Summer's Last Breath

Part 15

After two hours of stewing in rejection, my phone buzzed on my nightstand. I was both annoyed and relieved to see Jamie's name on the screen. It annoyed me further that I was mostly relieved.

 
Jamie: wtf happened.


Me: you lost your shit when you saw my boobs.


Jamie: yeah i did. can i come over?


Me: idk I still have them.


Jamie: thank god. 3 minutes.


Still a bit miffed, I pulled off the tank I'd put on for bed and put on the biggest, loosest t-shirt I owned. I made my way silently down the stairs, pausing at the bottom to listen for any signs my dad was still up and about.


After I'd gotten home, my dad and I sat by the pool eating the dinner of champions—ice cream. Oreo for me, chocolate for him. Neither of us had felt much like cooking. I'd thought ice cream would soothe my bruised feelings. It hadn't. Worse, I couldn't talk to my dad about it.


I knew my dad would be back in the kitchen later, scrounging for something else to eat. While a bowl of ice cream was enough to tide me over until breakfast, my dad's stomach would be eating itself in a matter of hours. For now though, the house was quiet except for the low hum of the refrigerator.


I disabled the alarm system and scooted out the back door. I saw Jamie, a large dark silhouette, pacing at the end of the dock. He came up short when he saw me. I self-consciously tugged at my shirt, though it was a veritable tent. I'd forgone wearing a bra and Jamie would just have to deal with it. His bare chest gleamed with residual moisture from his swim over, making his skin look slick and smoothly touchable under the faint glow of the single lamp mounted on the dock. It still amazed me how fast he could get here, but I refused to be impressed. 


I made my way down the dock, and despite my lingering annoyance, I smiled at the way he carefully kept his eyes on my face. 


"You must think I'm an idiot," he said. 


I stopped a few feet away from him and stared. "One of the nicer in the mix of names I called you on my drive home." I crossed my arms to keep myself from reaching for him. There was a sadness in his eyes as he studied my face, like he was the one who'd been wronged and rejected.


The air was still, and the night was quiet, and my heart thudded as I waited for him to say something. When he did, it wasn't the apology I was expecting. 


"After my dad died..." He breathed in deep. "I was in a bad place for a while, trying to keep it together for my mom, for Noah. I went out one night." He ran his hands through his hair and closed his eyes. "Some bar on Pensacola Beach where I knew a lot of the Navy guys hung out. I was spoiling for a fight. Thought I'd get drunk first, even the odds up a little even though I wasn't nearly old enough to be drinking. Group of locals took me up on my offer, but evidently, I wasn't wasted enough, because it took me about fifteen seconds to lay four of them on the ground, one with a broken nose, one with a broken wrist. The other two weren't getting up anytime soon." 


I watched as his lips quirked in a derisive smile, wondering where this story was heading and what it had to do with what happened on the beach. 


"It turned into a game. The bar was full and these guys knew what I was and most of them had been drinking themselves dumb. And I was asking for it, almost daring them to mess with me, and most of them were out to prove something. They would have worn me down eventually, but one of them pulled a knife. I had the guy in a choke hold and his hand came up, and I don't know if he was aiming for them or not, but the blade sliced across my gills behind my left ear." His hand unconsciously slid to his neck and he laughed, though it sounded more like a snort.