While It Lasts (Sea Breeze 3)

“Oh, he is invited too of course. We haven’t had a family gathering between our families on a holiday since before Josh passed away. This will be good for all of us.”

A door slamming and yelling interrupted our conversation. I jumped up and ran out on the porch. Daddy was blocking my view. I couldn’t see who he was yelling at but I knew the car he was standing in front of. It was Cage. What was he doing here?

“Oh my. What is that boy doing here? Should I call the cops?”

“Shhh, no. Don’t call anyone,” I snapped and turned my attention back to the driveway.

“I told you not to come back around here, boy. “ Daddy roared.

“I shouldn’t have left. I want to talk to Eva. You should’ve never made me leave without talking to her,” Cage replied.

What?

“I gave you a choice and you chose your baseball career over her. Ain’t no boy good enough for my girl that would choose anything else over her.”

Cage slammed his fist down on his car hood. “ I didn’t choose anything over her. You threatened my life and my education. It was never about baseball. Fuck baseball!”

“Get in that car and leave. Don’t come back. I’ll call the cops next time and you’ll go to jail. Don’t mess with me. I protect what’s mine.”

Cage’s eyes shifted and our gazes locked. I didn’t understand what I’d just heard. I didn’t know what had happened between my daddy and Cage. At the moment I didn’t care. I was getting to look at him again. He was here and I could see him. He didn’t look like a guy who wanted to throw me aside.

“I love you, Eva Brooks. No matter what you’ve been told or what you think of me. I love you!”

Everything and everyone melted away. Cage was yelling for everyone to hear that he loved me. Even with my daddy breathing down his neck. I couldn’t move. I didn’t know what to do. He had left me. Without saying a word. Now he was back and he said he loved me. What was the truth? Love didn’t just run off without an explanation. He’d broken my heart.

Cage turned and to open his car door and climbed inside. Numbly, I watched him pull out and drive away.

I let him go. Why had I let him go?

Chapter Twenty-Four

Cage

Sitting at our table at Live Bay seemed empty. Everything seemed empty. I’d thought going to see Eva and telling her I loved her would do something. Low had got me to believe someone like Eva could love me. She was wrong. Eva had chosen her family over me, again. She always would.

“Smile, you’re depressing as shit,” Rock grumbled as he slammed a beer down in front of me.

“Thanks,” I replied.

“Never thought I’d see you with a broken heart. Out of all of the guys I never thought it’d be you. It’s like I’ve walked into the f**king twilight zone and can’t get out.”

I grunted and took a long swallow of my beer.

“Wanna dance, Cage?”

I didn’t even try to remember her name. She was one of the mistakes. I had so many. I just shook my head no and took another drink.

“Sorry honey but he ain’t real good company right now,” Trisha apologized for me.

“If you change your mind—“ she started

“I won’t,” I interrupted her.

She got the hint and walked off. I never even looked at her face. They all looked the same anyway. They all weren’t Eva.

“You think maybe you could be less scary?” Trisha asked.

“No.”

Rock chuckled, “Let it go, babe. He’s nursing a broken heart and you know that boy ain’t ever had one before. It’s a new experience for him.”

“You may want to warn Krit before they take a break. I don’t want Cage and him getting into it because he can’t keep his mouth shut.”

I didn’t belong here. I didn’t want to be here. I laid a couple twenties on the table and stood up. “I’m leaving, anyway. I’ve had all the fun I can handle for the night.”

“I hate for you to be alone. You want me to call Low?”

Low was the last person I wanted to talk to. She didn’t understand that it wasn’t an easy fix.

“No. I just want to go home and go to bed. I need to be at the gym in the morning.”

“Later,” Rock added with a nod and I turned and headed for the door.

I noticed that Jackdown had stopped playing and the crowd had gone silent. That was odd and unheard of. I paused and looked back at the stage to see what it was I was missing that had quieted the crowd.

“Hello,” Eva’s voice said over the microphone. What the f**k?

“I don’t, uh, I don’t normally play in front of people. Actually, I’ve never really played in front of people other than my family.”

I began walking toward the sound of her voice. I pushed through the crowd and kept my eyes focused on the stage until I was close enough to see her. She stood in the spotlight with her hair pulled back in a ponytail and her guitar across her chest. Those blue eyes that had stopped my heart the first time she looked at me found me in the crowd. A small smile touched her lips.

“But I have this song that I wrote for this amazing guy who completely changed my life and I need him to hear it.”

She was going to play and sing in front of a bar full of people. I took another step toward her and she began to play.

“I didn’t want to see you but you invaded my world

Every dark corner you found a way in

Bringing color to the lifeless and lost.

I didn’t want to touch you but you reached inside me

Every lost memory you found a way to melt the frost

Until the small closed world inside opened up into the sea

You made me love you by the smile on your face, the kindness in your eyes and the heat of your skin.

One kiss makes all that’s been hurt fade away.

You made me love you for the man inside. The one no one sees but me. The man who listens to what my heart has to say.