“It would be easier if we hadn’t moved. I knew his friends, and they were good kids. Here the kids are a mystery to me. I saw them in town, and then again at the beach the other day, and the kids were, I don’t know, rougher, maybe. Hardened in a way that his old friends weren’t.”
Bella leaned back in her chair. “Well, this is a tourist town, so I’d imagine that the kids who live here year-round probably spend summers the way I did. I was always with a pack of friends, riding bikes from one place to the next. It wasn’t the ocean breeze that blew through my hair at that age. It was newfound freedom. I had a bike, a new teenage body, and friends who wanted to have fun. Life was good. And what makes it even better for kids who live here year-round is that a new crop of hot girls or guys arrive weekly.”
Caden rose and began clearing the table. “Let’s not go there. I’m still getting used to him wanting to text someone more than he wants to hang with me.”
“Maybe it’s me he doesn’t want to hang with. It’s an adjustment for him to have to share you.”
“It’s not you. He told me he likes you, and that you’re…” Caden arched a brow. “Hot.”
Bella smiled as she carried the dishes inside. “At least you know the boy has good taste.”
Caden followed her inside. “He saw that picture you sent in your sexy little nightie and boots.”
Bella gasped. “Oh no. He did not.”
“Sure did. But he decided you were hot before that.”
She fisted her hands in his shirt and buried her face in his chest. “I’m so sorry. I’ll be more careful.”
“It didn’t seem to faze him. He just asked if we were dating.” Caden lifted her chin and kissed her. “I’m so glad we are.”
“Mm. Me too. I’m sorry about being so wishy-washy today. I’m definitely falling for you and Evan.”
Caden narrowed his eyes. “Me and Evan?”
“You’re a package deal. How could I fall for you and not him?”
“He’s not easy to fall for at the moment,” Caden said with a serious tone. “But you couldn’t have made me happier than you did by including him.”
“He’s just being a teenager, and besides, I’ve seen flashes from the non-testosterone zone, and I like them. He’s not going to be a teenager forever. I would like to spend time with him, though. I can’t just monopolize you.”
“I think at the moment he’s happy to let you monopolize me.” He kissed her again. “When we first moved here, we went surf fishing a lot. We’d get up at five o’clock in the morning, some days before school, and last night when I asked him if he wanted to go this morning, he said, Get up at five? No way.”
“That doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to spend time with you. It means he’s realizing that he can be separate from you. He can sleep later and go out and have as much fun with his friends as he would with you. He’s cutting the umbilical cord.”
Caden leaned against the sink and folded her into his arms. “Like I said, I get it. It’s just not easy. He’ll always be my number one responsibility, and I’m not giving that up because he wants some freedom.”
“You shouldn’t give it up. Just don’t take it personally.”
“What are you up for? Want to go for a walk? Watch a movie? Sit outside and count the stars?”
Evan burst from his bedroom mumbling under his breath. He stormed out the back doors and paced the yard.
Caden stepped toward the door, and Bella grabbed his arm. “Don’t you want to let him blow off steam first?”
His concerned eyes locked on Evan, then shifted to her, then back to Evan. “He never storms off.”
“If you follow him, won’t he just snap at you?” Bella felt Caden’s muscles tense.
Caden shrugged from her grasp. “Let him snap.”
Her heart went out to Caden as he stalked out the door. She knew all he wanted to do was fix whatever had sent Evan into a tizzy. If Evan was anything like the teenagers she knew, when Caden asked Evan what was wrong, Evan would snap, Nothing, in a spiteful way that would cut Caden to his core, when really, whatever had sent Evan storming outside felt bigger than life in his teenage mind.
She went into the living room and sat down on the couch, debating whether she should leave and give them time alone. She didn’t hear any yelling, which she took as a good sign. After twenty minutes, Bella began to wonder again if she should leave. She went in search of Caden so she could bow out of the evening politely. She found them sitting on the steps of the deck with their backs to her, both leaning their elbows on their legs. Evan’s narrow shoulders and waist looked even smaller beside Caden’s broad body. Bella hesitated by the screen door, unsure if she should interrupt them. She didn’t want to leave without saying anything, and simply by being there she knew she was putting added pressure on Caden to return to her.
She opened the screen door, and they both glanced over their shoulders. Evan’s eyes were hidden beneath his hair. Caden’s were dark and serious.
“Hey.” She hoped she sounded casual. “I think I’ll take off.”
“Bella, stay.” Caden came to her side.
“You don’t have to leave,” Evan said from the steps.
She had no idea if she should leave or stay. They both sounded sincere, but she didn’t want to take Caden’s attention away from Evan when he needed him most.
“I’m sorry,” Caden said.
He might have wanted her to stay, but she knew that a bigger part of him needed time alone with Evan.
“It’s okay. Evan needs you more than I do right now. Thanks for dinner. It was amazing.”
He touched his forehead to hers. “I’m sorry, babe,” he whispered.
“Don’t be. I’m a big girl. Besides, I had you all to myself today.” She kissed him and felt his disappointment tangle with hers on the way out the door.
Chapter Fifteen
BELLA PULLED INTO Seaside still nursing her disappointment. She was happy to see everyone hanging around the fire pit in the quad. She could use a few laughs.
“Bella! Tony made Talking Monkeys.” Jenna hurried over to Bella with Pepper on her heels. She looked like a teenager in her purple hooded sweatshirt, jeans rolled up at the ankles, and purple flip-flops. “Where’s your man?” She looped her arm into Bella’s and pulled her across the grass.
Pepper clawed at Bella’s legs, and she knelt to pet him. He rolled onto his back and Bella scratched his belly.
“Evan needed a little daddy time.”
“Well, good.” Jenna touched Bella’s back with her knee. “I needed a little Bella time.”
“That’s why I love you.” Bella kissed Pepper’s fluffy head and rose to her feet.
“C’mon, Pep.” Kurt’s stern voice had Pepper bounding back to him.
“Remember when he used to sneer at Pepper?” Jenna whispered.
“Love changes everything.” Everything is an understatement.
“How’d it go today?” Jenna’s eyebrows jumped. “Did you break him of his goody-two-shoes ways?”
Bella laughed. “Actually, I think it was the other way around.”
Jenna’s eyes widened. “Yeah? Mr. Straitlaced Sexy Uniform has a bad-boy side?”