Our Kind of Love (12 page)

Claudia eyes me intently for a moment, not
uttering a word. The air gets tense. I’m about to make up an excuse about
having something to do when she seem to have forgotten about her attempts at
seducing me.

“I’m sorry about that. Let’s pretend it never
happened and go hang out. Reign and I would love to help you feel welcomed
here.”

I pause a moment to consider this then decide
why not because I do want to go after all.

 “Okay,” I say, “Gimme a sec.” I bustle
over to the coffee table, pick up my keys and cellphone, then walk out the door
and head downstairs behind Claudia. She’s all smiles again.

The tour’s more fun than I anticipated. Newport
truly is a cool place to live. A newbie like me is easily swept up by its
historic features and the ocean. Everywhere I go I see the ocean. The lifestyle
is relaxing. I haven’t thought about what happened in Haxtun or seen my grams
face since that day I had a momentary relapse at the restaurant.

We couldn’t see that much this morning, so we
take a rain check and drive over to a café to have breakfast. It’s all fun and
cool conversation until Reign’s cellphone buzzes. She looks at the screen and
her expression switches to a look of uncertainty. I wonder what’s troubling
her.

Claudia’s going on about a bonfire on the beach
later tonight, but I stay focus on Reign, hoping she’ll glance my way and I’ll
somehow make her smile again. Gosh I like that smile. She looks nice with her
hair let down, and her floral dress is cute. I wish it was windy so I could see
those legs.

“Hey,” Claudia says, pulling Reign’s attention
and mine. “You two listening, or am I talking to myself?”

“Yeah,” Reign and I answer at the same time.
Finally she meets my gaze. My heart thuds as she smiles halfway.

“So, anyways,” Claudia continues, “Micah, are
you coming to the bonfire?”

“I don’t know. I feel like a bother, letting you
girls drive me around.”

“It’s no problem,” Reign says fast. “I don’t
mind.” She drops her eyes to her clam chowder, having a spoonful.

I replay what she just said, looking down on my
plate to try and hide the grin that’s fighting to spread across my face. When I
recover and look up again, I glimpse Claudia. She’s studying us carefully.

“So,” she chimes, “Micah, where in Colorado are
you from?”

Oh no, I’ve been doing great not thinking about
my hometown or what I left behind. “Haxtun,” I tell her.

She ponders, and then frowns as she replies,
“Never heard of it. What’s fun there?”

I lean back on the chair, saying dryly, “Nothing
really. Depends on what’s fun to you.”

Drinking some of her coffee, Claudia continues
to question me. “I mean, like, if you were back in Haxtun now, what would you
be doing on the weekend?” She’s either oblivious or uncaring to the fact that
my body language is screaming I don’t want to talk about this.

“Probably wasted and being a complete jerk to
everyone,” I reply.

She scoffs.

“I don’t believe that,” Reign says. I look at
her, wondering how long she’s been watching me. “I find it hard to see you in
that way.”

Folding my arms, I smirk as I fall back on the
chair. “Well, need I remind you that you don’t know me?”

“So far, you seem like a pretty levelheaded guy.
You didn’t have one beer at Ryan’s party and you didn’t seem very tempted to
wild out like everyone else.”

I loosen my arms and ease forward, resting my
elbows on the table. I look her straight in the eye. “What if it’s a show? What
if this nice guy thing is all an act?”

She tilts her head to one side and says
confidently, “The guy I saw walking on the beach Friday night and tried to get
me to go swimming was clearly not putting on a show.”

“Oh yeah,” I snort.

Reign bobs her head. “I’m usually a good judge
of character and I can tell that you’re genuinely a nice guy.”

“Good judge of character, huh?” I tease.
“Then what about Nate?”
Oops. I didn’t mean to blurt that
out. Hmm…maybe I did.

She blinks in her astonishment and inclines back
on her seat. “What about him?”

“Um, hello?”
Claudia pipes in, waving her hand. “I’m still here.”

I seem to have cause tension between me and
Reign. She turns her gaze away from me and motions to the waitress for the
bill. “We should get going. The restaurant opens in thirty minutes,” she
mutters, not looking at me.

“Okay, yeah.” Claudia picks up her clutch from
her lap and places it on the table, rifling through her cash.

I stop her. “Don’t, I’ll take care of it.”

Reign stares at me again. “We brought you out;
we can’t ask you to pay for breakfast. Let’s split it three ways then.”

Waving her off, I reach into my pocket and take
out my wallet. “I wouldn’t be a gentleman if I let you do that.”

Claudia swoons. “Aw, that’s so sweet of you.”

I look at Reign as I leave a couple bills along
with the tip on the table. She’s trying not to smile.

“See…a nice guy.”

SIXTEEN

Reign

I DON’T understand Nate. He’s been texting me
sweet things about how he’s anticipating tonight, and how he can’t wait to be
inside me. But shortly before I get off work, he texts me that he won’t be able
to pick me up and that I should meet him at the bonfire.

