A Complicated Summer of Love (Complicated Love Series #3)

by Midgley, D M

  I’m glad I have a husband and that we’re happy. So far this holiday has gone well and I’m feeling a lot better about our relationship. I love him so much that I hate it when he seems distant, but I’m glad that’s stopped now and we’re enjoying each other’s company. I see Maddison stomping across the beach, her eyes flinty, she looks really angry. I wonder what’s happened.

  “Hey, Maddison!”

  She looks like she’s going to walk straight past me.

  “Maddison!”

  She stops short and turns to face me. I’m taken aback by her wide-eyed glaring. Her eyes have taken on a blackness that’s more than a little overwhelming.

  “What?”

  “What’s up? You look annoyed. Has something happened between you and Brandon?” She laughs a mechanical laugh.

  “Brandon? I wish it were that simple. Believe me when I say that you don’t want to know.”

  I’m confused by her response. “I don’t understand.”

  Her face turns a deep shade of red. “Just leave me alone, okay! I have nothing to say to you.”

  I don’t understand. What have I done? I don’t have time to say anything else as she storms off down the beach. What the hell is up with her? I continue my walk back to the bungalow and spot Joshua outside. He looks miserable and has his head in his hands.

  “Hey!”

  He looks up at me and smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Hey, baby. How was the market?”

  “It was great, but I didn’t buy anything this time. I saw Maddison on the beach, and she looked pretty angry.” I see Joshua wince, and I’m confused. “She was a bit snappy at me too. Do you know what’s happened?” He busies himself by collecting his bowl and mug.

  “No, I have no idea. I haven’t seen her this morning. Must be just a bad day.” I don’t buy that for a second, and I’m getting annoyed that he isn’t even looking at me.

  Does he know more than he’s letting on?

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  He walks off to take his bowl and mug inside, but before he gets very far I call out to him, “Babe…I was thinking about organizing a get together with everyone. A party would be good fun. I thought we could all get together this afternoon.”

  I hear him sigh. “Yeah…sure.” He turns to face me and smiles. “Sounds good.” Then he disappears before I can say anything more. I don’t understand what’s up with him, and I’m pretty sure he lied to me about not knowing why Maddison was upset. I don’t understand why he’d lie, but maybe this afternoon’s get together will give me the opportunity to find out what’s going on.

  I can’t believe I’m sitting here in this hot tub with Brandon. I’ve never been nervous before and I’m not sure how to handle it. When I got up this morning, I had the bungalow all to myself. Maddison’s nowhere to be seen and, to be honest, I’m glad, I hate sharing the bungalow with her. At first I enjoyed getting to know her but her princess, shy persona has slipped, and I’m pretty sure that underneath, she’s a sly, devious bitch. I’m not just saying this because she was all over Brandon…okay, maybe I am, sort of.

  I don’t know what’s up with me at the moment, but I can’t stop thinking about Brandon and his big, strong, muscular arms and his ripped abs. I hate that Maddison and Brandon have so much in common and Brandon and I have nothing. I’ve never been jealous before, and I’m not liking this feeling that keeps following me around wherever I go. We’re so different and I’m not sure if I even want a relationship. I like being my own person and not having to answer to anyone else. I can do what I want when I want, and no one says anything.

  After I’d noticed that Maddison wasn’t around, I moved outside to have breakfast and I’m enjoying a nice cup of coffee. That’s when Brandon came out of his bungalow in his board shorts and sporting a bare chest. He has an amazing tan and all I want to do is to lick that gorgeous chest of his. He looks over at me and when my eyes lock with his, it feels like an explosion has gone off inside me. The butterflies in my stomach are flittering and fluttering everywhere.

  How can he affect me like this? I hardly know him and I’m so shaken by my attraction to him. His smile is breathtakingly gorgeous and I always feel so warm inside. To be honest, I thought he was going to walk off, but I’m pleasantly surprised to see him heading toward me. He takes the seat opposite me and pours himself an orange juice.

