Beach Side Beds and Sandy Paths

by Becca Ann

  “No it wasn’t.”

  “For you! Yeah it was. Totally wasn’t expecting it to even make it over the net.” His eyes narrow and in the sunlight specks of gold shine through. “Besides when have you ever known me not to treat you like you were better at everything than me?”

  I purse my lips and loll my head to the side. “Good point.”

  “Now can you”—Ryan reaches under the net and wraps a hand around my waist—“come over here and kiss me so we can get this game back on.”

  “No kissing the enemy,” I say with a wink.

  His hand tightens, and he ducks under the net until there’s nothing between us. “I believe it’s sleeping with the enemy, and I’m willing to make an exception.” He lowers his mouth to mine, and since we have an audience, I make it quick then push him back to his side.

  “Are you two done?” Brett asks, ball now propped under his arm.

  “Go for it,” I say and take my position.

  Brett throws the ball up and smacks it over the net, without a volley Ryan hits the ball back over. I go to set it for Brett, but he whacks it over the net before I can get to it and right to Ryan.

  Ryan spikes it back to Brett, and Nate throws his hands up. The ball goes back and forth, neither Nate nor I touching it once.

  Nate walks off the court and over to Kaylee. I wait for him to pick her up and spin her in circles then toss her over his shoulder. Instead he gently places his hand on her side and kisses her forehead. Kaylee’s gaze flicks upward when she tries to pull Nate to the water and he won’t budge.

  This trip is not going how I thought it would. And this display of macho-ness between these two jackass brothers needs to stop right now. As Brett hits the ball back over the net, Ryan winds up to spike, and I push Brett out of the way. I stand in the line of the ball; Ryan’s eye is set on the spike. I don’t even think he saw me push Brett down.

  “Enough! I’m going in the water. I don’t need your permission!” I turn to Kaylee as she pulls away from Nate and smack!

  Pulsating heat shoots through my cheek and I fall. My hand goes to my face and I try to fight the tears. Try to push the pain away, but it hurts so badly. Tears pour out. I bite my lip to prevent the sobs that curl up my throat.

  I hear my name, commotion, but I can’t focus on it. All I can focus on is the throbbing.

  “Lex, Lex!” Ryan wraps me in his arms, pulls my hand away and I look up at him. He’s all blurry, but I can still make out the lines of his face and just seeing him makes the sobs jump out. My head falls into his chest. “I am so sorry.”

  “Good going, asshole,” Brett says, and I know if Ryan wasn’t so concerned with me he would get up and knock him out.

  “Lex, look at me. Please.” Ryan’s hand runs up my other cheek and turns me to him.

  I open my eyes and very carefully, and he places his hand on my chin. His eyes widen and then squint. I don’t need a mirror to see how bad it is. I see it in Ryan’s eyes.

  “It was an accident,” I mumble because I know he’s going to punish himself for this when I was the one who pushed Brett out of the way.

  The tension pulling at his jaw lessens, and his lip curves up at the corner. “Too bad we don’t have a snowball. They make great ice packs.”

  “The best.”

  “Come on I’ll piggy back you to the house, and I’ll be your own personal doctor.”

  “Are you going to wear the uniform?”

  He rubs the back of his neck, and his dark eyes soften. “Sorry, forgot to pack it.”

  “Damn, I love a man in uniform.”

  “Oh, do you now?” He tickles my side and for a second I forget the pain. Then I laugh and ouchie.

  “Bestie, are you okay?” Kaylee asks when I glance her way.

  I nod and smile. “Don’t let me keep you from the water. Go swim.”

  “You sure?”

  “Absolutely. I’m fine. Besides I have Dr. Ryan to take care of me.”

  “Holler if you need anything,” she says then bounces down the beach. Nate runs behind her and drapes his arm around her shoulder. Finally things are starting to look normal again.

  “Here.” I look up at Brett, and he hands me an ice pack. “They had one at the lifeguard station over there.”

  “Thanks,” I say.

