Because Beards
Page 48
Hannah shifted in his arms, bringing him back to the present. For now he had this girl who he wanted to get to know better, in every meaning of the word. He unclasped his arms from around her, rubbing her arms a few times. “Let’s get your sweatshirt from Elena, then we’ll get a drink and dance.”
Hannah sipped her Dr. Pepper, wrapped in the warm cotton of her favorite hoody. Matt had fished a bottle of beer out of the cooler first, twisted off the top and handed it to her. She’d never had beer before, but didn’t want to tell him that. He could already tell that she wasn’t used to having a guy pay this much attention to her, touching her as much as he did. He didn’t need to know that she’d never had any alcohol before now, especially since he obviously assumed she had with the casual way he passed her the beer, expecting her to want that over a can of pop.
She’d taken a sip and wrinkled her nose at the bitter, fermented taste of the beer. Ugh. Why did people drink this stuff? It was awful.
Matt had laughed and taken the bottle out of her hand, setting the other bottle in his hand back in the cooler. “Not a fan of beer, huh?”
She shook her head. “No. That’s gross. How do you drink it?”
He took a swig, his eyes dancing in the sunset. “Acquired taste, I guess. Sorry. Would you rather have a pop? It looks like there’re a couple bottles of water, too.”
She could make out different colored cans floating in the icy water of the cooler. “Yeah. A pop would be great.”
He fished out a Dr. Pepper, offering it to her with a raised eyebrow. Now they stood chatting with some of his friends, Matt standing on her left, occasionally brushing against her, guiding her to the different groups with his hand on her back, making sure to include her in conversation. She stayed mostly quiet, only chiming in when someone asked her a question, but laughing along with everyone, enjoying the easy way Matt had with his friends. He was like a chameleon, fitting in with each group, moving easily between his former football teammates and his surfing buddies, changing his tone and demeanor slightly with each one. It was impressive watching him slide so smoothly between groups, and she could see that he was well liked by everyone.
Finally, he tangled his fingers with hers, tugging her behind him closer to where the music was playing. “Let’s dance for a bit.”
She smiled and nodded, draining the last of her Dr. Pepper. He took her can and stuck it in a big black garbage bag by one of the coolers. It made her happy that they had those, because she was not okay with littering, especially on a beach like this.
He caught her wide smile when he straightened up from getting rid of their trash. “What?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. I’m just having a good time. And I’m glad you guys don’t litter.”
“Oh?” He took her hands, pulling her into the mix of swaying bodies, wrapping her hands behind his neck before reaching for her hips. “You an environmentalist?”
She cocked her head. “Sort of. I mean, I guess so. I feel like we should take care of the environment. It’s not right for animals to get caught in plastic rings or choke on trash because people are too lazy or stupid to clean up after themselves. I mean, that’s something you learn before kindergarten, right? Cleaning up your own mess? I guess some people’s mamas didn’t do such a good job with that.”
He chuckled. “I guess so. So our mamas must’ve done an okay job, huh?”
“Must’ve. You guys are cleaning up after yourselves.”
“Well, most of us are surfers. We don’t like surfing surrounded by trash, so we do what we can to keep our beaches clean. Plus, like you said, it’s not fair to the wildlife. Tell me more about your environmental streak.”
“Really? Are you sure? Most people get bored when I talk about this kind of stuff.”
He shook his head, his eyes on her lips. “I don’t think I could get bored with anything you decide to talk about.”
She blushed. Again. The sun was so low now, that she hoped he couldn’t tell. But with the way a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, she thought he probably could. “Okay. Well, I’m in an environmental club at school. We organize roadside cleanups and stuff. We spend a lot of time picking up litter, it seems like. We go out once a month or so, and I try to get us down by the river every other time we go out. The pollution of the waterways seems more awful to me than some roadside trash. I mean, I know it’s all bad, but the roadways are already kind of polluting everything. There’s more animal life at risk in the river.”
Matt’s eyes were intent on her face, and he nodded. “I get that. I care more about the litter on the beach than even in the parking lot, much less on the highway.”
“Yeah.” She nodded, licking her lips. His eyes zeroed in on the movement. “Um, so, anyway. We also do fund raisers when there’s a major natural or environmental disaster. Like, with the tsunami in Japan, we raised money for victims and to help with the Fukushima cleanup.” She shook her head, her enthusiasm for the subject taking over. “I don’t get why people don’t care more about the environment, you know? I mean, it affects everyone. If the ocean is polluted with toxic waste, it affects the food supply and where do people think we get our water from? I mean, I know it goes through a cleaning process in the city, but it comes from rivers and lakes and underground aquifers. If we pollute the groundwater, what do people think we’re going to drink? We can’t exactly live without clean water.”
One corner of Matt’s mouth pulled up like he was suppressing a smile, and she stopped, realizing she’d been talking fast and loud about it. “Yeah. Sorry, I’m getting carried away. I’ll stop now.”
