Free RoomHate by Penelope Ward Page B

of the waves crashing. The ocean breeze was calming, and as strange as it was, the silence between us seemed like a therapeutic exercise of some kind. It felt as though a huge weight had been lifted because I’d gotten to say what I wanted to. Even though there wasn’t really a clear conclusion to our conflict, it was more closure than I’d ever had with him.
    The sound of Justin’s phone interrupted the quiet of our walk. He picked it up.
    “Hey, babe.”
    “Everything is good.”
    “That’s great. Wow. It’s really happening.”
    “Just taking a walk.”
    I found it interesting that he didn’t mention he was with me.
    “Me too. Can’t wait.”
    “I love you, too.”
    “Alright. Bye.”
    After he hung up, I looked at him. “How’s Jade?”
    “She’s good. She’s going to get to perform tomorrow night because the lead’s grandfather died.”
    “Wow. That’s amazing. Well, not that the grandfather died…”
    “Yeah. I got that.”
    Not another word was spoken until we started to approach the house.
    Justin pointed to something in the distance. “Do you see that?”
    “Where?”
    The next thing I knew I felt weightless. Justin had lifted me off my feet and was running toward the shore. Judging from his laughter, there was nothing to point out; he’d just been trying to distract me long enough to snatch me up.
    Jerk.
    He dumped my fully clothed body into the ocean. Salty water ran down my throat and up my nose. Justin immediately ran back to the sand, leaving me to wade through the water after him. He’d planted himself on the sand and was still laughing. He’d taken off his shirt which had gotten wet, and his pants were soaked.
    “Do you feel better now?” I huffed.
    “A little.” He chuckled. “Actually…a lot.”
    “Well…good. I’m glad for you,” I said, wringing out my dress.
    He stood up. “Let me.” Justin surprised me when he stood behind me and twisted my long hair to help get the water out. His hands lingered for a few seconds, causing my nipples to tingle. I turned around to distract from it and was met by his blue eyes staring into mine. They were glowing in the reflection of the light coming from our house. He looked heartbreakingly handsome.
    Fumbling my words a bit, I said, “Um…thank you. Well, I suppose I shouldn’t be thanking you, because you caused it.”
    “It was a long time coming. I’d wanted to throw you in the water since the first day I got here.”
    “Oh really…”
    “Yeah. Really.” He smiled mischievously.
    “By the way, why are you still here?”
    He squinted. “What do you mean?”
    “You could have easily gone back to New York with Jade. You know that.”
    “Are you implying something?”
    “I’m not implying anything. I just know that you’ve been using the Sandy’s gig as the reason, and I find that hard to believe.”
    “What do you want to hear, Amelia…that I’m here because of you?”
    “No…I don’t know. I—”
    “I don’t know why I’m here. Alright? That’s the truth. It just didn’t feel like it was time to leave.”
    “Fair enough.”
    “Are you done interrogating me for one night…pain in my ass?”
    “Yes.” I smiled. “Payne in my ass” was another name he used to call me. It was a play on my last name—Payne.
    “Good.”
    “For the record, I’m really glad you stayed.”
    He shook his head and rubbed his eyes then said, “Trying to hate you is exhausting.”
    “So, stop trying.”
    My teeth started to chatter; it was getting chilly out.
    “We’d better go inside,” he said.
    Following him to the house, I couldn’t help thinking that the cold air outside had nothing on the warm feeling inside of me from having reconnected with him tonight.
    “You hungry?” he asked.
    “Starving, actually.”
    “Go change. I’ll make dinner.”
    “Really?”
    “Well, we gotta eat, don’t we?”
    “Yeah. I guess we do. I’ll be back.” I smiled all the way to my room, giddy from the idea of him