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Luckily, the bitches keep on going, but reluctantly, my eyes track Casey when she suddenly takes off into a sprint toward the water. I can hear her squeal from here. My heart sinks as I watch a figure saunter out of the water with a surfboard tucked underneath his arm. His long, blond hair hangs in wet ropes around his handsome face. He lets go of his board as it drops in the sand so that he can catch Casey as she flings herself into his arms. I feel like I could throw up. He twirls her around in one circle before setting her down in the sand. The girl is pretty much the same height as he is, so it takes no effort at all for her to mold her lips to his.
“You don’t have to watch this,” Kennedy murmurs, placing a hand on my shoulder and snapping me out of my daze. I look at her with sad eyes and shake the image out of my head.
“You’re right. Let's get in the water. I’ve been gone way too long and this Cali heat’s killin’ me.” I turn and gesture for Kennedy to zip me up and I return the favor. She can probably tell how affected I am by all of this, so she doesn't comment further.
We take off for the water, surfboards under our arms, long hair flowing behind us in the wind and I can’t help but feel just a little bit powerful. Several guys stop and stare as we jog by, a few of them whistle. Out of the corner of my eye, I see River’s head swivel and I know he sees me. I refuse to make eye contact. If he’d prefer to suck face with that thin-lipped gazelle, then I have no time for the likes of him.
We join the scattered surfers just past the break in the waves. I can see that a few of them are already hard at it, zipping through the water, light on their feet. Squinting my eyes, I hone in on a lithe figure atop a green surfboard. His wetsuit hugs the hard lines of his body and covers up every tattoo save the ones on his neck. Luca cuts through the water like a bullet—so sure of himself and his balance. He’s almost as good as River now.
I sit there on my board, waiting for my turn and trying to ignore the pangs of longing that flood my body. Back in the day, I used to come out here for hours and hours with River and Luca, watching them surf the day away while I joined in occasionally. Mostly, I’d recline back on my board and enjoy the feel of the waves sloshing beneath me.
River would take it seriously, but Luca had been a show off back then, always doing tricks to impress me while I called out his score as he whooshed by. Those days flash before my eyes like a slideshow of some other life. His deep, soulful eyes that were once so familiar to me don’t even look in my direction as he comes to a stop nearby. He knocks knuckles with another guy as he runs his hand over his face to wick the water off. From here, I take note of the subtle differences the years have blessed him with.
His tanned skin is covered in barely noticeable, scattered freckles and the bottom half of his face has a nicely trimmed five o’clock shadow that wasn’t there before. He looks like a man now, and it makes my heart race and my cheeks heat.
We surf for about an hour before the sky begins to darken. I don’t feel safe being out on the water after sunset, so instead of joining the others on their jet skis, Kennedy and I make our way back to the sand. My stomach rumbles, telling me it's time for dinner. The smell of cooking hotdogs once again wafts over me and my mouth waters.
Peeling my wetsuit halfway down my body, I let it hang from my hips since I know the coastal air is about to get chilly. I’m wearing my favorite royal-blue bikini top that complements my tanned skin perfectly and matches the studded piercing in my belly button. Not bothering to brush our hair out, Kennedy and I stroll on over to the bonfire and quickly snatch up some hotdogs and choke them down in record time, giggling and shoving each other as we race to swallow the thing whole. We look like fucking idiots, but the more time I spend with Kennedy, the more sure I am that she’s about to become the best friend I’ve ever had...not counting Jax.
That reminds me that I need to call him tonight. I tried texting him earlier, but I got no answer, which is odd. Longing swirls inside of me, and a hollow feeling of homesickness for New York. It’s not the actual city that I miss, but rather the life I’d built there with the people I loved. Was he missing me as much as I was missing him? Or had he moved on to the next pair of pretty eyes that looked his way?
The music gets louder when the sun finally disappears and the entire beach is lit only by the glowing light of the fire. Couples are strewn about, draped over driftwood logs, some of them lip locked and others just on this side of being wasted. Kennedy pulls me toward a group of dancing people crowding on the back side of the fire. They writhe against each other, drunkenly swaying to the deep bass that rolls over the sand. I find myself joining them with a small, satisfied smile on my lips for the first time in a long time.
