Exposed: An Anthology

by Brooke Cumberland

  “Actually, I would love to just be alone. You’ve been great. It’s been a long day and I need to just get out there and feel the sand under my feet and the breeze hit my face. Is that ok?” She straightened her pajama pants and tank top and grabbed her flip flops. “I should have packed another sweatshirt. It’s breezy out there.” She grabbed her keycard and headed for the door.

  “Soph?” Caleb threw her his UCLA sweatshirt. She knew it would swallow her but she put it on anyway and headed for the beach.

  ****

  The breeze coming off the ocean was chilly. Mark shivered as he dug his toes further beneath the sand trying to warm his feet. The sounds of the late night party were drowned out by the waves hitting the shore and for the first time all day, he felt at peace.

  His dark hair was tussled from trying to sleep and forget whatever war was taking place in his brain. His khaki pants were wrinkled and his white shirt unbuttoned. He rubbed his hands down his face and felt the stubble. It had been a long day. He leaned back onto his elbows and shut his eyes to feel the breeze on his face. This was pure heaven. He knew tomorrow would be crazy with activities, but tonight, this little corner of the beach belonged to him. He started to doze off.

  “Hey stranger.” The voice was sweet and for a minute he thought he might be dreaming. He opened his eyes slowly and saw her. His body instantly responded.

  Sitting up he smiled, “Hey yourself.” His mind raced.

  “Mind if I sit? I think I’ve walked almost the whole beach. I could use a break.”

  Gesturing to the sand next to him, Mark took a deep breath to steady himself. “I could use the company. What brings you out here this late?”

  She played with a string hanging from the oversized sweatshirt. He recognized it right away. Caleb had worn that sweatshirt every Sunday when they were in college and were looking for a pick up game. Seeing her wearing it made his chest constrict. “I just needed some air and some distance. It was a really long day.” Sophie sighed.

  Mark watched as the waves hit the shore and said nothing. The silence was wonderful. He had never met someone that he could just be quiet with. She dug her toes under the sand trying to warm up and stared into the vast darkness of the ocean. He had to ask. He couldn’t let it go any longer. “So, you and Caleb huh?”

  Her head snapped toward him. “Me and Caleb what?” She shivered.

  “You and Caleb as in You with Caleb. He’s a good guy. I’ve known him since I was five.” His stare remained fixed on the darkness.

  “No.” One word. But it was all she could manage to say. Was he jealous? She grinned. Being this close to him made her crazy. Even all those years spent with Shawn, she never wanted him the way she wanted Mark. Mark was strong and fit and popular. He was stunning and so far out of her league. Men that looked like him never even spoke to her, let alone let her touch them. But in that moment, she wanted to reach out and touch that rock hard stomach that was showing through his open shirt. His eyes bore into her and after taking a steadying breath, she met his gaze.

  “No? You’re wearing his clothes and sleeping in his bed. And he has a major thing for you, as pointed out so quietly by my favorite pain in the ass. So, are you sure it’s a no?”

  “We have two beds. And I’m positive. I adore him. He’s one of my best friends. But I just don’t feel it with him.”

  “It? I don’t know what that is.” Mark kept his stare steady and even in the darkness, he could see her blush.

  “It. The shivers and the butterflies and the jealousy when other girls look at him. I don’t feel it. I mean, he’s great. He really is. There’s just…..” her voiced trailed off as she looked back out at the ocean. She waited a few moments before answering. “Nothing.”

  “So, is there someone you feel it for?” Mark just kept staring. What was he doing? He wanted to take her right there on the beach. Quiet little covered up Sophie had done something to him and he couldn’t understand any of it.

  She continued to bother the string hanging from the sweatshirt. Mark had to touch her. He reached out and stopped her hands. He wrapped the loose string around his fingers and pulled it off the sweatshirt. No more interruptions, he told himself. Turning toward her, he gently rolled the sweatshirt sleeves up enough that her hands were free. His whole body screamed at him to kiss her. She nibbled at her bottom lip and her eyes followed his hands, up his arms and stopped when her eyes met his.

