Page 42 of Never Quiet

They were the least important pieces of who she was and Amanda always did her best to disguise them, mute them, make them secondary.

Today, she hadn’t had the chance.

Dakota mentioned they probably wouldn’t see Erick until late. Seeing him just up the beach left her no time to influence his first impression of her a year older.

Standing before him in a sundress, her thick blonde hair braided loosely almost to her waist, her feet bare, she saw the look in his eyes that many boys and men had given her in the past two years.

His eyes met hers and she quickly looked away. “We’ve been here for hours! Hey, Erick.” She hugged him lightly and immediately let him go. It was the hug of a stranger and he didn’t feel like a stranger. She stepped back and let her hands fall to her sides. Focusing on the girl who walked up to stand beside him, she smiled warmly. “Hello. I’m Amanda.”

She held out her hand and the brunette took it.

The girl was unable to hide her instant, powerful jealousy. Her voice was too high, her handshake fleeting. “Taylor.” To Erick, she added, “I’m starving. Let’s go say hi to your sister and make a snack.”

Message received: “I belong here. You don’t.”

Erick’s eyes waited when Amanda looked at him. “I’m going to play with the kids. See you later! It was great to meet you, Taylor.”

“Uh huh. Whatever. Come on, babe.” She wrapped her hands around Erick’s bicep and seemed to fold herself around him. In a whisper not intended to be one, she told him, “We can sneak away to your room later and I’ll get you off.”

Erick was a male and like most males of the species, the likelihood that he’d take Taylor up on her offer was high.

Amanda had no right to act territorial and she didn’t. However, some behavior had a time and a place.

This was not it.

“Taylor?” The girl looked at her with annoyance. Amanda dropped her voice to be certain it didn’t carry. “There are two three-year-old girls sitting here and a six-year-old boy.” Folding her hands in front of her, she continued, “They’re sponges so please don’t talk like that around them.” She smiled. “However, they won’t be in Erick’s room so there isn’t a need to censor yourself there. Have fun.”

Turning, she bumped into Sterling. She gave him a smile that cost her to form.

He asked, “Are you okay, Amanda?”

“Of course, honey…”

Looking past her, he stared Taylor right in the eyes and said, “I can tell you don’t like kids. Kids always can tell. That means I don’t like you. See you, Taylor.”

Without a word to Erick, his nephew took her hand and they went to their knees to play with the girls. They threw themselves at Amanda, hugging her tightly. The kids requested snacks, swimming, and a story in under ten seconds.

She ignored the couple and didn’t let herself watch them walk to the house.

A few minutes later, Davis appeared at her side. Tugging her a few feet away, he whispered softly with his back to the kids, “Erick’s girlfriend is raging the fuck out.”

“I don’t care.” She explained the brief exchange.

“Good for Sterling.” Davis sighed. “You’ve dealt with her type before and what-the-fuck-ever. We can’t help how gorgeous we are, you know? I mean, you know?”

She laughed but didn’t feel it. No matter how much she wished she did. “They’re ready to swim again. I waited for proper backup.”

“Your backup has arrived!”

For the next two hours, they ran the three small children ragged. In bathing suits that never really came off in the Keys, they chased them, swam with them, and did tricks on the sand.

Sterling showed them what he was learning in gymnastics and Heather watched him closely as he completed cartwheels down the beach.

Tilting her head, her sister signed, “I can do that.”

She got the first one wrong, all the way through her ninth one, but then Sterling helped her and she made it over. Julia wanted to learn, too.

Soon enough, Amanda and Davis were merely spectators as the little ones ran and jumped and flipped on the sand.

---