her bed and
started studying her nails—“what do you want to do tomorrow? I was thinking we
could hit the beach and see if we can catch any ‘fish.’” She turned and winked
at Gemma who found herself fighting not to roll her eyes for the second time
that day. Her mother would simply roll hers back. Gemma wasn’t sure how these
people would take it.

“Um, I’d rather avoid cancer if you don’t mind.
I’ll probably find a book somewhere in this hellhole and head to a coffee shop
or something.” Gemma was full of it and she knew it. She wanted nothing more
than to lie in the sun and let it put her to sleep while she tried to focus on
her Kindle.

“Oh.” The hurt was too evident in Kate’s voice,
and the part of Gemma that knew none of this was her fault was hit with a pang
of regret. Then she heard Karen yelling down the stairs and the regret
evaporated quicker than it had appeared.

“Kate, your brother is waiting on you.”

Kate turned to Gemma and her shoulders slumped
forward. “Well, hell.”

“Kate,” Gray yelled. “You promised.” They could
hear him hurrying down from the kitchen and living room level to the floor that
held all the bedrooms. He came into the room and looked at Gemma nervously
before motioning to his sister to get going.

“Yeah, yeah.” She stood and headed for the
door, stopping by, but not acknowledging her food. “I’ll see you later, Gemma.”
And then they were gone. Gemma couldn’t stand the fact that the damn food and
drink were left and it was obvious the family had set up some scheme to get it
to her. Kate had no other reason for coming up here than to drop it off. What
pissed her off more was that she was going to take it because she did, in fact,
need it. She was starving after a day without food. After putting the snacks,
her book, and a blanket in a bag, she headed to the window that led onto the
deck nearest the back of the house. Her father was most likely already up in
his writing room, and Karen was probably still cleaning up dinner. She could
walk out the door for all that mattered, but she liked her routine and this was
it.

After getting out of the house without issue
and making it a little ways down the road, she pulled out her phone and texted her
mother.

I made it. Hell has a beach, who knew? Love you, good
night.

Her mother hated this place and these people. She
hated everything that this family represented, because all she saw when she
looked at them was everything she didn’t have. Gemma liked to give her mother
the small reminders that she was on her side and only here because the court
said she had to be. She still hadn’t decided if she was going to finish out the
summer once she turned eighteen in July. Another part of her wished the timing
was different and she could leave exactly two months after her birthday just as
her father left exactly two months after he found out about her mother’s
pregnancy. The fact that they were legally married for thirty-eight days was
irrelevant to him and his new fiancée at the time.
Are you even allowed to
be engaged when you’re still married with a bastard on the way?

She threw her bag over the gate that would lead
her to the beach and then hoisted herself up and over. Top notch security right
there, she thought. After walking a little ways, she found a spot she was sure was
out of the light and close enough to the row of homes to get help if needed. She
was desperate for a break from her family, not stupid. She set her blanket out
and used her bag for a pillow before opening the last new book she had to read.
She struggled with the mechanics of reading and holding her flashlight for only
a moment as the memory of how it all functioned came back quickly from summers
past. Just as the story was starting to pick up, a light beam shined right in
her eyes, blinding her to everything but the shadow of an arm attached to the
flashlight. She jumped up as fast as she could, prepared to run and scream if
need be.

“Whoa”—the stranger laughed—“calm down. I was
just coming to let you know the beach is closed and ask you to move on.”

She held up a hand to block the light’s glare.
“Do you mind? I don’t need that thing shining in my eyes.” She scowled at him
as he lowered the beam.

“Sorry.” He chuckled again, and she considered
how many ways she could hurt this laughing idiot. Gemma let out a breath and used
the time to examine the man. This was sure as hell no boy that was in front of
her. As she calmed down, her reasoning kicked in.

“What the hell is wrong with you? You don’t
sneak up on a girl like that. You’re lucky I didn’t come up ready to beat you
down.” She leaned over and started to gather her things and heard him chuckle
again.

“Listen, I’m sorry I scared you, but I didn’t
sneak up on you. I called to you and started flashing my light at you a while
ago. You were just reading and ignoring me.”