So I drive over with Claudia and Micah, who she
convinced to come out. I have to admit, it is nice being around him. I’m
relaxed. I have this feeling like I’m safe. I haven’t felt that way since Mary
died. My attraction to him still won’t disappear though; maybe it will when I
get to know him better as a friend, and especially after tonight when I sleep
with Nate.

When we arrive at the beach, Nate’s goofing off
with Ryan and some other guys from our graduating class. He laughs and starts
over when he finally glimpses me. It’s hard to let him stick his tongue inside
my mouth when his breath is laced with alcohol. So I let him kiss my lips
instead, no matter how he’s trying to go deeper. Times like this I don’t want
to kiss him back. It’s not romantic.

At the end of the kiss he nuzzles me up to him,
a scowl appearing on his face as he regards Micah.

“You again?” he sneers.

Claudia snakes her arm around Micah’s and says,
“Yes, him again. Got a problem?”

Micah doesn’t say anything. He only looks at
Nate hard. His sea blue eyes are darkened by the night. A look of annoyance
morphs his face.

Nate lifts his beer to his lips and scoffs
before having a drink. “Anyways,” He turns me to face him again, stroking my
cheek. “Sorry you had to come here, babe. I know it’s not your scene but my
parents hadn’t left yet for their little out of town thing.”

I look over at Claudia after he said that and
she silently titters knowingly. I sneak a glance at Micah. He’s looking out at
the ocean, trying to hide his frustrated expression.

But why is he upset?

Throwing his arm around me, Nate tows me up the
beach. I peer back at my best friend; I don’t know why, maybe to seek
confirmation that I’m doing the right thing. She shrugs and pulls Micah away
towards the fire, introducing him to everyone.

I turn my gaze back to Nate and let him haul me
to his car. My heart starts to pound as we slip inside and he takes off for his
house.

The moment we arrive and enter the front door,
he picks me up into his arms and carries me down the hall to his bedroom.

I know my expectations are probably way too high
for a simple guy like Nate, but he did say he’d make tonight special. In fact,
he promised.

Only as he pushes the door open and settles me
back on my feet, I see clothes thrown all over the floor, his bed is disheveled
as if another girl had been here, and there’s a poster of a bikini model
hanging above it.

I’m thinking too much into this and it’s most
likely because I’m so nervous, but the least he could do is put on some
romantic music, if rose petals and candles aren’t his thing.

My heart feels like it’s about to burst through
my ribcage when he places his hand at the small of my back, guiding me over to
his bed. Nate pushes his towel and a shirt out of the way, as he gently sets me
down, kissing me again.

He brings his hands to my arms and sets me down
on my back. Then he climbs over me. I press my eyes shut when he moves his
mouth from my lips and starts kissing my neck.

I feel his hands trail downwards. He pulls up my
dress and caresses my legs. His touch makes me shiver as he slithers up my
thigh and traces my panty line. Surprisingly, Micah’s broad smile flashes
across my mind, and I start to envision him touching me this way instead.

I quickly open my eyes and try to erase the
image of another guy when I see Nate ease up and haul his shirt over his head.
He looks down at me, groaning and licking his lips. He pulls my dress up
further and touches my stomach.

“Want to take it off?” he asks in a flirty tone
I haven’t heard him use before.

I’m still so nervous and it’s not even the good
kind. It’s not the one where desire fills up your body so much you just can’t wait
to go further. It’s the kind of nervousness where you can’t shake the feeling
that what’s about to happen feels too damn wrong. And why does he have this
stupid poster hanging over his bed? So she’ll be the last thing he sees at
night before he goes to sleep, and the first he glimpses in the morning when he
wakes up?

Gawd
! Why
is losing my virginity to my boyfriend tripping me out so much? And why do I
keep seeing Micah’s yearning eyes?

“Reign?” he draws me out of my thoughts. I wince
as he touches my hip and pulls on my underwear.

“No, please stop,” I whisper, pushing up against
the headboard.

He stops and looks at my face, confused. “What?
What do you mean?”

I slide out from under him, stepping away from
the bed as I fix my dress and say almost breathlessly, “I don’t want to do
this.”

Nate laughs short and stares at me like I’ve
gone insane. He gets off the bed, stepping closer to my face. “You don’t want
to do this?” he repeats. “You’re just gonna change your mind after getting me
so riled up?”

I dislike the way he’s talking to me so I back
away from him to put some distance between us. “I’m sorry, but I’m not ready.”

“You told me only three days ago that you were.”

“I know, but…you were getting mad and…”

“And what?” he presses.

I look him straight in the eye as I say, “You
were pressuring me.”

His jaw stiffens. There’s stillness between us
as he takes soft breaths and eyes the floor. Seconds later, he exhales deeply
then edges closer to me, draping his arms around my body. “I’m sorry, babe. I
didn’t mean to do that.”

I lift my hands to his back, hugging him in
return. “I don’t understand why we can’t wait a while,” I mutter at his neck.