by L. L. Ash
Removing his hand from the waves, he dug his fingers through his blond hair and it all slicked back against his skull. The whole James Dean thing he had going on with the leather jacket and the quiff in his hair would make any girl drool. And leaning up against his motorcycle, he was a freaking pantymelter. Until he opened his mouth, anyway.
He broke into the waves, then pulled himself onto his board and paddled into the water.
Hunter would likely be at it for hours, which was how he kept such a hard body, so I just sat back, slid off my bikini cover up, and dug back into my book.
Three chapters in, my phone vibrated a text notification against my thigh.
Hillary: Any hotties?
I laughed.
Me: Hotties everywhere. Just not where I need them.
Hillary: In your bed?
Me: Exactly.
Hillary: What about that son of the chick your dad is dating?
I instantly felt guilty. Hillary didn’t know yet about the whole dad eloping and marrying my childhood friend/arch nemesis’s Mom.
“Hey,” a voice said from above me.
I whipped around and got blinded by the sun for a second before throwing up a hand to shade my eyes.
Standing right above me was a hottie with bronze skin and a big, white smile.
“Looks like you’re burning a bit,” he said, then held up a bottle of sunscreen. “Want some?”
I hadn’t even thought of protecting my porcelain skin, even though I should’ve been worried about it. I burned red as a lobster in no time flat.
“You know what? I could really use some,” I admitted, sitting up and setting my phone and book aside.
He plopped down to sit cross-legged beside me and handed over the lotion.
“When you spend as much time outside as I do, you learn to just keep one in your bag,” he said with a friendly grin, sticking his hand out to shake after I took the bottle. “I’m Kai.”
“Ivory,” I said with a smile of my own. “Thanks for this. I came out here in a hurry and forgot mine in my hotel.”
“Where are you visiting from?” he asked, head tilted and listening as I squeezed some of the thick cream out onto my fingertips and started rubbing it into my arms.
“California,” I said. “I go to UCLA.”
“Oh, cool! I totally want to go to California. I hear the waves out there are epic.”
“You surf?”
He sat back, letting a mask of cool settle over his face.
“Yeah. I compete sometimes, but I’m too busy most of the time working at my uncle’s restaurant.”
“You compete?” I was impressed.
He shrugged.
“Not much else to do out here than surf.”
I finished my arms and legs quickly while we talked, then reached behind me while trying to get my back.
“Want some help?” Kai asked with a chuckle while I attempted some kind of contortionist pose to reach between my shoulder blades.
“That would be really awesome,” I told him gratefully.
He took the bottle and moved to sit behind me before the familiar squeeze and fart sound of a mostly empty bottle greeted my ears.
We both giggled a little at the obnoxious sound, then warm, strong fingers touched my back with smooth, tentative strokes.
“How long are you going to be here?” he asked, fingers dipping to my lower back.
“Uh,” I stumbled, “all week. Heading home Tuesday.”
His fingertips dipped just under the tie of my bikini top and I shivered.
Maybe I’d get my hot Hawaiin fling, after all.
“Hey sis,” came a familiar, sharp voice heading our way.
Hunter was dripping salt water and carrying his board under his arm when he approached and stared Kai down.
“Your brother?” he asked, ignoring Hunter for the most part, though he gave him a friendly smile.
I choked on the “yeah” I tried to give, but Kai didn’t seem to be waiting for an actual response.
“Kai,” he said, putting his sunscreen coated hand up to shake with Hunter, who just turned and slammed the board into the sand beside me.
I jumped at the sound it made, but, surprisingly, it actually stuck upright.
“Oh, shit man, you’re going to scratch the hell out of your board that way,” Kai said, wincing at the poor surfboard.
“Not my board, not my problem,” Hunter snapped back, then collapsed to the sand beside me, closer than I would have liked.
Then again, him in Australia would be closer than I’d have liked, so...
“Anyway,” Kai said, slipping a smile back on and recovering from Hunter’s assholish nature, “there’s a bonfire tonight, and a bunch of my friends are getting together to hang out and surf some night waves. My uncle said we can take leftovers from the restaurant too, so there’ll be grub.”
“Who are you again?” Hunter asked, almost sneering.
To my great astonishment, the smile Kai gave him seemed sincere. “I’m Kai.”
“He’s a pro surfer,” I told Hunter, which had him bristling.
“I wouldn’t say pro,” Kai drawled, grinning and sitting back on his butt, putting a little more distance between us.
“I’d love to come,” I said, shoving an elbow in Hunter’s side which made him grunt as the point hit between his ribs.
“Oh yeah, wouldn’t miss it,” Hunter added sarcastically.
“Why don’t you give me your number and I’ll send you the address,” Kai said, which had Hunter snorting.
“Smooth,” he huffed, flicking some sand off his legs.
Kai pulled out his phone from his backpack beside him and looked at me expectantly.
I rattled off my number and he punched it in. My phone vibrated with another text and he winked at me.
“I’m glad I get to see you again before you head back to California.”
Hunter groaned dramatically beside me and I started to see red.
“Oh my Gooooood. You’ll see her in like, three hours. Fuck off, lover boy.”
