Break Me (The Summer Series) Read online

  ~~~

  Hours later Gemma was walking down the beach with Kate, who was literally bouncing with excitement. “Wait until you see this guy and his friends.” She fanned herself. “They are like the prettiest people I have ever met. I have got to start drinking the water here. Seriously, I almost offered my swimsuit bottoms to the one who invited me.”

  Gemma turned to Kate in shock. “What?”

  “Oh, come on, Gem”—she rolled her eyes—“we aren’t at the house. We can admit we aren’t Daddy’s little girls out here.”

  “Funny, didn’t know I was ever Daddy’s little girl.” Gemma couldn’t hide the hostility and disgust in her voice, not that she wanted to.

  Kate looked at her confused and then shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever, anyway, it’s not like we’re virgins or anything, and when you get a look at these guys, I won’t be the only one in a constant state of salivation. Seriously, they are gorgeous. Dibs on the tall one.”

  “Take whomever you want. I’m here to make sure no one slips you anything and to sneak away for some peace and quiet.” Gemma felt her bag to double check she had remembered the book she had swiped from Kate earlier.

  The flames came into sight, and Gemma could see Kate fixing her hair in her periphery. Flames darted up, and silhouettes of people dancing and talking came closer. Gemma noticed a tall figure off to the side and had to force her nerves back into place. He wasn’t here, she knew that. He would be working his security job by now. The fact that she wasn’t sure if his absence made her happy or not, didn’t bode well for her forget-about-him plan.

  “Let’s go get a drink; I am dying for a beer.” Kate started toward the keg and Gemma hesitated before following. Who the heck was this girl and where did she come from? Kate was always the quiet goody-two-shoes. Now she was, yep, she was definitely working some dude over to get him to fill her cup up for her.

  Gemma hurried over to catch up to Kate. “Well, it looks as if you got this, so I’m just going to go over and sit, okay?”

  “Oh my God, Gemma, there he is. Come on. You’ve got to see this guy.” Kate took off, and Gemma let her head fall back in frustration before turning to follow her. Just as she was making her way through the crowd, she saw Kate reach up and wrap her arms around a guy’s neck. Kate released him just as Gemma stepped up next to her. “Gemma, this is—”

  “Abe.” Gemma finished, embarrassed at the hitch in her breath. “Yeah, we’ve met.” Her heart picked up speed and then stuttered out as realization dawned. This was the guy whom Kate wanted. This was the guy who had invited her. This gorgeous specimen in nothing but swim trunks and giving Gemma the first glimpse of some of the most amazing abs she had ever seen that ran down into . . . Oh, dear God, there was a happy trail. She hadn’t even been sure until that moment that non-fictional men actually had them. Abe did. Her face flamed at the thoughts going through her mind, and she turned so she was only looking at Kate. She could tell by the glimmer in Abe’s eyes that he was aware she had been checking him out. “Well, looks as if you found your friend. I’m off to do my thing.” She hurried out of sight and didn’t wait for either to respond.

  Just as she was getting to the outskirts of the party, she was stopped by a brunette who looked familiar. “Hey, sorry to bother you, but are you the one staying in the red house in the Villages?”

  “Oh, yeah”—Gemma checked over her shoulder to see if Kate or Abe were following her—“that’s us.”

  “Cool.” The girl put her hand out. “I’m Emily and I’m good friends with Abe. He was telling me he had run into you and was hoping to introduce us tonight.”

  “Tonight?” Gemma furrowed her brow. “How would he introduce us tonight? He didn’t even know I was coming.” She looked around again, concerned and a little creeped out by Abe’s all-knowing mind.

  “One thing you’ll learn about our Abe is that he knows everything. He says I’m crazy, but I swear that boy has some kind of sixth sense. I call it ‘stalker-stinks,’ short for ‘stalker instincts,’ but really I just like to imply that the golden boy stinks.” She grinned mischievously. “You can call it whatever you want, I guess.”

  “No, ‘stalker-stinks’ sounds about right.” Gemma growled.

  “What?” Abe surprised Gemma from behind. “Are you telling stories again, Em?”

  “Hey, there you are.” Kate stepped up next to Gemma.

  “Yeah, I just ran into Abe’s friend, Emily. I’m still headed out though.”

  “No.” Abe stepped up closer to her. “I mean don’t disappear. Stay and hang out. We can talk about more than you getting off my beach.”

  Gemma rolled her eyes. “And what would we possibly have to talk about?”

  “Hmmm, how about the book you have in your bag?”

  “How did you kn—? You know what? Never mind . . . stalker.” Gemma finally let a smile break out. Abe smiled back, and there was something in the way he looked at her that made leaving no longer an option.