  “Hi Lily, beautiful morning.”

  “Hi,” I squeak. I could kick myself with the way my voice has risen a few octaves. “It’s always beautiful here.” I have no idea what to say to him and I’m not usually so tongue tied. He takes a sip of his juice and leans back in his chair.

  “What are you up to today? I have nothing planned, so if you wanted to do something…with me?” He looks slightly nervous, waiting for my answer.

  “I haven’t really got anything planned. I thought you would’ve had plans with Maddison.” Her name tastes funny on my tongue. I don’t look up as I don’t want him to see the green-eyed monster reflected in my eyes.

  He chuckles before replying, “Nah, nothing planned with Maddison today.” There’s silence between us for a few minutes and I’m at a loss of anything to say. I feel his eyes on me and I’m afraid to look up. My face is heating up and I must look like a tomato. “Why Lily…are you jealous?”

  I snap my head up and see a smirk plastered across his face. He’s clearly enjoying himself at my expense.

  “What? No, of course not. Why would I be jealous of you and Maddison? I couldn’t care less if you two are seeing each other or are sleeping together. It’s none of my business.” I finish eating my toast and I relax back into the seat, drinking my coffee.

  “I’m thinking about relaxing in the hot tub for a bit. I haven’t tried it out yet…maybe you want to join me?” What the hell am I thinking? My palms are sweating, waiting for him to reply with something, anything.

  “That sounds good.” He gulps the rest of his orange juice before giving me a killer mega-watt smile.

  “Okay…I’ll just go and put my bathing suit on. Be right back.” I make my way inside and go to my wardrobe and rummage through the drawers. I packed a few different bikinis, but I’m not sure which one to wear. My heart is hammering in my chest. I can’t believe he agreed, but I have to keep cool because I don’t want anything from him…right? I just want to have fun and get to know him. Finally, I choose a pale blue bikini, I especially like the bikini bottoms because there’s a little tie on each side. I change quickly and look at myself in the mirror. Yep, I’m looking really good. I fluff my hair and keep it down so it hangs around my shoulders. I have to compose myself before I make my way back outside. Brandon isn’t sitting at the table anymore, so I make my way around the corner toward the hot tub and I see him starting it up. It’s a beautiful white square shape hot tub and I can’t wait to finally try it out.

  “Is it ready?”

  Brandon spins round and stops dead. He looks me up and down and I see him swallow hard before smiling.

  “Yep, all ready.”

  I walk over to him, he takes my hand and helps me in. The water is really lovely and warm, perfect.

  “I haven’t started the bubbles yet, but I will in just a second. Wait right here.” He walks off and I’m confused. While I wait, I relax and enjoy the calming effect the water is having on me. It doesn’t take long before Brandon arrives back with a two flute glasses and a bottle of champagne.

  “I thought this would be nice to have while we are relaxing.” He doesn’t wait for me to answer before he pops the cork and pours some into one of the flutes before handing it to me. He pours himself one before climbing in the hot tub taking the seat opposite me. I’m a bit disappointed that he didn’t sit next to me. He stretches his legs out and his legs tangle with mine under the water. I glance over at Brandon and see a small smile on his face as he sips from his glass. My skin feels like it’s on fire just from his legs, touching mine. He doesn’t look affected and all, and I feel embarrassed that he must see
that it’s affecting me because it’s written all over my face. I take a sip of my champagne, trying to keep myself together.

  “This hot tub idea was a good one, Lily. I’m happy you invited me.” He smiles and I’m pretty sure I’ve melted.

  “Yeah…yeah, I think it was. I’m surprised you haven’t been in the hot tub with Maddison.”

  He laughs a deep rich laugh. God, I love his laugh.

  “No, Lily, I haven’t. You know…you seem really nosy about my relationship with Maddison—”

  “Relationship?” That doesn’t sit right with me and I know I’m feeling jealous again. “I didn’t know you were in a relationship with her,” I mumble.

