Chapter 13

Ipulled in a breath, trying not to be so contrary, and followed Crew off the dance floor and out the back door. A few people lingered on the patio as he led me out onto the beach. I stopped, slipping off my heels and kicking them to the side where no one would step on them. Crew did the same before we walked down toward the water. "Wanna sit or keep walking?"

"It's up to you," I said. "You're the one who wanted to leave."

"Didn't you?" he challenged.

"Obviously. I hate this stuff."

"Then why'd you come?"

I walked on the wet sand along the shoreline trying to avoid the water. "Gina asked me to."

"So, let me get this straight. If Gina asks you for something, you do it?"

"Pretty much."

"Why?"

"Because I trust her wholeheartedly."

"Must be nice to have someone like that," he said. "Is she the only one?"

I considered his question as the waves crashed at our feet. "Besides my mom, yes."

"I'm here too," he offered.

I balked. "Not for long."

"We go to the same school."

I stopped and looked at him. "You said it yourself. We don't run in the same circles."

"We could," he said.

"Right."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you more of a football groupie?"

I groaned and continued walking.

"What?" he asked, keeping pace with me.

"Don't ever call me a groupie. I'm a football fan," I said with the emphasis on fan.

"Football players suck."

"Seren Grayson's one of my friends."

"Oh, so you're crushing on the quarterback," he said.

"We're just friends," I assured him.

"You said it yourself. Guys and girls can't just be friends."

"Well, we are. He has a girlfriend. And I respect that."

"Well, maybe when we get back, you can hang with me and some of my friends. You might like them."

"Why would you want me around? We can't get along for more than a few minutes at a time."

He stepped in front of me, his blue eyes settling on mine. "I don't want to fight with you."

"What do you want?"

"I want you to fucking trust me."

"Why?"

"Because I think I've earned it."

I stayed silent, unsure why it was so important to him.

"I get that your trust issues have something to do with your dad," he prompted.

I gnawed on my bottom lip, reluctant to admit it.

"I'm thinking he did something unforgivable." He stared into my eyes, looking for confirmation. "Did he cheat?"

I nodded.

He winced. "Recently?"

"I found out last summer when the woman showed up at our beach house with his daughter."

Crew's eyes widened. "Je-sus. I didn't see that one coming."

"You're not the only one. It was like a punch to the gut."

"I'd say."

"He claimed not to know she had a kid, but how can we believe anything he says now?"

"Have you met the kid?" he asked.

"Just that day, but I assure you, it wasn't a pleasant meeting," I said, the recollections of that day never far from my mind.

"Does he have anything to do with her now?" he asked.

I shrugged. "As far as I know, he pretends she doesn't exist. But then again, he's like a stranger to me. So I have no idea what he does when no one's around."

"Seems like the kid's as innocent as you in this mess," Crew observed, though he couldn't possibly understand what it felt like to learn your perfect life wasn't perfect at all.

I shrugged.

"Your hate toward baseball players finally makes sense," he said. "But we're not all like that."

"Are you forgetting I've seen you in action?" I asked.

"I'm single. I can have fun," he countered.

"And have fun you do."

He cocked his head, unamused by my commentary. "If I had a girlfriend, I'd be faithful."

"Have you ever had a serious girlfriend?"

"No."

"Well, just having a girlfriend doesn't mean the temptation isn't there. You could easily stray. Groupies can be persuasive."

He shook his head. "I'm not that guy."

"I didn't think my dad was that guy either. He was the man I trusted most in this world. And look how that turned out. I won't let that happen to me." I looked out at the crashing waves, suddenly feeling way too vulnerable.

"Did your panic attacks start after you found out about your dad?"

"That day."

"Is that why you went away this summer? So you didn't have to come back here?" he asked.

I glanced to him. "Am I that transparent?"

He shook his head. "I think you're that smart."

"You're such a liar."

He smiled, knowing I thought everything out of his mouth was a line. "Seriously though, why don't you go with your mom? She's in Alabama, right?"

I nodded. "She wanted me and my father to work things out."

"Is that what you want?"

"Hell no."

"Then why not go now?"

Did I tell him that I was beginning to believe that him sleeping in my bed was one of the only things keeping the nightmares at bay? "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"Who would I sleep with at night if you're gone?"

I cocked my head. "I'm sure you'd find plenty of girls who'd like the spot."

