“Stay with me in paradise for a little while longer,” I whisper into her ear, my nose in her hair. She smells like tequila and pineapples, my little island girl for at least a few more hours.
Shawna twists in my arms, pulling off her sunglasses to look me in the eyes. We don’t say anything, but that one look between us tells me we’re both completely out of our element here.
“Maybe we can bring paradise back with us.” A smile curls at the left side of her mouth and I slide my hand into her hair. She leans in, pressing her lips to mine just as the square breaks out in applause, the last of the sun sinking away.
“ARE YOU SURE YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IT?” Jess calls out again, this time tossing the same pillows she just rummaged through on one side of the room to the other. “It’s Vera Bradley, Can–”
“Canyon print, small backpack, with your name embroidered in yellow I know, Lei, and no, for the one-hundredth time, I haven’t seen it,” I cut her off. “Jesus, just chill. You can get another Vera bag.”
She huffs, standing with her hands hooked on her hips, her hair in a crazy bun as she sweeps the corners of the room with her eyes. “It’s not the bag I’m worried about.”
“Was your wallet in it?”
“No.”
“Your phone?”
“No, it was just something important,” she says, frustrated, digging through Skyler’s bag now. I roll my eyes, still thumbing through social media on my phone.
“God, if I didn’t know you better I’d say it was stashed with drug money.” I laugh, shaking my head.
“Could you at least fucking pretend to help me find it?” she snaps, her eyes wild. “You’re just sitting there being a giant bitch, which usually I don’t mind, but for once in your life can you help me without making me feel like shit in the process?”
“Excuse me?” I scoff, uncrossing my feet on the bed and sitting up straighter. “I am always there for you. If anything, you’re the one who always holds me at ten-foot-distance. So don’t take your period out on me because you can’t find a fucking backpack.”
“Whatever, Jess.”
“Yeah. Whatever,” I repeat, snatching my drink off the nightstand and walking my happy ass downstairs. “Let me know when you’re ready.”
Everyone else is already on Duval Street, but I agreed to stay back with Ashlei so she could look for her bag without everyone being there. Now, I’m wishing I would have let her do it on her own. She’s already being dishonest about whatever is happening with Bo, and now I get the feeling she’s hiding something else. At this point, I’m tired of trying to step around the fact that she’s being secretive. She knows it, I know it, and I’m sure she can feel that I’m getting tired of it.
Just as my foot hits the bottom step, my phone screen lights up with Jarrett’s number.
“Come get me,” I answer and he chuckles.
“Over it, are you?”
“Beyond. What are you doing?”
“I just got out of the shower, have to work at the bar tonight. But I was… thinking of you.”
The way he says the words flips my stomach. “Were you now?”
“Let’s just say I’m more than a little worked up at the moment,” he replies, his voice husky. “Are you alone?”
Ashlei curses from upstairs and a loud clatter breaks out. Clearly we’re going to be here a while, might as well get my kicks.
“Not right now, but I could be.”
“Find a room. I’ll call you back.” Jarrett ends the call before I have the chance to ask why he needed to end it. Confused, I keep my phone in my hand and duck inside the small half-bathroom downstairs, flicking on the light and checking my appearance in the mirror. If I’m going to be sending him pictures, I definitely want to make them drool-worthy. Luckily, there are about a million makeup bags lined up on the counter, so I reapply my red lipstick and darken my lashes. As soon as I pop the lid back on Skyler’s mascara, my phone buzzes.
This time, with a video chat request.
Oh.
“Hi,” I say as Jarrett’s blurry face slowly comes into view. I almost forgot how incredibly sexy he is. The only view I have is of the top of his shoulders, covered with tats, and his heart-stopping, demanding dark eyes. He’s still in his bathroom, the mirror fogged up behind him and small beads of water from his shower gathered on his neck.
“Goddamn, I miss you,” he breathes, his eyes searching mine. “Take your clothes off.”
I almost laugh, but he’s not joking, there’s no playful tone to his voice — he meant what he said. His eyes hooded, he bites his lip as I set up my phone on the counter, my hands pulling my hair down from the loose hair tie I had it in.
