Breaking Josephine Read Online Free Page A

shrugged, tipping his beer bottle up
to his lips again.
    I looked at him,
curious, but a bit put off as well. Thanks to the beer, I felt more forward
than usual and asked the question that was on my mind. “If you hate it here so
much, why are you here? Why not just stay in L.A.?” I said, regretting my
momentary forwardness as soon as the words came out of my mouth.
    Colin laughed a
sardonic, scornful laugh and looked at me. “Unfortunately, until I’m
twenty-five, or my lawyers can get their heads out of their asses enough to
figure out the mess of a will my father left behind, my mother has control of
my trust fund, and I have to stay in her good graces to access it. So I have to
come to this cold tourist trap and make nice during the summer. Does that
answer your question?”
    I looked down, uncomfortable
and fully aware of his eyes focused intently on my face. “Yes, I’m sorry I
pried, it’s none of my business,” I said, hoping to mend the rift between us.
    “You’re right,
it’s not,” he said, walking away from me and towards the table of waiting food
and drinks.
    I stood there,
unsure what to do. I didn’t want to get in the way of Macy and William bonding,
but I certainly didn’t want anything to do with Colin. Obviously I’d angered
him somehow, and I didn’t want to exacerbate the situation. So I waited for him
to leave the table, picked up another bottle of beer, and wandered down the
shore of the beach, away from the bonfire, Colin, and the rest of the social
circle I never felt comfortable in.
    As I walked down
the beach, I noticed the moon had risen, its fullness casting a bright glow on
the beach and ocean water. Between the moon’s light and the bonfire’s warm
glow, I made my way further down the beach than I intended and before I
realized it, I had nowhere to go, blocked by rocky outcroppings stretching
their craggy fingers into the sand in front of me. Feeling a sense of déjà vu
wash over me, I looked up, and saw the back of the mansion I’d been in only
twenty-hour hours ago, under very different circumstances. I had managed to
climb over the rocks with little problem the night before, but they looked
ominous and foreboding tonight, warning me off. I looked up at the stone fortress,
and although not that old as far as I could tell, the building seemed worn,
aged by the coastal winds and Oregon rains that battered its stone facade
throughout the year. The two of us stood there, me and the big stone mansion,
eyeing each other, lonely and exposed under the moonlight. I closed my eyes,
vividly remembering the blue-eyed fantasy of a man who lived there. God he was
so perfect; strong yet gentle, with those hands, and shoulders, and …
    “Oh, how
ridiculous,” I said to myself out loud. I shook my head to clear the
imagery, opened my eyes, and stifled a gasp. He was there, leaning over the
balcony I’d almost jumped off of, hands on the guardrail, staring straight at
me. I shut my eyes and opened them again, but there he stood—not a
dream—but real, in the flesh, and just as captivating as last night. Our
eyes met, and we stared at each other for what seemed like hours, neither of us
moving, until he tore his eyes away from mine, turned, and strode abruptly back
into the house, slamming the french door so hard the frame shook and the curtains
trembled.
    My instincts
finally kicked in and I turned and hurried back to the bonfire and back to
reality. I found Macy warming her hands in the bonfire’s flames, chatting with
William, looking more content than ever.
    “Hey stranger,”
Macy called out to me, “where have you been sneaking off to? You disappeared
and I didn’t see you anywhere.”
    A small shiver ran
through me as I pulled my sweater around me. “I just went wandering down the
beach. But now I’m freezing. How much longer are we going to be here, exactly?”
    Macy turned and
looked around. “Well, it looks like it’s just us left, and the band is packing
up, so I’d