Her eyes went wide, and she could feel her
cheeks burning a deep red. She was not a girl who blushed. What the heck was
going on? It was probably this six-foot-something gorgeous specimen standing in
front of her. His hair was light brown, almost blond, and shaggy. He was wearing
a blue Polo that reflected his light brown eyes perfectly and a pair of khaki
shorts. It was beyond her how someone could do it but, he made that look
insanely hot. The long, lean muscles, most likely from surfing, and the sun-kissed
skin only helped to create the image of a Greek god in front of her. “Um, okay.”
She threw her bag over her shoulder and turned to head back to the gate she
used to come in. “Sorry.”

She heard him jogging to catch up with her as
she power walked away. “Wait, I’ll open the gate for you so you can get out.
I’m Abe by the way.” He turned and stuck his hand out to shake hers.

“That’s nice.” She didn’t turn toward him or
take his hand. Keeping her head down, she picked up her pace even more and made
her way to the gate. When she was there, she didn’t even look at him, crossing
her arms over her middle and staring at the lock while she waited on him. Finally,
he sighed and turned to open the bolt. She could tell from the corner of her
eye he wanted to say more, so as soon as the gate was open, she said the
customary “thanks” and bolted through it.

“You know,” he yelled and she slowed to listen,
“if you come during the day, you can read all you want. No one will bother
you.”

“You know”—she turned, unable to help getting
the last word—“if you mind your own business, it will be fine with me.” She
walked away, hearing him chuckle behind her, pretty sure he, in fact, got the
last word after all.

Three

The next morning Gemma woke to a
snoring Kate across the room and Gray’s laughter from downstairs. He was most
likely watching the giant television in the den or playing one of the gaming
systems in the massive media room. She still couldn’t figure out the need to
have Kate take him to the arcade last night; he already had one in his freaking
house for the summer. Just as Gemma was grabbing her clothes for the day to
head into the shower, Kate rolled over and sat up.

“You take the shower first.” Gemma pointed. “I’m
just going to the coffee shop; you probably have plans with your friends.”

“Nope.” Kate stretched. “Go ahead. I’m going to
go for a run and then grab some breakfast here before heading out.” With a
shrug, Gemma left her to it and went about getting ready. Gemma would just have
to continue to wonder what people saw in running. Running for your life? Awesome.
Running in circles so you could eat an extra donut? Never!

An hour later Gemma parked her rented bike at
the coffee shop and waved hello to Sarah, the owner. “You’re back.” She clapped
as Gemma made her way to the counter. Sarah was perfection. She had shoulder-length
auburn hair, dark blue eyes, and a face that may as well be on a welcome sign.
Everything about her made a person comfortable and peaceful. Gemma had
discovered her a few summers back, once she was old enough to venture out on
her own, and had decided almost instantly that she loved the woman. It had then
become a custom to spend as much time as possible with Sarah as she could each
summer.

“Yep, got in last night, and of course, you’re
my first stop.”

“Liar.” Sarah laughed. “I’ve got ten to one you’ve
already fallen asleep on that beach.”

“Nope, I may have been there, but thanks to
some douche, I was scared to death and then run out of my spot.”

“I heard something about them beefing up the
security. Apparently some of the locals started to wander past the designated
area, and they needed help keeping it quiet at night.” She put a lid on a cup
and handed it over the bar to Gemma. “First iced coffee of the season. On the
house, love.” Sarah winked and went back to the task Gemma had interrupted.