Kai’s face twisted in disgusted confusion, but he just shot the look at Hunter before giving me a weak smile.
“See ya later,” he told me. “Feel free to ditch the spur.”
“I’ll try,” I promised, which had a bright smile turning his lips again.
Hunter moaned beside me again and I legit turned around and slapped him right across his bare, rock hard chest.
He yelped while Kai got up, his sunscreen lotion in his hand as he swaggered off.
“You’re such a bastard!” I hissed at Hunter, turning on him with vicious canines bared.
Evidently cockblocks turned me feral like a wild animal.
“Dude just wants your vag,” Hunter said blandly. “Seriously, he’s transparent.”
“And maybe I just want his penis?” I shot back, which made him laugh.
“No such thing. Girls are all about relationships and love and romance and all that shit.”
“That would make you a sexist pig. I can want a guy for what’s between his legs just like he can want me. That doesn’t make me a slut.”
“Never said it did,” he said, slipping his arm behind his head to lay back in the sunshine. “You might think you’re in it for the sex, but it never stays that way.”
His eyes closed like he had no worries in the world, but I was still steaming mad.
“If you ruin this for me, I will fucking cut your dick off. Do you understand?”
He peeked one eye open, lips curving in a devilish smile.
“Need those cobwebs dusted out, huh?” he asked, and I just lost it.
Throwing myself at him, I crawled on top of his waist and put my hands around his neck.
He started laughing uproariously while I tried to get a good grip on his throat with my slick, sun-lotioned fingers.
“You can’t even strangle me correctly,” he hiccupped, eyes tearing from laughing so hard.
He shoved at my han
ds and bucked his hips to throw me off, but I held on like a fucking bull rider. All he managed to do was slip his hands over mine from the oiliness and grind me down on his crotch. By the second buck and shove, I could feel him swelling underneath me, and we both froze.
“I’m not swabbing those cobwebs out for you before you go fucking Mr. Hawaii over there,” he ground out, giving me a mighty shove.
I tumbled backwards against his legs and he wriggled out from underneath me before standing.
Grabbing his board again, he raked a hand through his hair before he threw back one last look at me.
“Might wanna fix your bikini. Your tits are hanging out.”
With that he strode away and back to the foamy waves of the warm, island waters.
I gasped and threw my arms over my chest to cover up before I could assess the damage that happened from all the jostling.
Looking down, I saw one areola peeking out from the white and pink polkadots of my top, and shoved my breast back into the triangle of fabric.
Somehow it was so easy to blame the embarrassment on Hunter, so I did. It was his fault for pushing me. It had nothing to do with the fact that I’d jumped him and tried to kill him.
Nope.
Sufficiently embarrassed, I made one last check to my bikini to make sure I wasn’t totally flashing people, then picked up my book and phone after slipping on my cover up. The lounge chairs near the pool at the hotel were bound to have better company than my asshole ex-best friend/new step-brother.
I groaned into my hand as I took slow steps back to the hotel. God, don’t tell me I had to deal with this idiot for the rest of my life. Every time I looked at his beautiful face, I was assaulted with every single memory from our shared childhood when he was the person in the world I loved the most. Now, his presence was nothing but a pain in my ass, and a sharp reminder that I’d lost him.
My conversation with Hillary would have to wait, because I wasn't ready to admit anything to her yet. Hell, I couldn't even admit it to myself.
- 7 -
Ivory
Eleven Years Ago
Hunter was in trouble.
Brett Porter was picking on me again, and Hunter was around to see it after school let out for the day. He’d stomped down the front steps of the building and got right into Brett’s face, telling him to back off of me and leave me alone.
The fury in Hunter’s eyes almost scared me, while it also made my heart swell.
I’d just rolled out of Hunter’s bed early enough to not get caught by his mom when she came to wake him up. I’d slipped out of the window just as his bedroom door opened and she told him good morning. Dad was already at work, and Mom was asleep on the couch, an empty bottle of liquor on the floor next to where she had passed out.
Well, looked like breakfast was up to me.
I opened the fridge and saw my lunch made up, a PB&J on bread that was already going soggy, and a banana. Beside that was a bowl of cereal without milk and a glass of water made up and sitting next to it. There wasn’t any milk, so I took out the cereal and started eating it dry while sipping the water. The bus would come by in twenty minutes, so I had to hurry if I was going to get a shower before school.
I looked down at my day-old clothes and took a big sniff. They smelled like Hunter, like salt and sweat and boy. It wasn’t exactly pleasant, but I loved his smell. I hoped it never changed.
Now, I stood staring at Hunter facing off against Brett and I wanted to throw my arms around him and give him the biggest hug ever, and a kiss on the cheek for being the best. But Brett’s fist met his cheek before my lips could.
That’s all it took before Hunter exploded in aggression and his fists flew at Brett’s face, landing on his cheek, his eye, and his mouth.
Brett got one more good lick in, hitting Hunter right on the mouth where blood gushed.
A teacher saw what was happening and stopped the fight, and they sent both boys to the principal’s office to face the consequences.
Hunter just stared Brett down while we waited, but the principal talked to him first. So when Brett's mom showed up to take him home, that left me and Hunter there by ourselves.
