In Every Way Page 6

  This is the start of a new me.

  “You know, you should get a tan,” Dawn says as she piles all of my new clothes into shopping bags. “Not too much, of course, you want to keep your skin nice and wrinkle-free, but just a little sun will do wonders.” She leans forward, cupping her hand to her mouth like she’s telling me a secret. “Tan skin makes you look thinner.” She winks and I grin.

  “Of course, you’re not as big as you think you are,” she says, shoving more clothing into bags. “All your sizes are medium, so I don’t want to hear any more of that fat talk, okay?”

  I heave a sigh. “It’s medium in women’s sizes which are different from junior’s. I’m like a size extra, extra, extra large in those clothes.”

  She waves her hand at me. “Men don’t want to date a junior. They want a woman. I promise.”

  I smile up at her and hook some of the bags on my hands. It’ll be a long walk back to my car with all of this stuff. Of course, now that I’m feeling confident in my new wardrobe, I don’t exactly want to go home just yet.

  “Do you think I could change into one of these outfits before I leave?” I ask her.

  She grins. “Absolutely. I’d choose the pink top.”

  “Good choice,” I say, digging it out of the bag. I practically skip to the fitting room and change out of my old clothes and into a pair of black leggings, silver sparkly flip flops, and the pink top. It’s neon pink and has a neckline that makes it look like my boobs are something people want to look at. The color goes great with the blond streaks in my hair, and I’m feeling more confident than ever when I wear it.

  After dropping my shopping bags into the trunk of my car, I walk back up the strip and cross over to the beach. With my new flip flops in my hands, I let the warm sand sink between my toes. I tip my head back and let the sun warm me, the salty air filling my lungs. It feels good to be out here on the beach with all of the other normal people.

  I breathe in deeply and tell myself this day is the start of a new life for Bess Navarre. I’ll start going out and doing things. When Maddie gets back home, I’ll stop denying her invites to the beach and the mall. I’m going to be more open and I’m going to have fun.

  I’ve never felt better.

  And then a football comes flying from out of nowhere and smacks me in the shoulder so hard, I’m knocked straight to the sand. I cry out in pain and shock, the impact seeming to hurt more with each passing second. Panicked thoughts fly through my mind.

  Did someone hit me on purpose?

  Am I about to be made fun of for going out in public with even a shred of confidence?

  I’m on my ass in the sand, my shoulder killing me from the pain, and all I’m thinking about is how mortified I am to be in public right now. Someone calls out an apology and I look up to see a guy with short brown hair running toward me. He’s wearing blue board shorts and no shirt, and all I can say is the tan looks really good on him.

  “Shit, I’m so sorry,” he says, stopping in front of me. I realize now that he’s actually talking to me, not just running by on some other mission.

  “It’s fine,” I say, scrambling to stand up in the sand. “No big deal.”

  But even as the words leave my mouth, I’m struggling to hold back tears. I bend and pick up the football, holding it out to the guy. He seems really familiar, but then again, all of the hot guys at Robert Cullen High School look alike. Just a bunch of muscled, tall, Greek gods walking around the place. “Here’s your ball.”

  He takes it and drops it to the sand, his focus on me instead. “Are you sure you’re okay? Where did you get hit?”

  I look at him like he’s lost his damn mind. Why on earth would any guy stare at me with that much concern? I mean, it’s not like he actually cares.

  But weirdly, as he watches me with concern in his eyes, I’d almost think that maybe he does.

  Chapter 11

  “I’m so, so sorry,” I say, running a frantic hand through my hair. I nod toward Bryce, who’s standing twenty feet away, his back to us while he talks on the phone. “That jackass was supposed to catch the football, then he just walked off to answer his phone after I threw it.”

  The girl glances at Bryce. It could be my imagination, but it seems like she grimaces when she sees him. Maybe she’s a victim of his incessant flirting. The idiot can’t let a single pretty girl walk by without hitting on her.

  “It’s okay, really,” she says with a shrug. I get the feeling she wants to walk away and get as far from me as possible, but I have to make sure she’s okay.