Gemma smiled at her friend and made her way to
a couch that was basically her second home during the summer. She sat back and got
comfortable so she could finally finish the book she had been working on the
night before, all while trying not to think about the brown, shining eyes that
laughed at her or the full lips that seemed to be just waiting to be devoured
in a kiss.

~~~

“Gemma, is that you?” Karen walked to
the top of the stairs and caught Gemma just as she was about to make it into
her room. “Oh, good. I convinced your dad to come down to dinner tonight and
wanted us to all eat together since we couldn’t last night.”

“Sorry.” Gemma frowned. “I ate at the shop
already, and I was just changing shoes and heading out.” She turned before she
could see Karen’s disappointment and was out of the house before she saw anyone
else.

When she made it to the beach, she hopped the
gate as usual and found her spot. There was no way he would make her move again.
She was a patron of the beach, sitting silently and disturbing no one. Thirty
minutes later, she looked around, saw no sign of him, and finally allowed
herself to lie back and dive in to the book she had stolen from under Kate’s
bed. She had about fifteen of them; there was no way she would miss it. Her
flashlight flickered once and then twice before dying. “Damn it, mother, son of
a bi—”

“Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to keep it
down.” Startled, Gemma turned and narrowed her eyes at him.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“My job. You?” He tilted his head, and, by God,
she didn’t know if she wanted to punch him or jump his oh-so-sexy bones. That
thought was so far out of left field for her that she physically shook her head
to clear the crazy. “I see you’ve lost your light. Would you like me to escort
you off the beach?” He gave his trademark smirk and, yep, she definitely wanted
to jump his bones.

“No.” She hurried to grab her things and then
used her phone to light her way back to the gate.

“See you tomorrow,” he yelled after her. And he
was right. That night, the pattern began.

~~~

A couple nights later she was sitting
and looking out at the reflection of the moon on the ocean. She didn’t have a
book tonight because Kate had been in their room and she couldn’t “borrow” one.
For some reason, she wasn’t in the mood to reread anything either. She heard
rustling behind her and was about to stand so he could tell her to leave, a
habit she hated to admit she liked getting sucked in to. Before she could push
herself up, he was sitting there next to her, arms hooked around his bent
knees.

“It’s amazing, right?” He said, taking a deep
breath of the cool night air.

She looked over at him in confusion, but
something about him had her relaxing nonetheless. Relaxing with men was not
something that happened for her. “Yeah, it really is. There’s something about
the ocean at night. It’s so vast, so scary and beautiful at the same time. You
know?” She looked at him, but he kept his eyes forward, nodding. “There’s a
part of me that wants to jump in just so I can know what that feels like and another
part of me that wants to stay so far away there is no way the tide could
possibly reach me.”

“Sounds like a lot of things.” They both sat in
silence as she contemplated his double meaning. “What’s your name?” He asked as
he turned to face her fully for the first time since approaching.

“Why?”

“Because I’ve waited four days to hear it.”

Gemma had to work to keep from gasping. Was he
a writer, a player, or just good with words? Throwing caution to the wind, she swallowed
her fear and told him. “Gemma, Gemma Andrews.”

“Well, Gem”—he put his hand out for her to
shake—“I’m Abe North, and it’s nice to finally meet you.”

It startled her to hear the nickname. Her
mother called her Gem occasionally, but honestly, she hated it. Coming from him,
though, it was way too endearing. She hated that she liked it. She forced
herself to look up at him. She would tell him her name, her full name. This
wasn’t an option. Crushing on the cute cabana boy was just too cheesy for
words. That was her plan, anyway. She had the best of intentions until her eyes
found his.

Gemma fought to catch her breath. His eyes were
so much more than light brown. They shined in the moonlight, and she could see
her reflection in them. Gold flecks filled in here and there keeping them
interesting, and damn it if his eyelashes weren’t long enough to touch his
eyelids. Gemma knew for a fact that didn’t happen for women.
Why did men get all of the good stuff?
His hair had a slight wave to it, and she could tell by their
proximity that he was a surfer. There was just a smell surfers had that she had
come to know over the years. He definitely had it and pulled it off. “Yeah, you
too.”

He stood then and held out his hand. “Come on;
as much as I’d like to sit here and chat, I’d better get you off the beach.
Can’t afford to get fired right now.”

“Oh”—she shook her head to herself—“yeah, no
problem.”

When they arrived at the gate and she was about
to go through, he reached out and touched her upper arm. “See you tomorrow, Gem.”
She only nodded before she walked away, forgetting far too easily that she
hated that nickname.