-James-

"Do you have any three's?"

Violet's eyes drifted over her cards before she peeked over them. "Go fish."

I swiped a card from the pile to add it to my hand of cards. She gazed back down at her cards and pursed her lips.

We were currently sitting in my office while everyone else was at lunch. I pulled Violet from her studying to play Go Fish and she didn't object. So far she's beaten me three out of four times. It's ridiculous to say the least. But I was having fun, even though I was losing.

I studied her lips longer than I should have. She swiped her tongue over her bottom lip and bit down. Heat flooded my cheeks, my chest, and all over my body. Why was I thinking about this? Her brother literally scared the shit out of me yesterday. If he knew I wanted to know what her lips felt like against mine, he'd definitely have my head and other body parts I needed.

It still didn't stop me from wondering. Completely inappropriate obviously.

Violet was talking and I didn't noticed until she pinched my hand. "What?"

She giggled. "Do you have any seven's?"

I scanned my cards and found a seven. "It's your lucky day." I plucked it from my cards and handed it to her.

Her smile grew. "What were you thinking about?"

I straightened my spine and cleared my throat. "Nothing."

"Then why is your face so red?"

"It's hot in here." I defended quickly.

She pointed to my chest. "Then take off your suit jacket. And I don't see how you're hot. I basically freeze every time I'm here."

I laughed lightly and slipped my jacket off. "I'll see about getting the air turned up. I didn't know you freeze."

She shrugged a shoulder. "Sometimes I'm so invested in my work I don't even notice. It's not a big deal." Her lips parted slightly as she looked over her cards, "Have any two's?"

I looked down at my cards, picked out the three two's, and handed them to her. "This sucks." I grumbled.

"No, you suck." She gladly took the cards from my fingers, "I'll make you a deal."

"I'm listening."

"If I win the next round, you owe me lunch at your favorite place. And if you win, which is not likely, I owe you lunch again."

I grinned. "You have a deal, my friend."

Fifteen minutes later, she wins. "Ha! I told you I'd win."

"Maybe I let you win."

Violet leaned over the desk on her folded arms. "And how did you let me win, James?" She smiled viciously, "You're just a sore loser."

"I'm the best loser actually. As you can see."

She snorted and sat back. "Then when would you like to go to lunch?"

"What about Saturday?" I suggested.

Confusion crossed her delicate features. "The weekend?"

"Uh, yeah. That's what Saturday is."

Now she looked completely un-amused. "What I meant was it's not going to be a work day."

I nodded. "Yes, I know that too. I thought it'd be better so we don't rush because of time. Makes more sense."

"Okay, well then Saturday it is." She slowly smiled and stood up just as my desk phone started ringing, "Have fun with that." She turned and waved over her shoulder as she left my office.

* * *

On Friday, I went to lunch with my dad as planned. He was already waiting for me at the table when I arrived.

He smiled as I sat down in front of him. "Was there something you wanted to talk about?" I asked, keeping a civil tone.

A waitress appeared at the edge of the table and took my drink order before disappearing. I focused back on my dad, awaiting his answer. "Cristin's told me you've been having problems with a few interns."

I raised my brows in anticipation. "And who exactly are the interns giving me trouble, Dad? I'm not having a single problem with any of them."

"Cristin isn't giving you problems?"

"Oh, no, she's been giving me a lot of problems. Why can't she shadow you? You're the one marrying her sister." I've been here for five minutes and I could already feel my anger spike.

My dad's smile was still well placed, but felt forced. "I don't have time. I'm going to be taking a week or two off for the honeymoon. I'm leaving your mother and Jared in charge of everything while I'm gone."

"Then why don't you just send her to Iowa?"

"Because," He leaned over the table, his smile disappearing, "Sara doesn't want her to go there."

I rolled my eyes. "She really does have you in the palm of her hand."

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to make her happy."

"I didn't say that." The waitress brought me my drink. I waited for her to leave to continue, "In all honesty, do you want Cristin around?"

"If it makes Sara happy—"

"Dad."

His features softened. "No, I don't. But what am I supposed to do?"

I leaned back and shrugged a shoulder. "That's not my problem. And you didn't answer my question."

"About?"

"Which interns Cristin's complaining about."

The waitress returned again to take our food orders and left. My dad's eyes landed on mine again and I knew whom he was going to say before he spoke her name. "Violet Bowen mostly."

Instead of getting angry, I just snorted. "Why does that not surprise me?"

"Is there something going on between you and Violet?"

My eyes widened. "Dad, no. It's nothing like that. Violet's just doing better than everyone and she probably feels threatened."

"Well, good."

"Good?"

"That there's nothing going on between you two."

My cool composure was thinning by the second. "So you're happy about that, but not because she's actually doing well? And better than anyone at that?"

