Collin

  I lay there and watched as tears fell down her face. “Amelia, you don’t have to say another word.”

  She didn’t listen. She kept on telling me about that horrific day that changed her life forever.

  “I pulled on my dad’s arm and begged him to try to turn around. He jerked his arm and his elbow hit me in the face, knocking me down. Billy yelled and I tried to get up, but I couldn’t. Billy stood up and he let go of the edge of the boat. That was when another wave crashed over the boat and knocked him off and into the water. I screamed and tried to crawl across the deck. I remember the rain being so heavy that it hurt my eyes. My mom and sister were holding each other, screaming and crying as I tried to get to the edge of the boat to try to look for Billy.”

  Amelia brought her hand to her face and wiped away the tears. I reached over and wiped a single one that she’d missed.

  “As the boat got closer to the island, it was headed straight for a large rock. The last words I heard my dad say were, ‘I love you.’ The boat crashed into the rock, flipping it over and throwing us all into the water. I’ll never forget trying to swim to the surface and being tangled in the seaweed that almost killed me.”

  I ran my finger along the scar that extended down her arm. I noticed it on the beach the day after she had helped me, but I never wanted to ask about it and she never volunteered to tell me. I suspected now it was from the accident.

  “The scar on my arm is from slicing it on a rock when the boat crashed and I was thrown into the water. I finally managed to make my way out from under the boat and to the top of the water. I began screaming for my family, but they weren’t anywhere to be seen. I dove back under, but I couldn’t see anything. The water was cloudy and the seaweed was thick. Suddenly, I heard a helicopter up above. I swam to the surface and began screaming and waving my arms. Blood was gushing from my cut and the water was turning red around me. The next thing I remembered was waking up in a hospital bed and my aunt was sitting beside me, crying.”

  She turned her head and looked at me as another tear fell from the corner of her eye. “You’re the first person that I ever told about the accident in detail.”

  I wiped her tear and then put my arm around her, pulling her into me. “Words can’t even describe how sorry I am.”

  “Before the accident, I had planned to race myself the following year. But now, I’m scared to death of the water and I can only look at it from a distance.”

  My grip around her tightened. She looked up at me with such sadness in her eyes that it took everything I had not to cry with her. My lips softly brushed against hers, a soft-spoken kiss that instantly turned passionate. My desire for her became stronger and, before I knew it, my hands were all over her, feeling every curve her body had to offer. She broke our kiss and pulled away.

  “I’m sorry, Collin. I can’t.”

  “No, I’m sorry, Amelia. I crossed the line.”

  We both sat up and she looked at me. “It’s okay. There’s no need to apologize. Things just got a little hot and heavy and I’m not ready for that. To be honest, I don’t know if I’ll ever be,” she said as she turned away from me. “In fact, please just take me home. I never should’ve done this.”

  I was stunned by her words. “Done what, Amelia?”

  “Please just take me home. I want to go home.” She began to cry.

  “Why? So you can sit there all alone and shut out the world like you’ve done for the past two years?”

  “That’s none of your business!” she snapped.

  “It is my business because I really like you and I don’t want to see you hurt anymore.”

  She got up from the ground and slowly walked away. “You don’t get to tell me when I can stop hurting.”

  “Fine. If that’s what you want, then fine.” I got up, grabbed the blanket and the basket, and headed to the Range Rover. Amelia followed behind. I threw everything in the back and we drove in silence. When we reached her building, she got out of the vehicle, slammed the door, and went inside.

  I pulled away from the curb with a tight grip on the steering wheel. As I turned the corner, I pulled over. She had opened up to me and this was just the beginning. Her tragedy was reborn when she told me about it, which sent her into fear again. I kept playing my mom’s words over and over again. “Even broken people can be fixed.” Amelia wasn’t the only one who was broken. I was too, but in a different way. We needed each other. I got out of the Range Rover and walked to her building. Someone was coming out the door, so I held it for them and walked right up to the second floor. I knocked hesitantly, not knowing what was in store for me for the rest of the night.

  Chapter 19

  The door flew open and she sighed. “Somehow, I knew you’d come up here.”

  “Damn right!” I said. “I don’t want to argue and I don’t want to leave tonight being angry. I don’t want to do anything except be with you. I’m happy holding you in my arms, because right now, I think that’s where you belong.”

  People were opening up their doors and looking out into the hallway. Amelia grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me into her apartment. “Get in here. You’re making a scene.”

  I took her hands in mine. She tried to pull away, but my grip on them tightened. “Look at me, Amelia,” I said. “I’m sorry for earlier. I don’t want to hurt you and I don’t want you to be scared of me.”

  “I’m not scared of you, Collin. It’s just—”

  “Just what?”

  She took in a deep breath and looked into my eyes. “I’m just scared of life.”

  I pulled her into me and held her. “Me too, Amelia. Me too. But I think we’re more scared of the unexpected.”

  “I live every day in fear that something bad is going to happen because I’ve experienced how your life can change in a split second.” She pulled back and left my arms. “Since you’re here, can I offer you something?”

