Undeniable Love (Journey of Love 2)

I HAD BEEN SITTING ON the beach for the last hour just staring out at the black ocean. I tipped the bottle back and drank the last of my beer.

“Well hell. Looks like I have to go back,” I said as I got up and brushed the sand off my pants. I turned and looked back at the house. My brother, Lark and his new wife, Azurdee had left two hours ago for their honeymoon and I couldn’t take watching Ryn another second.

I sucked in a deep breath of salty air and slowly let it out. My phone went off and I pulled it out of my pocket. I let out a deep breath when I saw it was Liberty.

Liberty: Just letting you know I’m thinking about you. If you want me to join you I’ll come down. Just text me back and I’ll be there.

Me: I think I just need some time to think, Liberty. We need this time apart.

Liberty: I didn’t mean to push you. I’m always pushing you, I know. I just really wanted to see your parents and would have loved to have seen the wedding but I understand you have your reasons for going alone. Things haven’t been so great with us lately. I’ll work on that. Promise.

Me: We’ll talk when I get back to Austin.

Liberty: Okay. I love you, Tristan.

Drawing in a breath and releasing it, I shook my head. I’ve never told Liberty I loved her. I wasn’t sure anymore how I felt about her. We had been on again and off again so many times I was beginning to lose count. Currently, we were off. All she had been doing was pushing an engagement ever since she found out Lark and Azurdee were getting married. When I thought of my future, I didn’t see Liberty. I only saw . . . Ryn. And that scared the piss out of me.

I turned my phone to silent and shoved it in my pocket. I started heading back to the house and began putting on my game face. The one I’d been wearing for the last ten months. The one where everyone thought I was happy, but deep down inside I was the unhappiest I’d ever been in my life.

I walked up the stairs to the deck and the first person I saw was Ryn. She was leaning against the railing with her head back and her eyes closed. There was no one else out here.

She looked tired. I smiled when I thought about what I had overheard earlier when Mom and Azurdee’s best friend, Jessie, were talking. Ryn had taken a two-week vacation and was renting a house on the beach just two houses down from here. I already began planning ways to ‘run into her’ while we were both here.

She hadn’t talked to me in over ten months. No matter how many times I called and left her messages begging her to call me, she never would.

Her cell phone rang and she quickly answered it. I walked around to the other side of the deck and sat down to where she couldn’t see me.

“Hey, Dodge. Are you on your way? Yes. I thought I could, but I can’t. I need you.”

Dodge? Who the fuck is Dodge?

Laughing at something he must have said, Ryn continued to speak. “Well, considering I still need my RFB, I’d say yes . . . it’s been a sucky last three days.”

I peeked around the corner and saw her smiling. She reached her hand up and began playing with her nipple.

What the fuck?

“That sounds like heaven. Yes. I’m going to need it a lot. I don’t know, you’d think after all this time you’d have been able to fuck him out of my head and heart. Maybe you’re not as good as you think you are?”

My mouth dropped open and I quickly turned back and stared out in the night sky.

She laughed again and said, “I’m still at the wedding. Yes. It was hard to see him. I don’t know. Maybe, I’ve thought about that. Yes. I realize I only use you for sex to forget about Tristan, but maybe I’m falling for you and just want your company. You ever think of that?”

My heart started beating faster and I wanted to pound this asshole’s head in.

Taking in a deep breath as if she was savoring the moment, she slowly blew it out. “Okay. I’ll see you then. Oh trust me. I’ll be waiting and I will most certainly be ready for you. Yes naked. Hey, Dodge? Hurry please. I need to be fucked in a bad way. Bye.”

After Ryn said goodbye, there was a minute of silence before I swore I heard her crying. I slowly stood. She was looking out toward the ocean. Her shoulders were moving up and down and when I saw her wipe away her tears, my knees about buckled out from underneath me.

I started making my way toward her. I didn’t want to walk up on her crying, so I cleared

my throat and asked, “May I join you?”

She quickly wiped her tears away and looked the other way. “It’s your house,” she whispered. “How have you been, Ryn?” She turned and looked at me. If looks could kill, I’d be laying on the floor right now. “You’ve ignored me for three days and now you ask how I’ve been?”

With a nonchalant attitude, I said, “I wasn’t sure you wanted to talk to me.” She let out a small laugh.

“Usually people attempt to talk to a person before they make that assumption.”