  ~~~

  They all sat in a circle. Gemma, with Emily and her boyfriend Ryan, sat on a log that had been rolled up from somewhere down the beach. She finally placed them as two of the three kids she had seen walking down the street the day she arrived. Kate was in a beach chair. Abe stood next to her, along with a couple more of their friends, including Trey, an insanely muscular guy who intimidated Gemma, and Megan, the blonde from that first day who still seemed to be giving Kate and Gemma the stink eye. Kate hadn’t stopped trying to get Abe’s attention, and his position above her had her chest out ridiculously far. Gemma couldn’t believe the irritation she felt toward both Kate and the Megan girl, who was also obviously fighting for some attention. Emily kept trying to get Gemma to focus on her so they could talk, but Gemma’s eyes always made their way back to the three people across the circle from her.

  When she finally decided to give Emily her attention or have to admit things to herself about her feelings for Abe that she refused to face, it was like pulling two pieces of tape apart. Her eyes fought hard to stay on the others. Once Emily had her attention, she smiled and began talking about surfing and wanted to know if Gemma had ever tried. After laughing longer than she should have, she simply replied, “No.”

  “That’s too bad.” Emily started to get excited. “You have to come with us tomorrow. I’ll swing by and pick you up. You’ll love it.”

  “What a whore.” The girls both turned to the source of the snarl that came from across the group and saw Megan sneering at the retreating backs of Kate and Abe. Gemma’s stomach dropped not only at the possessive tone Megan used but at the sight of Abe turning and putting his hands on Kate’s hips as they started dancing. What the hell had she been thinking? This was why you don’t let them in. Men always want the Kates and the Megans. They never want the plain girl who sneaks out to read. They want the ones who offer up their swimsuit bottoms.

  “I think I’m going to get another drink.” Gemma stood and ignored everyone as she made her way to the keg. The same guy who Kate had been working on earlier stood by the keg still, clearly using that as his opportunity with women. As a girl ahead of her waved goodbye, Gemma stepped up. “Beer, please.”

  He looked down at her curiously and then smiled as he filled the cup. “Anything else I can get you?” The smirk told her that he wasn’t having much luck and even she would do tonight.

  “Yep.” She swallowed as much beer as she could and then held the cup out toward him. “Keep this full all night and you’ll have a new best friend.”

  “Deal.” He pumped the keg and then proceeded to fill her cup again. “I’m Jay.”

  “Gemma.” She chugged again and then held the cup toward him, trying not to burp. “Don’t,” she narrowed her eyes at him and jabbed his chest with her finger, “call me Gem and we’re good.” No one ever called her that name. And the one person who had been getting away with it would get his ass kicked if he tried it again. She would make sure of it. She couldn’t believe she had allowed herself to g
et sucked into that tool bag’s trap. She could not and would not let history repeat itself. If Abe wanted the Kates of the world, he could have them. She, Gemma, would be just fine without him and with a few more drinks.