  “I’m not. I didn’t mean it like that. We are friends…that’s it. She’s nice to spend time with, but I’m not attracted to her at all.”

  I’m giddy inside and I have to try and stop myself from smiling like a silly school girl. It makes me happy that they’re just friends. I hate feeling like this, but I’m enjoying being here with him.

  “You’re jealous aren’t you?”

  I stare at him and I find that he thinks this is amusing. “I’m not jealous! Will you stop saying that?”

  He chuckles. “Why? It’s true. I can see it in your eyes.”

  I look away because he’s telling the truth. “What? I don’t understand why you would think that?” I take a sip of my drink because my throat is suddenly parched and my heart is hammering away again in my chest. I’m surprised it hasn’t found its way out of my chest. “Why?” I mumble.

  “Why? Well, you seem pretty interested in my love life and if I’m be honest, I think it’s really hot that you’re jealous.” He slides into the seat next to me and we’re so close now. He suddenly turns around, away from me and flips a switch so the bubbles burst into life. “Sorry, I forgot to turn them on when I got in.” He relaxes back in his seat and his shoulder keeps touching mine. A tingling sensation keeps traveling all over my body, and I’m suddenly feeling scorching hot. “So are you going to tell me why?”

  I’m stunned by his question and all the touching has fried my brain. I can’t remember what we were talking about.

  “Huh?” I flush with embarrassment.

  “Why are you jealous, Lily?” He smiles and places his arms on the rest behind me. I can’t help but lean back so my head is resting on his arm.

  “I told you that I’m not. Can we just drop it?” I don’t want to admit that he’s right.

  “No, we can’t.” I glance at him and he’s watching for my reaction. “Just admit you want me Lily, and that you don’t want me to spend time with Maddison because you want me to spend my time with you.”

  “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  He laughs and glances down at my glass. “Thirsty?” I look down and notice that I’ve gulped down the whole of my champagne. He grabs the bottle and tops up my glass. I have a slight buzz going on and I feel really mellow. I snuggle into Brandon and I don’t seem to care that I’m doing it. Brandon tightens his arms around me and we just enjoy each other’s company. We don’t speak, but we don’t need to because this right here feels incredible.

  I may not have her wrapped up tight in my arms, but just her laying here next to me and snuggling up to me, feels so right. This is the first time on this holiday that we’ve talked properly, and I feel like a teenager. I have no idea what to say and keep getting tongue tied. She’s so close in that skimpy blue bikini. It barely covers anything, and I’m kind of glad that no one is around to see her in it.

  “It’s nice here isn’t it?”

  I’m brought back from my thoughts and glance at Lily. “Huh?”

  She smiles and looks up into my eyes. I love her gorgeous, expressive eyes. “Are you not listening to me, Mr. Lock?”

  “Sorry, I was…caught up in my own thoughts.”

  “What were you thinking about?”

  I’m not sure if I want to tell her the truth, but before I can think about it further, I blurt it out, “You…I was thinking about you.”

  She stares at me and I can’t determine her reaction to what I’ve just said. She gets up and kneels in front of me. The water is swirling all around us and she glides her fingers up my chest and wraps them around my neck. Her eyes stay locked on mine as she inches closer and closer to me. I’ve wanted to kiss her ever since I met her, and I’m slightly nervous about it. I can feel her breath against my cheek and my heart is hammering away again. I’m surprised I haven’t had a heart attack with the way it’s beating so frantically. My eyes are locked on hers and I can see the desire evident in their depths.

  “Lily.”

  She doesn’t give me a chance to say anything else, she places her lips on mine and it’s so soft and gentle. I always thought with Lily, it would be a wild and frenzied kiss so this is a big shock to me. Her lips glide over mine softly and I feel her tongue, sweep out and lick my bottom lip. I groan when she does that and open my mouth to let her tongue explore. Gripping onto her hips, I pull her closer to me as our tongues massage against each other. The kiss deepens and gets more passionate with every caress of our tongues. I feel like fireworks have gone off in my head and I can’t get enough of her. She feels so right in my arms and I don’t want this kiss to ever stop. Her breasts are rubbing against my chest, and I feel her nipples hardening from the friction. I’d love to just slide her bikini bottoms to the side and plunge into her. I’ve been thinking and dreaming about it for so long now and I don’t think I’m going to be able to satisfy the desire I have for her now.