  “Where were you hit? I was looking for Bryce and then heard you cry out and realized I hit you. God, I’m so sorry.”

  “Just um, my shoulder,” she says, reaching for her sleeve. She looks over and pushes the fabric aside, revealing the skin below her collar bone.

  “Oh, shit,” I say, wincing in sympathy with her. Her skin is all red and scraped like road rash. It’s even bleeding in a few places.

  Her eyes widen as she looks at the injury; I’m guessing she had no idea it was that bad.

  “Please, let me help,” I say. “Come with me to my store and I’ll get some ice and bandages for you.”

  “Oh, I’m fine,” she says, glancing back toward the parking lot. “I was on my way home anyway.”

  “It’s the least I can do,” I say, running a hand through my hair again. I’ve already done that, but I can’t help myself. I need something to do with my hands. This girl makes me nervous in the pit of my stomach, and it’s not just because I slammed her with a football. “It’d really help assuage my guilt from hurting you,” I say with a goofy smile that I hope convinces her to come back to the shop with me.

  She regards me suspiciously. “What store?” she asks.

  “The Flying Mermaid. It’s just right over there,” I say, pointing back toward the strip. “We have a first aid kit with this numbing pain spray,” I say, wiggling my eyebrows to show how enticing my offer is.

  She laughs, and it makes her even more beautiful. “Okay, I guess some numbing spray would be nice.”

  “Great,” I say, unable to hide my big ass grin.

  I really am trying to be a nice human being here, and not a horn dog, but it doesn’t escape my notice that this girl also fits the first two requirements on my list.

  Cool it, Josh. You hurt her and now you need to make up for it. Stop imagining her as your girlfriend, you asshat.

  I take her in the back door to the shop, the one that leads into the break room. I can hear Dad up front talking to some guy about surfboards. Although The Flying Mermaid closes around seven every night, those hours have always been open to interpretation. If Dad gets caught up with a customer, he’ll stay open until midnight or later.

  I shove a beach towel off the bench in the breakroom. “You can sit here,” I tell her, then I grab the first aid kit off the wall.

  She sits quietly, holding down her shirt to keep the drops of blood off it. With my hands full of gauze, big bandages, alcohol and the pain spray, I sit next to her and drop all the stuff into my lap.

  “You really don’t have to go through all of this trouble,” she says quietly.

  I shake my head. “I don’t mind. I should go grab my jackass friend and make him apologize to you as well.”

  “I don’t even think he’s aware of what happened,” she says.

  “Typical Bryce.”

  She looks up at me as I pour some alcohol on a cotton ball. “Bryce from Robert Cullen High School?” she asks.

  I nod. “So his reputation precedes him.”

  She shrugs. “I thought he looked familiar. I don’t know him though.”

  “Did you go to RCHS?” I ask.

  She nods. “You?”

  “Same,” I say with a grin. “I just graduated. I’ve never seen you before. I’m Josh, by the way. Josh Graham.”

  “Bess Navarre,” she says, looking to the floor. “I think you know my friend’s boyfriend.”

  “Oh yeah?” I
say, leaning forward to dab off the blood with the cotton ball. “Who’s that?”

  She inhales sharply through her teeth.

  “Does it burn? I’m sorry,” I say. Without thinking, and because it’s just a habit, I guess, I lean forward and blow on the scrape to make it feel better.

  She freezes. I’m suddenly so aware of how close I am. She smells like flowers. I could tilt my head up and kiss her.

  Whoa.

  I should not be thinking that. I sit up quickly and grab the pain spray. “This will help,” I say, my voice coming out all croaky. I clear my throat and hold up the spray can, aiming it over the red area.

  “It does,” she says with a little sigh. “That feels so much better.”

  “Great.” My mouth feels like it’s full of cotton balls and my stomach is tingling with memories of being so close to her. In my dreams, I’d slide my arms around her, pull her close and press my lips to hers. But this is real life, and you simply don’t make out with strangers in the back of your parent’s shop. At least not without their permission. I peel the backing off a large bandage and cover the bleeding parts.

