Undo Me (The Good Ol' Boys #3) (9 page)

“You like blues, huh?” I questioned, pulling him away from his thoughts.

He nodded, glancing at the side of my face. It didn’t take long for his hand to find mine, and he lazily drew circles to the rhythm of the music. Shivers coursed through me even though there wasn’t a chill in the air.

“Who is this?” I asked out of curiosity. I really liked the man’s voice. It did something to me.

“Jimmy Reed. Do you like it?”

“Very much so. What’s the name of the song?”

He looked back out at the water, hesitating to answer my question, like he was contemplating if he was going to tell me or not.

When all of a sudden he turned and leaned forward close to my ear, whispering,

“’Baby, What You Want Me to Do.’”

She grinned and it lit up her entire face.

It lit up the entire boat.

I sat back up, gazing out over the water once again. “I love blues music. I have ever since I was a kid. I guess you could blame it on my dad who was constantly playing it as I was growing up. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked in on my parents slow dancing to it. It’s the only music you can feel in your blood, it vibrates and bleeds into your body. You can appreciate the pain in every lyric like they’re telling you a story about a significant time in their lives. Whether it was good or bad, it didn’t matter. It happened.”

Her toes skimmed mine in the water.

“Your parents are still married then?”

“Happily.”

I took her hand and placed it on my lap.

“Is your dad an asshole like you?” She smiled, nudging my shoulder.

“I’m one of a kind, darlin’.”

Leaning forward, she swished her feet back and forth with the current.

“Ain’t that right,” she giggled, and it was the sweetest sound I ever heard.

“Are you close to your parents?”

“As much as any son can be close to their parents at sixteen,” I chuckled, tangling my foot with hers.

“Do they know about all your extra-curricular activities?”  She peered over to me with laughter in her eyes.

“What is this, twenty questions?” I teased.

“Oh, McGraw, you can get your questions in, but I can’t?”

“I wasn’t after the questions, suga. Back to your question though, who do you think handed me my first condom?”

She raised her eyebrows, surprised. Her cheeks turned a soft red.

“I also love classic rock. Throw in a little country, too,” I said to change the subject. I didn’t want to talk about myself anymore. I already knew about this fucker, I wanted to know about her.

Just her.

She scoffed. “You’re just a good ol’ boy, aren’t you, Dylan McGraw?” she baited.

“You are a pretty thing, aren’t you?” I tugged on the ends of her hair, ignoring her question.

She blushed again.

“That red is surely becoming one of my favorite colors, baby girl’.”

“You can be quite charming when you want to.”

“Nah, you just caught me on a good night.”

She snuggled into my shoulder, inching closer to me. We sat in comfortable silence with our feet rubbing together every few seconds in the water. I could have stayed in that moment with her forever.

It was perfect.

With the music, the boat rocking softly, and the moon shining bright above us, something came over me. I stood, pulling her up with me. I took one of her hands and placed it on my shoulder then intertwined the other in mine, placing it near my heart. I grabbed her waist with my free hand and hugged her close. Her face conveyed so many emotions in a matter of seconds, and I paid attention to every last one.

We swayed to the music as I hummed the melody. She placed the side of her face on my chest and I knew what she was trying to do, but it didn’t matter because I already felt everything she was trying to hide.

“You want to know something, McGraw?” she whispered in my ear.

“I want to know everything, baby.”

She wasn’t caught off guard with my statement, and quite frankly, neither was I.

“I’m not so lonely when you’re around,” she chuckled.

There was nothing funny about her statement. Not even a little bit. I looked down at her, and she stared up at me. She had this pained look on her face, and I wondered if I wore the same expression as we continued to move.

“My mom likes you. Don’t let it go to your head or anything though. She’s hardly met any of my friends. Even back home in California. She’s my mom and I love her, but my aunt Celeste filled her shoes for most of my life.”

That explained the mystery woman in the pictures, I thought to myself.

“She’s my mom’s sister, she couldn’t have kids. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but she kinda raised me as her own. Doing the things my mom should have done. I miss her as much as I miss my dad,” she muttered.

I unexpectedly spun her around, dipping her, catching her off guard with my nose practically skimming hers. I wanted to ease her sadness so I said,

“Life is simple, darlin’, it’s just not easy.”

It had been one month.

One month of
dating
Aubrey.

Three months since I met her.

Over two months of no sex.

I held her hand, I tugged on her hair, I kissed her face, and I listened to everything that came out of her mouth as if she was telling me the world’s biggest secrets. I hadn’t kissed her. I hadn’t even tried to kiss her. Being around her was enough for me. To be able to be with someone, to really be with them on a level other than physical, was something I had never experienced before. Something I had never had.

I was officially pussy-whipped and sporting the worst case of blue balls known to fucking man.