I shimmy out of my jean shorts first, letting them drop to the floor and eying him through my lashes as I hook my thumbs in the band of my panties and pull them down next. My blouse is light, and I peel it off with ease, unhooking my bra and shaking it off each arm quickly. Jarrett’s eyes never leave me, his breaths coming harder.
He moves from the bathroom to his bedroom, propping himself up against his headboard. The camera blanks for just a moment before the view switches and I see him sprawled out in his sheets, his hard body still damp from the shower. Slowly, he unwraps his towel and lets it fall to the side, and I moan when I see how hard he is. He grips himself, stroking slowly as he grows even harder, and suddenly I can’t breathe.
“I want you so bad,” I whisper, palming my breasts and imagining his hands on me, instead. Each time he strokes, he grows harder, longer, thicker, his fist opening around his shaft as his thumb grazes the tip. I drop to my knees in front of the phone and insert two fingers between my lips, eyes on the lens as I suck my own flesh. Jarrett groans, flipping the camera and adjusting his phone so that I have the most glorious view — his hard cock in his hand, his slick abs and chest, his bottom lip pinned between his teeth as he strokes and watches me.
“Take those wet fingers and fuck yourself with them,” he demands, his forearm muscles flexing under the tattooed skin. Grabbing my phone, I lean back against the door and spread my legs wide, taking my time dragging the lens down my body until it lands between my legs. Slowly, my eyes still on his dick, I spread my lips and slide one finger inside, my head falling back at the sensation.
“Oh fuck,” Jarrett breathes. “You’re always so tight.”
“You’re always too big,” I moan, dipping another finger inside as Jarrett quickens his pace.
“I want to bury my face in that pussy,” he husks and the filth turns me on. I let my legs fall open wider, moving up to circle my clit before plunging my fingers back inside. “Taste yourself.”
I pull my fingers out and slowly trail them up my stomach, pausing to work my nipples between the slick tips before sliding them in my mouth. Jarrett groans and the guttural noise sends a jolt through me. I’m so fucking hot it’s uncomfortable. Squirming, I bite my lip and fuck myself with my fingers again, this time steadying my rhythm, reaching for the orgasm I feel mounting.
“Do you even know how sexy you are?” Jarrett asks, his voice raspy as he pumps. When his hand rolls over the tip of his cock it grazes the abs just above his naval. His every inch is on full display, and all I want is him inside me right now. “You make me so weak, Jess. So fucking weak.”
I try so hard to stay quiet, but I know Ashlei must hear my screams as I tumble over the edge, pulling my fingers out to circle my clit and lengthen the ride. Jarrett comes with me, flexing his hips into his hand one last time before grunting out his release. I never thought it would be so seductive to watch him shudder and hear him moan my name as he busts on his abs. I keep my eyes glued on the screen, fascinated, feeling powerful and sexy as hell.
Our breaths are both loud, our limbs weak as we clean up. Jarrett brings the screen to his face, biting his lip. “Hurry home tomorrow.”
“Cancel all your plans until Monday.”
He chuckles, his eyes low and sedated. “Have fun tonight.”
I blow him
a kiss and end the call, staring at all my clothes on the floor and laughing to myself. Did I just video sex my boyfriend in a bathroom?
Oh my God, did I just call him my boyfriend?
Shaking my head, I quickly dress and burst through the bathroom door, ready to storm upstairs and drag Ashlei down to Duval Street. Instead, I find a sticky note on my purse.
Left without you. Didn’t want to interrupt. ;) – Lei
“That little bitch,” I whisper with a laugh, wondering if she’s still mad at me. I hate fighting with her, and now that I’ve worked off some tension, I realize I was a little harsh upstairs. Locking up behind me, I scamper down to the street and flag down the first cab I see to shuttle me down to the bars. I’ll make it up to Ashlei tonight. Our last night. Spring Break is almost over.
My phone pings and when I slide the screen, a full photo of Jarrett in just his board shorts pops up. He’s holding the phone to show his reflection in the mirror and my eyes stick hard on the area where his lower abs meet his hip flexors, forming that glorious V.