  “Yes ma’am.” And what started out as one drink turned into more than Gemma or Jay could count. Gemma wasn’t much of a partier on account of her having never really been invited to parties, so this could only end one way, badly.

  ~~~

  “What the hell, Gemma?” Kate struggled to help get Gemma to her feet. Suddenly, there were two more hands wrapped around her, and the smell alone told her who was there. She tried to jerk away but instead stumbled back, right into his chest.

  “Hey,” he whispered, turning her to face him and tucking the hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear, “you okay?”

  “What do you care? Go back to Kate . . . or Megan.” She pushed off him and stumbled forward before getting to her feet and walking toward their end of the beach. Kate looked at Abe apologetically and hurried to catch up to her.

  “Gemma, what the hell was that? How many did you have?”

  “Oh, that’s right; you missed it. You were too busy dancing and God knows what else. Well, I had at least five, lost count, and didn’t care at that point.”

  “Is there something going on here that I’m missing?” Kate jerked Gemma to a stop and made her look her in the eye.

  “No, DAMN IT,” Gemma yelled as tears filled her eyelids. “Go back to the party. Go back to Abe. Go back to the life you get.” With that, Gemma took off running toward the gate, never looking back.

  Five

  The next morning Gemma was up by six. Her head was pounding, and she couldn’t seem to drink enough water. Luckily, she wasn’t prone to throwing up. She knew she had some things to say to Kate, and she didn’t know where she was going to start. She couldn’t carry this much anger anymore, and she needed to accept that guys like Abe went for girls like Kate. The sooner she got over it, the better. As Gemma was walking back into the room from the shower, Kate sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Hey,” Kate whispered.

  “Hey, Kate, listen, about last night . . .” Gemma was overcoming her nausea, but her nerves were unsettling her stomach. She had things to say to Kate, things she hadn’t said and never planned to say, but Kate deserved some kind of explanation for how crazy Gemma had been the night before. She gripped her towel, ready to talk.

  “No, wait.” Kate put her hand out, interrupting Gemma’s next words. “Let me say something.”

  “Okay,” Gemma walked over to her bed and sat down facing Kate, trying to ignore the pounding in her head and focus.

  “Last night, I was, well, let’s just face it, I was being desperate. Abe is so hot I can’t stand it. Even though I could tell after I introduced you that you knew him and you two obviously had something going, I still went for it. Mostly because I’m a horny brat but partially because I want you to like me so much and you just . . . won’t.” Gemma was visibly taken aback. “I just . . . I’m so sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have made a move, especially after the first dance when he spent the whole song asking me about you.”

  “He what?” Her eyes went wide in shock and something like a boulder dropped in her stomach.

  “I know, right? He probably thinks I’m pathetic. And that Megan girl? What a first-class “B,” right?” The snarl on Kate’s face was priceless. Gemma sensed her sister’s dislike for the girl, yes, but deeper, she sensed Kate’s protective side. Kate didn’t like the way Megan reacted to last night’s situation, and that had something softening deep inside Gemma.

  Gemma laughed, not knowing where to start. “Yes, you had better watch your back. I heard her call you more than one colorful name.”

  “Ooooh, really?” Kate chuckled. “This summer just got exciting.”

  “You’re crazy.” Gemma laughed, suddenly liking Kate a little more. “How come you’ve never been like this with me?”

  “Like what? How could I be any way with you? I try to talk, but you basically run away or roll your eyes, and yes”—Kate raised a brow—“I see it.”

  “I’m sorry about that. I guess when you grow up hating your father and his wife the kids just kind of fall in the mix.” She frowned, guilt snaking its way through her body.

  “Well, we didn’t make those decisions and mistakes. And Gray and I, we’re actually pretty cool. Give us a try?” Kate tilted her head to the side, waiting on Gemma’s approval.

  “Deal, you get a shot,” Gemma said after some internal deliberation. “Just please try not to throw yourself at anyone else if I’m in the room.”

  “Hmm.” Kate thought for a moment and Gemma laughed. “Deal.” Kate started to get up and was looking for something to wear in their dresser when Gemma took a deep breath.

  “Kate?” She cleared her throat as Kate turned and raised her eyebrows, indicating for Gemma to continue “Did he really, uh, ask about me and stuff?” Mortified to be asking and ashamed that she was already giving into her shocking feelings for him, she looked down and fidgeted to avoid Kate’s knowing eyes.

  Kate laughed and shook her head. “Yes, I’m such an idiot. He stared at you all night and wouldn’t shut up about you. ‘What does she like to read? What does she like to do other than read? How old is she?’ It was so obvious. It didn’t sink in until we tried to help you home, though. The way he looked at you when he was making sure you were okay . . . If you had been sober, you would have been the one drooling all over yourself . . . and him.”

