Beautiful Burn Read Online Free PDF Page B

them with a
damp thunk on the sand and turned to plop down. I arched an eyebrow
in surprise. I'd gotten the sense that this night was over. I pulled
the boat out of the water and sat down next to her. “Everything
okay?”
    “Yeah.” She shrugged as she
dragged her fingertips through the now twilight-lit sand.
    “Everything good with that
guy?” I found myself suddenly wishing they'd broken up in the days
it'd been since she'd introduced me. She had kissed me back, right? I
hadn't just imagined her soft lips pressed against mine, had I?
    “Jake?” She looked to me in
a flash, then dug through the pocket of her jeans. The cellophane
around her cigarettes crackled as she rustled with it before pulling
a slightly thinner cigarette out and lighting it. The heavy scent of
weed filled my nostrils. I was surprised for half a second before it
settled that nothing really surprised me with Auburn. She was
predictably unpredictable and just when I thought I had her pegged,
she turned my stereotypes upside down. “We're not serious,” she
finally admitted. I only nodded, thankful for that.
    “So tell me what's going on
inside that head of yours.” Something seemed to be bothering her,
and I was dying for her to open up to me. Auburn had always been more
reserved when it came to talking about her personal life, and had only mentioned details in passing, but now
that we were both here, both adults, I wanted to know more. I wanted
to know everything there was to know about her.
    She sighed. “It's been tough,
helping my grandma since she had the stroke. She's in therapy three
days a week, but progress is slow. It's so hard to see her get down
on herself or disappointed when she can't do the things she used to
do. She'll get through it, she's the toughest person I know, but it's
hard to watch her struggling.” Auburn paused as she watched the
cool waves licking at the tips of her toes. “When Grams had the
stroke, I knew I couldn't stay away all summer. We’ve been so close
for so long, seeing her those first few days in the hospital made me
realize she won’t always be here. Whatever I was going to do at
Central was nothing compared to talking books and reality shows and
boys with Grams.”
    “Sounds like you've found the
secret to life.”
    “What's that?”
    “The things that matter most
are the relationships we have with the people we love. It’s all
that remains in the end.”
    “Yeah,” she agreed as she
gazed out at the shimmering water.
    “You know you can talk to me,
about anything. Always.” I brushed the tips of her fingers, tracing
anxious circles in the sand.
    “Thank you.” She said with
sincerity.
    “Gonna share some of that?”
I asked, jovially, sensing she needed the change of topic.
    “Always.” She passed me the
joint. “Mr. West.” She grinned wickedly.
    “Don’t go there,” I
admonished in sexy warning.
    “What? I’m a girl with
manners and morals. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She grinned the sexiest grin I’d ever seen grace a woman’s lips.
    I leaned in, close enough that
my breath washed the skin at her neck as I spoke. “Is that why
you’re out on the beach at night smoking a joint with your
teacher?” I finished before inhaling a substance I hadn’t touched
since college.
    I exhaled and watched as her
breathing accelerated and her fingers dug into the sand at her sides.
“He’s not my teacher anymore,” she finally answered.
    I took in another smooth hit of
the tightly wrapped flower and exhaled, relaxing back on my arms to
watch the lighthouse beam cutting through the murky darkness of
night. The marijuana seeped into my system one cell at a time before
it began to pulse and pound through my blood, intensifying every
thought, every sight, every feeling.
    “That’s debatable,” I
finally replied. And with those words it dawned on me that she and I
were twisted and wrapped up, an innocent history woven with a
precarious present, and we were both