One For The Team (A Zuma SEALs Novel (Malibu Adventure Series Book 3)) by Deborah Brown

Author:Deborah Brown [Brown, Deborah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Toby and Lark walked down Santa Monica Boulevard toward the beach in silence. The ice cream vendor had packed up and gone home. A street sweeper crept by on the other side of the street, its multiple wire brushes scouring the gutter while its powerful vacuum sucked the dirt and grime of another day into its huge, orange tank.

They took the stairs down to the beach. He sat in exactly the same spot where he had met Lark, and she hung over the railing, talking on her phone. He found it hard to concentrate, and it wasn’t because of the noise made by the tourists. It was because of the conversation he’d had with Lark earlier. Toby still couldn’t believe he had said those things.

He picked up the comic page someone had left behind on the bench and glanced around the pier. Half the city’s population was out taking advantage of the warm weather, it seemed. Everywhere he looked, Toby saw people in various states of undress enjoying the sunshine. Some were stretched out on benches, others just walking around aimlessly. A couple of teenage girls were sitting on the railing over the sign, “No standing or sitting on the railing,” giggling hysterically. Toby wished they would shut up. He also wished Lark would hurry up and get off the phone. But more than that, he wished he hadn’t tried to blame his behavior on his father.

But what else could he have done? Lark had been about to end their relationship, and that had scared the hell out of him. The bar they’d gone to hadn’t helped. It had been packed full of rival fans watching soccer on TV. The noise had been horrendous in the small neighborhood bar, and the headache that had hit him the minute Lark walked away only amplified the sound. Toby had stood in the line at the bar for almost twenty minutes before he was served, and on every return trip, he half expected Lark to get up and leave him there, to walk away from him forever. She hadn’t. Lark instead suggested that they walk down to the beach. Toby had thought that was a good sign. He’d gotten drunk and behaved like an asshole at the poetry reading, and no one could have blamed Lark if she’d blown him off without a second thought. But it wasn’t his fault. His father made him do it. Even now, the lame excuse caused a hot flush to rush up Toby’s neck and cheeks, and he buried his face in his hands to hide his embarrassment. But he hadn’t lied.

He stood and waved to Lark, motioning to her that he would go and get drinks. He headed down the pier toward the ferris wheel and the lemonade stand and ordered her favorite: strawberry. He returned with two plastic cups, calling out to Lark, who was now sitting on the bench, head back, her face to the sun, enjoying the warmth of the day.

Lark’s eyes popped open and she gave him a cool look.

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