  “Yeah, thanks,” Ryan says, and I didn’t even have to give him stink-eye. Progress. Maybe being hit in the face with a volleyball is the push they need to finally realize how stupid their feud is.

  If that’s the case, then I’m happy to take one for the team.

  Chapter 15

  Ryan

  “I ruined our whole day!” Lex says as she flops on the couch in her silk pajama bottoms and spaghetti strap shirt. No bra under that—I’m guessing she doesn’t want another gel pop or whatever that was—and I’m really really trying not to think about it as she settles her head in my own pajama covered lap. “We didn’t even get to go swimming.”

  Running my hand through her hair, I give her a smirk as she pouts at me. “You didn’t ruin anything. I’m the one who hit you in the face.”

  “Ugh!” She covers her eyes. “Day one, and I’ve already been ordered to stay inside.”

  “Just till the drugs wear off. And that swelling goes down.” I lift her hands from her face. “It looks like you’ll be swimming in no time.”

  “It’s not just that, Ry.” She sits up and twirls around to face me, but she keeps her eyes on the cushion between us. “We’ve been inside all day. It’s spring break, damn it. I had… plans. You know, fun stuff I wanted to do with you.”

  I pop her chin up to look at me. “I’m right here. What do you want to do?”

  She lets out a sigh, jutting out that damn bottom lip. “Swim.”

  My gaze locks on that lip, and I can’t help myself from diving in and grabbing it with my teeth before sucking it into my mouth. She tastes like sugar and strawberries, courtesy of the strawberry shortcake we ate just twenty minutes ago. Kaylee insisted we “celebrate” our first day here before they all jetted out to a party Nick invited us to. Even if I hadn’t socked that volleyball in Lex’s face, we wouldn’t be going. I wouldn’t force Lex to be around all that alcohol.

  But it gives us a chance to be alone. I’m not sure if I’m good with that, or freaking out about it yet.

  She breaks from my lips, giving me her large two-dimpled smile. Good. Took her out of her funk for a minute.

  “Tell you what,” I say, wiggling my nose with hers. “I’ll wake you up at three in the morning when your eye has gone down all the way, drag you outside, and dump you in the ocean.”

  “That sounds romantic, Ry.” She rolls her eyes. “Don’t you know all the people who swim at night get eaten by sharks?”

  “I’ll fight ‘em off ya.” I wink and pull back, glad she’s finally cheering up. We sit for a minute in silence as I stroke the skin on her neck. She’s so soft. Everywhere…soft. And I can’t believe I’m the lucky guy who gets to touch her whenever I want.

  She lets out a moan and tilts her head toward mine, closing her eyes. “Will you tell me a story?”

  Uh…“What?”

  Her eyes pop open, and she slides on my lap, one leg on each side of me. She sits there like it’s no big deal, and we’re about to talk about the weather or politics or something equally boring. But my body sure as hell says “There’s this sexy ass girl sitting on top of you. Don’t disappoint me.”

  “I want you to tell me a cute story, Ry.”

  “Like what?”

  “I dunno. Something you remember.”

  I smirk. “You know all my stories. You’re a part of them.”

  “I know. That’s what makes this fun.”

  I shake my head with silent laughter. “A cute story, huh?”

  She nods, sliding a little farther up my thighs. If she gets much closer, she’s gonna be feeling a whole lot more than my legs.

  Clearing my throat and running my fingers over the skin on her arm
s, I start the first story that pops in my head.

  “Freshman year. Pop-pop was trying to teach me how to burp the radiator on the Lincoln. You came over and said you were going to wait in the house for me.”

  I give her a fake stink-eye, and she laughs, but doesn’t finish the story for me, even though I know she knows what I’m talking about. So I keep going.

  “And you little liar, snuck into the front seat of the car and honked the horn at me while I was bent under the hood.”

  She belts out another beautiful and sexy laugh. “I thought I was going to give you a heart attack.”

  “Nope,” I say, laughing with her, “just a bruised brain.”

  “Guess we’re even now, then?” She grazes her fingers over her cheeks and winces a little. All the laughter going through my throat stops.

