by Claire Adams
"Sounds riveting." Daniel adjusted his glasses and walked out of the house in front of me.
Derek was snoring softly as we walked by, and I had to force myself not to stop and pour a beer on his chest or something dickish. We were all teenage boys in our heads, and yet the time for growing up was coming far too fast.
"I wanna drive the boat." Daniel pulled the keys from his pocket and dangled them in front of me as we walked across the street. We paused for a long line of people riding bikes, and I glanced over at him, shrugging.
"Yeah, sure. I don't care. Let's go out to the island for a little while. It's a beautiful day. I want to get some sun." I pulled my t-shirt over my head and jogged down the dock toward the boat. I needed to find the gym on the property and soon. My six pack was getting less and less visible, and the unfortunate fact was that women almost expected one on a guy like me.
"And, we're not going out there so you can leave me, right?" He got into the boat behind me and moved to the driver's seat.
"Dude, I just play an ass on TV." I dropped down on the bench near the back of the boat and stretched out. "You know I'm just teasing you about girls and shit."
"I know. I'll find one this summer and hopefully take her to bed. I just want it to be the right one, you know?" He looked back at me as I pulled my sunglasses onto my face.
"I guess. It's all good, though. We're all different. You respect women, and I've had enough of them not respect me to be over the idea of a fairytale ending." I shrugged and crossed my arms over my chest as he pulled out onto the lake.
"A fairytale ending? Have you really ever considered something like that?" He snorted and hit the gas.
The wind felt good in my hair, and the steady rocking of the boat left me surrounded with a sense of peace that I honestly couldn't find anywhere else in the world.
"I used to think I would find a good girl who would take care of me." I moved closer, yelling above the roar of the wind and waves. "I guess I just gave up."
"And now, you only sleep with them once and that's it? No second chances, no additional glances?"
"That's right." I let my head drop back as I watched the clouds race across the sky.
"And, if you found a girl that made you want to have a second date?" He kicked at my shin softly.
"I don't know," I said as I sat up and turned to watch the island grow larger and larger. "I've not met her yet, and I'm hoping I don't until I'm settled into my career and bored with life."
"Bored with life?" Daniel slowed the boat a little as we approached the other boats tied up around the island.
"Yeah." I grabbed the anchor and stood up. "You know...you get a job and start contributing to society. Start dating a little here and there, and after a while, you find yourself in a pattern. A rut. Bored as fuck."
"That's depressing." He moved over to grab the other anchor. "It doesn't have to work like that, you know?"
"Very true." I dropped the anchor and moved back, kicking off my sandals and adjusting my bathing suit. "We could all be doctors like you. That sounds riveting."
"I'm excited about it. Maybe that's why I'm not in a hurry to find a woman." He slathered a thick layer of sunscreen on his arms and legs as I watched him.
"You'll be married to your career. It's what will turn you on, make you come alive. Not me, though; I'm going to do my job and take my ass home. I want life to be centered on a family, on a woman. The right woman." I stretched, being more open than I had in forever. My friends were excited about their next steps after graduation, but I wasn't in the slightest.
No matter how much I balked at romance, I wanted it with a desperation that left me in another girl's bed every night. The part that no one seemed to understand was that they used me as much as I used them.
"You not taking your shirt off?" I chuckled and glanced back at him. "You're not a ginger, dude."
"I burn easily, and I want to be ready for tomorrow night. I have a strange feeling that my turn is coming." He shrugged and jumped off the side of the boat, landing in the water with a splash.
"You think Cinderella's coming to the ball?" I stepped up on the edge of the boat and jumped, tucking my legs and doing a cannon ball.
He splashed me as I came up from the cool water. "Ass. I swear you're a bully with a heart."
I laughed. "That's exactly what I am. Don't forget my overly huge dick, too. That's an asset we need to stay cognizant of."
"I'm not responding to that," he said as he disappeared under the water, leaving me to laugh at how fun it was to fuck with him.