  “Oh, crap!”

  It’s over before it’s truly begun. We spring apart and we’re both sitting there, staring at each other, panting profusely. I look over toward the bungalow to see Annabelle stand there. She looks shocked and her mouth is hanging open. I look over at Lily and she scoots back into the seat opposite me.

  “I’m sorry if I’m interrupting…”

  Lily won’t look at me, so I concentrate on Annabelle.

  “No, you’re fine…we were just…relaxing.” I have no explanation for what she’s witnessed.

  “Okay then. Anyway, I just came to tell you that we’re having a little get together tonight. We haven’t all been together so far on this trip, so I thought it’d be fun. Can I count you two in?” I glance at Lily, but she still isn’t looking at me.

  I sigh before replying. “Yeah sure…count us in.”

  “Great! Okay, I’ll see you a little later on then.” She turns around to walk off, but she suddenly has other ideas. “Hey, have you spoken to Maddison this morning at all? I just saw her storming off along the beach. She seemed upset.”

  I shake my head. “No, I haven’t spoken to her today. I’ll catch up with her at the party and see if she’s okay.”

  She smiles. “Thank you, Brandon. Right, I have stuff to do before the party. Bye!” She walks off and I’m left with this awkward tension between Lily and me. She’s still not looking at me and I’m confused.

  “Are you okay?”

  She snaps her head toward me and I see the pain in her eyes and I don’t understand what’s wrong. She climbs out of the hot tub quickly before grabbing a towel and wrapping it around her waist.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” she mumbles. “I…ah…better go.” She quickly walks off before I can say anything further.

  What the hell just happened? I sigh and relax back in my seat. The water is so soothing and if I’m not careful, it might lull me off to sleep. I’m confused by Lily and her coldness toward me. I’m not going to go after her, but I will try and talk to her at the party. Hopefully, everything will be okay once the party begins and she relaxes a little.

  I spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around the bungalow. My head’s been in a spin since my encounter with Lily in the hot tub. I can’t stop thinking about her and it’s driving me insane. I’m still confused by her awkwardness and her coldness toward me. I’m sure I didn’t do anything wrong and she was absolutely fine until Annabelle inte
rrupted us.

  I’m dressed in a pale blue shirt and black jeans. Grabbing a few bottles of wine, I make my way to the party. It’s in full swing when I arrive and I’m not feeling it at all. The music is loud and the drinks are flowing freely. Annabelle wanted to be the host, so we’re all outside their bungalow on the decking. Annabelle keeps serving food consisting of sandwiches, crisps, and dips. She’s acting like a waitress and Joshua has repeatedly told her to calm down and stop waiting on everyone, but she seems to be enjoying it. Karl and Tracy are snuggled up on the love seat. They haven’t really spoken much to anyone because they’re so wrapped up in each other. No one can blame them really. It’s taken them a long time to get to where they are. I’m so pleased for them and you can see, just from looking at them, that they’re madly in love. I can’t wait to feel that for myself. Glancing to my right, I spot Lily talking with Joshua. She hasn’t even looked in my direction since she arrived after everyone else. She’s always late to arrive and it’s one of the things I find so amusing about her. I’m not sure why she hasn’t talked to me yet, and I notice that she’s drinking a lot again. If she keeps going like this, then there won’t be any left for the rest of us.

  “Stop watching her Brandon. You’re beginning to look like a stalker.” I don’t see Annabelle walk up and stand beside me. Glancing out the corner of my eye I see her smirk.

  “Whatever. I’m not watching her.”

  “Yeah, whatever you say. Did you enjoy your dip in the hot tub?” She chuckles.