Chapter 37

After a sleepless night, I decide to drive to Malibu and go surfing. It’s one of my favorite spots. Peace and quiet. Just what I need.

It’s nine in the morning and my phone is flooded with messages from Kyle, Wes, and Andy/Knox. They’re all variations of the same sentiment, just worded differently.

Andy

Baby doll, I hate it when you’re mad at me, please call me back. I need to know you’re alright. I know you want to be left alone, but please talk to me.

Wes

Call me or text me tomorrow when you wake up. I can’t wait to see you sweetheart!

Andy

Alex, I won’t be able to sleep if you don’t message me back or give me an indication you’re alright.

Kyle

Talk to me when you’re ready Sis. I love you lots Alex xxxx

Andy

Baby doll, please, I won’t be able to live with myself if something were to happen to you!

Andy

Dammit Alex! Answer me. Please!

I pull on my bikini, a flowing top, and boyfriend shorts, then grab my board—the one my grandad got me—and head towards Malibu.

The sun is beating down on my skin when I reach the car park. The ocean is calm today, the waves aren’t big, but I’m not looking for a challenge. I just need to clear my head.

I find a comfy spot near the water and set up my sun chair. I apply sunscreen everywhere.

“Want me to get your back?” A cool voice to my left startles me. I turn to see a tall, blonde-haired guy with a dark tan and shades.

He’s standing in front of me, his swim shorts hanging low on his hips, his arms crossed over his chest, accentuating his muscles. He lifts his sunglasses off his face and sends me a smile.

I nod at his request and hand him the lotion. When he’s finished, I thank him and he extends his hand.

“I’m Ben.”

I shake his hand, “Alex.”

“Oh, I know who you are. Saw your commercial last night during halftime. My sister bought one of the swimsuits. Carter’s lucky!”

“Well, I think that’s what I’ll be forever known for. Good! I hope she likes it. We’re not together, he’s Knox, he fucks anything with a vagina and a pair of boobs. Me excluded.”

“Not a bad thing to be known for, you looked good. I’d say every guy in this country would agree too. Ahhh, the Lauren girl? Well, if it’s any consolation, his loss. You’re way more beautiful than her. I’ve heard stories about her, and they’re not pretty!”

His ocean blue-green eyes are mesmerizing, and his washboard abs and bulging biceps are hard to ignore. I glance behind him to see a group of girls giggling and looking at him. I can’t help but smile.

“Well, it’s not really ideal for me. I want to be known for my brain. I only did it to get money, which I mostly gave away. Plus, my mom and best friend beat me into doing it... Lauren who?... And thanks, you’re beautiful too. But I think you already know that with all those girls fawning and chasing after you.”

I nod my head towards the girls. He turns around and starts laughing at their reactions.

“I heard you’re a genius too, that’s kind of sexy. Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy doing it?... Exactly! Lauren who?... Haha! What can I say? I’ve got many fans, I’m a lovable guy... You want to hang out and surf with me?”

“Well, I’m not smart because I’m trying to be sexy. I’m smart because I have a brain and I know how to use it. But sure, why not? We can hang out.”

“That’s even sexier—that you don’t care you’re sexy! If that makes sense? But on a serious note, I was thinking of getting Carter’s name written on my trunks across the ass. Any advice on making my butt look as perky as yours?”

He smirks over at me, making me smile back at him. I like this guy. He has a good sense of humor. Even if I’m still ignoring the dickhead.

“Advice?” I pretended to think, tapping my finger on my lips in deep thought. “Hmm. My advice is don’t. People will think you’re dating... On second thoughts...”

I smirk over to him, making a small laugh escape his lips.

“I think I’ll stick to chicks, thanks, Thompson! Are you ready to be schooled?”

“Are you ready to be owned? What’s your last name?”

“Carter.”

I deadpanned a look over to him, waiting for him to give me his actual last name. He smiled back over to me while grabbing his board and putting it under his arm.

“Too easy. Why? Do you want to have my name written across your ass cheeks now? I mean I’m all for it, don’t get me wrong,” he winks over at me while I roll my eyes at him. “It’s Hendrix.”

“Hendrix? That’s a cool name. Ben Hendrix, damn, I’d say you pick up a lot of girls just with that!” I teased him, continuing to walk to the shore.

“You have no idea, sweet cheeks!”

“Sweet cheeks? Who are you calling sweet cheeks? Honey!”

“You’ve got a good ass, that’s how I know you’re a good surfer. I wouldn’t have asked you to surf with me if you were bad. And Honey?... That’s cute, I like that one!”

