For Always (book one)

Chapter 10: Suffering

Malyn

It had been three days since Beau kissed me. I had only seen him once or twice since then, which I had kind of expected. I had been working until late in the afternoon and then spent the evenings with Beth... and Jace. I felt guilty spending time with Jace the day after I told Beau I loved him, but it was a complicated situation, so I told myself it was okay. The way Beau had acted after our kiss, and what he'd said once it was over, made me think that keeping Jace in the picture would be a good thing for both of us. I knew that as much as he had wanted to kiss me, he regretted it as soon as it had happened.

It was my fourth day at the marina and, so far, it had gone great. I was still training with Beth, learning various jobs at the bait shop and in the restaurant, and I'd gotten to work with Jace the past couple of days, too, which was nice. He did a good job at taking my mind off Beau, which was not easy, but much needed.

It was slow up front, so I walked out onto the deck to clear a table when I heard a high-pitched laugh come from the dock. I glanced up to see who it might be and noticed a couple of girls heading into the bait shop. They barely had any clothes on, which was common on the lake, but a style that you'd never see me sporting. I carried the dishes in and came back to wipe the table down when I noticed the same girls coming out of the shop with Jace. A pang of jealousy hit me for a split second, but I quickly swallowed it and finished wiping the table. I couldn't keep myself from stealing one more look before I went back inside.

They were just standing on the sidewalk, talking, and then she smacked his arm and laughed her annoying, high-pitched laugh again. When she did, she tossed her head back, making her long, dark red, curly hair whip around, reminding me of a wet dog.

I joined Beth back inside and started helping her fold napkins. "Who is that girl Jace is talking to?" I knew I could ask Beth and she wouldn't say anything.

She peeked out the window to see who I was talking about. "Oh," she replied with disgust. "That's Morgan Sloan. She's such a slut."

"Beth!" I scoffed at her, laughing because I completely agreed, judging only from my first impression. "That's not nice," I said, still laughing.

"Just wait till you meet her, which you sadly will. She doesn't like a threat, which you definitely are."

"How am I a threat?"

"Well, you're the new, cute girl in town, which she won't like." She continued to fold napkins. "And you're beautiful with a smokin' hot body," she added with a grin. "But, most importantly, Jace likes you."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"She's liked Jace for a while, but he doesn't pay her much attention. She's a bit of a snot."

This last bit of news made me feel much better. "Well, I look forward to making her acquaintance," I said with a sly grin, not realizing how soon that would be.

My back was toward the door when I heard someone come in. "Table for two, please... three if cutie wants to join us."

I turned to see two masses of curly hair, as well as the 'cutie' she was referring, who seemed embarrassed, which somehow made me happy. I grabbed two menus and looked toward Jace. "Are you gonna be joining these—" I paused for a fraction of a second "—ladies?"

He smiled. "Not tonight, maybe some other time. I have some stuff I've got to finish up." Always the gentleman.

"Right this way, then," I said with a smile toward the hair balls. I didn't look at or speak to them on the way to their table in the back corner. As soon as I set their menus down, Red glared at me.