I didn’t understand any of it, the need to be around this girl was throwing me off-kilter. Every waking moment I thought about this girl. The next time I would see her, talk to her, hold her…

The list was endless.

Our connection was flawless and fluid; we didn’t have to work at it. It wasn’t a burden or a struggle to be with her like it was with the others. I used to get bored the minute the sex stopped, fucked ‘em and dumped ‘em, moving onto the next. Not with Aubrey though, everything with her was easy. It flowed seamlessly, the conversations, the chemistry, and the
friendship
. The subtle looks she would give me when she didn’t think I was looking.

She was perfect.

She came into my life like a riptide, taking down everything in her path and dragging me right along with her. I couldn’t remember the last time I came up for air, took a second to breathe, a moment to catch my bearings and try to fight against her pull. Her current was strong and growing every time I was with her. I was lost in the waves of everything she had to offer. I never expected to fall for her. I wasn’t even looking for anyone, but there she was, this girl with such a force, such a drive. It was so fucking powerful that I never stood a chance.

There was no push and pull.

At least not yet…

Every single time I told myself that today was going to be the day. The day that I would make my move, the day I would kiss her, the day I would touch her, the day I would move on from this PG-13 bullshit or whatever the hell it was that was going on with us. That I would show her who I truly was, what I could truly offer her, what I gave to so many other girls…

I couldn’t do it.

Just. Like. That.

Dylan-fucking-McGraw couldn’t seal the deal.

No room for maybe’s or possibly yes, it was a dead no, and I had never been happier. I looked forward to our next conversation, the next time I would get to see her smile, or make her laugh, but I still loved making her mad, pissing her off and seeing that feisty temper come out as much as possible, so I hadn’t become a complete fucking pussy.

I kept going back to her, wanting more.

Wanting everything.

Nothing or no one stood in my way.

I’d like to see them fucking try.

I started to bring her around the boys and Alex a few weeks ago. Alex loved her right away. They got along like two peas in a pod. The boys welcomed her into our circle with open arms, but that didn’t stop them from giving me shit.

We had just finished surfing. It was pouring every afternoon for the last few days and a mean swell would kick up before the storm.  

“My aunt’s going to be calling soon, and I forgot my cell phone back at my house. I gotta get going,” Aubrey said, walking up to me with Alex close by her side.

I stuck my board in the sand and shook out my hair.

“McGraw!” Aubrey squealed, blocking the water with Half-Pint giggling.

I grinned, tugging on the ends of her hair. “Don’t pretend like you don’t like me gettin’ you wet.”

She chuckled, “You’re such a dick.”

“I’ll take you home.” I looked at Alex. “Make sure Lucas doesn’t go back out there once the storm hits. I see it in his eyes, he’s thinkin’ about it.”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course he is.”

“Come on.” I grabbed her hand and led her up to the restaurant, placing my board in Half-Pint’s parents’ backroom.

We’d been leaving our boards in there since we were kids, it was easier than lugging them around everywhere. I think our families appreciated that we still surfed near the restaurant just in case. Surfing was like freefalling with no parachute, you respected Mother Nature because she could kill you if you didn’t.

I opened the door for Aubrey to get in, shutting it, and walking to the driver’s side. I grabbed my cargo shorts from the backseat and opened my door, depriving the bystanders from my naked glory while changing. I didn’t give two shits if Aubrey could see. To be honest, I wanted her to. I watched Aubrey from the corner of my eyes, while she watched me from the corner of hers.

“You can look, sweetheart, he’s not shy.”

She turned beet red, making me laugh.

It didn’t take us long to get to her house, she lived a few blocks from the beach.

“Can I use your bathroom?”

“Sure.”

I followed her inside, taking in the way her hips swayed as she walked.

Damn, I loved her ass.

“Down the hall, first door on the left.” She pointed. “Can I get you anything? Sweet tea?”

“Nah, I’m good, thanks, darlin’. I’ll be right back.”

I made my way down the hall to the bathroom. I took care of business and walked back out to the living room where she was sitting on the couch with her legs tucked underneath her.

She was so damn beautiful.

“Do you want to watch a movie? My aunt’s going to call in a bit, but we could watch one after if you want to stay.”

“We’re alone?” I blurted out, surprising myself.

She peered around the room, confused, and I felt like a fucking idiot.

“Um, yeah. My mom’s working like always.” She smirked, with a twinkle in her eyes that I recognized all too well.

I didn’t even have to give it any thought. There were zero fucks given.

“Maybe some other time.”

“Oh…” she breathed out, scratching her head. “You got somewhere to be or something?”

“Or somethin’.” Avoiding eye contact so she couldn’t see right through my bullshit.

“Right. Okay. I guess I’ll see you around then,” she nervously stated.

“I’ll call you later.” I tried to reassure her, walking to the front door like the pussy I had suddenly become, not bothering to look back at her hurt face.