“So you based my surfing ability on how my ass looked? How shallow of you. For all you know, I could’ve just done my squats every day to get a good ass?”

He walks beside me, putting his hand on the small of my back and bends down closer to my face.

“Believe me, I know a surfing ass when I see one, sweet cheeks. And you, you’ve got an exceptional surfing ass,” he says while smacking my ass.

I turn to glare over at him and he picks up his pace and runs to the water.

“Yeah, you better run, Hendrix!” I say, running after him into the ocean.

The sunshine is reflecting hard off the water, but it looks so beautiful today. The water is so blue. Both of us were sitting on our boards with the water lapping around us while we skimmed the water between our fingers.

This is what I needed. Escape my thoughts. I look around at the people on the sand in the distance.

“What’s your story? Like your real story, not the tabloid one,” Ben asks me after a few moments of comfortable silence.

I’m usually not great at talking to people, but I’m enjoying his company. He makes it so easy. I think we’re going to be great friends.

“My story? And scare you off? Maybe when we’re drunk I’ll tell you so you won’t remember,” I joked, turning to look at him.

He’s leaning forwards on his hands, gripping the edges of the board with his face buried into his shoulder, looking over at me.

“You won’t scare me off, trust me. I just want to get to know you, the real you. Not the one the media has made you out to be,” he says softly while we listen to the waves crashing on the shore in the distance.

There are no big waves at the moment, so hopefully, it’ll pick up.

“Really, I don’t think you want to know me. Right now, I’m a mess,” I laugh awkwardly, looking down at my hands rubbing against the board.

Hearing his hands paddle towards me on the board, he reaches beside me and puts his larger, tanned hand on my thigh nearest to him.

“I’d like to get to know you, Alex, even if you are a mess,” he smiles, showing his perfectly straight teeth that are incredibly white. I give him a tight smile and nod my head. Well, here goes nothing.

“Alright then, well, giving you the condensed version, I’m twenty-three, in UCLA studying Mechanical Engineering as my third masters. I have two others in Software Engineering and Coding and another in Mathematics.

I have a photographic memory. I have two nieces and one nephew and I treat Knox’s nephew as my own. I have one older sister and three older brothers, so that makes me the youngest.

I’m from New York. My mom remarried when I was nine and is still with him. My family and the Carters are really close, his parents are like my own.

Knox and I despised each other up until recently and now I’m back to square one with him. I surf to get away from my thoughts. My granddad bought me this board. It’s my favorite.

He showed me how to surf, he paid for all my lessons... and... I miss him. He died three years ago and I still haven’t visited his grave. He lived down in Savannah, Georgia, my mom is from there too.

I go down every summer with my family and extended family like my brother’s best friends’ families. My granddad and my brothers protected me from...”

I stayed quiet for a while, looking out into the sea, biting my lower lip.

“From who?” Ben asked carefully, still holding onto me.

I turn to look at him and down at the scar on the left side of my stomach.

“You see this?” He nodded, looking down at it. I took a shaky deep breath. It’s been a while since I’ve talked about him.

“My senior year, my father stabbed me. I was home alone, my mom and brothers out gathering supplies for my brother’s prom. I’d opted out of prom—it just didn’t resonate with me.

He broke into our house, chasing me with a knife. When they all returned, he drove the blade into me twice, twisting it while it was still lodged in my flesh.

I was unconscious in the hospital for three days, having lost a significant amount of blood. He’s in prison now, but he’s due to be released soon. I still have nightmares about it. The most recent one was so vivid, I thought he was actually in the house. I ran to the kitchen to arm myself with a knife.”

“Jesus, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. To add to it, last semester I walked in on my ex-boyfriend in bed with another girl. It was the second time I’d caught someone in the act.

The first time was my own father, and I was with my mom. Then it was my own boyfriend. I’ve been keeping my distance from Knox because I’m not mentally prepared to deal with the media right now.

Every day, I just feel so numb. I can’t explain it. I just wish I could start over, with everything.”

“Wow, for such a small person, you carry a lot of weight on your shoulders. But you seem strong,” he sighed.

“I’m sorry for unloading all of this on you. It’s not usually this bad, just going through a rough patch, you know?” I offered him a weak smile.

“It’s alright, sweet cheeks. I know we just met, but I think I’m going to enjoy this little relationship we have going on. You’re not like most girls I know.”

“Same here. I’m usually awkward around people, but I find it easy to talk to you. For some strange reason... Haha, yeah, I hear that a lot.”