We walked onto the man-made beach front a few minutes later and spread out on a small strip of sand amongst a huge group of people.
Daniel dropped down beside me and rubbed at his eyes. "I don't have my contacts in, so stay close."
"You can't see anything?" I glanced over at him as I laid back, enjoying the warm sand beneath me.
"Nope." He laid back beside me and yawned. "We stayed up too late last night."
"You're a pussy." I moved my hands to cradle my head. "And, you suck at dominoes."
"Do you have anything nice to say?" He turned his head toward me as he squinted.
"You have nice cheekbones?" I laughed as he shook his head.
"Fuck you, Brody." He turned to look back toward the sky. "I have to admit that I'm a little jealous about how easily women flock to you."
"It's confidence. Just pretend like you have it and they'll flock to you, too. Girls are weird like that." I shrugged and turned to my left, smiling at the dark-skinned girl who was on her stomach, her eyes all for me. "Isn't that true?" I asked her.
"Sure is." She smiled and turned to look the other way.
"So, what if you're not at all confident? I mean, if we're talking about school or intelligence, I got it down, but anything else? Especially if we're talking about confidence in the bedroom. I'm completely at a loss there." Daniel let out a long sigh. "It's fucking terrifying."
"Yeah, but after you do it once or a hundred times, it gets easier." I turned my attention to him. I couldn't remember having anything but confidence in the bedroom, but then again, I'd started sleeping around right before high school started. It had been far too many years to think back to the beginning of it all.
"I guess," he sighed again. "I need to just go for it. I'm going to work on it tomorrow night."
"On your confidence or getting laid?” I sat up and rolled my shoulders before glancing behind me to see if there was a close bathroom.
"Both?" He covered the top of his eyes as he looked over at me. "What's up?"
"Looking for a restroom."
The girl beside me turned over and smiled. "It's at the back of the island. Just walk toward the palm trees.
"Thanks, pretty girl." I winked at her and got up. "Be right back."
"I'll be here. Contemplating the purpose of all of this shit." Daniel's voice was filled with concern. I felt for the guy, but I wasn't sure what to say to him. I was simple and straightforward, and he was an intellectual, a brilliant guy who overthought everything. My advice? Find a girl and fuck her until you both have trouble walking. To say that I wouldn't be a big help to him was the understatement of the century.
I found the restroom a few minutes later and jogged toward it. The line of girls standing outside of the women's half was astounding, and I felt bad for the ones bouncing on their feet. It had to suck to high heaven to be a woman.
After washing my hands and checking myself in the mirror, I walked back out and caught the eye of a dark-haired beauty standing beside the line, but not in it.
"Hi," she spoke softly, lifting her hand and rolling each finger down in a sensual greeting.
"Hi." I walked toward her and stopped in front of her. "Brody."
"Dina." She extended her hand.
"A pretty girl like you got a boyfriend around here?" I took her hand and glanced around before pulling it to my lips and kissing her fingers softly. She was breathtaking, the kind of woman you'd wish would let you take pic
tures for the lonely nights to come once she was done with you.
"Nope. Men are too needy to keep one for more than a night," she said, smiling before she pulled her hand from me.
"I agree. I try hard to be gentle when letting them down, though." I shrugged. "Such sensitive creatures."
She laughed, and I enjoyed the sound of it. "Are you going to the party tomorrow that Clint's throwing?"
"I am." I let my eyes run across her, enjoying how very tiny her bathing suit was. "How about you come home with me? I make a mean margarita. You look like you could use a drink or two."
She glanced around as if thinking things through.
I jumped back in, hoping to seal the deal. "No pressure for anything more than a walk-through town and a drink."
"Yeah. Okay." She nodded toward the other side of the beach. "Let me grab my shorts and tell my friends where I'm going."
"I'm over there near the red boat." I pointed before reaching out and touching her hand. "Hurry. I don't like to be kept waiting."
She bit her lip and turned, surprising me a little as she jogged across the beach. I returned to Daniel and offered him a hand. "Let's go, buddy. I have a date for the afternoon."