“Dylan.”

I stopped dead in my tracks, knowing exactly what she was going to ask. I turned around to face her, still giving her a questioning look. No matter what she had to say I, wasn’t going to do a damn thing about it. That much I knew. She was standing by the archway, looking gorgeous as ever, her vulnerability radiating all around her that I suddenly found it hard to breathe.

“We’ve been hanging, you know… for like a month or something,” she muttered. “I mean… do you… I mean… you know…”

“Just fucking say it, Aubrey,” I interrupted, harsher than I intended.

She took a deep breath, slightly annoyed with the tone I dealt back, but the doubt was too big for her to swallow.

“Do you not like me?”

I wasn’t surprised in the least by what she wanted to know. She knew who I was, my reputation with girls. I’d become my worst damn nightmare overnight. I opened my mouth to say something, but for the first time in my life I didn’t know what to say.

“It’s okay if you don’t like me and just want to be friends. I could use more of those. I really like Half-Pint and your boys. Everyone has been really nice with welcoming me. I would hate to lose that if you don’t like me more than… a friend. I mean, I know I’m not like the girls you’re used to and I guess… that would be hard to let go of and stuff…”

I let her ramble, mainly because she seemed like she really needed to get it out. A part of me, the asshole part of me, thought she looked so fucking adorable being all exposed and shit, that I let her continue with her little monologue. If this was any other girl something like   this would have had me running for the door and slamming it in her face, but not with her, she was different.

Never with her.

“Darlin,” I rasped all too soon, not ready for what I was going to confess. “I’m only leaving because I do like you.”

“What—”

With that I opened the door and left.

I drove around for I don’t know how long, listening to “The Thrill is Gone” by B.B. King on repeat. Etching the lyrics and beat into my mind as if I were the one singing them. It was dark by the time I made it back to the restaurant. I sat on the beach instead of going in to face the boys and their ridicule. The storm had come and gone, but the wind remained. I welcomed the cool breeze coming off the ocean. The sand was wet and hard beneath me, but I didn’t pay it any mind, there was too much on my mind to care.

“Hey,” Alex greeted, sitting beside me. She put a blanket around the both of us. “You’re going to get sick if you sit out here. By the look of the clouds, it’s going to rain again any second.”

“A little rain ain’t ever hurt nobody.”

I continued to stare out into the night as she glanced at the side of my face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothin’ to worry your pint-size head about.”

She fell quiet for a few minutes, leaning against my arm with her head on my shoulder.

“You remember that time you boys finally let me up into the tree house? When I found your stash of nudie magazines?” She blushed, saying the last part.

I chuckled, “Yeah.”

“The first time I saw Aubrey I thought she looked like one of those girls. I thought she was going to be a complete spoiled brat from California, or she was going to be dumb as rocks… you know, your usual type,” she teased, breaking a smile. “She wasn’t though. I liked her immediately. She was so sweet and down to earth. I’ve known you my entire life, I’ve never seen you look at anyone the way you look at her, Dylan.”

I peered over at her for the first time, taking in everything she was saying.

“Your face lights up like in one of those movies you always make fun of. I like seeing you with someone who actually likes you too. Those other girls, they’re just using you. You’re as much of a game to them as they are to you. You do know that, right?” she questioned, her tone laced with determination.

I slightly nodded, my face suddenly serious.

“It’s okay to get to know someone before you sleep with them, Dylan.”

“What the fuck do you know about sleeping with someone, Half-Pint?” I roared, jerking back surprised.

“Nope. Not a chance. You do not get to flip this around on me. I know who you are. I know who all of you are. Let’s not pretend, okay? Not now. Out of all the boys, you have always been the one to hide yourself from me. I haven’t let it bother me. Do you know why? ‘Cause you love me. You love me enough to respect me.”

I pulled my hair away from my face, holding it back on the nook of my neck in a frustrated gesture.

“You respect her, too.”

We locked eyes.

“You respect her enough to not kiss her. To not touch her… to not do any of the things that make up who you think you are, Dylan McGraw. You may be crass and blunt, not caring about hurting other people’s feelings, but you’re still a good guy. We all know that, especially me.”

“How did you—”

“She told me.”

“What?” I narrowed my eyes at her with an intense stare. “She told you what?”

“She told me what I already knew. What I’ve always known. You do have a heart, but I’ll still pretend like you don’t already know that.”

I shook my head, letting a heavy breath escape. Finally admitting out loud and to myself, “I don’t want to hurt her. She’s been hurt enough. I also can’t stay away from her, Half-Pint. So I guess I’ll take her anyway I can.”

She stood up, hovering above me.

“Why don’t you let Aubrey decide that?” She reached for me.

“What if you’re wrong, Half-Pint? What if you’re wrong about me?”

She squatted in front of me, placing her hands on the sides of my face and spoke with conviction,