“It’s not a bad thing.”

“I hear that a lot too.” I laughed at him and he joined in. We sat in silence for a bit, scanning the horizon for any sign of a wave. But the ocean was calm. I decided to stay for a little while longer before heading out to eat.

“How about you? What’s your story?” I asked him, looking him straight in the eyes. He started to smile.

“Damn! And here I was thinking you were going to confess your undying love for me?” He said sarcastically, slapping his hand lightly on the water and tapping his other on my thigh.

“Well, I’m twenty-six—”

“Twenty-six?! Are you—sorry, go on.” I stopped talking when he gave me a deadpan look.

“As I was saying, I’m twenty-six. I work at Google as a programmer. I live in that house over there. I have one older brother, one younger one, and a younger sister who’s the same age as you.

My dad died when I was thirteen from lung cancer—he was a smoker. I played high school and college football, got injured, and was told I couldn’t play again. I could’ve gone pro. Went to UCLA too, got cheated on there too.

I took up surfing to get away from people. My brother, who’s a pro surfer, taught me. I love my mom—she says I’m the best. My mouth sometimes lands me in trouble, especially when I was younger.

I love sports—anything sports-oriented, I love. I’m big on the ladies too, may I add. I work out every day, but I’m not big on the healthy eating stuff. I like a balance. I’m a family man, although I don’t want one of my own just yet.

I’m very protective of my sister Haley, the one who bought the swimsuit. She stresses me out too much though. She’d die if she knew I was talking to you. She’s obsessed with Carter, like all girls.”

“Don’t I know it. If they only knew him.”

“Why don’t you like him?”

“We just never got along. We used to annoy the shit out of each other. It would sometimes get so bad our moms had to hide the kitchen knives from us. Although neither of us was psychotic enough to use them.”

“There had to have been something that made you both pissed at each other? I mean, I know I shouldn’t be reading the crap, but from the magazines and TV, the way he looks at you shows different to what you’re saying.”

I mentally groaned and scanned the ocean for something, anything.

“There is something, isn’t there!” He beamed over at me. I rolled my eyes at him and shook my head.

“Tell me now! There’s definitely something that stemmed this hatred between you both. What was it? Tell me, tell me, tell me!”

“Ugh, you’re so annoying, you know that?”

“Yeah, I know. Now tell me and stop trying to change the subject.”

“Fine, if I tell you, you promise you won’t tell anyone! You have to pinky swear. I know where you live!”

“Alright, alright, I swear I won’t tell a soul! I promise!”

“Okay, so when I was nine and he was eleven, I did like him. We moved schools and I met him on the first day by sitting next to him. Then my older brother Kyle met him and they hit it off instantly.

He would always come over and talk to me, make me feel comfortable because I was younger and found it hard to make friends. He helped me.

I met my best friend a week later by chance in the only class I didn’t have with him. One day, all of Kyle’s friends came over to our new house and we were all in the basement, messing around.

We decided to play spin the bottle and do fifteen minutes in heaven. I know it’s seven minutes, but my brother changed the rules so he could kiss the girl he liked for longer in the closet.”

“Haha! My man! I like your brother.”

“It was Knox’s turn, and the bottle pointed straight at me. We were ushered into the closet for fifteen minutes, much to my brothers’ chagrin. We kissed, and the time seemed to evaporate.

I enjoyed it, and I thought he did too. But after that kiss, he turned cold, his rudeness escalating with each passing day.”

“What a jerk!”

“That’s not the end of it. When I was sixteen and he was eighteen, we found ourselves at a summer house party, playing the same game. And guess who the bottle chose when he gave it a spin?”

“You?”

“Exactly. So, we were back in the closet, locked in another fifteen-minute kiss. It was more than a kiss, really. We made out, our hands exploring each other.

That is, until my brothers started banging on the door. They practically yanked us out of the closet and made us sit on opposite sides of the room.”

“And? Let me guess, he turned into a jerk again?”

“You’re catching on! He was even worse than the first time. We started to provoke each other, pushing each other’s buttons.

Our families had to separate us because we fought so much. He started it, and I was just defending myself.

I couldn’t stand being around him, and the feeling was mutual. But he was always there, always. It was like World War III whenever we were in the same room.”

Ben started to laugh so hard he nearly fell off the board. His laugh was infectious, and his surfer looks were irresistible. I couldn’t believe he was a programmer for Google.

