“My grandfather. He thought I knew and mentioned it, while we were eating at his place.”
Her anger quickly faded. The sadness was back in an instant. She stood there for a moment bewildered. “Okay,” she whispered, turning to leave, but I couldn’t let her go. “Wait,” I called after Bliss. She knew the truth that I’d been a lying asshole and she hadn’t even mentioned it. I needed more. A slap in the face? She could yell at me if she chose to.
She paused and with an obvious sigh turned back to me to speak.
“I’m sorry,” was all I could say. I was, more so than I’d ever been for anything I’d ever done.
“For what?”
Did she actually have to ask me that? I would’ve thought the reason was obvious. I had a mountain of shit to be sorry for. “For letting you believe I didn’t remember you. I thought it was for the best. But it was wrong. A cruel thing to do.”
“Oh. I just thought I was forgettable.” She shrugged her shoulders and tilted her head. “That was a million years ago. We’ve both lived another life since then.”
She’d survived through a hell that changed her. Robbing Bliss of experiences she should have had, yet she didn’t complain in the least. “I’d like to know the woman you’ve become. We were friends once, before I kissed you. We could be friends again.”
As I said the words I realized I didn’t have that many real friends. The relationship she had with Eli was unique. That, I had with no one. Lila Kate and I could’ve had that. If our mothers hadn’t intended us to marry. We’d never gotten too close. Our mothers’ hopes would rise if we did.
Octavia wasn’t my friend. We didn’t talk about much. She talked about her store, parties to attend and the wedding, stuff like that. The way Bliss and I talked yesterday at my grandpops was a thing I wanted more of. That could be asking for trouble. A fucking load of trouble, but I wanted it.
“I don’t think that’s possible Nate.” Her voice was soft as she said it and it waivered as if she didn’t want to say or believe her own words. Then she left me standing there. Watching her go.
Eli was waiting at his truck. The look on his face said it all. She may see him as a friend, but he saw her as more than that. I believed he always had. There was a possessiveness in his stance. The way he held her door and watched me. Waiting to see if I spoke.
I met his gaze and the warning was clear. He was staking his claim silently. Just for me. I understood it. That made more sense than what Bliss believed they were. A girl like that didn’t have a guy as “just a friend” not when you looked like Bliss. Any fucking man would want more from her. She was the perfect package of beauty and innocence, nothing ugly about her; inside or out, and you could see it.
Other than Bliss I’d never seen that combination in a woman and trust me, I’ve looked. A lot. More than I should have. After my summer with her I measured every female by her standards. Until I convinced myself that what I was remembering was an illusion, because we’re all imperfect. I let it go and the line of beauties that followed had little more than unbelievable bodies. That was their selling point.
Octavia was a drama free selection. Easy, unchallenging and simple. She had been a relief. What I thought I was looking for. Until I came back here. Until I saw Bliss again. Then I remembered what perfect actually was. What I wouldn’t have. What I had once had.
Eli opened the door for her and I watched as she climbed inside. He spoke to Bliss, she only nodded, Eli quickly closing the door. Again, he looked at me. If Bliss were anyone else I’d take that as a challenge. I’d win. I always did. But this wasn’t a game I would play.
She was what I knew I couldn’t touch. My world wasn’t for her. She was Sea Breeze and her world was here. Mine was out there waiting. Getting the hell out of one coastal town and settling in another wasn’t change. It was another fucking coastal town.
What I wanted was Bliss’s friendship. Being friends with her would be the hardest damn thing I ever did but I could do it. Eli was what Bliss needed. I was made for the Octavia’s of the world. No matter what my mom believed. She had other ideas concerning me. I didn’t have the heart to tell her how off she was about her son.
I was my father’s son. But there wouldn’t be a Blaire to save me. I wasn’t open to that. Bliss wasn’t going to change me. Just for this summer I’d like for her to be exactly as she was back then. To feel truly happy, full of hope, and alive as I’d once remembered. Life became dark at times. Bliss knew that better than anyone. Yet, she lived with a smile, maintained that hope in her eyes. For three months I could enjoy it.
Getting past Eli was the problem. He didn’t trust me. Didn’t even like me. I thought about how much he’d hated me seven years ago. Bliss had been naïve, hadn’t seen it. I did and hadn’t cared.
Bliss York
“IS HE EVER going to realize she doesn’t like him?” Crimson disgustedly asked as she came to stand beside me. I searched for Cruz knowing it was him we were discussing without any explanation. He was, as always, talking to Hadley. Poor boy was fixated on her.
Hadley had flown in on her father’s private jet with her parents and sister for this party. In the morning they’d return to their home in Beverly Hills. In June, they’d come back, to yet another house, the one here they occupied for the summer. She lived a life so distant from any of ours that none of us was close to her.