My Summer with New York

I'll Show You

Colby's POV
What am I doing? Why am I pulling up to this pastel yellow house? Why am I about to knock on the door to retrieve the mouthy New Yorker and take her surfing? More importantly why am I drawn to her like a moth to a flame? She has a boyfriend, and she doesn't seem to be ending it with him anytime soon. When I'm around her, I'm happier than I've ever been. She makes me want to laugh, smile, scream, and go absolutely mad. Her and I have been spending every morning together since I first taught her how to surf. We never talk about Isabelle or Justin; only what's going in the moment and on the island. She's almost became my best friend.

I need to go. I pull out of her driveway as I see her strolling out the front door. The look she gives me as she's running after my jeep almost makes me want to stop and say I was joking. But I can't. She'll hate me if we get any closer than what we are now. I storm back into my house in an angry fury. My mom looks at me skeptically and says "I thought you were going to take Rosie surfing?" She knows about Rose. Rose has been coming over more and more since her surfing lessons; Abel loves it, and my mom is just happy there's a girl around. "We had a change of plans." I snap. "Do you want me to take you off the schedule?" She asks. "Yes, please. I'll let you know about the other days." I say as I walk upstairs.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
I went back to work the next day, and Rosie came. I ran to the back of the store to avoid her. The next day she came. And the next. And the next. She never stopped coming and each day I avoided her. Ryan, my mom, and her new employee, Aubrey, told her the same thing: I was running errands and wouldn't be back until later.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
I sing along to the chorus of Wiz Khalifa's Stayin' Out All Night as I pull into my parking spot at the surf shop. "Colby you can't sing!" Aubrey tells me as she changes the trash. I laugh and sing along even louder. Ryan walks out then and I swear he has heart eyes when he sees Aubrey throwing the trash into the dumpster. He broke up with Cassidy a few days ago since she was leaving in two more weeks. I was happy to see him falling for Aubrey even if it was too soon.

"You were practically drooling out there man." I tell him as we walk into the building. "No I wasn't. I don't know what you're talking about." He says laughing. "Why don't you talk to her outside of work?" I ask. "Why don't you talk to New York?" He retorts. I glare at him and shake my head; he of all people didn't understand why I've been shoving her away. "I'm just saying. You're going to let her slip through those fingers of yours, and you'll regret it." Ryan tells me. "She has a boyfriend." I mumble as he walks out of the room. It doesn't matter because even if he did hear me, he still wouldn't listen.

"Hey New York!" I hear Ryan exclaim from the store floor. I want to beat my head against the wall because I know Ryan is going to come and get me so I can see her. I walk out there before he can come and get me, and she looks better than I remember. Her dark auburn hair has lighter streaks in it and her skin has darkened from our time in the sun. Rose looks stunned to see me, but I can't let her affect me before I say what I need to say. "Outside. Now." I demand. She follows me with a wary expression on her face.

"What do you want Rose?" I say harshly. She looks confused before speaking "I want to see you." "Why? Why the hell do you keep coming around here?" I snap. I hate being so mean, but I'm trying to keep her away from me. "I wanted to find out why you ran out on our surfing date the other day and why you've been avoiding me." She snaps, crossing her arms across her chest. "It wasn't a date. You have a boyfriend." I tell her. She stiffens when I bring up her boyfriend, and I can tell she's about to snap. "You know what I meant. How do you know I'd want to spend more time with you? You're rude, arrogant, and you've been breathing in the salt air for far too long!" She yells. Ouch. That one hurt.

"Because it seems you struggle staying away from my surf shop anyways." I told her nonchalantly. "Face it New York, you want me. You don't care about that boy you have in the city because he doesn't make you feel like I do. No one ever had and I doubt anyone will." I yell back. Rosie looks at me stunned. I guess no one has ever spoken to her like that before; I don't regret it though. I step forward to her, and do the thing I've wanted to do since I met her. I kiss her. She's hesitant to kiss me back at first, but her small hands soon find their way into my hair. When she pulls back, I can still taste her lips; her Carmex lip balm with a hint of strawberry is covering my lips.

"Colby." She whispers. I look into her grey eyes, and I don't feel the regret that I assumed would come. She smiles up at me before kissing me again, and the second time we kiss makes everything fade away. I don't know how long we kiss, but I know I never wanted it to end. Rosie is the one to pull away again, but I keep her pulled close to me. "Colby I have a boyfriend." She whispers. Anger shoots through me, but I know she's right to feel this way. "You ever kiss him like that?" I ask. She shakes her head, telling me no he hasn't kissed her like that. I smile at her before saying "Well he's missing out."

I leave Rosie standing outside and head in to work. It's going to be a long shift, I can already feel it. Rosie enters the surf shop with a determined look on her face, and I see Ryan and Aubrey smirking at me from the corner they're in. "Meet me on the pier at 10." Rosie tells me. "Yes ma'am." I say with a grin. She scowls at me before storming out of the shop. "My gosh she's beautiful!" Aubrey gushes. "Isn't she though?" I say before continuing my work.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

The pier was located on the south end of the island, and Rosie walked there. She refused to let me pick her up when I got off because she didn't need me "jumbling her thoughts". Her words not mine. To say I'm not worried is an absolute lie. I liked kissing Rose and I know that if I could do it again, I would in a heartbeat. Ryan knew something happened between Rosie and I while we were outside, but I wouldn't tell him what exactly. I want to keep it between Rosie and I until I know for sure what's going to happen.

The parking lot to the pier is full; fishermen and families all up there at once. I didn't know which end she'd be at, so I strolled down the familiar walkway in no rush. Most of the wood near the end is new, it was replaced after a hurricane ripped the end off during the storm surge. Summer lovers have their initials carved into the wood as if carving it in the wood assures that they'd last forever. At the far end of the pier is a bar and place where you can stand and look out at the water; that's where Rosie is. When I first brought her here after our surfing lesson, she was entranced by the fact that she could stare out at the horizon for as long as she pleased. I smile and wave at the familiar faces as I walk up to her. Her back is to me, and of course, she's staring out at the horizon; I think she's the most beautiful girl out here.

"Rosie." I say. She jumps, startled from the sound of my voice, but slowly turns to face me. She's wary of how I'm going to act, but I'm done pretending when it comes to how I feel about her. "Hey Colby." She says softly. I release a breath I didn't know I was holding; if she's speaking to me then I'll have a better chance of convincing her to try things my way. "You called me out here?" I tell her, phrasing it as a question. She nods and looks back out at the water. "We kissed today." Rosie says bluntly. I stifle a laugh and say "Yeah we did."

She glares at me because she heard me laugh, but I can tell she's fighting one off too. "Laugh." I tell her. "You know you want to." Rosie erupts into a fit of giggles, and she's soon laughing so hard she can't breathe. I smile at her as she calms down from her laughter, and a frown overtakes her face. "I cheated on my boyfriend today." She says stonily. My heart instantly drops at her words; she regrets it. I don't answer her; I choose to stare out at the water like she is. "Colby I don't regret it." Rosie tells me. I can feel her looking at me, but I can't look at her. She moves closer and says "Look at me."

I turn to her slowly, and she surprises me by kissing me. It's not as heated as it was this morning, but it's just as good as this morning. Rosie winds her hands into my hair and deepens the kiss. My hands grip her waist tightly, and I know I'm too far gone now. She's going to have to be the one to walk away first. I already tried to, and it didn't work. I'm the one who pulls back this time, but my hands fly up to cup her face. "Let me prove it to you." I tell her. "Prove what?" She asks me. "That I can make you feel better than your hotshot New York boyfriend." I say. She says okay before pressing her lips to mine again.