He chuckled again and shook his head. “No, I like it. I like how passionate you are about it. It’s good. People should be passionate about things they care about, and it’s great that you care so much about the environment. Someone needs to care about it.”
“What about you? Do you care about it?” She held her breath waiting for his answer while their bodies swayed to the slow music. She was glad it was slow so they could still talk while they danced. She liked talking to him.
He shrugged one shoulder, the movement lifting her hand slightly. “As much as a normal person, I guess. I agree with you that people should clean up after themselves and that polluting the water supply is stupid.” A smile split his face. “I’m not nearly as passionate as you are, but that’s okay.”
She nodded. She was used to people not caring about things as much as she did. At least he didn’t think she was stupid and respected it, even if he didn’t fully share her passion for the environment. “Yeah. Okay. Good.” She paused, and his fingers flexed on her hips, pulling her against him more, so his hips pressed into her belly. “What about you? What are you passionate about?”
His smile fell off his face, and his jaw clenched, the easygoing expression on his face replaced by an unreadable mask. He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s talk more about you.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but then the music changed to something with a faster, driving beat, and Matt pulled her tightly against him, moving them to the music, and neither of them spoke anymore for a while.
Matt held Hannah close, enjoying the feel of her body against his, the way the sweet scent of her shampoo mingled with the smoky smell of the fire and the salty tang from the ocean. He had a feeling that any one of those scents would now trigger this memory. Acting more on instinct than thought, he dipped his head toward hers, one hand traveling from her hips up to cup the base of her skull, tipping her head back. He pressed his lips to hers.
She didn’t respond at first, her mouth unmoving under his. He was about to back away and let her go, thinking he’d completely misread the situation, when she pressed herself closer to him, her lips pushing back against his. With a swipe of his tongue along her lower lip, she opened for him. He explored her mouth, seeking out her tongue. She was tentative at first, only briefly touching his tongue with hers. His other hand came up to her face, cupping her cheek, angling her head so he
could devour her, her response unleashing something inside him. Something that couldn’t get enough of her. He wouldn’t let her hide, showing her what he wanted from her, seeking out her tongue with his and sliding them together. Again she responded quickly, giving as good as she got, her initial hesitation disappearing.
This was more like the confident girl who’d approached him on the beach. But that initial hesitation niggled at the back of his mind. She blushed like a virgin. And she was still in high school, even if she was almost eighteen. Could she be?
He pushed the thought away to consider later, more concerned with this, right here, right now. His hips moved against her, and he gripped her hips with one hand again, pulling her tight against him, letting her feel what she did to him, what he wanted, dancing long forgotten.
Until someone bumped into him. “Dude! Get a room!”
Hannah stiffened, pulling back, her face flaming. Matt glared at Ben, partly for interrupting him, partly for embarrassing Hannah. Yeah, he liked seeing her blush, but when he was the reason for it, not from his friend being a dickhead. “Fuck off, Ben.”
Ben laughed, moving away. Matt turned his attention back to Hannah, who’d now put as much space between them as she could with people dancing all around them, her hands pressed to her cheeks. He reached for her, pulling one hand down and threading his fingers through hers. “Come on.” He tugged her after him, pulling her away from the crowd of his friends who loved nothing more than to give him shit. He didn’t mind, but Hannah didn’t know them, didn’t realize it was all harmless teasing, and he didn’t want her to feel embarrassed or self conscious.
“Where are we going?”
He glanced back at her, the sand kicking up behind her as she tried to keep up with him. He slowed his pace so she could walk beside him and grinned down at her. “Just over here a little ways, away from my obnoxious friends.”
She looked back at the group, her brows creased with concern and upper lip caught between her teeth.
“Hey.” He stopped and waited for her to look at him. “You’re not from the coast, right? Have you seen the green flash when the sun sets into the ocean?”
She shook her head, concern still written on her face.
He pulled her in close and wrapped an arm around her. “Relax. We won’t do anything you don’t want to do, okay? We’ll just hang out over here for a bit until you’re ready to go back.”
She glanced back one more time before she faced him again and nodded. “Okay. I just don’t want to leave Elena.”
“We won’t. And if she’s ready to leave before you are, I’ll give you a ride home, okay?”
She shook her head. “No, we’ll all get in trouble if we don’t come home together. That was one of the conditions for getting to come tonight.”
He nodded. “Alright. Either way, I just want to spend some more time with you, without Ben being a dick, okay?”
She nodded, still chewing on her lip. “Okay.”
Unable to help himself, he cupped her cheek and dipped his head for another kiss, savoring the feel of her soft lips against his. He wanted to stay there, just like that, losing himself in the feel of her, the scent of her in his nostrils, her soft skin under his hands. He really wanted to lay her down in the sand, still warm from the day’s sunshine, strip her clothes off her and cover her with his body, using his own warmth to block the chill from the evening air. But that obviously couldn’t happen tonight. The only privacy on this beach was to get away from the crowd, nowhere near enough for what he really wanted to do. And she had to go home with her friend, so there was no chance of taking their private party elsewhere. And truthfully, he wasn’t sure if she’d be up for moving that fast anyway. Maybe it was for the best that he knew how things stood tonight anyway. But God, he was going to be hurting later from how keyed up she had him already.
