You Don't Know Me: A Stand-Alone New Adult Romance Read online

  We wait for Sean to throw his hat in the ring. The sky is brightening with every passing second and the knowledge that we’re going to be at the sun’s mercy next, with no water or food, has just occurred to all of us. This little game is a welcome distraction.

  Sean inhales and closes his eyes for a second. Then he opens them like he’s looking to heaven for courage. “I’m gay.” He sighs. “When I get back, I’m going to have sex.” He looks down at his hands. “For the first time.”

  I blink and my jaw slackens, completely taken off guard with this one-two punch revelation. He turns his head and slowly meets my eyes, resigned to whatever is about to come. I’ve always known Sean didn’t date a lot of girls. There have been a few, but compared to the multiple notches tagged in my bedpost, they were nothing. But I always attributed that to his romantic, idealistic nature. I thought the guy wasn’t satisfied until he found one he truly cared about and that just hadn’t happened yet. I had no idea he was a virgin… and I never in a million years would have guessed he was gay. My own brother, who I spend most of my time with, and I didn’t know.

  Shaking my head at myself, I push his shoulder, making his body sway back. “You’re a virgin and you’re gay? What the fuck, Sean? So… that means you’re an idiot, too?”

  His blue eyes ice into narrow slits, ready to fight me. “Jack… I knew you would never understand. That’s why I….”

  I cut him off. “Damn right I don’t understand. If I was gay, I’d be fucking EVERYBODY. What have you been doing pretending you’re straight and not taking advantage? Never having to worry if you’re going to get laid or not? Do you know how much ass those guys get? Excuse the pun.”

  Surprise lights him up and he laughs. “Fucker! You had me going there.”

  I grab his head and grate my knuckles into his head. “Yeah, you were going to fight me, weren’t you? How would that have played out, do you think?”

  He’s laughing hard, years of pent up shame released. I let him go but not before mussing up his hair and looking at him like I can’t believe you never told me. He’s smiling from ear to ear, tiny lines creased into the sides of his eyes, but his expression shifts as he looks at Terence.

  Terence gives him a cockeyed smile and shakes his head. “Don’t look at me. You like what you like, and that’s how God made you. But wow… since we might just die out here, can I be candid?”

  “Lay it all out,” I say.

  Terence looks up at the sky, then back to alternate between us. “I’ve always been a little jealous of you two. I’ve been taking you all over the world, and yeah, that means I go there, too, but I can’t take my wife with me, and you know, it’s different without her there. Lonely. And I’m on the clock. But the photos of you guys with all these women and parties–your youth and everything laid out in front of you. It looks incredible. But here you are Sean, this whole time, you’ve been a virgin and lying about your sexual preference. And Jack, you’ve been wanting to make films, is that it?” I nod, finally admitting it without hesitation. “I guess no matter where you are in life, you’ve got dreams you’re not fulfilling. Why is that? I mean, what are we waiting for?” He glances down to Steve sleeping in the raft, and quiets his voice out of respect. “I’ve been telling my wife someday for Australia for over a decade now. What the fuck am I waiting for? It’s always been there! What if I don’t make it back and can’t take her?” He gets choked up, and like a man does, he quiets himself before it gets out of hand.

  “You think we’re going to survive this?” Sean asks.

  I exhale deep and long. “I don’t know. I keep expecting to see fins circling us any minute.” I begin humming the theme song for Jaws.

  Sean pushes me. “Stop it! Not fucking funny.” We all quiet, looking out at the blue horizon, infinite in all directions. Fiddling with the tattered belt of his life vest, Sean admits, “I’m glad it’s finally out.” He straightens his shoulders, leans over and lands his elbows on his knees, the vest pushing up around his shoulders. “I’m gay. I’ve known it forever, but it’s finally out there. For whatever it’s worth, I feel good. It’s been really hard hiding that from you.” He turns his head and looks at me from the corner of his eyes.

  “Yeah, well I wish you would have given me a little credit.”

  His eyes narrow on a smile. “I never know with you.”