  He put his hand up to brush her hair behind her ear but stopped himself. He was a one nighter. Sophie deserved so much better. He had one type; easy and hot. This girl didn’t seem like either. She was pretty but always so modest and her shy blush told him there was no way she was easy. He liked to fuck. He didn’t snuggle or hold a woman. And only a few occasions had he fallen asleep after and spent the night. He wasn’t going to change and he didn’t know Sophie well, but he could tell she deserved everything.

  “Let’s walk. I’ll walk you back. It’s getting late.” Mark got to his feet and extended his hand to help her up. When her hand touched his, his body instantly tensed. What was this woman doing to him?

  “So tell me about the infamous Sophie. Where are you from? How did you meet Molls? Is your boyfriend upset you are out here with our crazy bunch?” Mark walked slowly next to her, periodically brushing her arm as they walked.

  Sophie just laughed. It was such a beautiful sound. “No boyfriend waiting anywhere. I was engaged but it’s a long story. He liked secretaries more than he liked me. We went to college in Georgia and after graduation, I moved to LA with him so he could pursue his music career. Your sister saved me from all that. I was a mess. But she’s awesome and kicked my ass into gear. She has the office just outside my lovely cubicle at work. So, other than Molly and Caleb, and the occasional run in with Ryan, that about sums up my social life.”

  “Do you regret the move?” The conversation with her just flowed and he loved that.

  “No. No regrets about the move. I love my job and my tiny apartment. I regret putting all my life into Shawn. But I suppose it taught me what I don’t want. Although, no offense to you, men in general are dogs, so it will be a long time before I get involved with someone without really trusting them.” She looked at him and smiled. “What about you? Where is Mrs. Moretti? What do you do? Molly told me she had a brother but I know you don’t live in LA.”

  “Actually, I do as of a few days ago. The investment company I work for promoted me so I moved back. I was out in North Carolina after my last tour with the Marines so I stayed and took the first broker job I could find. Now Molls is stuck with me. I’m looking for a house so I’m living with Rich at the moment.” He stopped walking and wrapped his pinkie around hers. She stopped and looked at him with a small smile on her face. “No Mrs. Moretti. I’m kind of an asshole. I don’t think there is someone out there for everyone. Molly says it’s just because I won’t slow down long enough to open up to anyone. I’m just sticking with I’m an asshole.”

  “Well, it sure seems like you just opened up.” Sophie smiled as she walked away from him toward the hotel.

  ****

  Caleb was pacing when she came into the room. He stopped and stared when she opened the door. “You’ve been gone an hour. I was getting worried. What’s with the grin?”

  Sophie kicked off her shoes and laughed. “Always my protector, aren’t you? Relax, I’m back. I’m fine. I ran into Mark and we talked for awhile and he walked me back.”

  Caleb threw himself across the bed. “No Sophie, absolutely not.”

  She took off his sweatshirt and shook some of the sand out of it. “No what? What are you talking about? God, I got a lot of sand in your sweatshirt. I’m sorry.”

  Caleb shot off the bed and grabbed her arm. “Did you do something with him?”

  “Hey” she yanked out of his grasp. “No, of course not. I just met the guy three days ago. Please tell me you know me better than that.”

  “I’m sorry. He’s just not good for you. He’s a loner
. And he sleeps with everything that moves. But he only does it once. He will never be able to love you. He loves himself and his perfect car and perfect job but will never love a woman. And that’s just who he is. Don’t let him lure you in Soph. He’s just looking for his next conquest and you are the only one that he hasn’t slept with in the whole bridal party.”

  “Well,” She smiled and sighed. “He is quite handsome.”

  “Sophie, he will crush you. He will crush you and never even look back and all of us will have to pick up the pieces. He’s a dog.”

  “Caleb Allen!! How can you talk about him like that? He said you were his best friend.” Sophie glared at him. “He told me you were a good guy and that you had been friends since kindergarten. How can you be so mean?”

  “Don’t defend him. You’ll see.” Caleb crawled under the covers. “He may be one of my best friends. But he is who he is Soph.”

