Maybe he had a few half naked pics posted, and I could solve the underwear conundrum. Girl, do not go there. I pushed my phone back into my pocket before I gave myself the opportunity to stalk him online.
“There. We’re set.” Ryan stood up, brushing his sandy hands on his jeans.
“Nice job.” Blake clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder and smiled.
Blake grabbed the skewers from the ground, along with a bag of marshmallows, a box of graham crackers, and a pack of chocolate.
After majorly gorging on S’mores, I sat back in the lawn chair, watching Ryan over the crackling flames. He stared off, totally zoning out. I bet all the school talk bored him to death. Really, only pre-med students liked talking about pre-med classes. Heck, I was pre-med and I didn’t enjoy it. A niggling part in the back of my brain knew why, but I didn’t feel like exploring my life options at the moment.
I wiggled my toes in the sand, my legs aching to get up and move. “It’s so nice out, wanna go for a walk?”
Payton and Blake looked at each other, using their silent couple eye-squinting-speak to decide if they wanted to stay parked in front of the fire or not.
She scooted out of her chair and grabbed his hand. “Sounds good.” She turned to Ryan. “You coming, Ry?”
His gaze wandered down my body, and I fought back a shiver. Just his eyes on me made me want to climb on him in that stupid chair and find out just what he was packing under those jeans. God, what did that say about me? I thought I was over jerks, but here I was getting all hot and bothered by the thought of his underwear.
Blake and Payton fell behind as we made our way down the beach, most likely making out—I wasn’t willing to turn around and look. Ryan fell into step with me, both of us walking in comfortable silence. He was much easier to handle when he didn’t talk.
I breathed in deeply, enjoying the mixture of salt, warm sand, and a hint of sunscreen. My life was not so suffocating outside of Spring Hill. I didn’t have to worry about the classes I didn’t want to take or the parents who never quit being disappointed. Or my brother who used to be my go-to confidante, but turned out to be a total loser.
Up ahead, I saw a large stick and sand that had recently been washed over by the tide. The driftwood called to me like a beacon, a reminder of all the good times I had with my family at the beach. Racing ahead of Ryan, I grabbed the stick, turning back to him and giving him a flirty smile to mask the tremble in my bottom lip as I thought back to the last time Eric and I had gone to the beach and skimboarded. He’d wiped out after trying to do a backflip on a wave near the shore and cut open his chin on a jagged rock. Stupid Eric. Always reckless, always pushing the limits.
Ryan chuckled. “What are you doing?”
“Declaring our love to people at Farmington Beach.” I started spelling out my name in the wet sand, dragging the driftwood deeper than I usually did. Teasing him felt much better than sulking about my careless brother. I spelled out his name under mine and surrounded both our names with a heart.
Jules & Ryan 4eva
His mouth tipped up in one corner. “Cute.”
“I thought you’d like it.” I don’t know what it was about Ryan that made me want to tease him. He seemed like the kind of guy who liked a girl who could dish it, and my body and subconscious were more than willing to oblige. I was a blank slate in his eyes. The fresh sand with no scars. He didn’t know me like everyone else, the mistakes I’d made.
A rush of tingles bubbled through my veins at the thought of having a fresh start, giving me that high, an endless supply of energy, the one thing I really missed when I took Adderall. There was nothing wrong with a little flirting. I gripped the stick harder in my hand and did something that probably went ten steps past innocent banter. Winding back, I hit Ryan’s ass, the contact making a loud thwap.
He straightened and his voice cracked a little when he said, “You did not just go there.”
I grinned and raised my brow. “I just went there.”
“You’re asking for it.”
Before I could respond, Ryan scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder. I squealed, my hair flying in my face. His warm hands cupped the backs of my thighs, his fingers firmly gripping my skin.
“Quit screaming or you’re going in the ocean.”
“Let me down.” I kicked my legs in a half-assed attempt to wriggle free. I’d rather have the opposite, to be closer, pressed against his solid body.
“You lost that chance as soon as you tapped my ass with that stupid stick. Payback’s a bitch.”
Uh oh.
Ryan went crashing through the water. He was knee-deep before he whipped my body around, his arms now cradling me to his chest.
I shrieked again, gripping tightly around his neck, not wanting any part of me in the cool Pacific water. Even in June, the water remained frigid three hundred and sixty-five days a year. “No, no, no. I’m sorry. Just don’t drop me in.”
“Now you’re begging for forgiveness?” He dipped lower, my butt coming way too close to the waves.
“Yes!” The crashing waves swallowed my scream.