"It's not office appropriate." He said flatly, "Let's just change the subject. I changed the place we're having dinner for my so called bachelors party..."

I tuned him out after that, too frustrated to see beyond his words.

* * *

Instead of picking Violet up at her house, she asked me to meet her at the library because Gray was home. And when I got to the library, she was waiting on the steps. I rolled down the window and called out her name. She stood quickly and paced towards the car to get in. She greeted me with an easy smile. "Sorry you had to pick me up here. Gray's still not over you picking me up from school."

I drove back out onto the main street before answering. "It's fine. The place I'm taking you to is only a few miles from here, actually."

"Oh, good."

The place I chose was a small bistro I used to go to all the time when I'd skip school. I'd order the food and escape to the lake. But I'm doing something a little different today that's probably not a good idea.

A four-hour drive to the beach was definitely not a good idea, but I was going to do it anyway. Why?

Because of the rebel I am...okay, maybe not anymore. And the thought of rebelling against anyone at this point is ridiculous. I'm an adult. The only person I'm going to rebel against is myself. If that's not pointless, I don't know what is.

I parked across the street from the bistro and got out. Violet waited for me before we crossed the street together. We walked down a little further until we came to a stop in front of the doors. I opened it, letting her slip in first and I was close behind. "We aren't eating here, by the way."

She raised her brows. "Where are we eating?"

"Let's just say I hope you didn't have plans today."

"I never have plans. My so called friends aren't really much of friends exactly." She shrugged, "But you didn't ask." Her cheeks were turning red as she looked away.

The hostess came forward and asked us if we'd like a table or to order take-out. She handed us menus so we could order take-out and we scanned the menus. I gave Violet a recommendation and she seemed keen to the idea, so she ordered that and I ordered what I usually get.

We sat at the front of the bistro, waiting for our order.

After twenty minutes, the hostess brought the bag to the front and I paid. When we were back in the car, Violet spoke. "How far is this place exactly?"

"Far enough to be considered a bad idea."

"Will our food be okay?" She asked.

I drove back down the main street. "It'll be a little cold, but the food should be fine."

"Um, do you mind if I borrow your phone? I want to let my mom know I'll probably be home late."

"Uh, yeah." I fished it out of my front pocket, unlocked it and handed it to her.

She muttered a 'thanks' and dialed the number before pressing the phone to her ear. "Hey, mom. Not sure why you're not answering, but I'm just letting you know I'll be home late and tell Gray not to worry. Have a good day at work." She hung up.

As she was handing it back, it started ringing. I glanced in her direction as she looked down and handed it to me. "It's Juliet."

I timidly took it, but silenced it before setting down in the center console. "I'll call her back tomorrow." The screen darkened and her picture disappeared.

"If that's your girlfriend, you should probably answer it."

"Best friend actually." I chanced another look at Violet; "We've known each other since we were little."

"Does she live close?"

"Not anymore." I answered, "She lives in New York with her fiancé."

"New York's pretty far." She murmured.

"She's coming home in a couple of weeks." I came to a red light and pulled to a slow stop. I looked at Violet and she had her gaze focused on the road beside her. "Can I ask you a question?"

She kept her gaze out the window. "I can try and give you an answer."

The light then turned green and I drove. "Feel free to tell me to shut the hell up, but why did you tell your mom to tell Gray not to worry?"

Violet sighed. "Because that's all Gray does is worry about me."

"And your mom doesn't?"

I saw Violet shift out of the corner of my eye. "Of course she does, she knows I'm fine and she trusts me more than my older brothers. It's just a little different with Gray that's all."

"Okay." I said softly, "Does he still want to kill me?"

Violet laughed softly. "Probably. But that's Gray for you."

I didn't push the topic any further. It was already wrong of me to ask, so I kept my mouth shut and let her change the subject to something else.

* * *

It took less time to get to the beach than I expected. Closer to three hours than four because I took a back way. Violet kept a steady conversation and we avoided talking about anything related to our family.

"Have you been to Tybee Island before?" I asked.

"Once when I moved here. I can't remember that well except that it was beautiful."

I glanced at her and she was looking out the window. "My dad owns a little beach house on a private beach. We've only used it during the summer and the neighbors only come during December."

"Sounds nice." She murmured.

Five minutes later, I was pulling down a long street after being let through the gate. There weren't many houses on the street ours resided on. Unlike the house I grew up in, our beach house doesn't have its own street. We haven't even been to this house since the divorce.

Or at least I haven't. I'm sure Dad brings Sara here during the summer; I just never cared enough to ask.

The house was smaller, but not the smallest on the street. It sat on the beach, the porch wrapped around, ending with a wide set of stairs that led to the beach. The inside looked just like any other house. Three bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen, family room, but really high ceilings. And everything was blue, white, and yellow. My mom thought it was a good idea at the time.