– A little something to get you through the night. –
I drag my teeth over my bottom lip, shaking my head before tucking my phone away. For once, I can’t wait to get back to campus.
MY FAVORITE TIME TO BE ON THE BEACH is after midnight, when the water is calmer, the sand cooler, and the conversation deeper. Leaning back on my palms, the heels of my feet just barely touching the sand at the edge of my blanket, I listen to the waves roll in.
The last night of Spring Break is coming to an end.
I thought it would be weird, coming with Skyler, her sisters, and Omega Chi Beta without a single other brother of my own. Somehow, though, I managed to have the best time of my life. It was never weird, it was a constant high. Funny enough, I’m one of the last ones standing tonight. It has to be at least three in the morning and the only other people on the beach that I recognize are Cassie, Ashlei, and Bo. They’re all gathered around the last beer pong table set up on Smathers Beach, playing against three Omega Chis I don’t recognize.
We started our night on Duval Street but moved the population from half the bars to the beach around midnight, wanting to take over the Key West sand one last time. Skyler and Jess turned in pretty early, both exhausted from the week, and Clinton dragged Shawna off not too long after. But I’m still buzzed, not ready to give up vacation just yet.
“Hey.” Cassie’s voice catches me off guard, I didn’t realize she’d stopped playing. Lifting my eyes up her long, lean legs, I note the way the beach fire makes the edges of her silhouetted hair glow a fierce orange. She points back at Bo and Ashlei. “I think we’re about to head out.”
I frown, nodding. “Okay. I have a key.”
“You’re not coming with us?”
I shrug, rolling my neck a little and turning back toward the water. “I don’t know, I’m not really tired.”
“Me either,” she says.
“Hang out with me?”
Even with the fire light behind her and her face hidden by the dark night sky, I see the faintest smile. “Okay. One sec.” She jogs back over to the girls, saying something I can’t quite hear before hugging them both and watching them leave. The last straggling Omega Chi brothers follow suit and then it’s just me and Cassie. As she makes her way back across the sand, a familiar ache settles in my chest. It’s the same one I’ve been dealing with every night sleeping next to her — like heartburn, but worse.
I slide over, making more room on my blanket for her to sit. She plops down, pulling her knees up to her chest and threading her arms under her thighs. “I can’t believe it’s over.”
“It’s not,” I correct. “Not yet.”
She grins, laying her cheek on her knees, her green eyes curious as she watches me. She’s quiet for a while before she bursts out in a fit of laughter. “I still can’t believe you danced on stage at the Red Garter.”
“Hey, I got a few dollar bills in the waistband of my boxers that night,” I tease, throwing her a wink.
“Yeah. Until the security guards threw you out.” She laughs harder, her lightly-tanned cheeks flushing.
“I love how I’m getting picked on by the girl who took fifty-seven seconds to do a beer bong.”
“It was my first one!” She smacks my arm and I grin, pulling her head under my arm and ruffling her wild red hair. She pokes me hard in my chest until I release her, both of us still chuckling.
“It really was an amazing trip,” she breathes, stretching her legs out on the blanket, her eyes on the waves, mine glued on her. I’ve never seen her look so free before. Even with her pink lips chapped from the sun and fresh freckles on her cheeks, she’s absolutely beautiful in the low glow from the half-moon. Crossing her arms over her chest, she shivers slightly.
“Are you cold?”
“A little.”
I smile, opening my arm. “Come here.” Her green eyes assess me, as if she’s afraid of my touch. “I radiate heat like a werewolf. Seriously, come here.”
Cassie hesitates, but slides over, letting me wrap my arms around her. She settles into my grasp and sighs. “Wow. You really are warm.”
“Told you.”
A small curve meets her lips and she rests her head against my chest. The moment she does, I feel the energy change. I can’t explain it. It’s like the ocean blanketed us in an electric mist the minute her skin met mine. My throat constricts as I battle with what I should do and what I want to. I don’t know if it’s the moonlight or the sand or the energy from the night, but I give up trying to fight my urge when it comes to her. I don’t want to fight it tonight. I want it to consume me.
