Heat in the Hamptons

Chapter 22

Megan scoffed at the wood mere centimeters from her face.

Why the fuck was everyone treating her like garbage?

She backstepped away from the door and made a move to walk back toward her car. As she did so she felt the scotch slosh in the bottle and heard the waves crashing on the beach. Without a thought she turned to walk down to the shoreline, ripping the plastic seal off the bottle and twisting the cap.

As the amber liquid coursed down her throat she remembered that she didn't even like scotch.

Why was everyone acting like she was public enemy number 1?

Megan plopped down on the sand, a few feet from where the waves met the earth.

She understood the mistakes she had made. She accepted that her relationship with Noah would never recover. She assumed her relationship with Addison wouldn't either, although she still held out hope.

Megan knew that she made a bad decision, but so did James.

Why did he make her feel like she was to blame? 

That first night he kissed her.

She shook her head and tipped the bottle back again. She had no idea what story he gave to Addison, but she knew the truth.

Yes, they had stumbled in the sand and fell. But when Megan moved to stand up James had pulled her to him and kissed her.

Of course, everything since then had been consensual. They were accomplices in this crime. She just couldn't understand why he didn't see that.

A tear fell down her cheek and she took another swig.

She scratched at the label on the bottle as she thought about the amazing man she had let slip between her fingers.

She had loved Noah, but it wasn't until her relationship with James grew that she realized she hadn't been truly in love with Noah. But she was with James.

The scotch felt like acid as she swallowed it down. This was a terrible decision, she knew that.

Drinking on the beach an hour away from her bed? Yeah, not her finest hour.

"Fuck it." She mumbled to herself and she fell back into the sand to look up at the stars.

The beach calmed her and tonight she needed calming.

The last time her emotions had been too much James had been there to help ease that pain. But tonight, he left her on his doorstep.

This time, the rhythmic sound of the waves, the warm breeze on her skin, and the booze in her hand would have to suffice.

Addison shot up in bed, her heart pounding. She was a light sleeper and she definitely heard a sound downstairs.

Of course her first thought was that someone was breaking in because it was the middle of the night. But this was a safe neighborhood and in all the years that James and Noah had homes here nothing like that had ever happened.

She tried to calm her heart as she heard another thud. She turned her head as if doing so would help her hear better.

Was that Noah?

Addison bit her lip as she recalled the night she found him in the kitchen in his sweatpants, turned on after hearing her moan in her sleep.

Was he down there making noise, hoping she'd come find him and they could finish what they started on the counter?

She stood up slowly, trying to gauge whether this was a mistake or not as she moved toward the door.

She decided it wasn't, or at least the Addison who was woken up in the middle of the night didn't think it was a mistake. She turned the knob.

Noah quietly made his way downstairs. He had been woken up by what he assumed was Addison in the kitchen.

He desperately needed to talk to her, to find out if she was upset or regretted what happened earlier.

Or you hope that you carry on from earlier. He thought to himself.

Yeah, that too.

But just as he rounded the bottom of the staircase he bumped into Addison who seemed to be making her way back upstairs.

"Oh!" Addison said, surprised as she walked into what felt like a wall. It was Noah.

He steadied her.

"Sorry," she said, "I-I thought that noise was you down here but I'm not sure what it was."

He raised an eyebrow, "It wasn't you?"

She shook her head as she looked up at him, growing concerned that someone had actually been trying to break in.

Just as Noah was about to speak they heard another thud outside the back door. Addison jumped and Noah immediately put a defensive arm around her and shoved her behind his tall frame.

He made a few steps toward the door, contemplating whether he should grab a weapon when they heard Megan's laugh.

The house rang with the audible sigh of relief from both Addison and Noah. No danger.

That relief was immediately met with confusion as Noah opened the back patio doors to find Megan slumped on the ground directly in front of them.

She was covered in sand and obviously drunk, clutching a half-empty bottle of scotch. Noah paused, unsure of what to do at the sight of his ex-fiancée on the floor, eyes half-open.

She was laughing and then she was crying, trying to bring the bottle to her lips but missing.

In an instant, Addison had moved past Noah and was pulling the bottle away from Megan.

"Shh, it's okay. You're safe." She whispered softly as she wrapped Megan's arm around her neck and tried to stand.

Noah was frozen by the sight until Addison looked up at him. "Noah?" She asked, eyes motioning for him to help her.

He took Megan's other side as they got her to her feet and guided her in the house. Addison instructed Noah to head toward Addison's bedroom and bathroom. Once there she turned the knob of the bath to get it running, Megan must be uncomfortable covered in all that sand.

Addison turned to Noah, "Thank you for helping." She said as she put a hand on the door, gesturing for him to get out.

He didn't know what to say, so he walked out and heard the door click behind him.