“Well, considering I’ve been calling you for months, and you ignore my calls—” She took a step back and shook her head.

A look of hurt moved across Ryn’s face as she slowly said, “You’re seeing . . . another . . . girl.”

“It’s not like that. We are kind of off and on. I mean . . . I’m not seeing her right now.” She rolled her eyes before looking into mine.

“Do you have any idea how much you hurt me?”

My heart felt like it was physically hurting as I swallowed and said, “I just thought . . . I wasn’t planning on—” I looked away and then back into her eyes. “I thought you just wanted to have fun, Ryn. Then you started acting different and I started having these feelings and . . . I was confused.”

Anger replaced the hurt in her eyes. “The only thing that confused you is why you brought the wrong girl to meet mom and dad.”

She turned and began walking into the house. I wanted to call out for her, but I couldn’t. My heart felt like it was squeezing in my chest as I stood there and listened to her retreating footsteps.

I turned and stared out at the dark ocean again. That’s what my heart felt like. A deep sea of . . . darkness.

THE SUN SHINING IN THROUGH the window caused me to let out a low grumble. I knew the moment I opened my eyes I’d feel the hangover. Yesterday was my younger brother, Lark’s wedding to his spunky and beautiful new bride, Azurdee. I still couldn’t believe Azurdee had won over my brother and tamed his wild ways. For a while there I was pretty sure he was more against a committed relationship than I was. I heard my phone vibrate on the side table. Reaching over, I grabbed it.

Lark: Why the hell do you want to know about Dodge?

Sitting up, I let out a frustrated moan as I ran my hand down my face. Last night I watched as Ryn said goodbye to my parents and walked out the door with this Dodge guy. A built, blond-haired, blue-eyed asshole who had his arm wrapped around her waist and held her like she was his.

Motherfucker.

Me: Ryn mentioned him last night. He showed up and he is with her now. I remembered you mentioning a Dodge guy once when you and Azurdee were split up.

Lark: He manages Red 7. According to Azurdee, he is Ryns RFB.

RFB? Ryn had said that last night to Dodge. What the fuck is a RFB?

Lark: Before you ask it means Rebound Fuck Buddy.

My mouth dropped open as I stared at the text. “You’ve got to be shitting me,” I whispered.

Lark: Azurdee said Ryn is pretty much exclusive to the guy. They’re dating, but not really dating. Guess Dodge is into Ryn and she doesn’t feel the same.

Interesting.

Me: Thanks, Bro. I think I’m going to be staying another week . . . or two. I’ve got the time.

Lark: Ah shit. Don’t start any trouble down there. Have fun.

Me: I’m gonna try not to. Later.

Setting the phone on the bed, I headed into the bathroom. I took one look at myself in the mirror and frowned. I looked like shit. Tired and hungover was not going to work if I wanted to try and run into Ryn today.

Glancing back into the bedroom, I looked at the clock on the side table. Seven on the dot. Ryn would be heading out for a run any time now if I knew her.

I quickly splashed water on my face, brushed my teeth and changed into a pair of jogging shorts, a white T-shirt, and running shoes. One quick look at myself in the mirror and I was headed down to the beach.

Glancing up and down the beach, I was almost positive Ryn would run this way. Looking toward the beach house she was renting for the next two weeks, I smiled when I saw her heading down the steps to the beach. She did a few funky ass yoga moves and then took off running, in the opposite direction of me.

Shit.

I pushed my ear buds in and started running. My full on run was quickly catching up to Ryn’s jog. I smiled as I took a good look at her ass. She had the nicest ass of any girl I ever dated. I loved Ryn’s body. She had curves and wasn’t afraid to eat me under the table when it came to a large buffalo chicken pizza from Double Dave’s. Liberty, my ex-girlfriend, was boney as hell and I swear the only things she ate were carrots and cheese sticks.

Ryn’s long wavy brown hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail. Ryn never cared too much about being prim and proper. She could dress up and look like a million bucks easy, but she only did it when she had to. Otherwise, she was in her favorite pair of comfy pants, as she called them, and a T-shirt.

Running by Ryn, I passed her up and acted like I didn’t know who she was. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her glance up at me. I kept running at my speed. She had headphones on as well; the only difference was I was positive she had music coming out of hers and I didn’t. I needed to be able to hear her call out my name. If she called out my name.

