The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks Page B

darkness, he wore the ghost of a smile, but his eyes remained shadowy pits. “Do you think you’re better than us?”
    “No.”
    “Then c’mon.” He gestured to the bonfire. “Sit with us.”
    “I’m fine.”
    He glanced over his shoulder. Behind him, Ronnie could see Blaze digging through the cooler for another beer, which was the last thing she needed. She was already unsteady on her feet.
    Without warning, he took a step toward her, reaching for her waist. He squeezed, pulling her closer to him. “Let’s walk the beach.”
    “No,” she hissed. “I’m not in the mood. And take your hand off me.”
    It stayed in place. She could tell Marcus was enjoying this. “You worried about what Blaze would think?”
    “I just don’t want to, okay?”
    “Blaze won’t care.”
    She took a step back, increasing the distance between them.
    “I do,” she said. “And I’ve got to go.”
    He continued to stare at her. “Yeah, you do that.” Then, after a pause, he spoke up so the others could hear: “No, I’ll just stay here. But thanks for asking.”
    She was too shocked to say anything in response. Instead, she started down the beach, knowing that Blaze was watching, and suddenly thinking she couldn’t get away fast enough.
    At home, her father was playing the piano, and as soon as she walked in, he peeked at the clock. After what just happened, she wasn’t in the mood to deal with him, so she started for the hallway without a word. He must have seen something in her face, however, because he called out to her.
    “Are you okay?”
    She hesitated. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she said.
    “You sure?”
    “I don’t want to talk about it.”
    He studied her before answering. “Okay.”
    “Is there anything else?”
    “It’s almost two a.m.,” he pointed out.
    “And?”
    He bent over the keyboard. “There’s some pasta in the fridge if you’re hungry.”
    She had to admit he’d surprised her with that one. No lecture, no orders, no laying down the law. Pretty much the opposite of how Mom would have handled it. She shook her head and walked to the bedroom, wondering if anyone or anything was normal down here.
    She forgot to hang blankets over the windows, and the sun lasered into the room, waking her after she’d slept for less than six hours.
    Groaning, she rolled over and pulled the pillow on top of her head when she remembered what had happened at the beach the night before. Then she sat up, knowing sleep was out of the question.
    Marcus definitely creeped her out.
    Her first thought was that she should have said something last night, when he had called out. Something like What the hell are you talking about? or If you think I’d go anywhere alone with you, you’re out of your mind! But she hadn’t, and she suspected that simply walking away was the worst thing she could have done.
    She really, really had to talk to Blaze.
    With a sigh, she swung herself out of bed and padded to the bathroom. Quickly, she showered and threw on a bathing suit beneath her clothes, and then filled a tote bag with towels and lotion. By the time she was ready, she could hear her father playing the piano. Again. Even back in the apartment he’d never played this much. Focusing on the music, she realized he was playing one of the pieces she’d performed at Carnegie Hall, the same one on the CD that her mom had been playing in the car.
    As if she didn’t have enough to deal with right now.
    She needed to find Blaze so she could explain what happened. Of course, how to do that without making Marcus out to be a liar might be a problem. Blaze would want to believe Marcus, and who knew what the guy had said after she left. But she’d cross that bridge when she came to it; hopefully, lying in the sun would keep things mellow and she could bring it up naturally.
    Ronnie left her bedroom and walked down the hall just as the music from the living room ended, only to be followed by the second piece she’d played at Carnegie