Their Broken Pieces by Jessica Gomez
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Alex
I wait about ten minutes after Jasmine leaves to follow. Thinking about anything or anyone else while I’m with her is unfeasible. She’s all I can think about when she’s gone. I’m trying not to linger on our end date, but it’s hard knowing I’m going to have to give up what I have, what we have.
Weaving my way down the halls, out into the front lobby, and around the pool area, is where I observe Carlos hitting on chicks again, but my mind is floating with thoughts of Jasmine. He gives me an empathetic nod, understanding each other without having to speak. The girl he’s chatting up looks in my direction, and a seductive smile crosses her lips as she elbows the friend next to her. Once her friend sees me, she replicates her friend’s features.
I’m not sure when things changed for me. Usually, I’d take advantage of what these smiling, half-naked chicas are offering, but now, it’s only annoying. I’d rather they divert their eyes.
I wish Jasmine were here so they could see my beautiful girl on my arm, but no one will know about our relationship, except Carlos and a few members of my gang.
Slowing down is not an option and I avoid saying hi. All I can think about is getting back to Jasmine. I’ve been noticing that my anxiety increases if I’m away from her for too long. Not only do I miss her, but I worry something will happen while we’re separated. She could run into Andrew again, or someone worse.
My pace increases exponentially until I come upon the little store we agreed to meet at and there she is, sitting on a bench, face to the sky, and her hair flowing behind her in the breeze. The sun caresses her, making her hair and skin shine like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The sight of her steals my breath. I stop in my tracks just to stare, remembering and storing everything about her. The way she always closes her eyes when she’s enjoying the sun, the small secret smile on her lips when she’s daydreaming. Her light vanilla skin glows under the sun’s rays, the ebon strands of hair flow behind her like waves of silk on a gentle wind, making her perfect… my perfect. I’ll never find another girl like her, but I also know there will never be another girl like her… not for me.
She seems to sense me after a few moments and looks directly at me. Her expression makes me wonder if she can read minds because I can see that she gets me with only one look. Soon that beautiful smile stretches across her lips and she stands, waiting for me to finish closing the distance between us.
I hesitate for a moment, still staring at her, completely awestruck. When I finally blink, reality comes back, drawing me toward her in a hurry, as if she’ll disappear if I wait another second. When I reach her, I take her in my arms, not caring who our audience is and kiss her hard, desperately. She sinks in, not seeming to care about our surroundings, completely absorbed.
After a moment, she steps back, ending the kiss far too soon for my liking. My fingers flex, desperate to keep touching her, as she gazes at me knowingly. “Are you all right, Alex?”
“I am now,” I admit, not going into detail. Showing weakness is not an option. Her and her father’s lives are more important than how I feel. She searches my face, seeing my deepest thoughts. She already knows, I think.
To prove my point, she says, “Everything will be all right. Things will work themselves out.” She palms my cheek, cradling my angsts. I lean helplessly into her touch, a whimper almost escaping my lips, but I hold back. I’m such a chick right now! I try to speak around the giant lump that forms in my throat, but I think she sees it. “Don’t worry now.” Her voice is soft, just above a whisper. “Let’s enjoy today and deal with everything else when we come to it. All right?” Her eyes glitter in the sun, trying to hold back her tears.
I nod. It’s all I can do to keep it together.
“So,” she says in her fake, cheery voice. “What is it you have planned for today?” Watching her try to be brave makes me want to be her hero.
I clear my throat. “You’ll find out soon enough.” I want this to be a surprise because I know she’s going to love it.
We laugh and just like that, we’re back to normal, pushing past the emotions. I take her hand and lead the way to the eatery we picked out of the brochure.
After lunch, she can’t hold her excitement any longer. “Are you going to tell me what we’re doing now?”
“Nope.”
“You’re so unfair,” she whines, squirming in her seat, loving the suspense.
“Come on. We’re supposed to be there in thirty minutes, and I think it’ll take that long to walk there.” I take her hand again, loving the warmth of her skin on mine. The more the better.
We walk in silence most of the way, both enjoying our surroundings and each other’s company. She’s the only girl I know that can be content without speaking for more than a minute.
A while later, I guide her toward the beach’s edge and a guy comes over to greet us. Jasmine’s unsure, so she looks from me to the other bloke and back to me again, causing me to smile at her confusion. “Are you Alex?” he asks with a noticeable accent.
“Yes.” After looking him up and down, I can tell he’s a local. His skin is tan, hair dark, the Hawaiian features; his body’s built, his stomach resembling a washboard. In comparison, he makes me look out of shape, and I’m nowhere near out of shape.
“What is this?” Jasmine leans intimately against me, almost as if she’s making sure this guy knows she’s mine. I wrap my arm around her waist, not minding the proximity at all.
The excitement coursing through my body has me as giddy as a schoolgirl. “This, my lady, is surfing lessons.”
She slaps my chest. “You didn’t?” She’s so excited, she’s literally jumping up and down, clapping her hands like a little girl.
She makes me laugh. My smile is so wide, it hurts my cheeks. “Yes. I thought you’d like to take something back with you. Something you can never lose track of—a memory.”
Her eyes are considerate, when she leans in close and whispers in my ear, “I love it. It is perfect; thank you.”
Taking advantage of her nearness, I nuzzle her neck, smelling her freshly washed hair, then kissing her temple. “I knew you’d love it.”
