Simple Perfection (Perfection #2)(56)

Woods sat there beside me, not letting go of my hand and staring at the water. Watching them look for Jace. He wanted Jace's body found. I understood that. He didn't want to leave the beach until he knew Jace wasn't out there alone.

Finally, the helicopters left. The boats went away. The paramedics packed up and drove off. A police officer tried to get us to leave but they weren't going to argue with the owner of the Kerrington Club. They finally left us.

We weren't alone, though. Rush stood off in the distance, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. At some point he'd changed clothes. He was staring off at the dark water, too. I kept thinking this was a dream I would wake up from, but it never ended. I glanced over to our left and Thad sat there on the sand with his arms wrapped around his legs and his knees bent, like a little boy who was lost.

They all hurt.

And there was nothing I could do. Nothing anyone could do.

The sound of the ocean crashing against the shore wasn't soothing like it had once been. It now felt like a taunt. Reminding us that it was stronger. It was in control.

Someone else moved in the darkness and I watched as Grant came running down the boardwalk. He hadn't been at the party. I never knew if he was in town or somewhere else. The guy never stayed in one place.

He stopped at Rush and Rush turned his eyes to look at him. They stood there for a moment, then Grant hung his head and dropped to his knees.

It was morning when the searchers found Jace's body washed up one mile down the shore.

Woods

I stood under the shower spray and let Della wash me. She washed my hair and body so methodically and thoroughly. She never said a word. She didn't ask me questions. She was just there beside me. I needed her to stay there. If she left me I was afraid the reality would set in and I couldn't let it. It hurt too f**king much.

"You're clean," Della said softly, opening the shower door and stepping out. She picked up a towel and began to dry me. And I let her.

When she was finished she wrapped the towel around herself and pressed a kiss to my chest. "Go, get in bed. You need to sleep," she told me.

She turned to walk away and I reached out and grabbed her hand. "Don't leave me." The words sounded more like pleading. They didn't sound like me at all.

She shook her head. "I'm not. I just need to get dry. I'll be in bed in a minute," she assured me.

"I'll wait," I told her as I stood there. I was scared of my own nightmares now. I couldn't lie down and face them without her with me.

"Okay. I'll hurry," she said. I saw the sadness and pain in her eyes.

She dried off her body and wrapped the towel around her hair, then went to the dresser. When she opened it and pulled out a pair of panties, I moved toward her.

"No. Don't wear clothes." I wanted her in my arms just like this. I wanted her warmth to reach my empty coldness inside. She was the only reason I was still alive. If it hadn't been for her I wouldn't have stopped until I'd drowned, too.

"Okay."

She reached for my hand and took me over to the bed. I lay down and she climbed in beside me, then pulled the covers up over us. If Rush hadn't come back I wouldn't be here now. I held on to her tighter.

She would've been here without me. I didn't want to think about that. Not being there to protect her. To hold her. Not being there to spend forever with her.

"I came back for you." My voice sounded hoarse.

She tilted back her head and looked up at me. "Thank you."

I didn't say anything else. I wasn't sure what to say. Within minutes, my eyes were too heavy to hold open and the smooth heat of Della's skin gave me the comfort I needed to fall asleep.

When I opened my eyes, I stared at the ceiling. It was late afternoon. I could tell by the sunlight through the windows. Della's slow, even breathing told me she was still asleep. I hadn't dreamed. Thank God.

I hadn't wanted to dream. It all replayed over and over again in my head. Jace was going to propose to Bethy. He'd been ready to spend his life with her. We had been right there together and everything had been fine.

Then Bethy had changed all that. She'd turned a summer night we were all supposed to enjoy together into a nightmare. One that would never leave us. One that we would all relive over and over the rest of our lives. Remembering the helpless feeling of knowing he was gone and there was nothing we could do to bring him back.

I had lived on this beach my entire life. We had seen more than one death from the water but it had never been a death that impacted me. It had never been someone I loved. It had never been real.

It was real now.

Della moved in my arms and I held her tighter. She was my glue right now. Being able to touch her was keeping me together. Last night she'd sat right there on that beach, refusing to let go of my hand.

When they had found his body she had wrapped her arms around me and used every ounce of strength to hold me as they covered him and took him. I couldn't have made it without her. Holding her reminded me that I was alive. I hadn't drowned. When she walked away from me or left me for even a moment, I was under that wave again, being sucked away and unable to fight it.

"Woods?" Della's concerned voice brought me out of my head and I blinked, then focused on her face. "I'm here," she said simply, and brushed the hair from my forehead.