  “So you keep telling me,” I mutter, slightly annoyed. I shake out a leg that’s falling asleep, and bring my ass of the raft to punch it a few times, get the blood moving.

  Sean stares out and his eyes narrow as he leans forward. “Hey, look!” His arm shoots out to point. “What’s that?!”

  Terence and I look to our right and squint into the distance. It takes me a second to see the thin line stretching up out of the ocean. We watch it grow taller and Terence’s spine lengthens with it. Mystified, he whispers, “Holy shit. That’s a submarine’s periscope!”

  Sean and I look at each other in shock. “Is it one of ours?” We all wait in suspense. A few moments later a U.S. Navy submarine breaks the silvery surface, ripples cascading off from it, the dark shadow of its hull like a whale under the ocean’s top layer.

  The three of us rise up and yell, laughing and waving our arms wildly in the air, as the raft rocks beneath us. Steve wakes up with a jolt and cries out from the horrible ache in his arm. Staring up at us, and waking up to what’s happening, he marvels in disbelief, “What’s going on?”

  Laughing from our guts, we all yell at him, “We’re saved!” “We’re fucking saved!” “I can’t believe it! It’s a submarine! Look!”

  His face lights up and he rises up on his good arm. “Oh my God!” He laughs, eyes wide with joy. He joins us yelling.

  “HEY!” “OVER HERE!” “WE’RE HERE!” “HALLELUJAH!”

  The sub’s cockpit opens and an officer rises up out of it, waving at us as the hull makes its way steadily toward our raft. “You okay?!” he calls over through cupped hands.

  We explode. “YEAH!!” “WE ARE NOW!”

  Terence starts to weep. “I get to see Cory again.” He screams to his wife loud enough that she might just hear him, “I’M COMING HOME, CORY! Don’t give up on me, baby! And warm up those sheets because we’re not leaving that bed FOR DAYS!!”

  Sean and I clap each other on the back, grinning. “We’re gonna make it,” he whispers, astounded.

  With adrenaline pounding, I wipe away the wetness from my eyes with one hand, the other around my best friend. “We sure are.”

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Rue

  Alec and I are on the couch in the sitting room with Mrs. Stone still asleep upstairs. It’s dark outside, after 3:00 a.m. on the longest night of my life. My feet are tucked under me and I’ve got my head on Alec’s strong shoulder, his arm around me. We’ve been silent for a very long time. The curtains are open and Alec and I have been watching the palm trees sway in the warm night’s breeze for hours, illuminated by tall security lights. We watched the news for a time, but it got too painful. We knew that Jack and Sean would call if they were alive, and hearing the news regurgitate all of the crash’s details only struck greater fear in us that that call would never come. I’m sure Alec can see it all happening just like I’m able to. We were in the plane, too. We can imagine it falling apart like no one else can. Getting the image of Jack and Sean terrified, out of our heads is just impossible.

  Their landline phone rings and Alec leans over to look at it. A number lights up without a name to signify who’s calling. He blinks at the area code and frowns, unsure of where it’s from. “Maybe it’s family,” he mutters. As it hits the third ring, he slowly reaches out and picks it up. “Hello?” He listens. After a moment, his arm tightens around my body, fingers pressing into me. “Wait, say that again!” His spine shoots up and he twists to look at me with happy disbelief.

  “What? Are they okay? Did someone find them?” I cry out.

  An incredulous smile builds to a grin on his tired face, and Alec no
ds. “It’s President Obama.” My eyes go wide. “Sir, can I please put you on speaker and get Mrs. Stone? This is Alec Gabriel, sir.” He laughs and hits the speaker button. “You’re on speaker, Mr. President. Hold on, please. I have to wake her. Rue Calliwell is with me, sir, she’s part of the family now. She’ll be very happy to hear what you have to say.”

  “Hello, Ms. Calliwell, this is President Obama.”

  Alec jumps off the couch, leaping into the air as he runs up the stairs, shouting for joy all the way up, “They’re alive! THEY’RE ALIVE!!”

