Page 58 of Forever & Always You
Austin kisses the tip of my nose. “I won’t let you burn. Promise.”
The corners of his eyes crease as he smiles and I gaze into the cool blue of his irises. My throat tightens, an ache in my core that’s like blazing wildfire, an indescribable feeling that hurts in all the ways I need it to.
You think blue eyes are just blue eyes until you fall in love with someone whose eyes are blue, and then, God, how they become so much more.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“It’s just sunscreen,” says Austin.
I shake my head, managing a small tinkle of laughter. “You always looked after me when we were kids, and you still look after me now. Holding my hand at the hospital, giving me a place to stay, helping me get my car fixed .?.?. I haven’t felt this safe since I lost my dad.”
Austin touches his thumb to my chin. “I can only dream of giving you the same life your father did. He was an incredible man who changed my life. The least I can do now is make sure his daughter is taken care of. Anything you need, I’m on it.”
“I think I only need you.”
“You already have me in the palm of your hand, Gabby,” he says, tucking loose curls behind my ear, “just like you did when we were eight years old.”
I stretch up and press my lips to his, a kiss so gentle and endearing that I want to live in it forever.
“Am I interrupting something, Gabs?” I hear Zach ask, and I sheepishly pull back from Austin to find my brother watching us, one eyebrow arched. “Hey, Austin. You mind if I talk to Gabby for a sec?”
“No problem,” Austin says coolly. He squeezes my shoulder as he stands from the lawn chair, setting off across the sand toward Claire and Lily, and Zach sinks into the empty chair to replace him.
“What?” I ask hesitantly, glowering at him through suspicious, narrow eyes.
Zach folds his arms across his chest and disapprovingly asks, “Since when do friends kiss at the beach?”
“Did I forget to update you? I’m so sorry, Zachary!” I say with feigned shock. “Austin’s a little more than a friend. There. All up to speed. Anything else you want to quiz me on?”
Zach rolls his eyes. “Does Mom know? She’ll never allow it. You know she never liked him.”
“Hello?College dropout, bartender, hellhole apartment,remember? It’s pretty clear by now I don’t care about disappointing her. Besides, she doesn’t care much for Claire, either, and that hasn’t stoppedyou.”
“That’s true,” Zach agrees with a laugh. He rubs his jaw thoughtfully as he watches Austin wrestle with Lily. “You definitely aren’t on drugs?”
“No!”
“Mom wanted me to ask.”
“Of course she did.”
“To be fair to her, youareacting a bit erratic,” Zach says. “You wanted to apologize to Austin, I get it, but now you’re suddenly dating the guy? I have no idea how he even trusts you.”
“We’ve worked through things,” I say, but I feel my blood boiling at having to justify my relationship with Austin. It’s none of Zach’s business. “I think it says a lot about his character that he’s willing to forgive me. He’s a good guy, and he makes me happy. Can we just leave it at that?”
Zach shrugs. “If you say so. But trash is trash, Gabby.”
My jaw slackens, taken aback by Zach’s cruel words. Now my blood really does burn. “That’s a horrible thing to say and you fucking know it.”
“He may be doing alright for himself now. May drive the nice car, may wear the suits, but you and him aren’t the same. I’m not saying he’s a bad guy, but we were raised differently, and it’ll never work out with someone who doesn’t have the same morals.”
“And what morals dowehave, exactly?” I spit, pushing myself up from the sand and towering over Zach in the lawn chair. “Because I was a raging bitch in high school, and you’re being a massive dick right now. So c’mon. What are these great morals of ours you speak of?”
“Jesus, Gabby. Calm down.”
But I can’t calm down, because I have never seen so muchof my mother in Zach before. “Our biggest mistake was not learning from Dad,” I mutter through clenched teeth. “He was the only one who ever treated Austin with kindness.”
Zach gets up from the lawn chair, chest broad as he stands challengingly in front of me. “What does that mean?”
