“Jolie told me everything. I understand if you need some space. You can go to my bunker if you want, do some fishing, make a fire—”
“Do I look like the kind of man that knows how to rub sticks together to create a flame? Look at me? I’m too damn pretty for the wilderness.”
“I have matches, smartass,” Owen chuckles around his drink before taking a sip.
“Whatever,” I wave away his rational idea and sit down next to him again. We lapse into silence, drinking beer, and it’s peaceful. We don’t do this enough. He is always so busy with Jolie, which makes complete sense, and I’m too busy getting hurt for us to hang out.
“You know,” he starts to say, “I’m not saying you forgive her because what she did was fucked up, but maybe try to see it from her point of view. No matter how hard and fucked up it may be, think about the pain she was in and all of that shit she felt.”
“I know, but it doesn’t excuse her. I don’t know, Owen. I don’t think I can get past this. I understand what you’re saying, but this…this is vindictive. I knew she didn’t like me, but the level of hate she must have felt for me to be okay with sending me behind bars, that’s hard to comprehend when I’ve always had feelings for her. I’m not used to being rejected at such a horrible level.” I start hysterically laughing and Owen stares at me like I’ve lost my mind. The stitches in my chest pull from the jiggle in my chest. “God, I can’t believe I couldn’t catch a hint. A woman literally sent me to prison. To prison, Owen!” this time as I laugh, I clutch my stomach and fall to my side. The sand digs into my cheek and then Owen flips me over on my back and slaps me across the face.
I stop the hysterics immediately and lay a hand on my cheek. “What the fuck?”
“You need to snap out of it. She didn’t send you to prison because she didn’t want to date you, stupid fuck. She testified against you because you were the only person there to take the fall. She was mad. Angry. Sad. She just lost her sister. Was it right? No, but get it out of your head that she sent you to prison because she rejected you. Grow up. Not everything is about getting in your pants, Heaven. It wasn’t about you, it was about her, and unfortunately, you were there to take the fall.” He slaps me on the head and my temper starts to raise. “Wake up.” He slaps me again, but this time I grab his wrist before his palm can make contact with my cheek.
“Slap me one more time and I’m going to drown you in this ocean.”
“You wouldn’t do that to Jolie,” he grins, tugging against my hand, telling me to free his wrist.
“I don’t trust you not to hit me again.” I give him a skeptical glance, lifting my brow, and turning my chin to the left giving me the view of his jaw.
“Truce. I won’t hit you again. I promise. I wanted to wake you up.”
“I’m awake but I still need time to process, Owen. It isn’t as easy as just forgiving her. I need time to wrap my head around what she said. I need to figure out what to do about her father. Fuck. Her parents will ruin me if they find out she’s been here, Owen. They will make sure I never see the light of day again and he will have that power.”
“Under what grounds? He can’t sentence you to death row. There isn’t evidence.”
“Politicians create evidence.”
“You’re so cynical when it comes to issues like this,” Owen states, tossing back the rest of his beer.
“You would be too if you grew up in the same house as I did. The truth isn’t grown on lies and that’s all politics is, a bunch of liars deciding what’s best for their bank accounts instead of the people.”
Owen lets out a long whistle. “Damn, your parents fucked you up.”
“No, I’m a happy guy, you know that. It’s just how I feel about politics. Things get messy. Maybe sending her on her way is best, Owen. I think it’s better for all of us if she leaves. She’ll be happier, her parents will be happy, and I’ll be able to go back to my carefree life.” I stand, toss the empty beer bottle on the ground, and tuck my hands in my pockets. The waves are getting bigger and the clouds are getting darker. It’s about to storm and if we don’t head back into the house, we will probably drown from the tide rising.
“You really believe that, don’t you?” Owen asks, pushing himself to his feet. He wipes off the sand from his jeans.
“What?” I ask and pick up the beer bottles and place them in the holder before grabbing the handle. “That I’ll be carefree?”
?
?Yes. You can’t really think that your life is going to go back to normal after this, do you? The girl of your dreams is here and when she is gone, she’s all you’re going to think about. There is no going back to what life used to be like, Heaven. That chapter is done.”
“I don’t believe that. I think I can go back any time I want and live how I want. She’s a bump in the road.” The problem with Heather is she’s always been a damn bump in my road. I’m getting fucking tired of driving down it.
“You’re not as smart as it thought you were, then.”
“I never said I was smart. You decided I was. There’s a difference.” We make our way up the natural stone staircase and leave the sea behind. The waves sound as they hit the shore and the further away we get, the more they sound like static.
“You’re only as smart as the decisions you make, Heaven.”
I hold a hand to my chest when the pain starts to become too much since I’ve overdone it today. “You were right. I shouldn’t have done so much today.”
Owen growls, clearly frustrated with my stubbornness. He wraps an arm around me to help take some of my weight. I can breathe easier. “Can’t you just carry me?” I whine.
“Don’t push it. The only people I’m ever going to carry are Jolie and my daughter.”