  I grin at the phone, humbled and overwhelmed. “Hello, Mr. President. This is Rue, erm…Ms. Calliwell. You found them?”

  “One of our Navy submarines found them, yes. They’re dehydrated and one of them has a broken arm, and one has a broken nose, but other than that, they’re alive and very excited to be coming home.”

  I clap my hands together. “Whose arm is broken?”

  “Steve Lathem, the co-pilot. And the nose belongs to Jack Stone. I’m afraid he’s pretty bruised up.”

  Concerned, I ask, “But they’re going to be okay?”

  “Yes, all four men are in the hospital now. They’re going to be fine.”

  “Oh my God! That’s amazing!!” Overcome, I lean back with my hands over my mouth. Alec’s running down the stairs followed by a very groggy but excited mother. “Here they come, Mr. President! Just one more minute. I know you’re busy.”

  He laughs, and I have to love him for that, even if I am mad at him for a lot of other things. “It’s okay. I want to give her the good news about her boys.”

  “What’s going on?” Mrs. Stone asks with her hands in the air like a blind person looking for something substantial to hold onto. “They’re alive?!! You found them?!”

  “Mrs. Stone, I’m happy to report that your boys are very much alive,” comes the President’s sure, clear tone through the speaker.

  She claps her hands over her mouth and screams pure joy. Falling into Alec for support, she stares at the phone, and looks to me, shaking her head. “I can’t believe it.”

  Alec’s got the clearest head of all of us. “Where are they, Mr. President?” I can’t believe I didn’t think to ask.

  All business, our President informs us, “They’re in Miami, Florida. They were found floating near Cuba and due to unfriendly waters and the boys’ public and financial personas, their rescue was kept a secret until they were on American soil. I just found out myself. They’re in the hospital and doing fine. We’ll be flying them back to Los Angeles in the morning. I have to get back to my affairs, but I hope you all have a wonderful day.”

  “Thank you!” “Thank you, Mr. President!”

  “Thank you, Barack! You made me a very happy woman tonight!” Mrs. Stone calls to him, clearly having met him in person before. I stare at her in awe a moment, taking that in.

  I lock eyes with Alec. “It’s a miracle. I thought for sure they were…” I stop myself, and they know why.

  Alec grins. “Anybody as starving as I am?”

  “I couldn’t possibly eat,” Mrs. Stone mutters, holding her stomach with a smile. “I think I want to go back and lay down for awhile. I might have taken a pill to calm my anxiety. Will you let me know when they call?”

  I pause, surprised the question was directed at me. “Sure. Of course. I hope you feel better.”

  “Thank you.” She exhales, turning to walk away and resting a hand on Alec’s shoulder as she passes. “I love you, kid.”

  He beams at her. “I love you, too, Connie.” After watching her exit, he turns to me and holds out his arms. I rush into them and we laugh, holding each other tightly and rocking from side to side, so grateful. After a few moments, the laughter subsides as we both become aware of each other as we haven’t been since the tragedy happened. Goosebumps spread across my skin as he rocks me and kisses the top of my head. He pulls back so he can look into my eyes, the bags under his evidence of what we’ve been through.

  “Rue,” he whispers hoarsely.

  Rising up on my tiptoes I rest my forehead against his and close my eyes. “We were being stupid.” He knows I’m talking about us.

  He kisses my cheek and I can feel a difference in him, a chastity and restraint that can’t be ignored. Tucking my head into the nook of his neck, I wait for him to say what’s on his mind. “I didn’t protect you from Jack, and you…” he struggles to say it, “…almost drowned because I wasn’t there. I haven’t forgotten. This all made it more clear, actually, how much things have to change. This can never work otherwise.”

  I close my eyes. “I know. I want to be in their lives, Alec. I don’t know if they’ll have me after abandoning them in Spain. I should have been on that plane!”

  He strokes my head and whispers, “I should have been, too. I know exactly how you feel.”

  My voice cracks as I admit what I’ve been feeling for hours, “I want to be their sister.”