"What?" He glanced around. "Where?"
"She's coming from the other side of the beach." I walked out toward the water, waiting as she jogged up with a smile on her pretty mouth. "This is Dina. Daniel."
I introduced them and forced myself to keep the laugh trapped behind my teeth that wanted to leak out. The look on Daniel's face as he looked at the beautiful vixen was hilarious.
We got on the boat, and I settled down beside her, putting my arm over her shoulders as she and Daniel conversed the whole way back to the dock.
I got out of the boat and offered her my hand, pulling her up and looking over my shoulder at my friend.
"I'll be back in a bit. Thanks for driving." I winked at him as he scoffed at me and mumbled something under his breath.
"So, where are you from?" She walked close to me as I tugged on my t-shirt. For a woman who knew she was headed to a one-night stand, she was starting with a question that most experienced people wouldn't ask.
Keep it shallow – that was the rule.
"Up the road." I wrapped an arm around her shoulders again and turned in front of the house, walking toward town. "Let's grab an ice cream cone and head back to my place."
"Sounds good to me." Her fingers teased my hip as she slipped them under my shirt and snuggled against my side.
"You sound good to me." I licked at my lips subtly as she glanced up. No reason to put up pretenses. The ice cream was a way of saying thank you for her letting me use her for the afternoon. It wasn't much, but she seemed pleased with it.
"I am good, but if you're thinking you’re getting in my bathing suit bottoms without me knowing anything about you, you're wrong." She gave me a sexy smile. I wasn't sure if she was teasing me or testing me. Either way, I wasn't missing out on hearing her moan.
I glanced up to see a beautiful new BMW sitting in the driveway of the house just in front of us.
"I'm Brody. Twenty-five and own my own investment firm." I pulled her toward the car and pressed her to it with my body flush against hers. "I like expensive cars, large houses, and women who moan loudly."
She laughed and pushed at my chest before glancing back at the car. "Is this yours?"
"Yep." I leaned in and nipped at her lips. "You wanna be?"
"Yours?” she whispered and wrapped her arms around my neck.
It would seem that I was wrong. She wasn't at all the player I thought she was. Too bad I was.
Chapter Five
Cora
"A party?" Cindy snagged shotgun on the way back to the house, which was almost comical. She rarely sat up front, but seemed to be in a rather playful mood. "We've been here two weeks without an invite and you guys show up and get one your first day? No fair."
"Stop bitching and be grateful. You wanted us to bring the party with us, right? Well, we did." Emily chuckled in the backseat.
"Cora, there's the basketball court. Let's go check it out later tonight after dinner. Yeah?" Dedra reached up and pointed, tapping the window beside me.
"Absolutely." I stopped for a guy jogging in a pair of tiny shorts. "Wow."
"Nothing to ogle over. If a guy can wear shorts like that, then he's not got much to hide, you know?" Dedra dropped back in her seat.
Cindy smirked and turned to look into the backseat. "Not like your chocolate man, right?"
"Homeboy was packing something in his swimsuit. I could see it from the boat. That, ladies, is why I almost wrecked the boat."
I snorted and laughed, pressing my hand over my mouth. "I swear you guys are worse than boys most of the time."
"You love it," Cindy smiled over at me. "You want me to show you how I make this homemade lasagna we're having tonight? I know it's your favorite, and there will come a day when we don't get to do this anymore."
"Do what?" I glanced at her quickly before turning my attention back to the road. I'd never been more nervous driving a two-mile stretch of road. There were more people than trees, plants, and animals combined.
"Get together as a friend group," Cindy shrugged, but I could sense a change in her mood.
"Don't start this. We get to do this sappy shit at the end of the summer, not the beginning," Emily spoke up. "Besides, we'll always be friends. Tell me about the party and the guy that gave you the invitation, Cora."
I nodded and reached over, squeezing Cindy's hand as she teared up. "He was totally your type. Lanky, brown hair, rich, baggy clothes."
