Spring Tide (Coastal University Book 1)

“I think that went pretty well, don’t you?” I ask, toying with the hemline of my sundress. It’s nearing nine o’clock on Saturday night, and we’re finally headed back toward Coastal.

“Yeah, sure,” Luca says in a noncommittal tone. His grip on the steering is tight, gaze trained on the road ahead of us.

“I mean, your parents were great. I didn’t see too much of your sisters, but everyone seemed to like me well enough.” I anxiously nibble on a cuticle. If he’s worried about my reaction to Elio, he shouldn’t be. “Um, there was some weirdness with your brother, but he apologized and everything.”

“Uh-huh,” he says, silently merging onto the freeway.

I place a firm hand on his bicep. “Luca?”

He shakes his head, glancing at me from his peripherals. “Sorry, you’re right. My parents loved you.”

“And?”

“And Elio was fucking high on coke tonight, so that’s great,” he mutters, despondent.

My shoulders drop. “Oh no, really?”

“Yep, my own brother felt like he needed to take drugs just to be around me. How much of a piece of shit does that make me?”

I hear the anguish in his voice, and it nearly breaks my heart. He’s always putting so much pressure on himself, but I can’t let him take the blame for this.

“Not at all,” I say. “This isn’t your fault.”

“He told me he wanted to take the edge off because he was worried about me coming home.” He takes a frustrated breath. “How is that not my fault?”

“Elio makes his own choices. The only thing you can do now is be there for him.”

His lips form a lifeless smile. “I guess.”

“What did you tell him when you figured it out?”

“I said I’d keep it from our parents but that I’m drug testing him next time I’m around. I’ll just . . . I don’t know, I guess I have to visit home more often.”

With the way his schedule is running at the moment, that seems like an impossible feat. Luca barely has time to even breathe these days. If he doesn’t allow himself to decompress, I’m worried the pressure will build and build until it all implodes.

“That might be good if you can swing it.”

His sigh is so deep and heavy that it hollows out a cavity in my chest. “It’s a lot to juggle, but I feel like I need to.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No, just . . . just be with me.” He lets one hand drop from the steering wheel, molding his fingers around my thigh. “That’s all I need.”

“I can do that.”

We allow a comfortable silence to blanket the space around us. The freeway is quiet and mostly empty at this time of night, so all we can hear is the steady sounds of our mingled breath and the dull white noise of the car’s engine.

I rack my mind for the best way to comfort him. I don’t want to keep debating the topic tonight, especially since he’s already entered a cycle of self-doubt. He could do with a distraction instead, a means to get his mind off the situation until he’s ready to deal with the fallout.

And I might have the perfect solution.

Scrambling for my phone, it only takes me a few minutes to pull up the surf cams for Cape Casserat. As suspected, the beach in my hometown is experiencing a red tide, one that’s persisted for nearly a month.

“Hey, do you think you could pull over on the next exit?” I ask, tucking my phone back into my purse.

“Uh, sure?” He cocks one brow. “We’re still a few miles short of Boyer, though.”

“I know, but I want you to switch with me.”

He taps his thumb against the outside of my thigh. “You want to drive?”

“Mhm,” I say cheerfully. “You don’t start work until noon tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You showed me your home; now I want to show you mine. I’m taking us to Cape Casserat tonight.”

“What?” He shoots a bewildered glance in my direction. “We won’t make it there until nearly midnight.”

“That’s perfect.”

“You’re confusing me.”

“There’s been a red tide there for weeks.” I’m bouncing in my seat, heels tapping in the footwell. “It’s probably the last chance we’ll get this season to see the blue wave.”

“Are you talking about bioluminescence?”

“Yes,” I say excitedly. “So, will you go with me? I’ll drive us back, and you can get some sleep before your shift.”

“Fuck it,” he says with a shake of his head, eyes bright with amusement. “Let’s go.”

We pull off onto the nearest exit and quickly swap places. Luca yanks at the bar below the passenger seat, adjusting the pitch for optimal legroom. I do the opposite, pulling myself forward a good six inches or so. Once we’re all settled, I shift into gear and merge back onto the freeway, headed for my old home.

It only takes an hour for Luca to pass out beside me. He looks so peaceful when he sleeps, finally free from the ceaseless tension, so I dim the music and let him rest.

The remainder of our drive is familiar. I run this same route about three times a year now, visiting my dad whenever he can slip away from work. He’s a senior account executive at a telecom company, so he’s generally busier than either of us would like. He travels often, but he keeps his condo near the cape in case I ever need a safe place to land.

Despite the offer, I’ve never stayed the night without him here before.

It’s approaching midnight when we finally pull up to the beachfront. I place a hand on Luca’s shoulder, gently shaking him as I whisper, “We’re here.”

“Hm?” he murmurs, slowly blinking himself awake. He stretches both arms over his head, yawning and rubbing at his eyes.

“We made it here,” I say softly.