Her response is a slow, sexy smile.
“All right,” I say, turning back to the instructor. “Let’s get this party started.”
The guy smiles and walks us toward the surfboards he brought with him. Jasmine’s still so full of energy; she’s dancing and skipping to our location a few feet ahead of me. I enjoy watching her like this, with not a care in the world. Jace would be proud of her. He would have loved surfing too, so would Marisol. When they were alive, we were like four peas in a pod, always participating in the same activities, and enjoying doing them together.
The instructor explains stances, balancing, and safety, in case we fall off. Before we know it, we’re lifting our boards and heading toward the warm ocean. The instructor who introduced himself as Kahale, shows us how to paddle. We’re sitting about fifty yards out on the azure water, enjoying the sun’s rays. Jasmine’s having the time of her life. The smile hasn’t left her lips since she found out what we were doing. Her legs are dangling in the water over the edge of the surfboard. She’s in her element here. She has always loved the water, most of all, the ocean.
“All right,” Kahale says. “Who wants the first one?”
“I do!” Jasmine shouts before I can get a word out.
I smile, watching her paddle out with Kahale. He’s explaining what to do again as they sit up on their boards, waiting for a wave to approach. Kahale makes sure there’s room between the two of them as they stand when the wave comes up from underneath.
Jasmine’s doing an awesome job for her first time. She’s a tad wobbly but stays standing, getting comfortable with her balancing. The grin plastered on her face is heaven.
She flies past me and waves, losing her balance, and falls, the ocean swallowing her body whole. Panic courses through me; I wasn’t expecting to have this kind of reaction, releasing a sigh of relief as she breaks the surface, laughing and wiping water out of her face.
“That was AWESOME!” she yells, punching her fist into the air. “You’re next.” She’s just as excited for me to have a turn as she was for herself.
“All right.” I paddle out next to where Kahale sits on his board, waiting.
Just like any young man, I feel the need to impress her. My heart is pounding—I have to admit—and I’m pretty stoked about riding a wave. I wait for a big one to come, ignoring Kahale’s warning about taking one too big, and hop up on my board, only to realize that balancing looks easier than it is. A few feet out, I lose my balance, and biff it into the wave I’m riding. A rush of elation flows through me, even though I wiped out. Surfing is awesome. As soon as I break the surface, I search for Jasmine and find her paddling over to me, her sunny grin still plastered on her face.
“See?”
“I know, right?” My smile is just as wide now.
“This is the best thing that you could have planned for us. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. It’s my pleasure.”
Kahale comes up next to us, breaking our moment. “You guys are already getting the hang of this. Good job.” He’s such a pretty boy, but he’s nice.
“Thanks, man,” I tell him. “Is there a way we can keep the boards out longer?”
“Sure. It’s twenty an hour for both boards. After I make sure you can make it out here on your own, I can leave you to it.” I see him staring at Jasmine, looking at her soaking wet clothes, trying to see underneath with X-ray eyes.
So, maybe he’s not as cool as I thought.
I glare, making sure he meets my eyes, letting him know it’s not going to happen, and if he keeps staring at my girl like that, the sharks might circle us from all the blood I’ll beat out of him.
He gets the hint. “All right.” He stumbles around the words, clearing his throat before he goes on. “Let’s do a couple more passes, and then I’ll let you two at it.”
“Sounds good.” My tone is still hard, claiming Jasmine and laying down a verbal challenge.
“I can’t wait,” Jasmine says, and is already paddling past me, ready to catch the next wave.
I laugh and follow her out. Saddling up next to her, I expect her to take a turn first, and I’m right. She paddles out like a pro and hops up as if she’s done this for years. She gyrates her body, undulating while standing; she rides the wave in. She’s doing a perfect job already.
I take the next wave and follow her, falling about halfway in. I can’t seem to get it down. I’ll have to ask Jasmine for tips on how to gyrate my body, studying her to get it right would be the highlight of my day. I’m able to stand when I break the surface of the water, and Jasmine’s laughing so hard that I don’t know if the droplets on her face are tears or water.
“That was hilarious.” She wipes what I’m guessing are laughing tears from her eyes.
“It’s not that funny.” A warning infuses my tone, but my voice cracks, and a laugh bursts free.
“Yes. Yes, it is.”
I jump at her. She squeals and runs away from me. We splash through the water for a while, me chasing her before she lets me catch her.
“I guess you’ll just have to show me what you do with your body to stay up on that board so well.”
“Mmm. I think I can handle that.” She presses her soaking wet body against my bare chest and kisses me.
A moan slips through her lips, enticing my arms to tighten around her, while our tongues duel for dominance. When our hips meet, my cock nudges her softness, informing exactly how much I appreciate her kiss. At this moment, standing in the beautiful azure ocean, the most beautiful place I’ve ever been, with the most gorgeous girl I’ve ever laid eyes on, I know what the feeling is that’s wreaking havoc on my insides and tying them into knots. I love her. I’m irrevocably, and without a doubt, in love with her. The realization causes my heart to soar and sag heavily, sealing the secret within my lips, understanding that this epiphany will only crush instead of mending our broken pieces.
“Come on.” Painfully, swallowing the lump in my throat, I step back and slip my hand into hers. “Let’s go again.”
She smiles and follows me into the waves.