Before You (Before & After #1) by Amber Hart

Author:Amber Hart
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 1617731161
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2014-07-28T23:00:00+00:00

28

diego

Faster, I think.

I want to feel Faith as close to me as possible. I push the throttle to the max. She tightens her grip to the point of pain, squeezing the life out of me. It’s a good pain, though. The type that reminds me I’m alive, living in the moment.

Making sure the coast is clear, I close my eyes for a brief moment. I want to remember this: the sting of salt water, Faith’s thighs squeezing me tight, her face nuzzled into my neck. When I cut the engine, the picture-perfect image will shatter like glass. Words will fly, hurling each broken piece in a different direction.

I’ll never see them again.

But not now.

This moment is mine.

“Watch out,” Faith says, fracturing my concentration.

I open my eyes. A piece of driftwood bobs ahead. I swerve. When I look back, the shore is miniscule. Buildings like tiny blocks. I slow. Faith loosens her grip. I cut the engine in the middle of the ocean.

I wait for Faith to let go of me before I withdraw the key and turn. It’s more difficult than I thought to move on a Jet Ski without dumping us into the water, but I manage. Water sloshes on our lower legs, helping to lessen the scorch from the sun.

I take off my vest. Too bulky and awkward. Faith does the same. I hang them over the handlebars. Faith looks at my body. Her lips part slightly, her eyes skip from feature to feature. I watch her, too. Her ink, especially. It’s beautiful. Images that wisp around her hips and up her ribs like smoke, stopping just beneath her underarms.

On the left, tattooed waves crash against the bone of her hip as if it’s a protruding rock. Beneath the curl of a big wave is a surfer, riding the rogue. A sea mural—coral, seaweed, and neon-colored fish—drift in the current. Whoever inked her is a pro. Her work is amazing.

On the right, a skull and crossbones leaps out of bright red flames. Charcoal gray smoke seeps from the fire, carrying with it tiny images. Demons, if I had to guess. A message. Perhaps Faith has demons. Come to think of it, doesn’t everyone?

Faith’s body is near perfect. My eyes trace long legs, tiny freckles on her knees. Her hand cups saltwater, drips it along her arms and back.

“¿Que pasa, mami?” I ask.

She bites her lip. “Nothing,” she replies.

“You didn’t charge into the water back there for nothin’,” I say.

The hard glint in her eyes suggests anger.

“Talk to me,” I request, taking her hand in mine. I want to have a chance with this girl, a chance to know the real Faith.

She sighs. Looks at me. “You were flaunting her in front of me.”

“True,” I admit.

A small wave approaches. We grasp the seat until it passes.

“Is it real?” she asks. “With that girl, with any of them?”

I think about lying. Change my mind. “No.”

“Then why do it?” she asks.

Gentle ripples in the water rock us slowly back and forth. I motion to our surroundings.

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