“Shit, I’m sorry.” He glances at his watch, clearing the sleep from his voice. “How long was I out for?”

“Just over an hour, but it’s okay. I wanted you to get your rest.”

Scrubbing a hand over his forehead, he asks, “Should we go check it out, then?”

“Yeah, but it’s a race.”

“Wait, what?” he asks, but I’ve already yanked the driver’s-side door wide open. I’m halfway down the beach by the time he catches up with me. Both of his arms circle around my waist, hoisting me over his shoulder as he runs toward the shoreline.

“Put me down,” I yell through my laughter, playfully swatting at his back.

He abruptly stops in his tracks. “Holy shit.”

“What, what is it?” I squirm in his arms, flailing until he sets me down in the sand.

“I’ve never seen it quite like this before.”

I follow his gaze, watching as an electric-blue wave crests and breaks against the shore, a brilliant smile stretching across my cheeks. I didn’t know if we would still be able to catch the summer glow, but now I’m so happy we made the long drive.

“This must be the very tail end of it,” I say, entranced by the glimmering water. “I saw it for the first time the summer I turned sixteen. I come back every year to watch, but the red tide was so late this year.”

“Yeah, we almost never get it like this at home.”

“That’s probably a good thing . . . not as much pollution there. But isn’t it still so beautiful?”

“It’s incredible.” He grins, looping an arm around my shoulders and tucking me against his side. “It also definitely smells like rotten eggs.”

“Ah, that sweet sulfury smell,” I say with a laugh. “Didn’t you know, with beauty comes pain?”

“I tell myself that every day.”

I roll my eyes, playfully bumping him with my hip. “So I was thinking about something on the drive over here.”

“Oh yeah?”

“My dad has a condo just a few miles from here. He’s out on a work trip right now, so we could stay there tonight, and I could drive us home first thing in the morning,” I ramble, nervously twirling a strand of hair between my fingers. “If we leave by eight thirty, then we should have plenty of time for you to make your shift. Only if you want to, of course.”

He squeezes my shoulder. “I’d like that.”

“Oh, good, then.”

“Wait, isn’t tomorrow supposed to be your last shift of the season?”

“I switched with one of the girls already, so I’m on in the afternoon. You’ll have to share the beach with me one last time.”

“I guess I’m okay with that,” he says, his soft smile melting into a smirk.

I take his hand as we wander the shoreline together, long enough to make the trip worthwhile. By the time we make it back to the car, I feel a mixture of exhaustion and happiness that’s bordering on delirium.

“You want me to drive back to your dad’s place?” Luca asks, opening the passenger door.

“Yes, please.” I carefully slip inside as he bends down, popping a kiss onto my forehead before closing me in.

I ramble off directions as we pull out of the parking lot and onto the county roads. He turns up the stereo, humming under his breath and murmuring the words to some Wild Rivers song. He looks lighter, happier than I’ve ever seen him, as if a heavy weight has been lifted off his shoulders tonight.

It’s not long before we’re pulling into a parking spot in front of my dad’s four-story condo. I watch as Luca scans the perimeter of the building, his eyes going wide before he schools his expression.

“Nice place,” he says.

“It’s pretty ostentatious, I know.”

“Your dad lives here alone?”

“Actually, he’s barely ever here. He has an apartment in the city, and then he lives out of a hotel room the rest of the time.” I wring my hands together in my lap, a guilty sense of entitlement washing over me. “He keeps the condo for me, mostly.”

He gives me a comforting smile. “I’m glad we could use it tonight.”

“Me too,” I say. “You ready to go in?”

He sighs, leaning over the center console and touching his forehead to mine. “I want to say thank you first.”

“For what?”

“For this, for tonight, for everything.” He kisses me then, just once, right on the lips. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been doing.”

“What do you mean?” I whisper, my heart swelling inside my chest.

“You’ve been trying to distract me from everything that’s been going on.”

“Is it working?”

He stares at me for a long moment, an unreadable expression on his face. I tense in my seat, hopeful that my efforts have paid off tonight, that driving us here on a whim was a good decision after all.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“You know, I’ve always known what it was like to be needed by someone, from my parents to my siblings to my one hundred and eighteen fucking teammates. Being needed feels endless. Until I met you, I never knew what it was like to be the one in need,” he says, the corners of his lips hinting at a smile. “And I do need you, so fucking badly.”

My heart is hammering, blood boiling inside my veins. “You do?”

“Fuck yes, I do.” He swallows, throat bobbing as his eyes rake over me. “Harper?”

“Yeah?”

“I need you, and I want you. Tonight.” He clears his throat, a flush of heat crawling up his neck. “Right now.”

My mind spins, my thoughts and feelings teetering on the edge of a cliff as I decipher his meaning.

“You mean . . . like in bed?”

He chuckles, one arm snaking around my neck as he pulls me in for another long, heated kiss. Leaning back, he says, “Yes, Harper, in bed.”