Undeniable (Haven Falls 5)

Tully stares at me the whole shameful walk back up the beach. “Did you seriously just fall and eat dirt?” she laughs. “That was so fucking funny. I wish I’d caught that on camera. Aiden’s never going to believe me.”

“Shut up,” I groan, rolling my eyes. “It’s freakin’ cold.”

“Here,” she says, leaning over to pull out the towel from under her ass. She throws it up at me and I shake it off for a while, trying to get all the sand out of it. I absolutely love the beach but there’s nothing I despise more than sand, especially when it gets caught up in and around my lady bits.

“Thanks,” I say as I start wiping myself down. “Remind me to clean off my tattoo when I get back home. I don’t want it to get infected after being in that water. I mean, I’m almost certain kids pee in there all day long.”

Tully scrunches her face up in distaste. “You’re so gross.”

“You know it’s true.”

Satisfied that I’ve dried up as best I can, I lay my towel down and plonk myself down on top of it. I already have a love/hate relationship with the sand but add a wet ass to the mix and that’s just begging for trouble.

I spread out on my towel and angle myself towards the afternoon sun, hoping there’s enough sun left in the day to dry out my clothes, so I don’t have to walk around looking like a drowned rat for the rest of the afternoon.

I lay back on my elbows watching Ari dig to China when Tully steals my attention. “Oh, shit,” she moans low. “Look at that.”

I look down the beach to follow her gaze to find a shirtless guy off in the distance, running up the beach. I can’t make out a face from here but there’s no mistaking the fact that this guy takes care of himself.

We both watch for a moment and I can’t help but feel the guy has nothing on Noah, especially without the tattoos covering his body. I mean, Noah has ruined normal guys for me. If we were to ever break up, I’d be screwed.

I quickly lose interest but as he grows nearer, Tully sits up a little straighter and begins squinting towards the guy. “Wait…is that Spencer?”

My head turns back towards the runner and sure enough, as he continues running our way, it becomes clear that Tully’s right, it’s definitely Spencer.

Tully waits until he gets a little closer before calling out to him. “Spencer,” she yells loud enough to make sure he can hear us from right down at the shore.

His head whips around and he starts searching us out, only finding us when Tully raises her hand and waves.

A fond smile spreads across his face before he starts heading up the beach towards us. “Hey,” he says, breathing hard. “What are you guys doing?”

Tully tosses her bottle of water to him before he drops down in the sand beside her and finishes off what’s left of her water, clearly thankful for the interruption. “Just chilling out,” she tells him before pointing out Aria and the massive hole she’s digging. “Ari loves the beach so we thought we’d come and hang out here instead of at home.”

“Oh, yeah,” he says, leaning around Tully to look at me. “Get her out of your dad’s hair, huh?” he chuckles. “How’s he doing? Aiden told me about his heart attack.”

“He’ll be fine,” I say. “He just wants to get back to work and pretend it never happened.”

“Sounds like my dad when he fell off the roof and gave himself a concussion last year,” he laughs. “I swear, the older they get, the harder they are to deal with.”

“Tell me about it,” I scoff. “I’ve been having to organize all his meals for him just to make sure he eats healthy; otherwise I can guarantee he’ll be right back to eating his burger with chili fries every chance he gets.”

“Damn. That’s tough. I think with kids, you just tell them what’s what and they do as they’re told, but when it’s an adult…I don’t know, they’re so much more frustrating.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” I grumble.

“So, what’s going on?” Tully asks Spencer. “What’s with the afternoon run? Don’t you get in enough running during practice?”

“Football season’s over,” he explains. “So, I need to keep up on my fitness for next year in case I get onto a college team.”

“You’re still waiting to hear?” she questions.

“Yep. Hopefully, I’ll know soon,” he says. “Fingers crossed though, if I don’t get into college, I’ll be heading to work with my old man in used car sales. He thinks the big dream is for me to run the business one day.”

“That’s not so b-”

“Wait,” I cut in. “What do you mean football season is over? Noah and dad were watching a game last night.”