Page 3 of Undo Me (The Good Ol' Boys 3)

  “Okay, what about these?”

  I sat there for the next hour, explaining numbers, shootin’ the shit, and simply laughing. I helped her with everything she needed. It didn’t take long for Alex to catch on to what I was explaining. I told you she was bright. That girl could take on anything, and she did, in more ways than one. When I got up to head out to where the boys were, I never expected to look up and lock eyes with my destiny and quite possibly the girl who would undo me.

  Aubrey.

  My mom wasn’t aware of the fact that I walked home from school everyday. She didn’t need to worry about me anymore than I knew she already did. I was supposed to get on the school bus, but the noise and rowdy kids were too much for me to handle.

  I hated it.

  Walking was my peace, a chance for me to clear my mind from the chaos all around while listening to my favorite playlists. I loved to get lost in the songs, letting them take me somewhere else, anywhere but here. Back in California we had a steady routine that no longer existed. My mom dropped me off at school and my dad would pick me up everyday. Sometimes afterwards we would go for ice cream or a cup of coffee, as I got older. I miss that time with him. I miss our conversations, and most of all I miss laughing at his lame jokes. He was a great father. It was obvious to me even from a young age.

  My mom up and moved us clear across the country when she decided we needed new scenery and a fresh start. I couldn’t blame her, not after what my dad did. That’s how I ended up in Oak Island, North Carolina.

  Our new home.

  My mom never talked bad about my dad even though she had every right to. She never uttered a single negative thing about him in my presence, not even once. I respected her so much for it, not all parents took the high road like my mom did.

  I saw the pained look in my mother’s eyes…

  It was always there.

  Haunting me.

  But at the end of the day, he was still my father and I loved him.

  She bought us a cute house in a nice neighborhood that reminded me of Pleasantville. Oak Island was a small beach town with a country feel. I quickly learned that everyone knew everyone in this town. I secretly kind of loved that, an extended family of some sort. Polar opposite from the hustle and bustle of LA, where everyone kept to themselves, absorbed only in their money and looks.

  My mom was an ER General Surgeon and Chief of Medicine back in California. She ran the entire ER unit. When she decided to move us, a friend of a friend had some connections, and she was lucky enough to get a contracted job running the ER at Dosher Memorial Hospital in South Port, which was only a town over. She worked all sorts of crazy hours here like she did back in California. I barely ever saw her. I was alone in a new town, so far from my home.

  The more things changed.

  The more they stayed the same.

  My dad worked from home designing computer software for a telecommunications company. He had only been working for TLCOM the last few years after he went back to college and got his degree. He said he wanted to better himself, but I often wondered if it was because my mom was the breadwinner of the family. I wondered if he felt emasculated.

  For most of my life, my dad was a stay-at-home parent. He raised me along with my mom’s sister, Celeste, while my mom worked her life away to provide for us.

  It was never a problem.

  Until it was.

  We got to spend a lot of time together, but unfortunately he also had more time to dwell on the fact that it was usually only him and I at home. There were plenty of times he had to take on both the “mom” and the “dad” roles since my mom was working all those insane hours.

  There were instances when my dad was simply not enough. My first period, my first crush, my first kiss, getting ready for my first date, things that only another woman would understand. That’s when my aunt stepped in, picking up the slack for her absent sister. My Aunt Celeste was like a mom to me and still is. I could see the hurt on my mom’s face when I told her about something that she should have been apart of, that she should have witnessed. It was a memory that only a mother and daughter should experience, bonding the connection of parent and child for years to come.

  She always listened, though.

  I guess that was her role.

  I could hear the strain in her voice when my aunt or my dad told her about all the other milestones that she should have been apart of but wasn’t.

  Nothing ever changed.

  My mom lived and breathed her job; she always said she loved helping people, that it gave her a purpose in life. I couldn’t fault her. She spent years in school, and half of her life was consumed with her head in the books. It was just who she was. My aunt would often tell me stories about how my mom missed out on her childhood, teenage years, college, and all the normal stuff that people should experience because medicine was in her blood, she got her first medical kit for her sixth birthday and it was like a light bulb went off in her head. I once read that doctors were born, they weren’t made.

  I never wanted for anything. I opened my mouth, and I had it the next day. Growing up I always had the best toys, best clothes, best everything. That wasn’t my

  father’s doing. He often fought with her about how she was spoiling me too much. That I needed to earn things, not just have them handed to me every time I wanted something. I never understood how she found time to buy me everything I asked for, but barely found time to eat dinner with us, or even watch a movie.

  Little did she know I would have taken an hour with her over any fancy toy.

  I thought with the move that maybe things would somehow change, that maybe she would make time for us now. I had no one here. But I couldn’t have been more wrong.

  She started working the day after we arrived in Oak Island, which left me to do most of the unpacking. Even though it was tedious going through all the boxes, I was grateful for the distraction. My mom’s inconsistent hours were starting to get to me, I was lonely, and this time around I didn’t have my dad or my aunt to fill that void. I never said anything to her because I knew she had enough on her plate, and I didn’t want to add to it. As much as she tried to play it off, I knew our current situation hit her harder than she liked to let on. That burden just added to the reasons she drowned herself in her work, more so than before.

