Page 20 of Trusting You
“What happened to the other girl?” I reached in for my bag.
“Who knows. I don’t have time for his shit. Let’s go put our stuff in my room and call the guys. Maybe we can head to the pier and grab dinner.”
“Won’t your parents want us to be here?” I followed her up the stairs to the back door.
“They’re out. If they were here that never would have happened,” she motioned for where Ryan had been.
“Oh,” I nodded in understanding.
After tossing our things in Emma’s old bedroom, she fired off a text to Brock letting him know we got in and asking about meeting up for dinner. She’d suggested the pier, but Brock asked about having a bonfire on the beach. Emma lived on a private stretch, and we could have it right in front of her house. We agreed, and now we were grabbing blankets and piling wood into a beach cart.
“You’re sure your parents won’t care?” I tossed another piece of wood onto the pile.
“That’s what all this is for,” Emma shrugged. “Dad never has fires, but he’s always stacking wood in this pile. I might as well use some.”
“Good point,” I laughed. We dragged the beach cart over the dunes, and picked a spot to set up. Emma spread out the blankets while I attempted to make a fire pit. There were remnants from an old one, so we decided to use it. Brock and Aaron showed up right as we were lighting it.
“Need some help?” Aaron called. I turned just in time to see him flash a smile. He was wearing a pair of boardshorts and a hoodie. His hair was cut short again, and I couldn’t help but stare. Brock chuckled from beside him as he surveyed our setup.
“I think we did ok,” Emma placed her fists on her hips.
“For a girl,” Aaron smirked as Emma glared.
“Watch it. You owe me,” her eyes darted in my direction and if I didn’t know any better, I wouldn’t have caught it.
“Fine, fine, fine,” Aaron rolled his eyes. “You’re awesome, Cous.”
“What’s for dinner?” I quickly changed the subject.
“Tequila,” Aaron held a bottle up and grinned like a proud little boy.
“Very funny,” I narrowed my eyes on him. “I mean food.”
“Tequila isn’t food?” he stared at the bottle and squinted his eyes like he could change what it said if he stared long enough. “Huh. Who knew?”
“Can you act normal tonight? Please?” Emma sighed as she grabbed a bag from Brock. “This is more like it,” she smacked her lips as she started pulling burgers and fries from the bag. “Ooh and stuff for s’mores too.”
“Only the best for you, baby,” Brock swung his arms around her shoulders.
“Ugh! Gag me please,” Aaron lowered himself onto the blanket. “I can’t take any more of you two.”
I couldn’t help but burst into laughter as I sat down beside him. “Hey, I hear it every day. At least you don’t live with him,” I pointed my thumb in Brock’s direction.
“True,” Aaron nodded as he grabbed a burger. “Let’s eat.”
We watched the sunset over the ocean as we munched on our dinner before Aaron turned to me. “Wanna go for a walk?”
“Right now?” I glanced around. It was dark. If we moved too far away from the fire it would be cold, and we’d be hidden by the night.
“Yeah. I thought we could talk,” he shrugged. “Get to know each other better. I wanna explain some things to you.”
“Things?” I repeated.
“About my family,” he leaned in and mumbled the words right next to my ear.
“Ok,” I nodded.
He stood and held his hand out to help me up. “We’ll be back in a bit,” I called out to Brock, who was currently locked in a kiss with Emma. They waved us off, I’m sure happy for the privacy as Aaron began to lead me down the beach.