Attempting to swallow the lump in my throat, I lift my hand from where it was holding tight to her middle and trail it up her arm, rendering chills in my wake. She stiffens when my fingers graze the bottom of her chin and I lift it, just slightly, tilting my own down toward her. My thumb grazes her jaw and her emerald eyes flick to mine, pupils large and dark. She holds my gaze, her breaths as hard as mine when she lets her eyes fall to my lips.
“What are you doing?” she breathes, so quiet against the sound of the waves that I almost don’t hear her.
“Kissing you.”
I feel her heart stop and start again with a kick beneath my forearm as I lean in closer, my hand sliding into her hair.
“Adam,” she starts. “You’re drunk.”
“Just because I’m drunk doesn’t mean I’m stupid, and I’d be stupid not to kiss you right now.”
My hands frame her face and I pull her into me, our lips barely touching before her hand finds the center of my chest. “I have a boyfriend.”
I rest my forehead against hers, breaths sharp as they escape my open lips just centimeters from hers. “So tell me to stop.”
I wait, expecting to hear the word and praying I won’t. My hands slide back into her hair, tilting her mouth up to mine, and her eyes plead with me for something I’m not sure I can give before she lets them flutter closed. Permission granted, I close the distance, pressing my lips to hers as the energy band snaps around us.
Our first kiss flashes through my mind and I let my hands fall to her hips, pulling her closer, knowing it will never be close enough. It’s then that I realize Cassie took a piece of me with her that night and she never gave it back. I never asked for it back. And something tells me she’ll always have it, no matter what happens after this.
Her fingers weave into my hair, tugging, her back arching toward me as my tongue glides between her lips to meet her own. She whimpers, soft and sweet, and I’m thankful we’re sitting because that sound alone would have brought me to my knees. I tug at the belt loop on her shorts and she takes the cue, straddling me, every inch of her shaking as everything we’ve held back for so long breaks through the fog we’ve tried to cover it with.
I take my time, massaging her tongue with my own, peppering her neck with kisses, her jaw, sucking the skin behind her ear before finding her mouth again. My hand
s are everywhere, holding her while she trembles beneath each new touch. She flexes her hips against mine and I wince, my fingertips gripping her hard to stop her from doing it again. It’s too much. I know we can’t take it there, not tonight, not when she’s technically someone else’s. Tonight, I’ll kiss her, for as long as she’ll let me, and hope that, eventually, she’ll be able to give me all of her. I’ll be able to give her all of me.
Tomorrow will come, and neither of us can stop that. But for now, on a blanket in the sand, beneath a sky of stars, we have tonight.
We have tonight.
I’M SO FUCKING SICK.
I wish it was from the alcohol, or sun poisoning, or anything else in the world except the true source. I’ve tried talking myself down, soothing my nerves, sourcing my options but the truth is I have none.
I lost the backpack.
My chest stings as the realization sinks in and I press my forehead to the bus window. I misplaced my ticket to freedom like it was a spare set of car keys. I looked everywhere, I called everyone, I retraced my steps and dug through every bag in our suite. It’s gone. The money is gone.
Xavier is going to kill me.
I mean he might literally kill me.
Bo’s head is heavy on my shoulder, her breaths long and steady as we pull back into campus. The entire ride home was silent, save for the old 80s rock music keeping the driver of our bus awake. When we stop in front of the Kappa Kappa Beta house, I shrug Bo awake and she wipes at the corner of her mouth, scrubbing her hands down her face.
“I’m so tired.”
“Come on, we can take a nap.”
She smiles sweetly at me before we shuffle off the bus behind the rest of our sisters. Every step feels weighted as my mind races with what my next moves need to be. I was so close, so close to being done with Kya and Hayden and Xavier and every fucking nightmare that’s been wrecking my life for months. My only saving grace is that I didn’t lose all of the money, but I still lost over a third of it, which is enough to get me into an even deeper hole with a very dangerous man. Every new thought drives the knife in deeper and tears sting my eyes. I suck my lips between my teeth, fighting them back, just as several of my sisters’ phones ping all at once.
Palm South University: Season 2, Episode 4 (Palm South University #2) Page 7