“Mr. Hayes,” the principal said in her soft voice, waving my friend into her office.
“He was just trying to protect me,” I told her. “Brett was picking on me and he pushed me. Brett punched Hunter first!”
The principal smiled down at me softly, but didn’t say anything before Hunter followed her into her office and the door closed. I could hear the principal and vice principal talking to him when Hunter’s mom showed up, looking frantic in her waitress’s uniform.
“Ivory,” she said, looking at me wide-eyed. “What happened?”
“A boy was picking on me and Hunter beat him up,” I told her.
It was kind of funny watching her face. Several different expressions sifted across her pretty features, landing lastly on pride.
“He defended you?” she asked, touching my cheek softly.
I nodded.
“I hope he doesn’t get in trouble. Don’t be mad at him, Mrs. Hayes.”
She just smiled down at me and shook her head.
“I’m not mad at him, sweet pea. I’ll make sure the principal isn't, either.”
She went past the office assistant and let herself into the room where I heard all the adults greeting each other for a minute, then it went quiet.
I’d missed the bus home already, and I didn’t care. It was a half hour walk home, but I couldn’t leave Hunter to do this all on his own. Not when it was my fault in the first place.
It didn’t take long before Hunter and his mom were coming out of the office with grim faces.
“What are you still doing here, Ivory?” Mrs. Hayes asked me with worry in her eyes. “Didn’t the bus leave already?”
I shrugged
“I couldn’t leave before I knew what they were going to do,” I told her, looking over at Hunter who wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“Heaven’s girl, your mom’s going to have a heart attack! Do you need to call her to tell her you’ll be late?”
She started digging in her purse for her cell phone, but I just shook my head.
“No, it’s fine,” I said, not bothering to mention that Mom wouldn’t notice if I never even came home today. Dad would notice, but not until he got home from work at six, unless he had to stay at the office all night, which happened sometimes.
“Well, let me give you a ride home then,” she said, tucking her phone away before leading her son out with a hand splayed over his shoulder.
Once we were in the backseat of her beat up, ancient station wagon, she hurried us home.
“I’ll be home in a couple hours, honey,” she told Hunter, dropping the both of us off in front of her house.
My house was two doors down, so I didn’t have to walk far.
Hunter waved at his mom as she sped away.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, following Hunter into his house.
He just dug his key into the door with a metallic grinding sound and let himself in.
“Did you get in trouble?” I asked, feeling sick with worry that maybe he got expelled or something.
“No,” he said finally, going to the fridge in the kitchen.
I followed like a little dog.
“Go home, Ivy,” he told me, pulling out a soda.
He shut the door, two orange Fanta cans in his hand. Hunter gave me one, then pointed to the door.
Mmm, my favorite.
I was pretty sure that his mom bought them just because she knew I liked them.
“What happened, Hunt?” I demanded after a chilly sip, completely ignoring his demand.
“Nothing, Ivy. Just leave it alone.”
Why was he being this way? Why wouldn’t he talk to me?
“Well, I guess you don’t have to talk to me, but thank you.”
I took a step forward, and with shaking hands, I leaned in to kiss his cheek.
&nbs
p; I heard the dent of his fingers gripping his can of soda, and the dent made sticky orange drink slap the floor from the overflowing can.
“Dang it,” he mumbled, putting the now warped and wobbly can on the counter before wetting some paper towels to clean up the mess.
“I don’t want you to be mad at me, Hunt. You’re my best friend.”
His tongue flicked across his bottom lip before he tossed the wad of damp paper in the trash.
“I’m not mad at you, Ivy. I don’t regret any of it. He deserved it.”
“But you got hurt.”
His fingers lifted to touch the split in his lip.
“I’ve had worse,” was all he murmured before going to a cupboard to get out a teal, plastic cup to dump his soda into.
I sipped again and watched as he did it. Something about his movements were jerky and angry, but he had said he wasn’t mad at me, so maybe he was just still mad at Brett.
“Your dad going to be home for dinner?” Hunter asked after a minute.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Hope so.”
He frowned.
Putting his soda down again, he went back to another cupboard and pulled down a box of generic brand granola bars.
“Here. Just in case,” he said, sticking three in my hand. “Mom always gets ‘em and I hate ‘em.”
Gripping the things, my heart swelled in gratitude.
I’d gone to bed hungry more than once because Dad worked late and Mom was on a bender. And if she smoked weed, the house would be empty of food in a matter of hours.
“Thanks,” I told him, the words nothing close to how I really felt.
He stuck his fingers through his fairy blond hair, making it stick up in a few places like a dog had licked it and made it wonky.
“No worries. I gotta get homework done, though.”
With a nod, I took my soda toward the door. He followed.
“See you tomorrow,” he said while I stepped onto the cracked cement porch.
“Is it ok if I come back if Dad doesn’t come home?”
“You know you can always crawl through the window,” he confirmed. “Dad’s gone ‘til Monday.”
Good. Hunter would get a break from that jerkface.
I just waved and he leaned against the doorframe and watched until I got home. We looked at each other across the two houses’ space, then went into our own at the same time, like we usually did.
