St. James

CHAPTER 47

SEPTEMBER-

A couple of weeks later my feet were once again on Huntington Beach ground and I sighed heavily and happily as a breeze blew off the Pacific Ocean. I ended up having to stay with Matt or Jimmy for a few weeks till I finally found an apartment close to the ocean for a steal. I had finally finished unpacking the last of my stuff from the moving pod yesterday and asked the guys over for a celebratory BBQ. While I still technically didn't have a solid job I was able to pick up odds and ends jobs here and there to earn me enough cash so I didn't deplete all that I saved from the money I earned photographing the guys on the road.

By the time I heard the first knock on the door I had everything ready to go on the grill and drinks chilled in the fridge. Soon enough my apartment was filled with Matt who brought Zoe, Jimmy and Allie and Zack who at the moment was single but loving life. Zoe, Allie and I picked up in conversation as if it was yesterday since we saw each other instead of 5 years ago and were soon laughing and carrying on. Matt and I oddly had no hard feelings between us and went right back to feeling like close friends once again who had no problem harassing each other to no end. Zoe held no hard feelings towards me for dating Matt during the summer and even teased me about kissing her man over and over again till I told her to shut up or I would put a pie in her face. Zoe laughed cheerily as she yanked open my apartment door to Johnny, Brian and Amanda. The guys began picking on Johnny while Amanda stuck close to her cousin, not really sure of how to act in my apartment...that is until she picked up the framed picture that meant the world to me from a trip to the beach so long ago. The one where I was on Brian's back so I could lean over and kiss Jimmy's cheek, huge laughing smiles on all our faces. "Well...it looks like you guys were having fun" she said almost snotty like, her eyes like daggers at Brian's backside. Jimmy grabbed the picture from Amanda and smiled big at me "Oh you bet we did! This was one hell of a day!" he stated happily while pointing at his cheek and leaning down towards me. I gave him a huge grin as I leaned up and kissed his cheek, leaving a pink lip print on his skin.

"I remember that day...we did have a damn good time didn't we?" Brian said softly as he took the picture from Jimmy and smiled down at it. "You bet your ass we did! You two especially!" Jimmy laughed, completely forgetting Amanda was in the room. "Well! I can see where I rate!" she bit out in a snarky tone before flipping her hair over her shoulder and leaving the apartment, slamming the door behind her as she went. "Fucking great" Brian grumbled as he rubbed at the back of his neck, his baseball cap sitting almost sideways on his head "I guess I should go after her even though she doesn't deserve it." Brian left before anyone could say anything which left us all standing around looking at each other like idiots. "Well...that was fun" Zack said with a clap and rub of his hands "Now...how about this food? Cause I am starving!" he laughed.

For the rest of the day we hung out and had a great time catching up, laughing and reminiscing till one by one everyone ended leaving in the wee hours of the morning. It was while I was cleaning up the mess around the apartment that I heard a quiet, hesitant knock at the door. Immediately I stilled my movements and listened for noise on the other side of the door but the only noise I heard was the same hesitant knock again. Not having a peep hole was going to be a problem as I slid the privacy lock and slowly opened the door, not really sure what I was going to find on the other side. "Brian?" I said softly, my heart thrumming in my ears as he tugged on the bill of his hat and finally lifted his eyes to mine...whoa! I swear I felt a jolt when our eyes connected through the 2 inch gap of my door. "Can I come in? I really don't wanna talk through a crack" he stated almost dryly, giving me no indication as to why he was here at 3 in the morning. "Hang on" I mumbled as I shut the door long enough to open the privacy lock and swing the door wide, exposing Brian completely. "Come on in...don't mind the mess though. I'm still cleaning up" I stated almost nervously as I turned my back to him and walked back into the kitchen listening to him shut and lock the door.