Brad turns the knob and pushes the door again. Josh sighs in annoyance then grabs the door and keeps it open just enough for him to be seen. I hide behind the door like a coward.
"What the fuck do you want?" Josh hisses.
"Who are you in there with?"
"That is none of your business. What do you want?"
"Have you seen Natalie?"
I turn my head to look at Josh. He clenches his jaw making it look like he couldn't care less about Brad's question. "No. Is that all?"
"Lock the door next time," I hear Brad say before walking away.
Josh shuts the door and locks it this time. Why didn't we think to do that earlier?
"Oh God," I say letting out a breath I didn't even know I was holding. That was way too close. How could I have been so careless? I reach down and grab my blouse and Josh's shirt. I hand it to him and put mine on.
"It's fine. He didn't see you." Josh tells me.
I shake my head. "I shouldn't be here. We shouldn't be here. What the hell were we thinking?"
"Natalie, calm down. It's okay."
"No, it's not." I turn to look at him. "Josh, your parents are here! And your coworkers. They could have all found out about this!" I shake my head. "We can't be around people. What the hell is wrong with us?"
"Nothing is wrong with us," Josh says grabbing my arm. "Just calm down, alright?"
"We shouldn't see each other when we're around people." I tell him. "I-I should go."
I walk past him out of the room. There's no one in the hallway and I make my way back to the dining room quickly to get my purse. I purse my lips, hoping they're not as swollen as they feel and my face isn't as flushed.
"Nat, I was looking for you, where were you?" Brad asks when he sees me.
"In the bathroom," I say reaching for my purse. "I'm actually gonna head out."
"Already?" Louisa asks. "Everything alright?"
I nod and notice Crystal walking into the room. "Yeah. I'm just tired and I have work tomorrow. Thank you so much for inviting me, Louisa."
"Oh, sweetie, of course." She hugs me. "You know you're family to us."
I gulp the knot in my throat. It's a knot of tears. Tears of guilt. "Thank you." I choke out.
We pull away and I see Josh walking in. He looks angry and I feel bad. I know I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. It's not his fault. I'm just angry with myself. I'm so weak when I'm around him. He consumes me. It makes me irresponsible.
"Oh look who it is," Brad says and I wince knowing what's coming. "Should we tell everyone what you were doing in one of the rooms?" He places his hand on Josh's shoulder and Josh shrugs it off angrily. Brad laughs obviously enjoying this. He's got everyone's attention now and I know he's not going to let this go. "My big brother here was smashing someone in there."
I look down unable to meet Josh's gaze. I feel so bad.
"So?" Brad presses. "Who was the lucky lady?"
"That's enough, Brad." Clint scolds disapprovingly.
"Oh come on. Y'all always judge me when I do this exact thing! Why shouldn't Josh here get the same treatment?"
I gulp. I can't stand here listening to this. I need to say something. There's a moment of silence while I work up the courage to say something. I finally open my mouth to tell everyone that it was me but before I say anything, Crystal stands up. "Not that it's any of your business, Brad, but it was me. Are you happy?"
Oh my God.
Did Crystal just save me?
I feel like I could hug her right now.
I look at Louisa and she is beaming, obviously happy to think that Josh and Crystal are together. It's what she's wanted since before he came back. I look at Crystal who is casually eating chips as if she just didn't throw a major bomb on everyone. Then I look at Josh. He's looking at me. I hope he can read the apology in my eyes.
"Oh, I knew it!" Gunner says as if he just won a bet. He probably did.
Brad smirks. "Alright. Guess you're my sister-in-law now, Crystal. Welcome to the family." He puts her arm around her shoulders and Crystal shrugs him off.
I can't stand here any longer. "Nice seeing everyone. Goodnight." I manage to say looking at the floor.
"Bye, sweetie," Louisa says behind me.
I almost run out of the building. What a disaster. All because Josh and I couldn't be more responsible. I'm so frustrated with myself. I'm really bothered by the fact that I seem to lose sense whenever I'm with Josh. Whenever he kisses me, I forget about everything else and that's not always a good thing. Tonight is a good example of that. I can't lose control like that. Not when what I'm doing is wrong.
I get in my car and drive back to my apartment feeling disappointed with myself. I've come to the conclusion that Josh and I really can't be around each other with people we know around us. Everything is so much easier when it's just him and I alone. We need to keep it like that. That's the only way this could work.
I have a hard time going to sleep. Even after crying. I don't have a good day at work the next day. I'm moody and tired and sleepy. I'm sure my face sends that memo to everyone because nobody bothers me.
When I get home Friday evening, I have a call from my mom. I'm not in the mood but I know I have to answer because well, she's my mom.
"I heard you went to Clint's birthday celebration on Thursday. How was it?"
"Fun," I say trying to smile to sound enthusiastic.
"Good to hear." She pauses. "I was calling to see if you could cover the inn this weekend."