  Sophie crawled under her covers and turned the lights off. “That was really unexpected from you. If that’s how you talk about one of your best friends, I would hate to hear how you talk about me.”

  There was silence for a minute and Caleb cleared his throat. “It’s different Soph. I’m in love with you.”

  Chapter Four

  Mark felt the sun baking his skin and it was pure heaven. He hadn’t been this relaxed for years. Even with all the activity around him, he planned on doing nothing all day but lying in his chair and taking the occasional dip. The drinks were flowing freely since the waitress from the tiki bar on the beach had noticed him right away. He had done his best to flirt but had somehow lost his edge in a mere 24 hours. He could wink, however, and that seemed to keep their drinks coming. Ryan was sitting two chairs down from him and decided that he deserved a little alone time with the waitress. When she realized she was going nowhere with Mark, she turned her attention to Ryan.

  “Dude, aren’t you already screwing your roommate this trip?” Chad couldn’t believe when he heard the waitress ask him to meet her in an hour behind the nightclub.

  “It’s Hendonism, Bro. Get what you can. Your wife will never know. Indulge a little. What happens here is none of anyone’s business. Later, we are heading to the nude side and I don’t want to hear any protests. We’re on vacation.”

  “You are a pig, West. A damn pig.” Chad turned his head to Mark. “Look dude, I know you are kind of a man whore and my hero, but you know I can’t cheat on my wife.”

  Mark finally looked at the two. He was having no part in any of their shit. “Thanks for the man whore thing. But even this man whore doesn’t think you should cheat on your wife Perry. That would be something you could never take back.”

  “Who’ve you been banging, Moretti? We’ve been here 24 hours now. I’m sure your dance cards full if you know what I mean.” Ryan surveyed the prospects.

  “No one. Not sure I will.” Mark put his sunglasses back on and returned to worshipping the sun.

  “Come with me. Come to the nightclub. Not like we haven’t done that before. She’d love it.” Ryan looked at his watch.

  “I’m good man, really.” He refused to look over at his friend. This was ridiculous. An offer like that would have had his blood pumping a week ago. He contemplated going. He needed to do something. He was off his game. Not only was he off his game, he wasn’t even aware there was a game going on. Something had to give.

  “Look who’s whipped.” Ryan laughed noticing Caleb making his way to join them.

  Mark looked behind him. Caleb was balancing a blanket, a book, sunscreen, a beach bag and two drinks. He took a deep breath. This was going to be a long day if he was going to have to watch Caleb get all cozy with Sophie.

  “Sophie seems like a nice girl. I think Caleb made a good choice.” Chad took a long swig of beer.

  “And she’s got a tight ass and some nice tits on her.” Ryan looked at Caleb, “Where’s your girlfriend? Get any yet?”

  Mark shot Ryan the death gaze, “Don’t talk about her like that.”

  “Molly has all the girls up there drinking some sort of shot. They are all sitting around the pool bar wearing the equivalent of floss for bathing suits and the bartender is totally into them. He’s just pouring all kinds of liquor down their throats. When some dude did a body shot off Sophie, I had enough. Figure even with West down here, it can’t be that bad.”

  Mark was pissed. There was no other way to describe it. His blood boiled. The thought of someone touching Sophie had him wound so tight he could kill someone. He waved the waitress over and ordered a double round of shots. He would drink and doze off under the sun’s rays and forget because if he walked to the pool, someone was dead.

  ****

  “I certainly didn’t think I would end up sharing my book with you this vacation.” Sophie tugged the book back away from Caleb and giggled.

  “I didn’t think I could get so turned on reading something like this. I swear Soph, I don’t know how you’re not nuts right now.” Caleb grabbed the suntan lotion. “I have to put this on your back. I’m sorry but I have to touch you.”

  That got Mark’s attention. For the past half hour he had resisted the urge to look over at them. Even asleep, his body was aware when Sophie joined them. He kept his eyes glued shut, not daring to look at her in her bathing suit. If it was anything like he was picturing in his mind, he would be hard in a second. His body was at war with itself. His brain told him he was no good and he needed to stay away but the rest of his body screamed that it had to have her. He knew that couldn’t happen. He knew that it could ruin everything. The wedding and Molly’s happiness needed to remain his number one priority.