  “No, I’m good. Amelia,” I said as I ran my hands through my hair. “Have you ever talked to a doctor about how you feel?”

  “No. I haven’t talked to anybody. Like I told you earlier, you’re the first person I’ve told in detail about the accident.”

  “Why did you tell me?”

  She looked at me and then diverted her eyes to the ceiling. “I don’t know, Collin. It just felt right.”

  “Exactly, Amelia. It felt right. Just like it feels right being with you.”

  Just as I said that, my phone starting ringing. I pulled it from my pocket and saw that it was Hailey. I hit ignore and put it back in my pocket. I sat down on the couch and asked her to sit with me. I held out my arms and she sat on my lap.

  “If we’re going to spend time together, then we have to take things slow,” she said as she laid her head on my chest. “I really do like you, Collin. Even though you tripped me and then ran me over with your cart.”

  I laughed. “For the last time, I didn’t run you over.”

  She looked up at me with a smile and I softly kissed her lips. There was no place else I wanted to be. I was content holding her in my arms. But, I was bothered by the fact that Hailey kept calling me.

  ****

  “I’m surprised you came home last night,” my dad said as he strolled into the kitchen and poured some coffee.

  “Where else would I go?”

  He gave me a perplexed look as he sipped the coffee from his cup. “I thought you’d be staying at Amelia’s, since you went out last night.”

  “Nah. We talked and we’re taking things slow. Very slow.”

  “That’s good, son. That’s the way things should happen. It’s not good to rush into anything. Take your time and get to know each other.”

  “She’s really messed up, Dad. I mean, in a bad way.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked as he set down his cup.

  “She told me about the boating accident last night and it nearly killed me. What she experienced was horrific. I seriously don’t know if I could ever recover from something l
ike that.”

  “It sounds to me like she hasn’t, and if it’s as bad as you say it was, and you really like her, then maybe you can help her. Poor girl probably never had any support after the accident.”

  I sat there, lightly shaking my head, debating whether or not to tell him that Hailey had been calling me. “Hailey called me last night while I was with Amelia and it wasn’t the first time.”

  He looked up from his phone and raised one eyebrow at me. “What do you mean, it wasn’t the first time? What does she want?”

  “I don’t know. The last time we talked, she...well, you know what she said.”

  “Do you still have feelings for her?”

  “You want the truth? No. I don’t. In fact, when I’m with Amelia, I feel things that I never felt before.”

  “Ah, I know that feeling.” He smiled.

  “I know you do, Dad. Mom is your soul mate and the one and only and when you met her, she completely changed your life...blah blah blah.”

  “Collin!” my mom exclaimed as she entered the kitchen.

  “Sorry, Mom. Dad, I’m sorry, but I’ve heard it a million times and I love you both very much, but—”

  “But what, son?” my dad asked quietly.

  “I don’t know,” I said as I got up from the chair. “I’m going to drive myself into the office today.”

  “Why? Ralph is downstairs,” he said.

  “Yeah, no thanks, Dad. I’ll just drive myself. Love you, Mom,” I said as I kissed her on the cheek.

  The more I thought about Hailey calling me, the more curious I became. I climbed into the Range Rover and hit her number on my phone. If I was going to be with Amelia, this thing with Hailey was going to have to be put to rest.

  “Hey, Collin. I’ve been trying to call you.”

  “Yeah, I saw. What do you want, Hailey?”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. Why do you keep calling me?”

  “I just wanted to see what you’ve been up to. I thought maybe we could Skype one night.”

  I didn’t know where the hell all this was coming from, but she sounded different.

  “I’m sorry, Hailey, but don’t you have a boyfriend? I don’t think he’d appreciate you skyping with your ex.”

  “Things didn’t work out between us.”

  That was quick, I thought to myself.

  “Sorry to hear that.”

  “Anyway, I’m going to be flying back to New York in a couple of weeks and I may be staying there permanently.”

  Shit. What the hell happened in Italy that’s making her want to come back to New York? I didn’t want to know.

  “That’s nice. I’m sure your mom and dad will be very happy to see you.”

  “What about you?” she asked.

  “What? Hailey, are you there? Hello?” Click.

  There was no way I was answering that question, so I did what I had to in order to cut her off. As I walked up to my office, I sent Amelia a text message. She was the one I needed to be thinking about, not Hailey.

  “Good morning, beautiful. I know you start your clinicals today, but I was hoping I could pick you up from the hospital and we could grab some dinner together.”

  “Good morning. I would really like that. I get off at seven.”

  “Great! I’ll pick you up in front. Have a good day.”

  “Thanks, Collin. Have a good day yourself.”

  Just reading her words made me smile. Everything about her made me smile. Even when I thought about her, I smiled. I worked my ass off all day and held an important meeting that even impressed my dad. I stayed at the office until it was time to pick up Amelia so I could get some much needed work done.

  Chapter 20

  I pulled up to the hospital entrance just as Amelia was walking out the doors. She climbed in and smiled at me.

  “Hi.”

  “Hi.” I smiled back. “How was your first day of clinicals?”

  “It was interesting and harder than I thought it would be.”

