Page 30 of A Little Luck

“It’s still the rule. Rex was my best friend, and she was his girl.” Looking down, a dry ache is in my throat. “Then he died, and I kind of fell apart. She needed me, and I let her down. So she sent me away.”

“That’s when you came here?”

“That’s when I joined the Navy. I went away for five years and got my shit together. I grew up and learned how to be a real man.”

“Oh, shit.” Sheila’s eyes widen. “She married someone else while you were gone?”

“No.” I shake my head. “Nothing that dramatic. Piper only has one man in her life now—her son Ryan. I’ve accepted that truth, so I’ve closed the book and moved on.”

“So you say.” She takes a puff from her pipe. “What I hear is a beautiful young woman, a single mom, who you’ve been in love with since you were teenagers waited five years for you to come back, and you never made a move? What the fuck, Adam?”

That forces a laugh from me. “You heard wrong. I made a move, but she shut me down. She wants stability for her son, and I have a history of being a fuckup.”

“And I thought you were smart.” She takes a little puff off the pipe. “Sounds like you need a little fire in your belly.”

Frustration flares in my chest. “I love her, and I respect her boundaries. I want to be with her, but the days of men storming in and taking what they want are over.”

“Maybe you should bring them back.” She arches an eyebrow at me. “Have you kissed her?”

“Yes.”

“How’d it go?”

“Pretty damn good. What’s your point?”

“My point is when you know, you know.” She straightens her skirt. “Do you know?”

Looking down at my hands,I know. “Yes.”

“Do one thing for me when you’re back home, and don’t come back here unless you’ve done it.” I look up at her, as if she can see me. “Have her tell you straight-out why you can’t be together. If she has a reason, I want you to get it and tell me when you come back. If she doesn’t, I don’t expect to see you here again.”

I want to tell her she’s from another generation. Things are different now, and these days men wait for a solid yes, not a shaky no. Instead, I pocket my response.

I’d actually like to hear what Piper might say if I tell her this old woman’s assignment for me. “You’ll see me here again.”

* * *

My last nightin Sheila’s small house, I lie on my back with the slatted windows open. A breeze filters through the room carrying the scents of hibiscus, plumeria, and coconut. It’s different from Eureka, where pine trees line the shore, and the ocean is too far away to hear.

Turning onto my side, I think how in forty-eight hours, more or less, I’ll see her again.

I think about how the ache in my belly hasn’t subsided. In fact, it’s only gotten worse. I look at my phone, and I see all the texts between me and my brothers. Every day, I’ve communicated with Ryan. They’ve sent me videos and updates but none offered me a glimpse of her, and I ache to see her face, her pretty smile, the freckles on her nose.

Her name sits there silent on my list, haunting me like a memory I can’t let go.

Rolling onto my back, I’m quiet as sleep creeps over me, and with it comes the dreams I can’t escape every night. I might tell Sheila times have changed, but my inner caveman is alive and hungry.

Every night, I cover her mouth with kisses. Thick red hair spills around us in waves, and my hands are dark against the pale-ivory of her skin. I’m strong and hard, and she’s soft and willing. Our mouths collide, tongues entwine, and she moans, pulling me closer to her.

Her legs part, and her body opens to me. I inhale deeply her scent of honeysuckle and fresh ocean air. Tracing my lips from her waist up her sides to her breasts, I lose myself in her beautiful body.

Piper never showed off like the other girls at the beach in our surfing days. I only saw her a few times in a bikini. Still, the sight was imprinted on my mind, soft curves and a flat stomach. She’s classic, with small breasts and full hips, like something from an old painting.

Maybe that’s why she always covered herself in filmy, floral cover-ups. All I know is it made her even more tantalizing to me, like a present to be unwrapped.

How I still want to unwrap her. I want to lay her back on the sand, look down on her, devour her, make her moan my name like it’s the most delicious thing she’s ever tasted.

Every night in my dreams, it’s what I do when I’m with her. We’re together, and she whispers the words my body aches to hear.More…

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