The Boy Next Door

by Heather D'Agostino

  Zach shrugged, “You should ask your girlfriend.”

  Patrick looked up at the window to the room where Katie had escaped to and then back at Zach, “Why don’t you tell me.”

  Matt sent Patrick a grin as a silent gesture showing that he had his back with whatever was about to ensue. Matt, as crazy as he could be at times, had always been there for him, on and off the ice.

  Eden finally asserted herself. “You two need to calm down. Patrick, meet the ex. Zach, meet the current, obviously.” She rolled her eyes and motioned between them. “Now can we dial down the testosterone?” she cocked her head to the side and grinned. “Besides,” she looked over at Zach, “You’re supposed to be with me on this trip.” She smacked his thigh.

  Patrick looked back down at his hand and shook his head. He had no idea why Katie would invite her ex, especially now that he knew they had a history. This was definitely something that he would ask her about when they had some time alone.

  ***

  Just then Katie and Hannah emerged from the dorm carrying Hannah’s bag. They were laughing and leaning into one another. Katie swung open the door to the back to let Hannah in as Matt jumped out at the same time. Eden slid over next to Zach as Hannah climbed in the last row of seats. She noticed the tension in the car as Katie and Matt walked around the back to toss Hannah’s bag in. Before Katie came around to the front to climb back in, Hannah glanced between Zach and Patrick.

  “Well, this is awkward,” she mumbled.

  “That’s putting it lightly,” Eden sighed.

  It all made sense now, Katie had begged her to come along to help ease the tension. Hannah was the one link that connected Katie’s past to her current. Hannah slumped back in her seat and crossed her arms as she asked herself what she‘d just gotten herself into.

  When Katie climbed in, Hannah leaned forward smacking her sister on the arm. “I could kill you for this.”

  “What?” Katie played dumb. “You know that you were dying for a free vacation at the beach this week with Matt.”

  ***

  After the initial craziness of getting out of NY, the rest of the drive was fairly pleasant. The group joined in on several car games and the five-hour drive to the hotel passed rather quickly.

  When they arrived, Patrick went to check them in.

  “I got us a suite, seeing that we’ve got such a big crowd. There’s two rooms and a pull out sofa,” he handed keys to each member of the group.

  They grabbed their luggage and headed upstairs to claim their beds. Entering the suite, they found a main living area, two separate but identical bedrooms, and a spacious balcony.

  “This is beautiful,” Hannah scanned the room. “Maybe I was wrong, this could be a great week.”

  “Sure could,” Matt grinned as he walked up behind her and slung his arm around her shoulder.

  “Told you,” Katie giggled as she grabbed her bag and headed into one of the bedrooms.

  Hannah followed her, “Do you want me to stay in here with you, or take the couch?”

  Katie looked over at her, “You don’t have to stay in here. I think Patrick would feel bad if I didn’t let him stay with me. I’ll be ok, but thanks for checking on me.”

  “No problem. You were right by the way. This is just what I needed. Time away from school and a week with my sister,” Hannah giggled.

  “It doesn’t hurt that Matt’s here either, right?” Katie wagged her brow.

  “Well…no,” she giggled again. “He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s sleeping on the floor. I’ve got to go knock him down a few pegs,” Hannah grinned as she turned to head back out to the living area.

  “Room for one more?” Patrick called from the door.

  Katie jumped slightly and turned, “That depends on your intentions, Mr. McKinley,” She giggled and walked over to the bed, “If you stay in here, I won’t have a reason to leave the room.”

  “Sounds like my kind of vacation,” he sauntered over to where she was standing beside the bed and wrapped his arms around her.

  He pulled her into his embrace and placed a soft kiss to her lips. It wasn’t rushed or hungry like the kiss in her room. It was slow, sensual, and deep. She moaned and arched her body into his, pushing her hips forward to rub against him. He groaned and clutched her tighter.

  Just then there was a throat clearing at the door, “We’re going to go down to the beach to check out the ocean. See you later,” he snickered and then left the room.

  Katie blushed and buried her face in Patrick’s chest. “That was so embarrassing,” she mumbled.

  “Maybe, but now we have the place to ourselves,” Patrick whispered into her ear, and he guided her to sit down on the bed.

  They sat down on the edge, staring at one another, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

  “I’m so glad we have this time away. I needed this,” Katie sighed as she flopped back and thought about the recent turmoil in her life.

  “I was going to wait and tell you this over dinner, but we’ll be able to have more time like this in the future,” Patrick propped himself up on his elbow looking over at her face.

  “What do you mean?” she turned toward him onto her side.

  “Well, I’ll be at Columbia in the fall,” he grinned.

  “You got your transfer?” Katie smiled widely.

  “Yep. It came yesterday. Next year I’ll be a junior at Columbia and I have permission to live off campus if I want.”