I sway and wiggle my hips, knowing exactly how to move to any song that’s thrown at me. Dancing is second nature and I know I look good doing it. I feel the press of several hard bodies around me, but I don’t mind it because I need this right now. I need a night to get lost in myself and just be free for a little while.
Hands graze my hips before I feel them circling my torso and pulling me tightly against someone's tall form. Opening my eyes, I go to tell them to fuck off, but I’m met with a pair of gorgeous, light-blue eyes belonging to some guy I don’t recognize. His brown hair is a little messy but he has a strong jaw and looks like he works out. He’s handsome enough, and that helps me make up my mind to let this continue. Fuck River, and fuck Luca. I can forget about them. I can.
I twirl around, letting his front mold with my back. He’s tall enough that his chin rests comfortably on my shoulder. My eyes connect with Kennedy and she winks cheekily at me before twirling off with some girl. Hmm…
“You smell so fucking good,” the stranger whispers in my ear, making my skin break out in goosebumps. It should have come off as creepy, but I take the compliment anyways, assuming he means well.
I’m horny as hell tonight, and I realize it’s been a damn while since I’ve gotten intimate with anyone, Jax not included. I didn’t let it get that far, and right now, I'm regretting it. There have been several guys over the years, but they were mostly casual hookups, and right now, I'm considering another one to take the edge off.
I don’t respond to him verbally. I just push my hips back into him causing a low groan to rumble in my ear. His right hand snakes over my exposed stomach leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake. I take my arm and loop it up and around his head and soon I feel a soft pair of lips grazing the skin of my neck.
I lean into it. I’m not the same sheltered girl I once was the last time my feet graced the sands of this beach. I’m no longer the virginal, wide-eyed child that I was when I left this place behind and my dreams with it. That last night on the beach with Luca changed something in me and I spent the next seven years living much differently with the New York crowd.
Opening my eyes, I suck in a sharp breath as my eyes lock with a pair of emerald gems. Across the flames of the bonfire, River sits on a log of driftwood with both of his elbows resting on his kneecaps and Casey nowhere in sight. Like me, he’s pulled his wetsuit down to reveal the hard lines of his chest and his hair is drying into long waves that he’s tucked behind his ear. I watch him watching me, noting the fury simmering in his gaze. Almost reluctantly, his eyes flicker down to the spot where the strange guy touches the skin of my belly before coming back up to glare at me. His strong jaw clenches and I watch as his right hand tightens around his red Solo cup.
Satisfaction fills me in a sick way. River and I were never romantic...at least, not in the sense that I always wished we were. Since the guys were about a year older than me, they’d kept me at arm’s length for the most part. Sure, things toward the end became a bit more muddied when I began to fill into my womanly curves. It seemed to have happened in a single summer when I showed up with my hair grown out and my clothes molding to my maturing body.
That summer I noticed a shift in the dynamic. They’d started touching me here and there for no reason at all. While we’d always been playful with one another, it never crossed any lines. But the look River is giving me right now is something far beyond anything we’d experienced together. He looks furious—barely holding onto his sanity. I’ve never seen him this way. He’s always been the tame one of the boys—always the lazy surfer without a care in the world.
A wet line of warmth travels over my neck, snapping me out of River’s snare and back into reality. The guy kisses my neck, but suddenly his lips feel clammy and gross. I want him to stop touching me right now. My body locks up and I stop swaying, but the guy isn’t getting the nonverbal signals I’m sending out, so I turn in his arms and give him an apologetic look.
“I’m just not into it,” I whisper in his ear. For a moment he looks taken aback, but his smile morphs into a frown once he realizes I’m serious.
“All that just to tease me, baby? Fuck that, can I at least get a kiss or something?” He steps in closer and I step backwards, placing my hand on his chest.
“I’m trying to be nice about this, but you’re making it hard.”
He smirks. “I’ll tell you what’s hard…” He goes to grab his junk, but he doesn’t get that far before two large hands come to rest on both of my shoulders and a familiar scent envelopes me.
“We gonna do this dance, Liam?” a deep voice rumbles from behind me. It rolls over my skin like refreshing ocean waves and I can’t help but relax under his firm grip.
Liam flicks his eyes over my shoulder and narrows them at River. “She your girl or something?” He sounds skeptical but wary.
My heart stutters as River clips, “Or something.”