I could feel her eyes on my back. I slowed down just a notch so she could catch up to me. “Tristan?” I heard her call out. Acting as if I couldn’t hear her, I kept on running.

“Tristan!”

Smiling, I kept up my pace. This was turning out to be a successful run. My plan to run into Ryn on accident while we were both here was starting out with a bang. Inhaling a deep breath of crisp ocean air, I kept up my steady pace. The cool morning air actually made it a great morning for a run. Finally, I felt her coming up next to me. Keeping my eyes straight ahead, I attempted to appear as if I was in the zone. Grabbing my arm she yelled again, “Tristan, goddamn it, stop running!”

I stopped on a dime, causing Ryn to run a few feet ahead of me. Glancing at her, I pulled my ear buds out. “Ryn?”

She leaned over and put her hands on her knees as she dragged in a few breaths. “Jesus, now I realize . . . I’m only . . . a light weight jogger.”

I knew damn well I was running faster than Ryn was able to run. Looking at her like I was confused, I asked, “What are you talking about, Ryn? I thought you’d be heading back to Austin?”

She shook her head. “Nope . . . staying here for two weeks.”

Pulling my head back to act as if I was surprised, I grinned. “Really? So am I.”

Suddenly stiffening her posture, she practically shouted, “Wait. What? You’re staying here?” She started pointing to the sand. “For two weeks?”

Glancing down at the sand, I rubbed my chin. “Well, not in this very spot, but here in South Padre. Yeah.”

Ryn swallowed hard. “I see. Did you have this planned?” She raised an eyebrow at me.

“Yeah, I was playing it by ear, one to two weeks, maybe three. I have the time to take, and I have to burn it before the end of the year or I lose it.”

Ryn stood and stared at me. I couldn’t tell if she was happy or pissed. “You look like you didn’t sleep much last night. Rough night, Ryn?”

Ryn’s eyes widened and she went to talk but shut her mouth and looked back toward the house she was renting. We hadn’t run that far and now I was wishing we would have. Looking, I saw Dodge standing on the back deck.

Fucker.

“Boyfriend?”

Ryn snapped her head and looked at me. “Excuse me?”

Gesturing with my hand, I pointed and asked, “The guy, is he your boyfriend?”

Ryn’s eyes searched my face as if she was trying to read my reaction to seeing some douche bag asshole, who I was pretty sure fucked her senseless last night, standing on her deck.

“Um . . . no . . . he’s um . . . well . . . he’s . . .” Turning to look at Dodge, she began chewing

on her lip before looking at me.

“A fuck buddy?”

Her eyes narrowed as her hands went to her lips. “What?”

I lifted my shoulders in a shrug. “I don’t know, Ryn, you seemed to be stumbling on your words so I just guessed.” Smirking, I winked at her.

“Are you still seeing Liberty?”

My smile faded a bit. “No. We’re over.”

Lifting an eyebrow, I could tell she was holding back a smile. “How come? You get bored with her and pick up another girl on the side?”

Ouch. That hurt.

“No, she wanted something with me that I didn’t want with her.”

Clearing her throat, she whispered, “And what did she want?”

“Marriage.”

Ryn’s eyes widened in shock as she took a step back. “Oh. Well um . . . I guess I’ll see you around, Tristan.”

My heart instantly felt as if someone had put a vice around it and squeezed the hell out of it. I wanted to take her up in my arms and kiss her. Show her why the fuck buddy couldn’t wipe me from her mind.

I barely nodded my head. “Yeah, I’ll see ya around.” Turning, I went to start running again.

“Tristan!”

I stopped and turned to her, “Yeah, baby?”

Her eyes closed briefly before she opened them and looked into mine. My knees wobbled when I saw the hurt in those beautiful blue eyes. “Why did you bring me to your parents’ for Christmas? Why didn’t you just bring Liberty if she was the one you wanted to be with?”

That . . . I was not expecting.

MY HEART DROPPED THE SECOND he called me baby. Tristan only called me baby when we were making love, or when he was lost in a passionate moment.

“Ryn, it’s kind of—complicated.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think it is, Tristan. You brought me to your parents’ for Christmas, yet you sat on the porch and told another woman you missed her and couldn’t wait to see her.”

His eyes narrowed. “That’s not what I said to her.”

Letting out a sarcastic laugh, I said, “Pretty much, Tristan. You were fucking another girl when you were with me. Forgive me for thinking we were in an exclusive relationship.”