  “That’s great,” she threw her arms around his neck. “I’m so happy.”

  “Me too,” he whispered as he leaned in to offer a kiss. “I can get my own place, you can come and stay with me whenever you want.”

  “Whenever I want?” she leaned in and deepened the kiss as her mind began to process what he was saying. “You might never get rid of me,” she mumbled.

  “I don’t have any qualms about that,” he groaned, and he trailed kisses down her neck all the while pulling her body closer to his.

  As he moved back up to her mouth, she sighed, and brought her hands up to tangle them in his soft hair.

  “I love you so much,” she sighed.

  “I love you, too,” he returned. “More than I think you realize.”

  She rolled to her side and pushed her body flush with his. He ran his hands down her back to the edge of her shirt and ran his fingers along the soft skin that was exposed. Katie sighed and moved to do the same to him. She wanted to be closer to him, and she knew that he would stop them before it got too far. Katie reached under the edge of his shirt and pushed her hands up his bare chest. Patrick shuddered and pulled back slightly.

  “What’s wrong?” Katie looked away, embarrassed, thinking that she did something he didn‘t like.

  “Nothing,” he kissed her nose and then reached for the bottom of his shirt, pulling it over his head. “I was going to give you better access,” he grinned.

  Katie blushed and ran her eyes over his chest, devouring him with her gaze. His muscles were well defined from all the conditioning he had been doing for hockey lately. She ran her hands down his abs, and he sucked in his breath when she reached the waistband of his jeans. Reason and desire were battling to come to the forefront in both their minds. They rolled slightly to the side and Patrick brought her to rest more on top of him as he trailed his hands up her back, bringing her shirt along with it. Once he had tossed it on the floor, he glanced down at the pink lace bra, the only barrier between them now. He thought about how much he would love to remove it, but knew it might be too tempting to stop if he did. Katie trembled with desire as Patrick wrapped one arm around her middle and the other reached up and grabbed her neck. He pulled her closer and claimed her mouth in a fiery kiss. Katie groaned and ran her hands greedily over him as he began to do the same to her. She began to slide her hips into his as her breathing picked up. Patrick’s breath was coming in pants now as he pulled her hips into his. The friction from their jeans rubbing together was beginning to send the
m into overdrive.

  “Oh god, what are you doing to me?” he gasped. “It feels so good,” he ground out as his hips began to surge forward.

  “Don’t stop,” Katie moaned. “Not further, but don’t stop,” she begged.

  Patrick pulled her hips to his with a strength she’d never felt before. It was as if nature was taking over, giving them a glimpse of the future. Within a few minutes, Patrick body shuddered as his head arched back and a roar erupted from his throat. He looked away embarrassed as Katie’s cheeks grew red. He’d never let himself go like that in front of her. They’d had many make out sessions that ended in release, but he’d always held back. All the time away and the knowledge that they were truly alone at the moment had caught him in a moment of weakness.

  “I’m sorry,” Katie mumbled as she scrambled to move away.

  “No, don’t be. That was...wow,” he laughed. “I never knew it could feel like that without actually doing it.”

  “So that was ok?” Katie’s eyes darted around the room, looking everywhere but at him. “I mean…I’ve never seen you like that.”

  He leaned in and kissed her softly, “That was amazing, really, you didn’t do anything wrong. I wish you would let go like that more often. I love you so much.”

  She nodded as the blush began to fade from her face, “I love you too, and you’re right. It was amazing.”

  “I need to take care of something real quick,” he glanced down at his pants with a grin. “Then what do you say we head down to the beach and find the rest of our group?”

  She smiled and giggled slightly, “Sounds great. I want to change into some shorts anyway.”

  He gave her cheek a quick kiss and nodded as he walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Katie flopped back on the bed and looked at the ceiling as she replayed the last half hour in her mind. She was filled with a mixture of happiness and desire all at once. What had just happened? She had heard about this, but never experienced it. Would being with him be even better? She sighed as she rolled to her side to see their discarded shirts. She shook her head as she trudged over to her bag to dig out some fresh clothes.

  As she grabbed a pair of shorts to change into, she felt a sense of peace wash over her. She wasn’t sure if it was the remnants of what just happened, or if she was just finally able to relax now that she had Patrick with her and the stress of school left behind.

  Yes, this trip was just what she needed. Despite the fact that Zach had come along and was determined to send her world into a tailspin, she would enjoy herself these next five days.

  Chapter 13

  When they arrived down on the beach, Katie and Patrick scanned the area around them looking for the rest of their group. They soon spotted Eden and Hannah laughing, standing at the water’s edge. Zach and Matt weren’t too far away, sitting on towels reading.

  “There they are!” Katie pointed.

  As they walked over in the direction of the group, Katie headed down to the water where the girls were laughing and talking, and Patrick headed in the direction of the guys.

