I stare off ahead, the brightness of the sun causing me to squint, when the guy from the other day comes into view. “Hey, I know that guy.”
“Who?” Trevor asks, looking ahead as my new friend approaches.
“I knew I recognized you,” I say, smiling at the guy I met at the seafood shop. “Jax, right?”
“That’s right. Good memory, Lucy.” Jax turns to Trevor. “Trevor.”
“Jax,” Trevor replies.
I quickly glance at Trevor, who’s lost his easy-going smile. “Wait, you two know each other?” I ask, shocked.
“Jax Wheeler is Eric’s neighbor,” he answers, not taking his eyes off Jax. I’m feeling a bit of a cock fight coming on, and it’s not because I’m all hot and fight worthy. It’s because Trevor reaches out and grabs my hand.
Well, if that’s not making a statement.
“What brings you out here? Bit out of the way for you,” Trevor asks, pulling me into him. I can’t help but smile at his clear attempt at claiming his territory. I look at Jax, awaiting his response, but he doesn’t look in a hurry to answer him. He’s staring, with that killer smile aimed directly at me. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit a small amount of heat swirls in my belly. He’s not nearly as hot as Trevor, but that smile? Yikes. A girl could find herself in trouble with him.
“Just enjoying the views.” Again, his eyes never leave mine.
The grip Trevor has on me tightens. As much as I’m enjoying this, the need to get this show on the road is more important. I’m hungry. For my man and some eggs benedict.
“Okay, well. Great running into you again. Trevor promised to fill me up on yummy food, amongst other things, so...we better get going.”
Jax’s smile doesn’t falter, but his eyes say otherwise. Trevor seems to be done with the small talk. He pulls me along, and I glance behind me, waving at Jax as a last-ditch effort to be polite.
“That wasn’t very—”
Startling me, he picks me up and throws me over his shoulder. “I’m gonna fill you up, huh? Other things in mind besides breakfast?”
I start to laugh and squeal as his hand smacks across my butt cheek. “Nope, just breakfast. Sausage. Love me some big sausage lin—”
He smacks me again. “I’m pretty sure we don’t need to go to breakfast to get a sausage in your mouth.” He starts to turn around, and I laugh while trying to hang on upside down over his back.
“No! I need food. Real food. The sausage that’s not frowned upon when you bite it.” The sound of his own laughter does something to me. A slow burn that blows away heat brought on earlier by Jax. My stomach takes that opportunity to growl.
Still groping my butt, his voice deep with humor, amongst other things, he says, “Well then, let’s get some sausage in you.”
God, I’ve never craved sausage so much in my life.
Breakfast turns out to be amazing. Trevor orders an omelet and I get the eggs benedict. We share a plate of pancakes, and of course, he orders three large sides of sausage links. We eat them all, and I mess with him the entire time by putting them in my mouth and sucking. He tries taking me into the bathroom, threatening to put his dick in my mouth as a lesson, but the bathroom is out of order. We both kinda lost on that one.
After I’m stuffed to the hilt, Trevor takes me surfing. I’m super scared since I’m not a fan of the water, so he takes me into the equipment shed and fucks the nerves right out of me. Then he gets me on a board. And I surf! It was fucking awesome! We have lunch on the beach, and dinner around a bonfire at his place. The sun sets, and still, we chat about nothing, just enjoying one another.
I tell him how I used to work at a middle school in the music program before I came here, and how much I really enjoyed it. That’s when he tells me about his son, Kaden, who is almost twenty-one and in college. If he is anything like his dad, I’m sure he’s a great guy.
The night turns into another day of sightseeing, eating, and screwing like animals. Our days blend into one another until three pass. Trevor starts having not a single care in the world. He’s content and playful. And I really like that about him. He isn’t counting so much, which I maybe have something to do with, and he’s sleeping. He said before me, sleep wasn’t an easy task for him. We go four whole days just being in our own little bubble, until I start to see the stress back on his face. He receives numerous calls from work, which he excuses himself to take, and when he returns, he’s counting under his breath without acknowledging it. I call him out in the beginning, but notice it stresses him out more, so I stop.
On day five, he tells me he has to go into work for a bit and we’ll meet up later. I’m super bummed. I’ve been enjoying our days together, but hope maybe going into work and dealing with whatever he is avoiding will take some pressure off him.
I get the feeling his partner is a major prick. From the voicemails I can vaguely hear, he sounds super demanding. Like a boss more than a partner. It makes me instantly not like him, but Trevor vouches he’s a solid guy, so whatever.
Either way, I play it cool, saying no big deal, and allow him to walk me to my door before he leaves for work. Maybe I can use the day to search for a part time job to ensure I won’t starve for the remainder of the summer.
The only ringer is, when I step out onto my front porch to walk into town, Trevor’s car is still parked in his driveway. And oddly more, I catch a glimpse of a woman entering his house.
Chapter Eight
Trevor
The probability of her, a random variable, relocating and taking this job, the measurable subset of the negative effect due to insufficient constrained—
“Stop,” I scold myself. “Fucking stop.” I walk through the hallway of Rumson Middle School after meeting with an old friend who teaches there and is currently holding summer classes for the music program.
Even with Dr. Winter’s session today, the stress is building. Eric’s on my ass. He wants me in the office. The warehouse project is in full effect, and he wants reassurance the numbers are where they need to be. Highest return. I’ve never been wrong. I’ve also never been one to blow him off. I know that eats at him. Smug bastard thinks everyone should bow to him. He may have helped save me, but he isn’t my boss. I don’t answer to him, or anyone.
Invertibility of the equation admits, at most, a countable number of roots—
“Dammit, stop!” I slam my hands to my temples and start to count down from ten, trying to reroute my thoughts. The last few days have been amazing. Ever since Lucy, things have been…different. The counting has all but stopped. I’ve found sleep. I’ve laughed. I’ve fucked more than I have in ages. It’s as if she’s saving me. From what? Probably myself. The negative factor in it all is once the summer comes to an end, we’ll close on her Gran’s house and she’ll leave. I can’t let that happen.
I did some quick research after Lucy told me how much she enjoyed her old job. Cheryl, now a music teacher, owed me a favor. Hopefully, it will pay off and I can convince Lucy to stay—no, force her to. She’s not leaving.
I canned the tear-down of her Gran’s house. I still plan on purchasing the lot, so Lucy can have the money from it, but the house is hers. The stories she tells, how happy she looks, her voice is like music to my ears—a silencer to the madness inside my head. I couldn’t take that away from either of us. So, I’m going to call off the dogs. I’m willing to do anything to keep her in my life—keep the sanity she brings to it. Once I get the application, I’m forcing her to take the job. There’s no other solution.