57. Chapter Fifty-Six

Chapter Fifty-Six

I drop into the sand chair, resting my head back and closing my eyes.

"You just going to mope the entire time?" Reese's voice is nothing less than annoying. Some days he's tolerable. Today, not so much. Kind of wishing I'd have stayed home and swam in my pool alone.

"You're blocking the sun," I say, blindly waving him away.

"We're supposed to be having fun."

"And I will be if you get the fuck out of my way," I say.

He groans. "Fine. You can be sad for a little while longer, but that's it. I'm going to play with the kids for a bit, but I'll be back for you, mister."

I know he moves when the sun is back on my body, the warmth welcome. Coming to the beach was not what I wanted to do, but Reese was right when he said I needed a distraction. Problem is, nothing distracts me anymore. Had I known I'd be this upset over Sev being gone, I never would have let him go that night. I hate that it took him leaving for me to admit how much I care for the guy. It also makes me angry, because what the fuck? Why the hell did he just leave and not return? Where is he? Why is it so easy for him not to be with me? It's been two months and I'm freaking out.

Where the hell is he?

No one can find him. Not even Banks. Which isn't surprising at this point. When it comes to Sev, it seems even Banks isn't good enough to find him. Look how long it took him to figure out who he really was.

The sun beats down on me, and I itch to take off my shirt to get an even tan. But I can't. How the fuck do I explain Sev's name in my skin? Sure, Reese knows about it, but no one else does and I don't feel like having that conversation. Especially with the kids. Elizabeth may be old enough to realize it isn't a tattoo, but a scar. She'll have questions that I can't answer. Ezra may think I'm too tapped to be around his kids, which would really suck because I kind of like them. Especially the baby, Oliver.

I hate how miserable I am without Sev. Though, I can't imagine him at a place like this. Doing something so normal like hanging out at the beach. Yet, he did do normal things. He had a normal house. He cooked me dinner. He cuddled with me. He brought me on a date. The guy may be weird as fuck, and have a few screws lose, but he is genuine.

And I miss the fuck out of him. I'm going to kick his ass whenever I see him again.

Which better actually happen.

I force myself to listen to everything going on around me. Laughter and chatter from all the beachgoers. The waves. Seagulls. I find myself drifting into sleep. Until Reese comes back over and dumps a bucket of water on me that has me yelping and jumping to my feet. I shove him, but all he does is laugh, tossing the pink bucket to the ground.

"You looked hot!" he says through laughing.

I'm not mad about being wet. I'm mad that he startled me.

"And you look like a douchebag," I retort, running my hand through my hair.

"I told him not to do it," Josie says as she reaches us, but I see the way she's hiding her smile.

"Uh-huh," I say with a roll of my eyes. "Don't believe that for a second."

"Oh, she totally told me not to," Reese says, throwing his arm around her shoulder and tugging her to him. "But only so she could say she said it."

I've since learned she's as bad as he is. Not so much in the doing part, but she helps him plot and plan. It's awful.

"Come on. We're going to play volleyball," Reese says, jerking his chin toward the water. I glance that way, and eventually spot a few volleyball nets in the sand.

"Fuck you," I tell him.

"Wish you could," he teases.

I groan. "You are so far from my type it's not even funny."

Reese scrunches his nose up at me like he's offended. I wait for a smart-ass remark, but he doesn't give one.

"I need you on my team," Reese whines, giving Josie a little shake. "I know you're good at volleyball."

"And you expect me to do anything for you after what you just did?"

"Uh, yeah. Obviously."

"The guys on the opposing team look like they know what they're doing," Josie adds.

"Good. Maybe I'll join them," I say.

"Don't be such a sour patch, you big oaf. Come play one game and I won't bother you for the rest of the day." Reese gives me his biggest smile, and I shove him again before walking down the beach.

I find Ezra chatting with Ori while three guys stand on the other side of the net. When Reese and I reach them, Ez gives Ori a kiss and she goes over to the babysitter, Katrina, who's in the surf with the kids.

"They look intense," Reese mutters, gesturing to the three guys on the other side.

Intense? I don't know if that's the word. They look like three guys who would typically play volleyball on the beach. Bright swimming shorts, golden tans, backwards hats and sunglasses. Fucking frat boy pussies.

"All the more reason to kick their asses," Ezra grunts, glaring at them like they killed his pet.

Then it hits me that he's playing volleyball at all.

"Since when do you play team sports?" I ask him. Ezra does anything he can to avoid talking to people. Sports don't seem like his thing.

He smirks. "Since Reese made me an offer I can't refuse."

"I'm persuasive when I need to be," Reese answers. I can only imagine what he's offered Ezra to make him play along. Not sure I even want to know.

Reese isn't very competitive, but he likes to have fun. Ezra and I, on the other hand, are very competitive and sore losers. It's obvious Reese thought getting us to play would make him win. Why? Who knows? So he can look cool in front of the bros we're playing against probably.

"Why are we doing this exactly?" I ask.

Reese shrugs. "Why not?"

"You guys ready or what?" the guy in flamingo pink shorts shouts.

"Yep!" Reese calls back. "You get ball first."

We all get into position and start to play. The guy in the pink shorts serves the ball, hitting it right toward Reese, who jumps up and spikes it. Only he spikes it right into the ground in front of his feet and nowhere near the net.

I scowl. "Do you even know how to play?" I shout, slapping him upside the head and grabbing the ball.

"Yes, but it doesn't mean I'm good at it," he responds with a smirk.

The game goes on like this for a few rounds until Ezra and I decide Reese can't be anywhere near the ball, so we dive in front of him every chance we can get. The score is 21 - 17, and we're down. Everyone is sweating and panting, even the other team. Which means, if we get our shit together over here, we may be able to beat them.

Unfortunately, we don't.

The game ends when they hit 25 and we're only at 19. Thanks to Reese thinking he suddenly learned how to play and jumping in with "I got it" like he actually did. Only he didn't. He and Ezra collided at one point, and I was sure Ez was going to murder him.

"It's okay. You still looked hot while you played," Josie says to Reese, giving him a reassuring pat on the back.

"You look hot all the time," he responds, putting his arms around her.

Ezra walks over to Ori, and they go to their kids.

And I'm left alone.

Missing Sev, and realizing that had he been here, we'd have won because there's no way in fuck anyone would be okay beating him at anything out of fear of being murdered.

I miss that fucker.

Where the hell is he?