10. Peyton

Peyton

" F allon, wait. I want to apologize." She stops in front of a tattoo parlor but doesn't make a move to go inside or turn around. Taking it as a small victory, I continue. " I was an ass. I never should have said those mean, hurtful things to you."

"No, you shouldn't have. I accept your apology. Now, if we're done here, I want to go see my boyfriend."

Her words cut me deeper than I thought they would. There was always the chance that she had gotten over me and had moved on in the last five months, but a part of me had hoped she would still want me as much as I wanted her because in all the months we were separated, I never once thought about being with anyone else.

The social media sites tried to make it look like I was dating. I might have gone to red carpet-events, and award shows with a date, but that's as far as it went. There has never been anyone since or before Fallon.

A tall, muscular guy covered in tattoos walks out of the tattoo place. He glances from Fallon to me and then back to Fallon: "Hey, honey, are you ready to go to lunch? I thought we could go to that place you like down the street.

"Actually, I was hoping we could go in the back and have a quickie like usual." She runs her fingers up his arm, stopping at a beautiful design of a sea nymph. She traces the outline of the mermaid in an intimate way that leaves no doubt that these two are close.

"Um…sure. Let's go in the back room and have lots of sex." Fallon's boyfriend's face doesn't match his words. If anything, he looks like he would rather do anything else than have sex with her.

Now I'm pissed. Did Fallon settle for some guy that doesn't appreciate her? Did I hurt her so bad that she thinks this guy, with his long beard and tatted body who's clearly not into her, is the best she can do? Sure, he's a good-looking guy if you're into that rugged, mountain man, loner type.

Fallon needs someone who can appreciate her quick wit and loving nature. Someone who won't take her for granted. Someone who will trust her beyond a shadow of a doubt and listen to her instead of hurting her. Someone who's not me.

"Okay. Well, if we're good. I'll see you around Fallon."

She wraps an arm around the guy's back and spins to face me, her luscious body pressing against his side, and I swear I see him stiffen.

What the fuck is wrong with this guy?

"See you around, Peyton."

The sound of the surf does nothing to calm me. I need to get out of here, away from my greatest temptation, so I turn and walk away from the woman I love. I fight the urge to turn around. Why torture myself with seeing her in his arms and not mine.

What did I expect? That she would forgive me and instantly take me back after all the months of pain and misery I caused her. What an idiot I am.

The urge is too strong, so I duck behind a building and peek around the corner. Fallon and that guy are no longer touching. She's waving at him and walking down the sidewalk in the other direction while he steps back inside the tattoo parlor.

What are you up to now, my little temptress?

I hang back, waiting a few more minutes to make sure she doesn't see me, then I follow her. Lurking in the shadows, I make sure she doesn't see me. When she finally reaches a small dock, away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the boats, I realize this must be her grandfather's boat, and that she's going fishing, even though I don't see any rods or bait anywhere.

I watch from behind a tree as she expertly unties the small fishing boat and prepares it for takeoff.

"You can stop hiding. I know you've been following me since I left Creed's Tattoo shop."

I jog to her side. Creed. Her new boyfriend's name is Creed. I've never hated a person's name before, but there's always a first. "So why isn't Creed here with you? If you were my girlfriend, I wouldn't let you go off on your own in the ocean in only that little boat."

"First of all, no one is going to tell me what I can or can't do. I've changed over these last few months. I'm not the same na?ve little girl who thought the man she…liked would actually listen to her and give her a chance to explain her side of the story. And second, Creed isn't my boyfriend. He's just a friend I grew up with. He's been in love with McKenna for as long as I can remember. She loves him back, but they are both too stubborn to act on it."

I let out a sigh of relief. He's not her boyfriend. He's just a friend. I can live with that.

"Do you know how much he loves her?" she continues, "So much that he let her go when she was first discovered by a talent agent at the age of fifteen. He had just turned eighteen, graduated high school, and was going to start his apprenticeship at his uncle's tattoo parlor while he waited for her to come of age. Instead, when she came home from a tour on our eighth birthday, he stayed away from the party. She was so heartbroken that she very rarely comes back to Love Beach. I see how much she longs for him every day. I can't do it anymore. I need to get you out of my system and get on with my life so I don't end up alone like the two of them."

"What do you mean, get me out of your system?"

She climbs into the boat and takes a seat. "Get in," she says, pointing to the seat in front of her.

I might be a great quarterback, but I'm not the best swimmer. Even though the water looks calm right now, I know how fast that can change. "Are you sure about this boat? It looks like it could fall apart at any minute." I cautiously climb into the old boat and take the seat across from her. "Alright, Captain. Where are we off to?"

"You'll see," she says as she pulls the cord on the engine, causing it to roar to life, and the little boat to jerk through the water.

The way she says you'll see makes me wonder if her plan to get me out of her system involves chopping me up into shark bait.