Thief:A Bad Boy Romance(42)
I furrow my brow. “I’m barefoot.”
“Look, I’m not taking you on a date or anything.” He winks at me. “Come on, Slimy.”
“Where’s your truck?”
“Parked around the corner.”
I smirk. “Guess I’m not the only one who remembers how to sneak out of the Hammond castle.”
The truck is familiar when I climb in, the same vintage-y leather smell, the same cracked radio, the same choking engine sound as he cranks it on. We drive though the neighborhoods, saying nothing as the street lights wash over us and the houses slip past.
Silas takes us into town, driving down Main Street, which is actually empty and devoid of tourists this time of night. We turn down Commercial Street by the pier, past the empty tourist shops, the whale-watching stand shuttered for the evening.
We follow the street down until it starts to leave the downtown area, the buildings thinner as it gives way to trees and then tall grass as we pull around to the shore road. After another minute, Silas starts to pull over and off the road into a parking lot.
I frown. “Where are we-”
But then I get it, knowing exactly where we are.
Willow Sands - the tourist-choked beach by day, and apparently totally empty at night.
I actually haven’t been here in years.
We step out of the car, breathing in the warm, salty Atlantic summer air blowing off the ocean up the beach. Silas grabs a six-pack and a handful of blankets from the back of the truck before we head down the trail through the tall grass down to the dark beach.
It’s like clockwork.
It’s like habit, coming back here.
We find a spot by one of the old driftwood logs that doesn’t look like it’s changed at all since high school. Silas tosses the blankets down before we settle onto them, cross-legged and leaning back against the wood.
He hands me a beer.
“Kinda crazy how nothing’s changed, isn’t it?”
I shoot him a look, and he raises a single brow.
“The town, I mean.” He shrugs. “I don’t know, I guess I figured I’d find strip malls and a fucking Walmart when I got back here for some reason.”
“There’s a Starbucks now, apparently. Out on Reed Road.”
He makes a face.
“Yeah, seriously. Watch out, this town’s on the up.”
He laughs as he raises his beer. “Well, cheers to Shelter Harbor finally getting itself on the fucking chain coffee-retail map.”
I snort a laugh as I clink my bottle to his before taking a sip.
This is easy. It’s easy to lapse into this sort of rapport with him. So easy that the first beer goes easy, but I hesitate when he passes me a second.
He shrugs as he starts to pull it away. “No problem.”
“You know what, sure.”
What am I doing?
I’m alone, on a deserted beach, with Silas Hart.
And I’m drinking.
What good do I possibly think could happen from this?
“Remember those bonfires we used to have down here?”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, stupid high school parties. Someone always ended up puking or naked.”
He laughs.
“God, or truth or dare.”
He grins. “Hey, I loved playing that.”
I give him a look. “Yeah, because you always took the dare.”
“Yep,” he winks at me.
I shrug. “Well, we could play now.”
Silas eyes me. “Well, well, well, Hammond.”
“What?”
He grins. “Nothing, you’re just not really a truth or dare type girl.”
I shrug casually. “You don’t know that.”
“I thought I did.”
“Well maybe I’ve changed.”
He eyes me for a second, half-smirking, before he nods. “Fine. Truth or dare.”
“No fair!” I push his arm, grinning. “I’m going first.”
He laughs. “Be my guest.”
“Truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
I blink, surprised, and he grins. “Weren’t expecting that, were you.”
I wasn’t.
But I shrug it off as causally as I can.
“Did you ever kill anyone while you were way?”
My eyes go wide, taken aback at my own words, and I bring my hand to my mouth.
“Ohmygod, I’m so sorry! That-”
“Wow, Ivy,” he chuckles. “You got deep on the first round there.”
I shake my head still covering my mouth. “That’s none of my business, God, I’m sorry that was a stupid-”