  “I think you’re good now,” I say, peering up at her. She grins and it makes my knees weak. In the back of my mind, I want to compare her to the list, but I can’t even remember what’s on the list at the moment. She’s so beautiful, she’s made all rational thoughts disappear.

  “Thanks, you really didn’t have to go through all this trouble,” she says, standing from the bench.

  I want to tell her to stay, to hang out with me, maybe even go get some dinner together. But that kind of stuff only works out in the movies. If I said any of that now, I’d sound like a weirdo. I stand up too, then, I remember she never answered my question.

  “Hey, who’s your friend’s boyfriend?”

  “Oh, um, Maddie and Colby,” she says, almost phrasing it like a question.

  “Dude, Colby is my best friend.” All of these thoughts come bombarding into my mind at once. I can totally see her again because she knows Colby. Why haven’t I seen her before? And, dammit, did I just call her a dude?

  I take a deep breath to get my excitement in check. “So weird that I haven’t met you before.”

  She shrugs. “Maddie and I are sort of new friends.”

  I nod. “Cool, well maybe I’ll see you at the next Mindy Carmichael party.”

  An uneasiness flashes across her features, but she shrugs them away. “Um, sure. Maybe.”

  A knot forms in my stomach. That’s a blow off if I’ve ever seen one. This girl is totally not into me.

  Suck it up, Josh.

  I walk her to the back door of the shop and we step out onto the strip. “Sorry again for hitting you with a football,” I say, shoving my hands in my pockets as I walk next to her.

  “It was an accident. And you’ve more than made up for it,” she says, flashing me that adorable smile again. “Tell your boss thanks for the first aid stuff.”

  “Technically I am the boss.” The words fly out, and they’re not entirely true . . . but I can’t help myself. I want to impress her so badly. “My family owns the store,” I say by way of explanation.

  Her expression goes from confused to understanding, and I’m not sure what she has to be confused or understanding about. Maybe she’s just ready to get rid of me. She takes her car keys out of her purse. “Okay. Well, bye.”

  She gives me a little half-hearted wave and then heads straight for the parking lot, leaving me standing there looking and feeling like the biggest tool. I laid it on pretty thick back there and she didn’t flirt with me at all. I guess all of the best girls are too good for me. Maybe I am doomed to be single forever.

  Chapter 12

  It’s truly remarkable how pathetic I can be. I was pelted with a football and here I am reeling with excitement over getting five minutes of attention from one of the hottest guys I’ve ever met. Of course I would have to get injured to receive attention from a guy. Of course.

  But it all makes sense now. His parents own a store, the place directly in front of where he hit me with a ball. At first I couldn’t believe he was being so caring and attentive, acting like he truly felt bad that I’d been hit. It was only an accident, so what’s the big deal?

  But now I get it. He’s probably terrified I’ll try to sue his family’s store because I was injured.

  That’s the only explanation.

  I don’t know why I’m even letting myself get disappointed by this. Obviously a hot guy wouldn’t care about me unless there was something bad that could happen to him. Still, I grip my car keys as I walk across the boardwalk. Even though it was all an act so he wouldn’t get in trouble, I can pretend he was a friend, a real friend. That the shiver I got when his fingertips grazed my skin meant something more.

  I sigh. I don’t even remember the last time a guy touched me. A girl could really get used to having a guy take care of her cuts and bruises with such precision and tenderness.

  “Hey, Bess?”

  I stop. Turn around slowly.

  Josh is jogging up to me in the parking lot. He still doesn’t have a shirt on, and it’s the hottest thing ever.

  “Yeah?” I say, wondering why he bothered running out here after me. Our business together was finished. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” he says quickly as his footsteps slow to a walk. Then he’s right here in front of me again, all gorgeous and grinning in a way that makes my toes tingle. “I was just thinking, uh, you should come by the shop sometime.”

  “Why?”