"Too bad the one who's got it doesn't want it," he said.

He was good. I could totally see how girls would eat up his lines. "Hey, I haven't congratulated you on your award yet."

He shrugged.

"You should feel honored. A lot of MVP winners have gone onto the majors," I explained.

"That's the plan…But, I almost didn't even play here this summer," he said.

"Why?"

"I kind of wanted the summer off seeing as though if I get drafted, I won't have one off again until I retire."

"What changed your mind?"

"My mom pushed me to play. She always says a missed opportunity is a missed journey."

"She sounds like a smart woman."

He shrugged. "It's been just me and her my whole life. So, she always wants me to be my best and reach for the unattainable."

Sam and I had spoken about guys with sisters being good guys, but we hadn't discussed those raised by single moms. They tended to be equally good. "I already like her."

"She's sort of a badass like you. She takes no shit from anyone."

I winced. "Not sure if I should be flattered or insulted that you're comparing me to your mom."

"Sorry," he laughed. "I totally meant the badass thing."

"Come on, MVP," I urged as I turned to head back. "I've put in enough time at this event."

Most people had already cleared out when we returned to the banquet hall. Gina and Cody were the only two people dancing on the dance floor. I stopped at our empty table to grab my clutch, and I caught Gina's eyes and smiled. There was no way I'd make her leave with me, so I pointed to myself then hitched my thumb toward the door, letting her know I was leaving. She nodded.

I turned to see where Crew went, figuring I'd head home with him. He was at his table. He slipped on his suit jacket, picked up his award, and smiled. He should feel proud. That was the biggest honor of the night.

A girl I remember from the bonfire stepped up to him. He smiled as she pressed herself to his chest. She said something to him as she placed her hands against his chest. Her hands drifted up, and it was like watching a train wreck that I couldn't tear my eyes away from. Her hands slipped behind his head. Then, as if in slow motion, she urged his mouth down to hers.

I quickly spun away. The scene from the first day on my balcony materialized in my mind's eye. That's who Crew was. He had one-night stands. He used girls who threw themselves at him. I'd almost started to believe he wasn't that guy. But I'd witnessed it firsthand. I hurried toward the exit, hating that I'd forgotten who he truly was.

"Peyton!" Crew called across the room.

I stupidly glanced over my shoulder to find him maneuvering around tables to get to me with the girl following closely behind him. I shook my head. There was no way in hell I was gonna give him a chance to tell me he was leaving with her. "I'm gonna head out," I said, beating him to it. "See ya later."

"Wait!" he pleaded.

I took off for the door and didn't look back. When I found Sam by the exit with some of his teammates, I felt immediate relief. "Take me home," I said, linking my arm through his and pulling him outside with me.

"Normally, this would excite me," Sam said, keeping pace with me as I sought his car in the nearly empty parking lot. "Sadly, I know I'm not getting any action tonight. Why is that again?"

"Because it would ruin the beautiful bromance we've got going," I assured him as I pulled him toward his car.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're trying to get away from someone?" he asked before opening the passenger door to let me in.

"Because I'm totally trying to get away from someone," I said as I slipped into the seat.

He closed my door, rounded the front of the car, and got in.

"Can I guess?"

"Can you drive?"

In record time, Sam dropped me off. I wanted to get changed out of my dress, but I also didn't want to face Crew whenever he returned. Instead of going inside, I took the path to the backyard. I slipped off my heels and beelined it for the pool house—a place I could be alone. I stepped inside and tossed my heels beside the door on the tile floor, locking the door behind me. The over-sized sofa in there would have to do for the night because there was one thing I was sure about. I would not risk Crew trying to slip into my bed after he'd been kissing some other girl. We may not have been hooking up, but I would not lower myself to being second place to some groupie—especially after I'd confided in him.

God, I was so stupid.

I left the light off in the pool house and shimmied out my dress. I tossed it in the closet where I kept some old T-shirts and beach coverups and threw one on. I laid down on the sofa, curling into a ball underneath a throw blanket. The skylights in the pool house were my favorite thing about it. In the daytime, they let in the light, but at night they captured the stars. I exhaled a long breath as I gazed up at the stars.

Maybe I would catch a flight to Alabama.

If I wanted my life to go back to normal, I needed to be away from the Cape. Away from my father. And, away from Crew.