Free Sound of the Tide by Emily Bold Page B

Kevin asked once more.
    I only nodded, climbing into his car, and pulled the door closed behind me. Shrugging his shoulders, he sat down behind the wheel and gave me a quizzical look.
    “I thought this was going to be your first step into a new life. Why are you running away? I could stay here with you, you know.”
    “I know I’m behaving like a crazy person, bu t . . . but I was wrong, Kev. I hate that couch! It’s soaked in tears, and it does nothing to help me forget how awful I’ve been feeling these past few months. I wanted a fresh start. But that’s not going to happen as long as I have to sleep on that horrible thing. Can’t you understand that?”
    Kevin smiled and pressed my hand.
    “I’ve never really understood you, Piper. But that’s not what’s important. If you’re telling me that you don’t want to stay here, then that’s all I need to know.”
    “Thanks, Kev. You’re wonderful.”
    He started the engine. The day’s slush and sleet had changed into ice, and the road was even more of an ice chute. The lights in Ewan Palmer’s windows had been turned off, and it was as though the entire coast lay deserted. I was thankful to have Kevin next to me.
    “You got here fast,” I said, because I couldn’t bear to sit quiet in this winter night. In the headlights, a few solitary snowflakes headed toward the windshield, and Kevin tried to concentrate on driving.
    “I was at the station.”
    “Were you on duty?”
    I hadn’t wanted to disturb him at work.
    “It’s all right. I took the rest of the night off.”
    I bit my lip and glanced over at him in the car’s dim light.
    “You should have just told me that you didn’t have time. I would have called Jenna.”
    “And why didn’t you call Jenna first?” he asked, and his voice sounded strangely unsteady.
    I shifted in my seat. Yes, indeed, why hadn’t I called my best friend first? To be perfectly honest, I hadn’t even thought of her. Maybe I didn’t want to interrupt anything in case she was with Frank? No, that wasn’t it. It was much simpler than that. I had simply followed my first impulse—which was to dial Kevin’s number. But he didn’t need to know that. Things were complicated enough as they were, which was why I didn’t want to question that impulse right now.
    “I’m exhausted, Kev. I’m sure Jenna would have come and picked me up, but you know how she is. She never sleeps!” I smoothed back my hair and turned up the heat. “She would have had me up all night. I really think she doesn’t know what sleep is. Maybe she has some kind of stand-by function, but I’m not even sure she’d lie down for that.”
    Kevin gave an amused laugh, and I realized why I had called him. I enjoyed his company. I just enjoyed being with him.
    “She’s got a bed,” he offered, still sounding amused.
    That made me prick up my ears because she wouldn’t even let Daniel enter her place, despite the many years he’d been her friend. Only I had the questionable pleasure, because her home was her sanctuary. There were piles of shoes, purses, scarves, and belts everywhere. Every single one of her tiny rooms was overflowing with clothes.
    “And how would you know that?” I inquired, my curiosity piqued.
    He remained silent for a while and pretended that the road was particularly hazardous.
    “Kevin?” I was at a loss for words, but I had to ask. “Don’t tell m e . . . that you went to bed with her?”
    He glanced over.
    “No!” He shook his head. “It wasn’t like that.”
    “Then how was it? Tell me!”
    I was more than a little confused. Not that it was any of my business who h e . . . But Jenna? Wouldn’t it be weird if we had both slept with the same man?
    Sure, Kevin and me, we had only been teenagers when we were together, our young love born from the endless hormonal turmoil of adolescence. And although Kevin’s quiet nature and passion for music were not what I needed during my wild and crazy years, our time