  I reached over, grabbed her hand, and brought it up to my lips. “You’re going to make an amazing nurse. Don’t ever forget that.”

  She giggled, leaned over, and put her head on my shoulder.

  “Are you okay?” I asked as I pulled away from the hospital.

  “I’m fine. I’m just happy today is over with and I get to see you.”

  I smiled as my lips touched her forehead. I was just as happy to see her. We both were in the mood for pizza, so we drove to Pizzapopolous. When we walked in, I saw Julia and Jake sitting at a table. Julia looked up and smiled.

  “Hey!” she said as she got up from her chair.

  “Hey, sis. It looks like we wanted the same thing for dinner. Hi, Jake.”

  “Hey, Collin, Amelia. It’s good to see you.” He smiled.

  “Sit down and join us,” Julia said.

  I looked at Amelia and she smiled. “Okay, we will,” I said as I pulled out the chair for Amelia.

  We had a great dinner with Julia and Jake. They left before we did because Julia was tired and feeling uncomfortable. I got up from my seat and kissed her goodbye.

  “I’ll see both of you at the office tomorrow.” I smiled.

  I sat back down and grabbed Amelia’s hand. “That was nice, having dinner with my sister and brother-in-law.”

  “Yeah, it was. I really like them. In fact, I really like your whole family. Everyone is so nice.”

  “They’re okay.” I smiled. “Have you heard anything about the house yet?” I asked.

  “No,” she said as she looked down at the table. “The realtor called me today and said that three people looked at it, but said it was out of their price range.”

  “Out of their price range? It’s the fucking Hamptons. What do they expect?”

  “I don’t know. I wish I could keep it. Even though we only lived in it a very short time, it was a place that was special to my parents.”

  “What about your house here in New York that you grew up in?” I asked.

  She looked at me in confusion. “We didn’t have a house in New York. I grew up in Palisades Park, New Jersey. I thought I told you that.” She laughed.

  “No. But I guess it never came up because we always talked about the Hamptons and NYU. I just assumed you grew up in New York.”

  As we sat and talked, my phone buzzed. I pulled it from my pocket. There was a text message from my mom.

  “Hi, sweetheart. The whole family is going to the beach house this weekend to celebrate Jake’s birthday. So, don’t make plans and bring Amelia. We’d love to have her.”

  I looked up at Amelia and smiled. “My mom said that the whole family is going to the beach house this weekend and she wants you to come. We’re celebrating Jake’s birthday. What do you say?”

  She hesitated for a moment and then said okay. “It’ll be fun.” She smiled.

  “You bet it will be! It’s always fun when I’m around.” I winked.

  I sent a message back to my mom.

  “Sounds great, and Amelia is looking forward to coming.”

  “Perfect.”

  We finished our dinner and I drove Amelia home. I walked her up to her apartment, put my hands on her hips, and softly kissed her goodbye. “I had a nice time tonight,” I said.

  “Me too.” She smiled.

  I pulled her into me and embraced her. Her scent was driving me insane and I started to get a hard-on. She broke our embrace and looked at me.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I can’t help it when I’m with you.”

  Amelia laughed. “It’s okay. I understand, Collin. You don’t need to apologize.”

  “I better go. You have studying to do and I need to leave.”

  “Thanks for dinner. Next time, it’s on me.” She smiled.

  I leaned over and lightly touched her lips with mine. “Never. I will always pay.” I winked as I walked out.

  I heard her giggling behind me as she shut the door. I smiled all the
way back to the Range Rover.

  ****

  Over the next few days, Amelia and I saw each other after she finished her clinicals. I would pick her up and we’d grab carryout from somewhere and take it back to her place. I would bring my laptop and do some work while she sat and did her homework. I even helped her study for a big quiz she had coming up. She wanted to make sure she finished all her studying before we left for the beach house. I could tell that she was getting closer to me and letting me in more. We talked about our childhoods and how we grew up. We shared family stories and she even talked a little bit about Billy.

  We were both sitting on the couch. I had my laptop on my lap and she was sitting next to me with her nose in her textbook. When she closed it, she looked at me and smiled.

  “Well, that’s it. I’m all finished. Now I’ll have a clear mind for the weekend.”

  “That’s great,” I said as I set my laptop to the side and pulled her into me. I softly kissed the top of her head. “I’m so happy that you’re coming with us.”

  “Me too. Is anyone else coming besides your family?”

  “I think just Peyton and Henry.”

  “Aren’t they the parents of your ex-girlfriend?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You don’t think it will be uncomfortable having your girlfriend there while they’re there.”

  Instantly, I smiled. We had never talked about girlfriend/boyfriend status before. “Nah, it’ll be fine. Peyton and Henry are really cool.”

  My phone buzzed on the table. Amelia sat up and reached over to grab it. There was a text message from Jacob.

  “Guess what. Your dad invited me and my mom to the beach house. How cool is that, dude?”

  I laughed as I replied, “That’s awesome, buddy. I can’t wait to see you.”

  “It’s going to be so cool. I can’t wait.”

  “Are you coming up tomorrow or Saturday?”