Page 18 of Summer Heat

Digging my hands into the sand, I scramble backwards toward the voices and farther away from Tristan. My head connects with a leg, and I pause long enough to look up, up, up, and... Oh shit.

“Greer?” Brady asks. “What the hell is going on?” His eyes shift over my face before looking up.“You.”

His hand drops down to me, and strong, sure fingers wrap around my bicep. The outrage on his face doesn’t match the gentleness of his touch as he pulls me to my feet.

“You alright, Greer?” he asks without taking his eyes off Tristan.

“I’m fine,” I lie. My entire body has a slight tremble to it, and if I don’t get away from Tristan soon, I think I might actually cry. “I’m just ready to go back to my room now.”

“We’ll walk you,” his friend says, and for the first time, I look at him.

It’s the driver from that first day, the one who didn’t like me very much. Well, he’s looking at me differently now. There’s not even a speck of hatred in his eyes. They are too full of something soft and incredibly kind. I want to hug him, or more like have him hug me. Wrap those powerful-looking arms of his around me and hold me tight and keep me safe.

“We’ll walk you home.”

His voice sends shivers racing through my body. Finally, the good kind. “Thank you.”

“It’s your loss, Greer,” Tristan spits out harshly. “If you want to go slumming it with the blue collars, that’s on you. Don’t come running back to me when they get what they want from you and toss you aside like yesterday’s garbage.”

Brady wraps his arm around my middle protectively and pulls me into the warmth of his body. He doesn’t smell like cheap beer and a bad time. Oh no, he smells like the salty ocean and sunshine. It’s like a drug to me, and I burrow into his side, clinging to him. Later I’m sure I’ll be embarrassed by my boldness, but right now I want to soak up as much of his warmth as I can get. I need it after my encounter with Tristan.

“Let’s get you out of here.” The driver steps up to my other side, and his big, warm hand brushes softly along my back, up and down, in a soothing gesture.

They steer me away from Tristan, and I can’t help but look back over my shoulder at him one last time. His arms are crossed over his chest, and his eyes are drilling angry holes into the back of Brady’s head. I don’t like the way he’s looking at the surfer, and the hatred wafting off of him practically has its own stench.

“Brady,” I murmur quietly. “He’s not someone you want to get on the bad side of. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s all good, Greer. Don’t you worry about me. Let’s just get you safely up to your room and far away from that prick. You should probably stop hanging out with him, he’s not good for you.”

I know that, and honestly after this last time, I’m not going to be hanging out with Tristan alone. I’ll put my foot down if I have to, I don’t care. I’m not putting myself in that position again. Tristan needs to learn how to take no for an answer and learn he’s not God’s gift to women. I’ll talk to Daddy about it. Maybe he should know what kind of people he’s going into business with.

The driver clears his throat.

“Shit, yeah. Sorry,” Brady says sheepishly. “Greer, this is Matt. He works here too, as a driver.”

“We’ve met, Brady. Sorry for being a dick to you before. I’m not used to girls like you being sweet and actually meaning it.”

I flinch at his patronizing words before pulling away from them both. “Girls like me?” I huff out. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

I’m so sick of being shoved into a little box and labeled like that, it’s not even funny. Just because my family has money, it doesn’t mean I’m a bad person, and I’m never not nice to people. This is the icing on the shit cake for my night and tears well in my eyes.

“Honey,” Brady says in a kind, gentle voice. “Your dad owns this joint, and your sister is such a stuck-up bitch, I’ve never seen anything quite like her. And I’ve seen a lot of people come through here in my time. He didn’t mean anything bad by it, but you’ve got to know where you come from and the differences between you and us.”

I don’t have to know such a thing. They talk like we come from different worlds, but they can’t be more than a couple of years older than me.

They both follow behind me like silent bodyguards as I stomp my way down the beach and past rows of cute little beach bungalows that house the staff. Why couldn’t I be staying out here by myself in one of these instead of the main building? I would like it more. The solitude and freedom of being on my own. The beach as my front yard. It’s like a dream come true.

The third house in is painted a light pink and has a cute little porch out front with a hammock hanging on it. There are strings of bright Christmas lights wrapped all around the porch posts and hanging from the rafters. The lights are all lit up inside, and the place is swarming with people.

Through the windows I can see people dancing and grinding up on each other. My face heats up as moans reach my ears from the couple in the hammock causing it to swing wildly. There’s a man sitting on the front step with his legs spread wide and a girl kneeling between them. I can only imagine what she’s doing. The people sitting on the bench on the other side of the porch are laughing loudly—all except for one who’s slumped over and looking out of place.

I pause mid-step. He looks familiar, but it’s too dark to be sure.

“Shit,” Matt swears. “Drew looks fucked up, man. I’ll get him home while you take Greer back to her room. I’ll meet you back at your place after.”

Drew! I knew he looked familiar. I want to go with Matt to help, but Brady steers me away and up the sandy pathway.

“Night, Greer,” Matt calls out over his shoulder. “I’ll see you around.”

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