  Gemma tried not to shiver. As much as she wanted to pretend she didn’t see and feel it last night, she did: the way his eyes bore into hers, the way his fingers lingered on her ear, and the way she trembled as those fingers ran down her neck before going back to her side for support. It was there, and she needed to talk to him today to figure out what all of it meant. She started pulling a tank top over the swimsuit she had put on after her shower when there was a knock on the door downstairs. “Who is here at seven in the morning? And why on earth are they already out and about?”

  “Don’t know.” Kate pulled her hair up into a messy bun. “Come on. Let’s go see.” They made their way down the stairs and peeked around the corner to the back deck. “Is that Emily and Ryan?”

  “I think so,” Gemma whispered back. “Let’s see what they’re doing here before they start ringing the doorbell.” Gemma hurried the rest of the way to the waiting couple and opened the door. Standing before her, she found two far too awake and happy people for this time of day.

  “Oh, good, you remembered. Let’s go. Are you coming too, Kate?”

  “What?” The girls said in unison, nearly yelling their disdain for any sort of activity at that hour.

  “Surfing, beach hangout, does any of this ring a bell, my drunken friend?” Emily laughed and snaked her arm through Ryan’s as he smiled down at all of them.

  “Oh, balls! I’m so sorry. I completely forgot.” Gemma looked to Emily apologetically.

  Kate shrugged. “I’m game. Let me grab us some towels.” She hurried away while Gemma looked at her feet, embarrassed by her behavior the night before.

  “Hey, he doesn’t care, you know. He’s just hoping you show up today.” Gemma looked up confused as Kate joined the group again and gestured for the other two to lead the way.

  Gemma focused on Emily’s words the entire walk to the beach. Did that mean he knew what was going on last night? Did that mean he was interested? How the heck did people do this romantic crap all the time? It was a lot easier to read about it than to try to figure it out on your own. Emily looked over her shoulder and smiled at Gemma. This was Gemma’s signal that they were getting close to the group. At that moment, her stomach dropped out. All of her bravado gone, she looked around for a place to hide.

  “You’re fine,” Kate whispered. “He’s out in the water, see?” Kate pointed in the distance, and sure enough, Abe was sitting on a board, laughing at something one of his friends said. “Come on. Let’s go se
e what Emily is doing.”

  The girls walked over to where Emily was seated on a towel and was applying sunscreen. Gemma and Kate followed suit, and Gemma added a hat for good measure. “I don’t think I can do this,” Gemma suddenly said as the other two girls were wiping their hands on a towel. “He’s going to think I’m crazy after last night, or worse, come over here looking for Kate.” She took a step back. “I’m sorry. I think I’m going to head back to the house.”

  Gemma went to turn around, and her face collided with a very firm, very smooth, and very enticing pec muscle. Exactly how she wanted that moment to end. She kept her head down for a beat to try and calm the burning in her face. “Gem, glad you could make it.” Abe reached out and lifted her chin so she was looking in his eyes.

  “Actually, I was just going to—”

  “Take a walk with me? Please?” Abe nodded over her head and then placed his hand on the small of her back. That small gesture had one thought suddenly rolling through her mind. She was so screwed. “Listen”—he let out a breath as he kicked some sand while they walked along the water’s edge—“about last night. I’m sorry if I did or said anything that gave you the wrong impression. I’m just going to put it on the table and let you decide what happens from here, good?” Startled, Gemma nodded and let him continue. “Okay, so, I knew Kate was your sister when I invited her to the party.” He looked down. “Sorry. I know it was wrong, especially since I could tell she was interested in me, but I knew the one-word answers or insults you were flinging were never going to lead to anything more than that, so I had to find a way to get some time with you in a comfortable environment.”

  “So you thought hitting on my sister was the solution to that problem?” Gemma asked and crossed her arms over her middle defensively.

  He reached out and pulled her arm, leading her to small nook in the bank. There was protection around them. No one could see them anymore, and they could only see a tunnel to the water and some sand at their feet. It was beautiful and peaceful and perfect. She sat down in the sand and faced the ocean, not able to look in his eyes or at his body in that suit as he continued. “No, that wasn’t it at all. Once you got there you were still ignoring me. I just thought if I got her alone I could figure out what to say. It seems everything I come up with on my own just serves to piss you off.” He pushed some sand around nervously before finding her eyes again. She couldn’t believe how the sight of him, especially with the sun reflecting off the water and hitting him so perfectly, could make her insides completely malfunction.