  Damn, that sounded rude, and I didn’t mean for it to be rude, but—uh, what exactly am I supposed to say to that? “I’m not going to sue you or anything,” I say with a snort. “I’m barely hurt. It’s not a big deal.”

  “No, um, I was just thinking,” he says, stopping to shove his hands in the pockets of his board shorts. “Since you’re friends with Maddie and I’m friends with Colby, and they’re both out of the country . . .”

  “Yeah?” I say just to urge him along. He’s taking entirely too long to spit out whatever he’s going to say. Maybe he doesn’t believe I’m actually friends with Maddie.

  “You should just come by the shop and hang out. I’m bored without my best friend. Maybe we can hang out until they’re back?”

  My heart does a backflip and then immediately races so fast I’m afraid I might pass out. What exactly does that mean?

  I swallow. “Well, uh, I work on the strip, so I’m kind of busy a lot.”

  OMG, Bess, why did you say that?

  I should say YES I WOULD LOVE TO. But I can’t. It’s a trick, it has to be. Years of being ignored by attractive guys doesn’t just go away overnight. I mean, yeah, my new clothes are cute, but still. It doesn’t make sense.

  Josh nods. “Yeah, cool. It was just an idea. I mean, you seem cool, so. Ya know. Whenever you’re bored, come on by. I’m always at the Flying Mermaid.”

  I nod slowly. He doesn’t really seem like he’s pulling a prank on me. He kind of seems . . . sincere. But that can’t be. There’s no way.

  I try to look like I don’t care. “Yeah, maybe.”

  There’s a few seconds of silence where we’re both staring at each other in this way that’s polite and awkward. At first, he was glorious eye candy that I enjoyed looking at, but now it’s just weird. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, for him to burst out laughing and for some hidden cameraman to step out and say I’m on a reality show where hot guys pretend to be friends with girls like me.

  When none of that happens, I look down at my car keys. “I gotta go.”

  “Okay,” Josh says, rocking back on his heels. “Sorry again for the football. I’ll see you around?”

  “Sure,” I say, but it’s not exactly true. I’d bet my entire paycheck that the next time I run into Josh Graham, he’ll pretend I don’t exist.

  Chapter 13

  It’s probably just my imagination, but Colby sounds far away when we talk on the phon
e. It’s like being on another continent has made his voice all well-traveled and mature, while I’m still just the guy from Texas who hasn’t done anything worthwhile.

  “I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as you think it is,” Colby says after I’ve told him nearly every embarrassing detail about my exchange with Bess yesterday.

  “Dude. If anything, it was worse than I’m making it out to be. I chased after her when she was trying to leave. I made her stop and talk to me again.” I groan as heat rises into my cheeks. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours since the football incident and I can’t stop replaying it all in my mind, reliving every stupid detail. There I was trying to flirt, and she wanted nothing to do with me. Why did I keep talking to her? Why couldn’t I have just left her alone the first time she tried to leave?

  This phone call was supposed to cheer me up. I’m sitting on the couch in my living room, waiting for the coffee to brew so I can take a thermos to work. Mom left early to go to her sister’s house for the day, and Dad is already at the shop waiting for an early delivery of more bathing suits.

  Colby assures me once more than I’m okay, but I’m not buying it. There’s some shuffling on the phone and then Maddie picks up.

  “Josh?”

  “Hey, Maddie. What’s up?”

  “I only heard Josh’s half of your conversation just now, so tell me what’s going on. I can give you a girl’s opinion.”

  An idea hits me now; Maddie is friends with Bess. “I uh, well,” I stutter into the phone as I try to decide what exactly I should tell Bess’s friend. On one hand, since they’re friends, I could ask Maddie to do some recon and find out if I even have a chance with Bess. On the other hand . . . if I spill my guts to Maddie and she tells Bess exactly how hard I’m crushing on her after only knowing her a few minutes, it might scare her away. I’d kind of rather assume she doesn’t like me than have Maddie ask and confirm it for good.

  Girls are sneaky, and even if I made Maddie promise not to tell Bess, she probably would. Girl code and all of that.