“What? Why are you laughing?” I asked, smiling at him. His happiness was contagious. He stopped laughing and returned my smile.

“You have no idea, do you?”

“About what?”

“Oh, sweet cheeks, Carter liked you! I think he still does. You must’ve been his first crush.”

“What? No! Didn’t you listen to my story? We couldn’t stand each other! He doesn’t like me, and I don’t like him! You sound like my sister and my best friends now.”

“Thompson, he likes you! Let me ask you this, did he start dating a lot of girls, more than usual, after both times he kissed you?”

“Yeah, but... it’s because he knew he could get any girl... I don’t know where you’re going with this. And he doesn’t like me, he’s a grade-A jerk.”

“My theory is coming together. He started dating other girls and being mean to you because he didn’t know how to handle his feelings for you.”

I laughed so hard I nearly fell off the board.

“I don’t disagree with you about him being a jerk, but he does have feelings for you. I bet he’s kissed you more times than just those two!”

My eyes widened. He was right. He was reading this like a book.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” He asked, and I turned away from him. “And you liked it, didn’t you?” I still didn’t say anything. “You don’t have to tell me, but answer me this, do you like him like that?”

I slowly turned to face him and gritted out, “No.”

“Then you’re lying to yourself, sweet cheeks. It’s written all over your face.” I rolled my eyes.

“I have never and will never like Carter. He’s not my type, and I most certainly am not his. Believe me, I could write ‘How to Date Knox Carter 101’ for the female population. I’ve seen him with so many girls.”

“Then he either did that to make you jealous or to get over you.”

I scoffed at his implication.

“Can we not talk about him anymore? He’s not even here, and he’s ruining my mood. I came here to escape everything.”

“There’s only so far you can run, but yeah, let’s swim back to shore. It’s too calm at the moment. You hungry? We could go to my house and make food?”

“You’re kidnapping me already?” I teased him.

“I sure am, you’re all mine, Thompson, all mine! I’m going to woo you with my exceptional cooking skills. You can help if it means I get to see your ass again,” he winked at me.

“You’re such a flirt, Hendrix! Let’s go, I’m starving!”

We paddled back to shore and walked up to his house, a short distance from the beach. It was stunning and surprisingly clean for a guy’s house.

We spent the rest of the day there, exchanging numbers so we could keep in touch. Despite the rocky start, it turned out to be a good day.

I met Ben, who is such a good person. I loved being around him. He made me open up so quickly, something I’d never done with anyone else, except for Knox when we were younger.

Then he started to hate me, and everything went downhill from there. I hoped the same wouldn’t happen with Ben.

After we ate, the day slipped away so quickly I lost track of time. He carried my board and walked me back to my car in the parking lot. I opened the door to let him put my board in the back.

He shut the door and leaned against it, crossing his legs and looking down at me with a smirk. “I haven’t had this much fun in a while.”

I nodded and smiled up at him.

“Me too. It’s been ages since I’ve been in the water. Plus, you managed to pull me out of my own head. So, thank you! Would you mind if we did this again sometime?”

“I suppose I’m irresistible, aren’t I?” His words were laced with playful sarcasm. I tried to suppress my laughter, but it bubbled out anyway.

“You have such a beautiful smile. You should wear it more often. It’s better than any outfit I’ve seen. In fact, you should just wear that and nothing else.” His smirk was infectious, causing me to raise an eyebrow and shake my head at him.

“In your dreams, Hendrix! Goodbye!”

“In my dreams tonight and every other night, Thompson. Especially while your commercial is still running! I bet it’s among the most downloaded and watched commercials now, if you catch my drift.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“I certainly hope not! Bye, Hendrix! See you soon.”

“Oh no! I don’t think so! Don’t I get a goodbye hug?”

“Fine.” I walked over to his open arms and wrapped my own around his waist. I could feel the hard planes of his abs through his skin-tight shirt.

His large arms enveloped my smaller frame, pulling me closer to his well-built body. I pulled back, walked to the driver’s side, hopped in, and shut the door.

The window was rolled down, so Ben leaned in and said, “Text me when you get home, so I know you’re alright.” He thumped the inside of my car twice—out of habit, I assumed—and I started up the engine.

“Will do, honey! Bye,” I waved at him as I backed out onto the road and drove away. I caught a glimpse of him in the rearview mirror, still standing there, before he finally walked away.

A few minutes later, I arrived home. True to my word, I texted him to let him know I was home safe and sound. I stripped off my clothes, ready for a long, steamy shower, and then bed.

~What a day~, I thought to myself.