Lost To Me Read Online Free Page B

weird?” He stood and hovered over me.
     
    “Nothing man. Nothing. If it’ll make you happy, go for it.”
     
    He crossed his arms and leaned back. “You’re sure?”
     
    “I’m sure.”
     
    He smiled and let his arms fall. “Cool. Catch you in the morning.”
     
    “Night, Bro.”
     
    He left my room, closing the door behind him. My mind contemplated all of the possible outcomes of Kyle asking Tabby out. One, she’d tell him she still wanted to be with me and turn him down. Two, she’d laugh in his face and tell him he was crazy to think she’d go out with a mental case like him. Three, she’d flirt and milk it for all it was worth, leading him on with no intention of ever going out with him.
     
    Three. Definitely three.
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    LAUREN
     
     
     
    Amy, my brother-in-law, Dave, and my baby niece weren’t there when I woke the next morning. Dad was in his swim trunks out on the patio talking on his cell phone, and Mom was in the kitchen cutting strawberries in her bathrobe. “Where’s Amy?” I asked Mom, popping a strawberry in my mouth.
     
    “She called last night and said they’d be here later this week.” She sighed in disgust. “Dave has something going on I guess.”
     
    “Oh. Well, I’m sure it’s a good reason.”
     
    “I’m sure it is,” she said, hacking tops off of strawberries.
     
    Kolton’s car pulled up in front of our cottage.  “I’m going to the beach with Kolton. Be back later.” I swiped a kiss on her cheek, and turned to dart out the door.
     
    “Wait.” She put the knife down. “I want to meet the grown up Kolton. Let him in.”
     
    I groaned to myself and swung the door open. He rounded the corner of the porch, and my insides lit up like someone had stuffed a candle inside me.
     
    “Morning,” he said, taking my hand and kissing my cheek.
     
    “Hi. My Mom wants to say hello.” I quirked my lip in apology.
     
    “Okay.” He followed me inside.
     
    “Mom, this is Kolton,” I said, leaning against the breakfast bar.
     
    He reached across the countertop to shake her hand. “Nice to see you again.”
     
    She set her knife down and squeezed his hand between hers. “I can’t believe you’re the same curly haired little boy that used to play with Lauren in the summer.”
     
    “Mom.” I widened my eyes, shooting her a look.
     
    She grabbed a basket covered with a dishtowel off of the counter and handed it to Kolton. “I packed you two a picnic breakfast.”
     
    “Thank you, Mrs. Kelling.” He looked at me.
     
    “Yeah, thanks. Let’s go.” I nudged him with my shoulder and we bolted for the door.
     
    At the beach, we climbed back up into our dune from the night before and opened the picnic basket. There were bagels with cream cheese, strawberries and sparkling water, along with a note that said: Bring my daughter back alive. Kolton laughed. “Your mom’s really cool.”
     
    “She’s overprotective. Annoyingly so.”
     
    He spread cream cheese on a bagel and handed it to me. I took a bite and got it all over my mouth. There were no napkins, so Kolton improvised by taking a strawberry and grazing it over my lips, collecting the cream cheese before eating it.
     
    It would be a lie to say that we did a lot of surfing that morning. Surfing came later in the day. First, we kissed for hours up on our private dune.
     
    A little before lunchtime, with swollen, chapped lips, I sat on Kolton’s surfboard out in the water. He stood beside me, teaching me when to paddle and when to pop up on the board. I watched him ride several waves, and then it was my turn.
     
    “Here comes one,” he said, watching each wave form far out in the ocean and make its way in to us. “Ready? Now—paddle!”
     
    I paddled hard, but the wave swept over me, and the board flipped. My arms and legs flailed in the water, and just as I surfaced, another wave pummeled me. Disoriented with panic edging in, I was somersaulting when he