  “I’m sorry about this, Lex.” I grab her fingers and kiss her bump lightly. “I hate that I’m the one who gave it to you.”

  It’s the understatement of the year. I can’t believe I let my temper flare up on the court today with Lex on the other side of the net. If I’d have just played the game and not worried over having an excuse to knock the ball that hard on my brother’s face, Lex wouldn’t have this bruise. She would’ve been able to swim earlier and do… whatever it was she had planned for us. She didn’t ruin our day.

  I did.

  And Brett, because it feels better to blame him, too.

  She makes me jump as a long fingernail pushes against the scar on my eyebrow.

  “I wish you would talk to me.” She sighs.

  “What?”

  “I can tell when you’ve got something on your mind, Ry.”

  Of all people, I should be able to talk to her, but I don’t want to. Pretty soon being with her will be tainted by Brett even more than it already is. But I guess she deserves something right now, not only because I love her, but because that damn red eye is pulsing at me like it’s saying, “You did this… you did this…”

  “It’s hard, having him here,” I croak out, not meeting her eyes.

  “Why?”

  “Because he’s a constant reminder of what my mom did. How she…” I shake my head and force those damn prickles away by pinching my nose. Lex tugs my arm down, kissing my fingers before she interlocks hers with them.

  “I know that’s hard. But it’s not exactly Brett’s fault.”

  Just as quickly as I let the wall down, it snaps back up. I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Not ever, or with anyone. And I really don’t want to fight with the girl I love over this stupid shit.

  I wipe the anger from my face as best I can and adjust Lex on my lap so she’s pressed against… well, everything.

  “Tell me a story, now,” I whisper in her ear.

  “You’re trying to change the subject,” she whispers back, both of our breathing getting faster just by the way we’re talking and holding each other. Damn, she’s sexy as hell and she’s not even doing anything.

  I jut out my bottom lip like she did. She laughs and flicks it with her nail.

  “Fine.” Her golden eyes go to the ceiling as she taps her chin. “Senior year. I went on spring break with my boyfriend…”

  Is she serious? If she brings up Brett, I don’t know how I’ll handle it. She’s supposed to be my release, as assholish as that is. And I’m reminded of just how big a jerk I am as she presses closer to me.

  “I had this big surprise for him,” she continues, raking her fingernails through my hair. Oh hell, I don’t even care if I lose control right now. No… I do. I have to keep it to our normal make out sessions. No matter how much I want to dive into her pants.

  Because it’s still not right. Not now. Not after I…

  “But the first day he pounded a volleyball right in my face!” Her jaw drops in a mock I-can’t-believe-he-did-that way, and I shake my head.

  “Sounds like a douche.” I stop her hands from caressing my hair. “Did you dump his ass?”

  “I should have, you know,” she jokes, putting her now free hands under my shirt. Damn, I’m not very good at this ‘distance for her own good’ thing. “But I couldn’t.”

  My breathing is not helping things. Neither is hers. We’re both panting at each other like we’re doing a whole lot more than just sitting here.

  “W-why not?” I choke out, losing my ability to think as her fingers continue to move around my stomach.

  “Well, he took me back to the beach house we were staying at. He watched me sleep, played with my hair, and told me he was sorry about a million and a half times.”

  “Hmm…” I moan, closing my eyes because her hands have traveled a bit farther south. “Still sounds like a jerk.”

  “No. He’s amazing. And he’s all mine. But I had to wait to give him his surprise. The anticipation… well, it killed me.”

  Her lips press into the corner of mine, and I stop myself from turning into her kiss. She keeps talking about this surprise, and I thought it was that bikini she put on this morning. Guess I was wrong about that one.

  “You’re cute when you’re confused,” she says as my eyes open to meet hers. Her two dimples almost wink at me.

  “Care to take me out of suspense?”

  She cocks her head as if she’s thinking about it, but I know she’ll tell me the rest of the story.

  “So, that night, when the drugs wore off around…” She glances at the clock on the wall. “One o’clock, I kissed him on his neck.”