  He nods against the top of my head and gives me a squeeze, holding me so tightly. “When we were waiting for word, I decided if they made it, I wouldn’t do anything to harm our friendship. I care about you.” He pulls away and looks into my eyes, taking my chin between his forefinger and thumb. “I don’t know if it’s the heightened energy of everything that’s happened, or what, but I’m falling in love with you.”

  My heart expands to hear it. “I feel the same way.”

  “But it’s no good if it tears us all apart. This family, your family now, it’s been mine my whole life. My mom and I barely talk and my dad is gone on some bender in Cambodia most of the time.” Alec chuckles sadly. “These guys, they’re it for me.”

  “I know. I don’t want to come between you. I was acting like a jerk. Tragedy sure has a way of putting your perspective in order, doesn’t it?” I smile up at him and he nods.

  “Yeah.”

  “Friends?” I ask, my eyebrows rising a little, even as my heart sinks.

  He makes a small sound like he doesn’t want to say it, but has to. “Friends.”

  I shrug and wink at him, “Sometimes that lasts longer,” trying to make us feel better. We’ve been through so much tonight and I want us to be happy for at least a little while, knowing that four people’s lives weren’t taken before their time. “Let’s get something to eat.”

  He smiles and releases me, but not before planting one bittersweet kiss on my forehead. “I’ll make us some sandwiches.” He stares at me a second, the look changing in his eyes. Feeling like he’s about to kiss me, I try to make myself want to pull away, but I can’t. Instead my head tilts up of its own volition and I close my eyes. Alec leans down and his lips brush mine just as the phone rings again.

  We both laugh nervously, the spell broken. Alec rests his forehead on mine again and grins, “With that timing, it’s got to be Sean.”

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Sean

  My mother couldn’t resist it. She had to throw a party. And when she sets her sights on a celebration, she doesn’t fuck around. There are over four hundred of our ‘closest friends’ around the pool in our backyard, another thirty in it, and more filtering in through the kitchen where my mom is holding court and pretending like the brownies she cooked were the most taxing thing she’s ever done. She’s even got a splash of well-applied flour on her cheek; a nice touch. But at least she’s not high.

  The band Broken Bells is setting up to play on a tall fantastically lit stage built for the event in the east corner of our backyard. Food trucks with Salvadorian, New Orleans BBQ, and Thai delicacies are off to the west, having driven in through the gate our landscapers normally use to get back here. Making my way to my favorite group of people, I thank guests for their kind words, with more than a polite smile on my face this time. I’m happy to be back in L.A. and I’m happy for the party, but mostly I’m just happy to be breathing smog-filled air and not fucking salt water.

  “There he is!” Jenna smiles from her lounge chair. “They can’t get enough of
you guys today and I don’t blame ‘em.”

  Jack grins and hands her the drink she was trying to reach for on the table centered among us. “I can’t get enough of them either. It’s a different feeling isn’t it, buddy?” he says.

  I nod and sit next to Alec on a sturdy, red ottoman that’s large enough for five. Rue’s in the lounge chair beside her best friend and Jack sits on the ground creating a circle of sorts, his shorts wet and sticking to him from the dip he just had in the pool. “I can’t believe you went in the water,” I say under my breath.

  He laughs, “If I can see the bottom, it’s all good. But I am seriously considering having the dark bottom taken out and replaced with floodlights.”

  Rue’s smiling at him and she glances over to catch me watching her. Her eyebrows rise. “Yes?” Since we got home, she’s been sweet and quiet. I think she’s been waiting for us to throw her out, and Jack’s enjoying that, but this time from a playful place. I have a feeling their sibling rivalry ain’t leaving anytime soon. I’m starting to like the show now that the weapons have been thrown away.

  Leaning on my elbows, I cock my head toward the house. “My mom seems to like you.”

  Rue blushes, looking over the house. Pursing her lips, she glances back to me on a smile. “We had something greater than the past to help us into the present.”

  Jack pipes up, “Oh yeah? The plane crash?”

  She shakes her head, looking from me to Jack with a sweet, heartfelt smile. “Love.”