  “Took you long enough,” Eden giggled.

  “We were busy unpacking,” Katie blushed.

  “So that’s what you call it,” Eden cocked her head to the side.

  “Oh leave her alone,” Hannah rolled her eyes. “She hardly gets any time with him.”

  Katie turned and faced Hannah, “Not for long. He’s moving to New York in the fall!” She began squealing and jumping in place with excitement. “He got his transfer to Columbia!”

  “That’s great!” Hannah joined in.

  “So things are ok now?” Hannah questioned as Eden glanced between the two.

  “Yes, better than ok,” Katie gave a quick nod. “Let’s go for a walk.”

  The three girls began heading down the beach laughing and giggling as Katie shouted over her shoulder, “We’ll be back in a little while.”

  ***

  “So what did you tell him?” Hannah nudged Katie in the side.

  Katie glanced up at Eden, who was a few feet in front of the sisters. “Nothing. I didn’t tell him anything.”

  “I think that’s best,” Hannah whispered as she glanced in Eden’s direction. “What about her?” she tilted her head toward Eden. “Are you going to tell her?”

  “No!” Katie shook her head vigorously. “Why would I do that? I have to live with her, remember?”

  “Yeah, I know, but you’re awful at keeping secrets,” Hannah huffed. “I think it’s going to be harder than you think. She deserves the truth.”

  “Well, if Zach makes any more advances, then I’ll tell her,” Katie gave a quick nod. “Now, on to more important matters…you noticed anything different about Matt?”

  “What do you mean? He’s still cute, but he knows it,” Hannah giggled as she spun on her heels and gazed for a moment down the beach at the object of discussion.

  At the sound of Hannah’s giggling, Eden turned around, “Whatcha talking about?”

  “Matt…and his fine body,” Katie grinned. “He’s got a thing for Hannah.”

  “He does not,” Hannah smacked Katie playfully.

  “He does too. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. I’ve been around him enough to know when he likes somebody,” Katie rolled her eyes. “Why do you think it was so easy for Patrick to convince him to come on this trip?”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Hannah shrugged. “Maybe the free trip to the beach?”

  “Puuuullease,” Katie shook her head. “He’s quiet around you and nervous. I can’t believe you don’t see it.” She looked over at Eden, “Please tell me you see it.”

  “Ummmm,” Eden grinned as she looked over at Hannah. “Yeah, I see it. It’s like he’s lost and doesn’t know how to act around you.”

  Hannah huffed, “Well he sure doesn’t treat me like he wants to date me. He’s a constant flirt with anything in a skirt, and I don’t think he knows what commitment means.”

  “So teach him,” Katie giggled.

  “Yeah,” Eden nodded. “We’ll help you.”

  The girls continued to walk through the surf as they ambled along, plotting a way to get Matt to ask Hannah out. Hannah thought it was a lost cause, but Katie was determined to make it work.

  ***

  Patrick looked down at the items that were piled on the beach towel and spotted a green nerf football.

  Picking it up, he looked at Zach and then at Matt, “Wanna toss this around?”

  “Sure,” Zach grinned up at him as Matt shrugged.

  Though Zach was several inches taller than Patrick, the hockey jock made up for it in muscle mass. Zach was lean and lanky for his frame. Patrick was well muscled and filled out more. Years of playing sports had done wonders for him.

  Patrick toed his shoes off and tossed his shirt on the towel. He motioned with his head in the direction of the water and the guys followed suit. Zach tossed his shirt to the side and grinned, looking in the direction of the girls’ retreating backs.

  “So, how long were you and Katie together?” Patrick tossed the ball to him.

  “Oh boy,” Matt chuckled. “Here we go.”

  “Just a few months,” Zach shrugged.

  “Did you love her?” Patrick challenged.

  “I’m not really sure if what we had was love, but it was intense. That‘s for sure,” he tossed the ball back. “We were really young. I was only sixteen. How many guys do you know who know they’re in love at sixteen?”

  “Point taken,” Patrick nodded.

  As they continued to verbally spar with one another, Matt crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. Apparently they had forgotten he was even there.

  “What about you?” Zach probed.

  “What about me?” Patrick challenged.

  “Do you love her?” Zach clarified as he tossed the football with a little more force than necessary.

  “With all my heart,” Patrick smiled as he rocketed it back. “She’s something special. What
we’ve got, we’ve been building it for a while.”

  “Really,” Zach cocked his head to the side.

  “Seriously guys, are we really doing this now?” Matt challenged.

  Patrick forged on, “We met several years ago, and we’ve Iet it develop into something real with time. We’re adults, we know what we feel.”

  “Really?” Zach challenged again as he thought back to the way Katie had responded to his kiss just a few weeks ago. “Maybe you should talk to her about that.”