"Ha-ha," Emily reached up and tugged at my hair, causing it to fall from the makeshift bun I had it in. "Was he cute?"
"In a little boy way, yeah." I shrugged and released Cindy to put both hands back on the wheel. I pulled up in the driveway to the house and let out a short sigh. "One of you guys is driving next time. That was stressful."
"We can walk, too, you know." Dedra got out and stretched as I climbed out of the car and took another deep breath.
"I need to find a quiet place to sit and think. I've been waiting for this vacation all year." I closed my door and leaned against the car as my eyes moved across the faces of people walking by.
A cute guy waved and nodded as he called out, "Hi there."
"Hi." I smiled and turned back to the car as my cheeks warmed. I wasn't shy or a prude, but tucking myself away from the possibility of dating for the last few months had me feeling like a virgin again. Madonna started to play in the recess of my head, and I rolled my eyes at myself as I helped with the groceries.
"Did baggy brown-haired boy have a name?" Emily moved up beside me. "Were there any pleasantries exchanged or did he just spitball the invitation to you and run like hell?"
I chuckled. "You're so dramatic. Are you sure you don't want to look into something like acting? Your science degree will be used against you if you get all exaggerated like you always are."
"Whatever. Did he have a name?" She opened the door as Cindy and Dedra walked in ahead of us.
"Yeah. Cliff, maybe?" I walked into the kitchen and sat my stuff down before nabbing the last cookie on the plate.
"Clint." Dedra glanced over her shoulder as she worked to unpack one of the bags of groceries. "He was cute. Totally your type, Emily."
"Cliff? Where did you get that from?" Emily shook her head at me. "I swear you're losing brain cells, or maybe you writing off guys really is going to work this time."
"She hasn't written off guys," Cindy said as she bent over to pull a large pot from the cabinet beside the stove. "Get this."
I walked over and took it from her. "Want me to put some water in it?"
"Yeah." She stood up and put a pan on the stove, looking at me over her shoulder. "You haven't given up on guys, right?"
"No, but I'm not actively looking, either." I walked toward the sink and started to fill the pot up as I glanced out the large window in front of
me. A guy was pressing a girl to the side of my car, laughing and touching her face. "What the..."
"What's up?" Emily glanced up from chopping up lettuce as I walked past them.
I opened the door and moved out to the patio, putting my hands on my hips and clearing my throat. While I wasn't super materialistic, having some dude make out with his girl against the side of my new car was not cool.
They didn't pay me a bit of attention.
I took a few steps toward the stairs as the guy whispered something against the girl’s hair and turned to glance up at me.
"Oh, shit. I'm sorry." He backed up and lifted his hands. "This yours?"
"Yes." I lifted an eyebrow at him. He was impossibly hot with his defined abs and tanned skin. His blue eyes moved across my face like he was trying to uncover some hidden secret.
"Brody," the girl called to him, touching his arm. "Do you know her?"
"No, he doesn't." I took another step toward them, waiting at the edge of the stairs. "Perhaps you can find somewhere else to seduce this chick besides the side of my new car."
"Her new car? I thought you said-” the girl started, but he wasn't paying her a bit of attention. He was still watching me.
Stalker. Hot stalker, but still a stalker, nevertheless.
"It's not mine. I lied." He walked to the bottom of the stairs as she made an angry sound and stomped off, cursing him all the way down the road.
"I see you have a way with the ladies." I lifted my eyebrow and held the smile that wanted to lift my lips under tight control. There was no way I was actually getting involved with anyone over the summer, least of all the playboy in front of me. He had several strikes against him, the first being his golden hair.
"Brody. Nice to meet you," he extended his hand.
I glanced down at it and scoffed. "Find someone else's car to covet."
"No introduction, hmm?" He chuckled as I turned and walked back to the door. "You could at least give me your name, seeing that you just ruined my afternoon."
"My bad." I rolled my eyes, wishing I were more disgusted than curious. My stomach tightened with desire, but I ignored it, not wanting to even begin to entertain the thought of conversing with this guy.
