Page 201 of Shade
Do you see us there? The two people making out like they can’t get enough in the hot tub?
They can’t. They won’t. But it’s pure and true.
Do you remember when this story began? Well, you weren’t there for the very beginning—the part when I met Rhya—but you remember the guy on the floor, right?
Do I resemble him anymore? I don’t, do I?
And that’s because of her. Scarlet. She came into my life for a reason and completely turned it around for the better.
Scarlet doesn’t want anything from me. Well, she wants something. We all want something. What I mean is what I can give her. Sexually of course, but maybe love, too. Definitely love.
I’ll tell you something else. She’snothinglike Rhya. She doesn’t take with the intent to destroy me; she gives me what I need, selflessly.
Love. Without anything asked for in return.
I’m twenty-two, and I know exactly who I am.
I know what money and fame can buy, and it has nothing to do with happiness.
If you chase money, you’ll spend very little time doing what you want. If you chase what you love, the happiness you have in turn is worth more than what the money can buy.
Another piece of advice?
Fate doesn’t decide everything in your life.
“What are you thinking about?” Scarlet asks, drawing my attention to her sky blue eyes.
“You,” I admit, winking at her.
Beside us, Tiller splashes Camden in the face with water. “What are you still doing here? Shouldn’t you be at home in bed?”
Camden shrugs, reaching for the raft in the pool and attempting to get on it. “Dad’s out of town. I don’t want to be at home so I said I was staying at a friend’s house.”
Tiller reaches in the cooler he placed by the pool, a Pepsi in the other hand and gives it to Camden. “You mean to tell me your mom is home alone?”
“Stepmom,” Camden points out, taking the Pepsi from him.
I take a hold of Scarlet, my hands on her hips remembering the way she felt against my body earlier. I bet I could have sex with her in here and they wouldn’t even notice. “So, are you okay with being a California girl now?”
Do you notice the way she looks into my eyes? This girl loves me. “I think I can handle it. How are the winters?”
I wink, kissing her cheek and then pulling back to move up away from Tiller and Camden. “Warm andmoist.”
She frowns, then makes a gagging sound. “You didnotjust say moist.”
I grin knowing her aversion to the word. “I did. What are you going to do about it?”
“Show you what moist really means.”
“Not in front of the kids,” I tease. And then I ask, “What are you going to do about Seattle?”
Scarlet considers my question for a moment, but then replies with, “I think it’s time I left that part of my life where it belongs, behind me, in Seattle.”
Her legs tighten around my waist, her arms loosely draped over my shoulders. “You won’t miss it?”
She runs her fingers through my wet hair and then over the back of my neck, tracing along the raised edges of my scar. “I’ll miss my friends, sure, but with Izzy married, Milagettingmarried soon. . . they have lives. Mylifeis here.”
I raise an eyebrow. “And Tom?” You didn’t think I forgot about him, did you?