I frown. "What do you mean? Where are you going?"
"Your dad and I had planned a trip to Washington this weekend. Savannah had agreed to cover for us but she was asked to cover at work tomorrow night. We already have the plane tickets so I wanted to see if you could come over and cover tomorrow night? You could come over tonight. Savannah will be here."
My heart sinks. Seriously? If this isn't a sign from the universe then I don't know what this is. I can't ignore this anymore. I feel disappointed at first but then I think about the beach and spending time with my sister and I feel a bit better. I could talk to her about everything that's going on.
"It's very slow. We don't have any scheduled guests for tomorrow. You won't have to do anything," my mom continues in Spanish.
"It's okay, Mom, I'll do it." I sigh. "I think I could use the trip."
"Oh! Thank you so much, baby. I promise I'll make it up to you."
"You don't have to, Mom. When do you and dad leave?"
"In about two hours. Should I tell Savannah you're coming?"
"Yeah. I'll pack a bag and head over in a few minutes. Have fun."
"Thank you, sweetie. Cualquier cosa me llamas."
"Yes, I'll call you if we need anything," I say.
We say goodbye and then hang up. I take a deep breath then reach for a bag and begin to pack some clothes.
"Going to Newport?" Cassie asks when she sees me walking out of my room with a bag.
I smile. "Yep. Need to get away."
"Have fun!" She calls after me.
"Will try!"
I lock the door behind me then head to my car. It's just past six in the evening. The sun is going down but it's not dark yet. Inside my car, I consider calling Josh. I haven't spoken to him since last night. It feels weird. Is he mad at me? He should be. I know I should have stepped up to defend him. I swallow my pride and give him a call.
"Hey." He answers.
"Hey, are you busy?"
"We're on our way to answer a call. I got a few minutes." There's some background noise on his end.
"I just wanted to let you know I won't be able to go over tomorrow. I have to cover the inn for my parents."
"Oh." He pauses. "Alright."
I bite my lip. "It has nothing to do with what happened yesterday. My mom just called me a few minutes ago."
"It's okay. I understand."
There's a moment of silence. I don't really know what else to say. I feel that I can't say anything that'll make him feel better.
"Listen-I gotta go. Drive safe, let me know when you get there okay?" He finally breaks the silence.
"Okay. Bye."
"Bye."
I put my phone down and look at the screen, feeling sad. I was so excited for tomorrow to arrive and now all our plans are ruined and things aren't okay between us anymore. I sigh then turn on the car and begin to drive.
I blast Queen and sing along like a heartbroken, miserable teenage girl as I drive to Newport. All I needed was the rain and the drama would have been complete. I wonder if it was wrong of me to come? I couldn't say no to my mom. She needed me. She rarely asks me to work in the inn, Savannah is usually the one who works when Mom and Dad can't. I know I would have come whether what happened Thursday would have happened or not.
It's around nine when I arrive at the inn. I park then grab my bag and head inside. The sound of the waves is already making me feel better. The lights are on inside. The bells on the door ring when I pull it open and Savannah walks out of the kitchen as I'm closing the door. "It's just me," I say.
"Hey." Savannah smiles then walks to me and hugs me. "I was just finishing the kitchen. Come."
I follow her into the kitchen and she walks to the sink and continues washing the dishes. Being in the kitchen and watching Savannah washing dishes reminds me of Josh, of course.
"How's it going?" Savannah asks. "You don't look happy to be here." She laughs.
"No, I am." I tell her. "Sorry, I just-" I sigh.
She turns to look at me. "It's Josh, isn't it?"
I sit down in one of the bar stools and rest my chin on my hand. "It's everything. We almost got caught by Brad on Thursday at Clint's birthday party."
"What?" She asks looking shocked. She sets the last plate on the dish stand and shuts the water off. "Were you guys...?" She asks drying her hands.
"No. We probably would have if Brad wouldn't have interrupted."
"I told you you two needed to be more careful," she says disapprovingly.
"I know. I just-he kisses me and I forget everything. I don't care about anything when I'm with him."
"Maybe you should stop seeing him," Savannah says quietly.
I look at her with a pained look on my face. "I don't want to."
"I don't know what to tell you then."
I take a deep breath. "I think I'm going to bed. You need any help? How many guests are here?"
"Just three. They're all checking out tomorrow though. Tomorrow should be a slow day." She reaches for my hand and squeezes it. "Go to sleep. We'll talk some more tomorrow."
"Thank you," I say standing up. "Goodnight."
"Night."
I swear sometimes it feels like she's the oldest. I know I should probably listen to her but I also know that I'm not. I'm not going to stop seeing Josh...unless he doesn't want to see me anymore. I hope he still does.
I walk to my bedroom and drop everything on the ground and kick off my shoes before throwing myself on the bed. I lay there and look up at the ceiling, thinking about the last time Josh and I were here. I close my eyes and try to relieve it...wishing he was here with me tonight.
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