He broke away, leading her a little further down from the shore, far enough away that the sound of the waves overpowered the noise from the party around the fire further up the beach. Settling himself in the sand, he pulled Hannah down between his legs, leaning her back against his chest, his arms going around her, both of them facing the sun, now little more than an orange-gold sliver above the water.
He leaned down so he could whisper in her ear. “Watch. It’ll only take a few more minutes. Don’t blink or you’ll miss it.”
He felt as much as saw her sharp intake of breath, and he couldn’t hold back the smile that spread across his face at the goosebumps racing down her neck when he whispered against her skin. That expanse of skin peeking out of her sweatshirt was too tempting. He dropped his head further, brushing his lips below her ear, then trailing kisses down her neck, tracing the path of her goosebumps with his mouth.
She gasped, her head pressing back against him, and he smiled against her skin before scraping his teeth over the tendon where her neck met her shoulder.
“I’m going to miss what you want me to see if you keep that up.” Her voice came out breathy and tortured sounding.
Matt kissed her once more on the neck before sitting up, snuggling her back into him. They didn’t have to wait much longer, the sun sinking lower and lower into the ocean, until it disappeared with a green flash.
Hannah let out a soft gasp, and he shifted, trying to make more room for his rock hard dick in his shorts. That was the same sound as when he’d started kissing down her neck.
She turned her head up to look at him. “That’s amazing. I’d heard about that, but didn’t know if it was really real or not.”
He grinned at her. “It doesn’t happen every night, but it’s not uncommon. I’m glad you got to see it.”
“I’m glad you made me watch it, even if you did try to distract me before I could see it.”
“You like that kind of distraction, though?”
He could just make out the pink tinge on her cheeks in the deepening twilight. She nodded.
His grin grew wider, and he lowered his face to hers. “I’d be happy to keep up the distractions then.” And with that he kissed her, turning her so she could straddle him, and he could give her a taste of everything he wanted to do to her.
They stayed there, making out as the twilight deepened around them, the sky fading to navy. Matt thought he could kiss her all night long. And he would’ve happily done so, but far too soon a voice in the distance called, “Hannah!”
When her name was called again, Hannah pulled back, her face turning in the direction of the party still over by the fire. The music had stopped, and it looked like some people had started leaving, though he knew from experience that a few would stay there until midnight or later, hanging out, laughing and drinking until the fire burned down to embers and they could kick sand over it and go home. Apparently Hannah and her friend would not be part of that group.
He saw a shadow detach itself from the rest of the group, and that voice called Hannah’s name again.
Hannah sighed. “That’s Elena. I know she saw us coming over here. It must be getting close to ten. That’s when we have to be home.”
Matt couldn’t help chuckling. “Really? Ten? It’s not exactly a school night or anything.”
He felt more than saw her shrug. “Yeah, well, it was agree to that or not come at all.”
She detached herself from his grip and climbed off his lap. He sighed from the loss of contact, then stood and adjusted himself, resigning himself to walking her back to her car. At least he had her number already. He was sure she’d agree to see him again. He laced his fingers through hers and led her back to the group.
Elena and her brother stood on the edge closest to the parking lot, the bag now slung over Elena’s shoulder. “Come on, Han. We’re going to be late if you don’t get a move on.” She turned and started for the parking lot, not even acknowledging that Matt was there.
He and Hannah trailed after the other two. On the edge of the parking lot he stopped, turning Hannah to face him. He kissed her once more, briefly, not the kind of kiss he real
ly wanted, but there wasn’t time for that. “We still have to figure out our surf lesson. I get off work tomorrow at four. I’ll come pick you up after, okay?”
She nodded, the light from the parking lot washing over her pale skin, her teeth sunk into her lower lip. “Okay.”
One more kiss, and he let her go, watching her climb into the car with her friend and drive away. He hadn’t been all that excited about being home for the summer, except for getting to surf most days. But after meeting Hannah, it was looking like this might end up being a great summer after all. The kind you didn’t want to end. He couldn’t wait.
Want to read the rest of Matt and Hannah’s story? Check out Managed Hearts now!
About Jerica MacMillan
Jerica MacMillan is a lifelong reader and lover of romance. Nothing beats escaping into a book and watching people fall in love, overcome obstacles, and find their happily ever after. She is the author of six books in two series: Players of Marycliff University and The Rebound Series. She was named a semifinalist in Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write 2015 contest.
Jerica is living her happily ever after in North Idaho with her husband and two children. She spends her days building with blocks, admiring preschooler artwork, and writing while her baby naps in the sling. Sign up to join her Book Club at www.JericaMacMillan.com and get a free book! You can hang out with her in her closed reader group on Facebook—Jerica MacMillan’s Book Junkies.
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