Page 4 of Run for Us

Sliding off the table, I secure my dress higher while keeping the small sheet across my breasts.

“It’s safe to turn around now,” I say as I walk toward the mirror and smile when I see the words across my ribs, just under my bra line, written in cursive.Love yourself first.

Rip comes to stand behind me.

“I love it,” I whisper, tears forming in my eyes.

“I’m not sure what you’re going through. Losing yourself is easy. Finding yourself is hard. But the journey is worth it. I hope you find your light, Kinsley, ” he whispers, and my heart thumps against my ribs as I look up into his eyes in the mirror. There doesn’t seem to be any ulterior motive, and why would there be? He doesn’t know me.

Once he finishes putting a small, clear bandage over the tattoo, he turns around so I can pull my dress up.

“Thank you, Rip. It’s been a pleasure meeting you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine,” he says as he walks me back out to the front room.

“How much do I owe you?”

He smiles. “No payment required. Sometimes people come into your life for a reason, and I have a feeling we were meant to meet.”

“Are you sure?” I ask. No one does anything for free.

He nods, and his unruly hair flops around his face. “Very. I hope you find whatever it is you’re looking for in Bluebell.”

The bell on the door chimes, and a young man—about eighteen—flies through the door.

“You need to hide me, Rip. Shore is going to murder me... Oh, hello. You’re new.”

I smile at him. “Hi.”

“Tyde, what did you do this time? I can’t save you from your brother every time you do something stupid.”

“Dad made me take him the crabs this morning. And I may have locked him inside with them—alive.”

Rip snorts. “You know he hates crabs.”

Tyde looks at me. “What sort of seafood cook is afraid of crabs? Mom babies him by pre-cooking them. Can you believe that?”

“Sounds like you have a nice mom. It was wonderful meeting you both.”

I give them a small wave and leave before the angry brother shows up to start a potential brawl in the small store.

Chapter Three

Shore

Having a large family has its good days and bad. Growing up, there was never a shortage of people around, so there was no time to be lonely. Mom and Dad have fostered kids for as long as I can remember, plus add in five kids of their own. I have three brothers and a sister. We all have ocean-themed names, which we all hated when we were younger, but my parents were born in Bluebell, and so were their parents. They love the town, the ocean, and having a large family.

My older brother, Harbor, is one of the six local cops, and Cove is always out at sea working on his boat. Next there is me, then Tyde, and finally our sister, Sailor. Most of the foster kids come and go—except Ripley.

He came to live with us when he was fourteen and was in a bad way. I have never seen a boy so scared in my life, and I still don’t know why they thought putting him with a large family was a great idea. At first, he barely spoke or even came out of his room. Being such a large personality, I made it my mission to behis friend. Day one, it got me a punch in the nose, but I slowly wore him down. After a few months, he asked my parents if they could give him a new name. He wanted nothing to do with his old life, and that is how he became Ripley—or Rip, as we now call him.

All of us still live at home, but not for much longer. Rip, Kasen, and I have been saving, and we purchased the old lighthouse and the surrounding land from my grandpa. He and Mimi wanted to retire, and Bluebell has a great assisted-living community. I’m jealous; they have planned activities, little cottage-style houses, and meals delivered every day. Where do I sign up?

Today the festival activities start, and I organized for Dad to get me some fresh crabs from Cove, and all Tyde had to do was take them to Mom. Instead, the asshole locked me in my van with them. I started Shore Bites the day after I graduated from high school. Folks around here rarely go to college, and those who do never return. They are the kind who have dreams of leaving small-town life behind.

But not my family—we live and breathe this town. All except Sailor. At fifteen she wants nothing to do with small-town life or small-town men, which I am kind of grateful for because I know all the little dickheads, and not one is good enough for my baby sister. I also think our foster sister, Lulu, might have something to do with it. She’s sixteen and wants to be an actress. She is dramatic enough to pull it off too.

Kasen Prescott, the swoon-worthy asshole, attracts all the women in town to his self-defense classes. I don’t know if the man is straight, gay, or even bi like Ripley and me. He insists it doesn’t matter, and I suppose he is right. He goes out of town to get laid at least once a week, but refuses to let me tag along, telling me to stay home and suck my brother’s dick. Kasen might think it’s hilarious, but Rip is not my brother. It was clear fromday one I felt differently toward him—my parents could even see it. The thing about Ripley is he’s complicated. He’s a free spirit who can instantly tell you a lot about someone you only just met. It’s a fucking superpower, if you ask me.

---