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Chapter Five
Addi
Cole slides his hand inside mine, his hot skin connecting with my cool skin as our fingers intertwine. Sexual energy zaps between us. I. Must. Ignore. It.
Quick, think of something to say.
“What do you do for work?” I shake my head, some of my long hair falling across my eyes. I push it back with my free hand, wishing I had an elastic.
“I run a surf shack down on the south end of the beach.”
“Wow, nice. Your own surf shack, huh?”
He nods, his tongue darting out to touch his top lip. My eyes drop down and grow heavy thinking of that tongue … darting out … to lick …
Damn, girl. Control yourself.
“Yeah, have for several years now. My gramps and a couple of my buddies help me out, but a lot I do on my own.” He rubs his chin, a hint of his five o’clock shadow emerging. I want to run my fingertips across that stubble, the light brown color intriguing. “I run classes and private lessons, I help with board maintenance and repair, and also I sell equipment and gear.”
“That’s awesome. You must be busy all the time.”
Cole stops at the last bonfire and looks around as he drops my hand. Orange and yellows from the fire bounce off him, lighting up his golden color. “Not all the time, but …” He pauses for a moment, a deep sigh escaping from between his lips. “Enough. See your friend anywhere?”
I glance to my left and right but most of the party has thinned out, and Leigh doesn’t seem to be around. “Hmm ...” I mumble as I fish my phone out of my back pocket. It’s not like Leigh to take off with a guy and not keep in touch.
Hell, it’s not like me to take off down the beach with some guy, either.
In college, there were a few times I took off with a guy from a bar. It never ended well, yet again, I never felt the connection I feel with Cole.
I find a message from Leigh from about an hour ago.
Leigh: Went to hang with Joe, don’t worry he’s cool, we went to high school with his brother, haha. Have fun, biatch! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!
I laugh and type out a quick response. After I hit send, I shove my phone back in my pocket. “Looks like my friend called it a night.”
Cole’s shoulder brushes mine, and his warm breath tickles the back of my neck. The hairs rise up straight. “How about we do? My house is up the shore a little ways.”
I drink him in for a moment, trying to make sense of all these feels.
This strong attraction, this easy conversation, this vibe flowing between us—it’s all throwing me for a huge loop. I’ve never met someone before who could stir up this intensity inside me on the first night we met.
Sure, there was my high school boyfriend, Jake, who I thought I was madly head over heels in love with. But we were friends first. We grew into more as our hormones multiplied. I thought he was the man of my dreams, the person I would spend the rest of my life with. Boy, was I wrong. When it came between a hot new cheerleader or me, the nerdy artsy bookworm who spent hours on the beach painting and reading, I’ll give you one guess as to who he chose.
After a few casual hookups and friends with benefits arrangements, I met Finn, and he swept me off my feet. At first, I hated him. Despised him. He worked with me in the art department’s administrative office, and he was the worst co-worker. Bossy, nosy, annoying—you name it, and he was it. But then he took me out for dinner after I finally said yes, and we were inseparable for two years. That is, until he broke my heart with five simple words—I don’t love you anymore. And a whole bunch of lies, including cheating on me for most of our time together.
Now, I find myself standing next to a guy I’ve only just met, yet I’m experiencing emotions and feelings for him I never could’ve imagined feeling during the first ever meeting.
What does it all mean?
Isn’t too intense not good, either?
Didn’t I hear somewhere that love driven by intense passion and lust ends horribly? Love needs to be an equal balance and not always so intense. Right?
How do I know it’ll always be this intense? Maybe things change.
What if we kiss, and there’s nothing there? No spark of any kind?
Anything can happen.
