She nods.
“Secondly, it’s disgusting. He walked her out this morning and didn’t even know her name.”
“This is Brix we are talking about. He’s never been one for hearts and flowers. I think most of the women who hook up with him know it, too.”
“It doesn’t give him an excuse to treat people that way.”
“Are you more upset by the fact he kept you up last night or that he slept with someone?”
To answer her truthfully, all of it. It seemed like he only brought her home to toy with me. Part of me knew he was trying to get back at me for Trevor. He was pushing my buttons, trying to get under my skin. He thought by bringing her home and fucking her against our paper-thin walls, he was going to hurt me.
I don’t know why, but it was that fact that bothered me the most.
“All of it,” I admit, ripping the paper off the end of my straw, shoving it into my ice water. I avoid her eye contact, leaning forward to take a drink, focusing on cars driving by on the busy street outside.
Kyla knows me well enough to know I don’t want to talk about it anymore, and I think we are both thankful when our waitress approaches to take our order.
Kyla folds her menu, handing it to the server when her phone beeps from where it’s sitting on the table. Glancing down, I spot a notification flash on her screen from Tysin. She quickly grabs her phone, but not before I see who it’s from.
“I’ll have your food right out,” the waitress says.
As soon as she’s out of earshot, I turn the tables on Kyla.
"Spill it,” I say, mimicking her as I point to her phone.
She ignores me, looking down at the screen to check the message before setting it face down on the table.
I stare at Kyla, waiting for her response. She’ll squeeze me like a pimple until I’m ready to pop when she wants to get information out of me, but when I do the same, she’s stone-faced. I stare at her, taking in the black hoop in her nose to the diamond studs in her ears, while I wait.
“It’s nothing really,” she mutters. Her shoulders sag, looking defeated. A hint of longing coats her voice, and I know from growing up watching her every time Tysin came around, she wished it wasn’t the case.
“Well, he’s texting you, so that has to mean something.”
“He’s been coming down to Breaking Waves lately.” She shrugs. “We’ve talked a few times, but I don’t know what’s going on.”
Kyla’s been working at the local surf shop near the boardwalk. I hadn’t pegged Tysin as a surfer. None of the guys in A Rebels Havoc are, but apparently, it doesn’t stop him from finding reasons to drop in and talk to her.
Whatever happens, we both know the moment her brother finds out, he’ll put his foot down and demand it end.
“What are we doing, Ivy?”
Judging by the look on her face, she feels just as confused as I do.
“They’re a pair of assholes, and we both know it’s going to end in disaster.”
She’s right. Yet, even knowing it, when we both get up and walk out of here later, we’ll be going right back to where we are now. As much as we know they’re bad for us, we’re going to have to find out for ourselves.
We spend the rest of our lunch talking about how my job is going and make plans to hit up the beach on my day off next week. Before we leave, we hug, and I promise to stay in touch more, before I head home, hoping to relax before my shift later that night.
The house is quiet when I get back. Brix and his truck are nowhere to be found. Jogging up the steps, I head for my room to get ready. I’m standing in the bathroom, putting on the finishing touches to my makeup, when I hear the front door open and close. Our parents are hardly around since returning from their recent trip, so my first guess is Brix.
The floor creaks with footsteps walking past the door, continuing down the hall before walking back toward me.
“Ivy?” Brix’s knuckles rasp against the wood of the door.
“Yes?”
“Can I talk to you before you head out?”