  Which was another reason I was grateful for my friendship with Dee, I spent a lot of time at her house with her family. They took me in like I belonged. I think her parents took pity on me since they knew I was by myself most of the time. Maybe they just assumed my mom was a struggling single parent who needed to work all the time to stay afloat since I never went into details about her position at the hospital.

  I was alone with nothing but my thoughts, desperately trying to ignore my feelings about Dylan. I couldn’t believe he had the nerve to just turn his back on me as if our conversation was over because he said so.

  Arrogant asshole.

  The whole encounter was kind of a blur. I was so worked up I hadn’t even realized someone was in his Jeep watching us argue until Dylan backed out of the parking space and I heard his friend’s voice full of laughter. I instantly felt a sense of pride coming over me that someone had witnessed him getting knocked down a few pegs by a girl. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone told me that I was the first girl to ever do so. That alone gave me a feeling of satisfaction.

  It was a long time coming for a guy like him. Walking around school like he owned the damn place, with a certain swagger and his stupid, long blonde hair that fell perfectly on the sides of his chiseled face, as if he was some sort of Greek God or something. He was tall for sixteen, way taller than my five-foot-four frame. I assumed he was probably a little over six foot. His intense hazel eyes had a hint of green running through them that I imagined would really pop when he wore green. Not that I was imagining him in any way other than annoyance.

  He was built like a man. He could definitely pass for someone much older than he actually was. Needi

ng to stop all the thoughts I was having about him, I shook them away before they consumed me again and took over. That’s when I realized I was lost. I looked around for a sign, but instead saw a restaurant on the beach. I decided to stop in and ask for directions and maybe grab something to drink or a bite to eat while I was there.

  As soon as I walked in, there was a warm, welcoming feeling in the air. The restaurant was beautiful and homey with an open view of the beach. All you had to do was walk across the open floor plan

  and your toes would be in the sand. There were tables everywhere. The smell of delicious food assaulted my senses, making my stomach growl. I knew right then and there it would become one of my new favorite places to eat. The hostess said I could seat myself, so I decided to walk towards the back to sit by the deck where I could enjoy the warm, salty air of the ocean when I came to an abrupt stop.

  Dylan.

  I rolled my eyes when I noticed that he was with a girl. Shocker. I had just called him out on all his bullshit, and there he was already sitting with another girl. I shook my head in disgust, but it was suddenly replaced with curiosity. This girl was tiny and not his usual type from what I had heard. She didn’t look familiar in the slightest. Our school was small enough to know most of the students, even if only by appearance. She looked too sweet and innocent for the likes of him. I had the urge to go over there and warn the poor girl to stay away from him, that he was nothing but trouble. He would dispose of her like she was yesterday’s trash once he got what he wanted.

  I didn’t.

  I couldn’t.

  I just stood there unknowingly, staring at them without even realizing I was doing so. He was helping her with her homework. Now that didn’t strike me as the Dylan I encountered and heard of. He was attentive with her, patient. They appeared as if they had known each other their entire lives. I knew it couldn’t be his sister, they looked nothing alike, but he was treating her like she was. And what really shocked the shit out of me was that he looked at her with love and adoration. Even respect. Which was completely different from the guy who stood in front of me, less than an hour before, the same guy I confronted in the school parking lot who didn’t seem bothered by what I was accusing him of in the slightest. I don’t know how long I stood there watching the two of them. Taking in every laugh and smile. They seemed so carefree, their banter effortless.

  He unexpectedly looked up, as if he felt my presence from across the room. Our eyes once again tethered, and for a moment, I saw a certain vulnerability pass through him that I could feel deep within my core. However, just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. Whatever it was had me questioning my beliefs about him. His gaze immediately made me peer down, shutting off the connection that we briefly shared for just a few seconds in time. I walked to a table on the other end of the restaurant, needing to get as far away from him as possible.

  I ordered a drink and food, and then started playing with my phone, when I felt someone crouch down beside me. There he was, balancing on the balls of his feet, just a few inches from my face, in all his glory. For the first time it made me nervous.

  “You stalkin’ me now?” he asked with a grin.

  I resisted the urge to smile. “I’m not the one sitting at your feet, am I?”

  He grinned, wider, putting his dimples prominently on display. His jaw was clenched and there was a gleam in his eyes like he was amused with my banter.

  “Well, sweetheart, you are the queen and I am the asshole, as you pointed out earlier, so it seems as though I am right where I belong.”

  “Who’s the girl?” I blurted out of nowhere. The words were out of my mouth before my brain even registered what I asked.

  He smiled, his straight white teeth shining with the glare of the sun. “Jealous?”

  “You wish, buddy. I’m not one of your minions.”

  “That you aren’t,” he replied with a hard edge.

  “What do you want anyways? Need me to call you out on more of your bullshit?” I snidely questioned, ignoring his last remark.