  Her lips trace my skin, and I hold her there, running my hands up her shirt, feeling her bare back.

  Shit, I can’t let it go far. I won’t. We’ve done this much before. We’re okay.

  “Then I kissed his lips…”

  I stay stone still as she lightly touches her lips to mine. I won’t use her. I won’t. No matter how good it feels to forget everything.

  I won’t. I won’t. I won’t.

  She pulls back, but not far. We’re sharing the air between our mouths as she breathes out her next sentence.

  “Then I rocked his world.”

  Shit.

  I don’t know how it happens. I seriously thought I was doing okay—making sure I wasn’t going to use Lex to wipe out what happened today. But here I am, pulling her underneath me and kissing her like I’ve never kissed her before. The entire world could explode around us, and I wouldn’t notice. I think it has exploded, and we were the cause. Our bodies crash into each other, touching and feeling everything possible.

  I feel trapped in my clothes, and she’s trapped in hers. But I don’t have it in me to drag her upstairs.

  The silk on her pants falls through my fingers as I dive downward. She’s saying my name again and she can scream it to the world for all I care. We’re alone. There’s no one but me and her.

  Her hands find my waistband, and she drags her nails across the skin underneath. She moves farther down and that’s when my brain gets a smack of reality again.

  No, no, no. I can’t let her… not even a little bit. Because I’m still angry—still pissed off about everything. My mom, my brother, this damn trip he’s on with me.

  All I know is that if I make love to her now, it wouldn’t be making love at all. It would just be something to cover up all the pain. I won’t do that to her.

  I swear my whole body yells at me as I shoot to the other end of the couch, leaving Lex with her shirt halfway up, her bottoms loose enough that I can see the purple panties she’s wearing, and a look on her face that’s somewhere between confusion and shock.

  “S-sorry…” I stammer, running my hand over the back of my neck, not daring to look at her as she fixes her clothes. “I-I… I just…”

  The front door of the beach house slams open, making both of us jolt on the couch. With bloodshot eyes and tear stained cheeks, Kaylee storms to Lex, wraps a hand around her wrist and yanks her upstairs.

  It’s dead silent now, until Nate breaks it from the doorway.

  “Well, she’s not pregnant.”

/>   I shake my head, trying to catch up with everything that’s happened in the last thirty seconds.

  “What the hell?”

  Nate tosses his fedora to the floor as he flops in one of the oversized chairs. “I-I really thought she was. I mean, she’d been acting like it. She was sick to her stomach on the way here. She’s been so hot and cold lately. And the whole Planned Parenthood thing.”

  “You did ask her, right? You didn’t just… assume.”

  “I didn’t know how to ask her. But I guess I formed everything in my head.”

  He’s silent and I’m silent. Okay, so she’s not pregnant. That’s a good thing, right? Then… what the hell?

  “Dude, I really… I really thought she was.”

  “But she’s not?”

  He shakes his head.

  “Then… uh, what’s the problem?”

  He shakes his head again, his dark hair flopping over his eyes. “I love her. I wanted to be there for her and the baby. I wanted her to know that.”

  “Okay…”

  A loud puff of air escapes his lips as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out… ah hell. He didn’t…

  “She said no, man. I-I can’t believe… she said no.”

  “Shit.”

  Chapter 16

  Lexie

  Kaylee’s hand grips my wrist tightly, and she pulls me into her and Nate’s room. The door slams shut, and she finally loosens her death grip. She flops down on the bed, anger and defeat radiating from her. Even her pigtails aren’t their usual perky selves.

  I sit down and wait for her to throw herself into my arms. She doesn’t—which only means one thing. It’s worse than I thought. “You going to tell me what this is all about?”

  A loud rush of air blows up a strand of blond that fell from its braid. “I’m dating an idiot.”

  I lean back, eyebrows raised. For any normal person, idiot is nothing, for Kaylee she might as well have called him…something a thousand times worse than that. The last time she referred to Nate as an idiot was the day we said goodbye to her beloved gerbil, Mr. Pippi. You’d think after delivering a bombshell like that, she’d elaborate.