  “Oh My God!” They said in Unison. Sophie flattened herself against the blanket and buried her face into her towel. Caleb leaned in and whispered something to her but she pushed him away playfully. She giggled but kept her red face buried in the towel. Caleb shifted his swim trunks.

  “Legs,” he said breathless. “Your legs need sunscreen.” He started applying the sunscreen slowly down her leg, starting dangerously near the edge of her swimsuit. Mark’s brain roared.

  “Caleb?” Her voice was muffled. She wiggled her finger to draw his attention to her. He plopped down right next to her without even and inch in between them. She whispered so no one else could hear them. “I appreciate the sunscreen. But, it doesn’t matter how much you apply to any exposed part of my body. We can’t do this. And it’s the book C. It’s just the book. So please, stop looking at me with your eyes half closed and touching me like that. If anything happened between us right now, it would be the book. And that’s not fair to you. And it would ruin everything.”

  Mark smiled. They were sitting close enough to him that he could hear everything. He finally risked a glance their way and instantly regretted it. She was wearing the smallest bathing suit he had ever seen. The pink fabric tied tightly across her back and around her neck. The tiny piece of fabric covering her perfect, round and beautiful ass might as well not even be there. He longed to touch it. He thanked God she hadn’t turned over. He could only imagine the shot he would get of those beautiful rounded breasts. His little, covered up Sophie was practically naked. His? When did he start thinking of her as his? His cock strained against his swim trunks. This was bad. She was gorgeous. Band-Aid girl was gorgeous. He couldn’t stand it. He had to touch her and he had to touch her now.

  He stood up and threw her over his shoulder. She screamed. “That’s it bookworm; It’s time to go for a dip.” She giggled and tried to pull herself up as he ran through the hot sand into the ocean. The water splashed around his legs as he ran deeper.

  “Don’t you dare drop me, Mark. Don’t you dare!” She was laughing so hard she could hardly catch her breath. This was so unexpected. She kicked her legs in protest. “I can’t swim.”

  “Yes you can,” Mark laughed with her.

  “Um.. I have my contacts in. I can’t get my hair wet. I am allergic to…” Her sentence was cut off as he flung her, back first, into the
deeper water. She broke the surface laughing and trying to pull back the hair that was in her face. She saw him dive under the water and swim for her legs. She squealed and tried to run. He surfaced right next to her and splashed her.

  Mark was laughing as he tried to get away from her. He knew payback would be a bitch but he knew he could move faster than she could. She was shoulder deep and the water barely hit his chest.

  “Mark Moretti, you get your ass back here right now.” She splashed large waves of water at him as she ran to catch up. He taunted her and splashed her back. He was heading to deeper water and she could no longer touch. She swam after him and when she finally caught up with him, she jumped onto his back. “I can’t touch.” She was out of breath and her panting hit him in the back of the neck sending goose bumps down his arms.

  “Looks like you need me now, huh?” Mark laughed and threw her off his shoulder. As she surfaced, she laughed and cupped her hands to splash him. He reached out and grabbed her arms and pulled her back against him. He instantly hardened and her body went rigid in his arms. He froze. Oh God she knew.

  She relaxed back into him and rubbed that perfect ass against his erection. She moaned softly and rubbed again. Mark growled low in his throat as he tightened his grip around her waist. He turned his back to shore to block what was happening. When she moaned again and rubbed against him a third time, he whimpered. “God, Sophie. You make me so crazy. You are beautiful.”

  “I want to turn around,” she said breathlessly.

  “You can’t Soph. You can’t. I won’t be able to stop myself if you do.” He kissed behind her ear and nibbled on her ear lobe. “You have been drinking. This isn’t you. And I won’t stop. God please don’t turn around.”

  “Please Mark, please touch me” she whimpered as he ran his hand up her flat stomach to her breast. Her nipple hardened and he ran his fingers over it. “More.”