Once I was parked in the driveway, I climbed out and went to the trunk. After I opened it, I grabbed the blanket I had brought and met Violet on the other side. She opened the back door and grabbed the bag of food. "This place is amazing." She began walking and I stayed beside her.

"It's one of my favorite places." I balanced the blanket under my arm and gently took the bag from Violet's hand. "So not only are you eating from my favorite place, but you're also seeing my second favorite place."

We stepped on the porch and walked around the house to find the stairs to the beach. "What's your first?"

"My bed probably." I joked.

She laughed and we came to a stop above the stairs. We both slipped off our shoes and walked across the sand. "If that's your favorite place, then I feel very sorry for you."

"Then lucky for me that it's number three on the list."

I sat the food down long enough to spread out the blanket. Violet helped by stretching it over to the other end before it flattened on the sand. The food was then transferred onto the blanket and we both sat. "What's your favorite place in the world?" I asked, handing her her food and then getting my own.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I have plenty of favorite places but not one is my absolute favorite. I mean...of course home, but sometimes you need an escape from home. And if I ever found that place, it would be my favorite." She took a bite of her food and nodded her head, "Cold, but good."

I chuckled. "As long as it's still good." I took a bite of my own and swallowed before answering her previous statement, "Everyone needs their own getaway, people just have different definitions of what it could be. I hope you find yours."

She looked at me, the sunlight hitting her face at the perfect angle. The green in her eyes swallowed the brown. They glimmered when she smiled and her cheeks would darken another shade of pink. As casual as this felt, something about the way I felt shouldn't be up for negotiation. My heart and mind have two different of ideas of what I want and what's actually good for me.

"I'm hoping my perfect getaway is somewhere in Italy."

My trance was sliced and I mentally shook myself. "I think anyone's perfect getaway would be anywhere in Europe." I laughed lightly, "If your getaway happens to be in Europe, I hope you find it."

She smiled at me and then shrugged her shoulder. "A getaway doesn't have to be a place necessarily. It could be anything. A sound, a book, someone's hands, or just someone..."

A string holding my heart snapped. "That's all possible."

"What is your favorite place anyhow?"

My lips curved into a grin. "There's a secluded lake about an hour from Atlanta. It's the only place I could run away to without someone knowing where to look."

"What were you running from?" She asked timidly.

"Parents mostly." I sealed my food back up and sat it aside before leaning back on my hands, "The divorce was a nightmare. Meredith and I were both torn and we didn't know where to go. My dad turned into an asshole and my mom was constantly crying. While Meredith helped our mom, I disappeared because I couldn't handle it."

"There's nothing wrong with that." She replied in a gentle tone, "You're not the only one who couldn't handle it. You just dealt with it in your own way."

"My mom needed me." I swallowed the lump in my throat, "I was as big of a coward as my dad—"

"No." She interjected, "You're not a coward. Believe me, I've seen cowards and you're not one of them. You were lost. That doesn't make you a coward."

Instead of my heart tugging, it was beating too fast. It felt like I just ran two miles without stopping. "It didn't make me strong either."

Violet smiled a little. "No, that's exactly what it did. I don't even think you realize how strong you actually are considering what you've been through."

My curiosity was at its pique. "How do you know?"

"Because...we have that in common. What happened between my mom and dad made me who I am today. A little weird," she laughed lightly, "But stronger too. And I have my mom and my brothers to thank for that as well."

Now my heart fluttered just a little. "Where is your dad? If you don't mind me asking."

She shrugged again. "Don't know, don't really care either."

I gave her a smile and stood up. "Want to go for a walk?"

"Sure." She beamed.

I offered her my hand and she wrapped her fingers around mine. As I was pulling her up, her foot got caught on the blanket and she tumbled forward. Since I was standing in front of her, I lost my footing and ended up falling back first into the sand. Violet landed on top of me with a loud groan, but I couldn't tell if it was hers or mine.

"Oh, my god. I'm so sorry." She said quickly, flattening her hands on my chest and pushing herself up a little. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I breathed and opened my eyes.

Violet was inches above me. So close I could feel her breath and see the faint freckles peppered along the tops of her cheeks and across her nose. She freed a hand and brushed my cheek. "Uh, you had, um...sand...on your cheek." She pushed herself up and stood.

I mocked her actions seconds later and stood as well. "You okay?" I asked.

"Uh, y-yeah. I'm fine." She tucked her hair behind her ear and pushed up her glasses, "Sorry about that." She turned around and walked down the beach.

When she couldn't see, I slowly smiled.

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I'm enjoying writing this story way too much lol. And I hope you guys are enjoying it too!

Please vote and comment, let me know your thoughts! :)

Song: Crash by You Me At Six