  “Can’t a guy just say hello to a friend?”

  “We’re friends now? When did that happen? I don’t even like you.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me as if he was calling my bluff.

  “That really hurts, darlin’,” he replied with a smirk, holding his hand over his heart in a dramatic gesture.

  “You’re full of it.”

  “And you’re beautiful,” he asserted, not missing a beat.

  I couldn’t help but smile. “So this is how it works, huh? I don’t know if I should be offended or flattered that you’re already hitting on me. An hour hasn’t even gone by since I chewed you up and spit you out, and you’re back on the horse again?” I mocked, throwing the same statement that I overheard his friend say while he was pulling out of the parking space.

  He chuckled, a throaty sound escaping his lips. “If I had to choose I would prefer the latter.”

  “Well, thank God you aren’t then.”

  He slowly nodded. “This how you gonna play it? Cuz I’m fixin’ to be a gentleman here, but that sassy lil’ mouth of yours is makin’ me all sorts of crazy, baby.”

  “A gentleman?” I looked around, pretending to see if someone else was there. “You might want to look it up in a dictionary because you are doing it all wrong,” I said, feigning shock on my face.

  He shook his head, flashing me that boyish grin before tugging on the ends of my hair like he had earlier. “As always, it was a pleasure.”

  With that, he stood and left.

  I was dismissed once again.

  “There’s a spot open over there.” Austin pointed to the only available parking spot on the grass.

  The empty land by Ian’s house had turned into our private parking lot, it looked like a small car dealership. From Mercedes to beat up Hondas. Our little town was diverse in almost everything, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at our groups.

  It was Saturday night and Ian was having one of his signature parties at his parents’ house. His parents were known for always being out of town, traveling around the world and letting someone else raise their kid. That was the beauty of living in a small town, everyone knew everyone else’s business, and gossip spread like wildfire. We tried not to pay attention to it, but it was hard to ignore when everyone’s dirty laundry was aired out in the open for everyone else to see.

  Like any dysfunctional family, we always took care of our own.

  Ian’s place was fucking huge, and the best part of it was its location. Private beachfront property, where there was so much distance between houses, the cops were never called on us for disturbing the peace. It was the perfect place to let loose and not have to worry about the consequences. His parents never found out or maybe they just didn’t give a fuck. Everyone partied near the pool where country music blared through the expensive speaker system. Later in the night, the party would move down to the beach for a bonfire.

  I was surprised we even found a free spot tonight. We usually had to park down the street and walk our happy asses to the house. It was almost seven by the time the boys and I made our way to the beach. Of course, Alex was home, she didn’t do the party scene. I’d bet my right nut that Lucas wouldn’t stick around for long, making some lame excuse and casually leaving the party to go over to her house. He never stayed for more than one drink.

  Pussy.

  Time just sort of seemed to fly by at these parties. Before you knew it you were there for hours, drinking and fucking around with everyone.

  “So… is it my turn to have a chance with the famous Dylan McGraw?” Chloe purred. At least I thought her name was Chloe. Faces and names seemed to blend together over time for some reason.

  “I’ve been told about you and your skills. When am I going to get a turn to show you mine?” She pouted.

  I smiled wide. “Why don’t you enlighten me on what you’ve heard? I do enjoy a good bedtime story,” I baited, knowing my words would have an effect on

her.

  She took a deep breath, trying to play her part. “I’m just saying that I’ve been told, you’re quite the ladies’ man, and that you know your way around a girl’s…” She raised her eyebrows. “Heart.”

  I sucked in my lower lip and narrowed my eyes, letting them wander to her hair that was long enough for me to pull nice and hard as I was slamming into her from behind. To her mousy face, down to her perfect tits that would fit in the palm of my hand. She would do just fine for the night.

  “I’m going for a walk. Would you like to… come? Because I’d really love to see you come…”

  Nothing excited me more than a girl’s response to my touch.

  She nodded, trying desperately not to seem easy, but failing miserably in her attempt. I leaned forward, my mouth close to her ear.

  “Besides everything you’ve heard,” I whispered, pausing while my lips lightly brushed the nook of her neck, my trademark move that drove girls wild, her chest lifted, flushed, but she tried to remain in control, “I’m also an asshole,” I added, kissing the same spot that got their panties wet and their hearts racing, knowing I was getting the reaction I craved.

  It worked on every girl. Except Aubrey.

  I extended my arm and she followed suit, linking her fingers with mine. We walked hand-in-hand as I took her down to the secluded part of the beach that I was very much familiar with. But I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw her.

  Speak of the devil…

  Aubrey.

  There was something about the way she was sitting on the sand, looking out at the water with her hair blowing in the light breeze. The sight of her literally took my breath away. That had never happened before, me taking an interest in another human outside of my family and friends, especially some chick I had just met. I’d only had two conversations with this girl, and yet I found myself completely mesmerized by the vision that sat in front of me. As if she appeared out of nowhere.

  So consuming.

  So blinding.

  So real.