CHAPTER ELEVEN

Beck had arranged a surfing lesson for us through the hotel. After we’d returned to shore and I’d reapplied sunscreen (with Beck’s help), a surfing instructor with longish blonde hair and an interesting Texas-meets-surfer accent found us under the umbrella.

“ Are you guys Beck and Abby?” he asked, looking down at a sheet of paper in his hand. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and I could tell he spent most of his time outside. His entire body had a deep tan and he was toned from surfing.

I wondered how he spotted us among all the other beach goers, but when I looked around, it seemed we were the only ones around without a cartload of kids. I guess it was pretty obvious.

“ Yeah,” we said in unison, and then stood to shake the sand off of us.

“ Oh, great!” he said. “Let’s get started. I’m Jason. I’ll be your surfing instructor.”

Of course his name was Jason.

I pulled a hair band out of my bag and tugged my long hair into loose ponytail so it would be out of my face during our training . Then we followed Jason over to the shoreline where he’d placed two longboards in the sand.

“ Have you guys ever surfed before?” he asked, holding my gaze with a pair of dark brown eyes. He was not at all bad to look at and I decided I would enjoy my surfing lesson even more.

We both shook our heads and he placed his hands on his hips, assuming the teacher pose. “Surfing is an art and you guys won’t master it during one lesson. But, we’ll start with the basics on the sand, move to the board, then move into the water.”

“ We’ll do it right here on the beach where everyone can watch us?” I asked, adjusting my bikini bottom. Oh who was I kidding? Nothing would fall out of my bikini while I practiced surfing on the beach.

“ Yeah, it won’t be so bad.” He gestured to the few beachgoers that were focused on us. “They’ll go back to doing their own thing in a few minutes.”

We nodded and I looked over to watch Beck roll out his shoulders and stretch his arms. He looked so good in that bathing suit and I had a suspicious feeling that he’d pick up surfing much faster than I would.

“ Alright, let’s start in the sand on our bellies. We’ll learn how to mount the board first.”

“ Hear that, Abby? You’re going to learn how to mount.” Beck thought that was quite clever. Jason had the decency to clear his throat and look away.

I rolled my eyes. “Beck, you were the one trying to mount me in my sleep last night. Don’t think I forgot.”

He grinned and narrowed his eyes. “That’s not quite how I remember it. I woke up to you practically on top of me.”

I choked out a laugh. Were my unconscious limbs not to be trusted around him?

“ Alright, you two,” Jason said, breaking us out of our little banter.

“ I was AH-MAZING!” I cheered as we unlocked the door to our hotel room.

“ Okay, okay.”

I twirled around and then folded my fingers behind my head in a cocky stance. “Jason said I was one of the best students he’s ever had.”

“ He was just trying to get in your pants.” Beck gave me a pointed stare. He really was competitive.

I scoffed. “Yeah, right! I stayed on the board for like twenty seconds at the end!”

“ Alright. You were…pretty good,” he relented with a quiet whisper, barely loud enough for me to hear a few feet away.

“ I’m sorry, I don’t think I quite heard that.” I smirked, taking a step closer to him and dropping my arms. I wondered how long he’d put up with sassiness.

He picked his head up and his hazel eyes met mine as he took a step toward me. He didn’t stop until his body was touching mine. His bare chest was pressed against my cover-up and I could feel his diaphragm lifting when he took a steady breath. He ducked his head until it was level with mine, then he moved his mouth until it was right over my ear.

“ I said, you were good .” A tingle ran down my spine; it was as if he was trying to seduce me. His breath hit my neck and I tilted my head so that even more of my skin was exposed for him. I wasn’t in control of my body in that moment. Had he pushed me to the ground or to the back of the door or to the hotel desk, I would have given myself over to him willingly and he knew it.

He bent his head an inch lower and placed a kiss on the base of my neck.

I had no clue what we were doing. He liked me, and I obviously liked him. Maybe we could just have a road trip fling. That’s all it would be, right? We had no clue what we were doing with our lives. I needed to apply to college and I’d probably move away. He was probably going back to Boston. I had to find out what I wanted to do with my life. What was the meaning of life, anyway?

“ I can practically hear your thoughts churning right now, Abby,” Beck said, taking a step back and smiling.

I nodded infinitesimally. “I think a lot.”

“ I know,” he said, stepping away from me. I wanted to protest. “Do you want to nap for a little bit before the bonfire?”

“ Sure, I feel like I could go to sleep now and not wake up until tomorrow morning,” I said, stretching my sore muscles. The swimming and surfing had been more physical activity than I’d done…ever.

He shook his head. “Not an option. I’ve never been to a beach bonfire before.”

I smiled. “Neither have I.”

…

I’d stepped out onto our hotel’s balcony to call my mom while Beck showered. My parents were becoming suspicious. I had never gone this long without seeing them, but I played it off by telling my mom that I needed some space. I don’t think she suspected that I’d left town at that point. It was just so out of character for me, being so distant, and I hoped she’d just assume I was camped out with Caroline or something.

“ Sweetie, I understand that you need some distance from your father and me. I just want you happy and healthy.”

The ocean breeze whipped through the phone so that I could barely hear her. I know she could probably hear it through the speaker. Was it windy in Dallas?

“ Mom, I promise everything is okay.”

Silence.

“ Alright, well are you feeling alright?” she asked. I’d taken my temperature that morning and it was normal. I took all of my medications, and other than feeling tired from surfing and swimming, I knew my body was doing okay.

“ Yes, Mom. I feel great actually.”

She sighed into the phone and I felt terrible for making her worry. “Caroline isn’t doing so well,” I admitted. Caroline hadn’t picked up the phone the past two times I’d tried to call, but I told myself she was napping and couldn’t hear the phone ringing.

“ Yes. I spoke with her mom today.” Her tone said it all, it encompassed the immense sadness and I couldn’t bear to listen to another word. I knew it in my heart of hearts anyway.

“ Mom, I have to go.”

“ Already?”

I couldn’t take it. Talking to her was reminding me of everything I’d needed two weeks away from. Just then, Beck walked back into the hotel room wearing his low-slung towel and nothing else. Perfect time to end the call.

“ Yeah, Mom. I need to shower and stuff,” I said, trying to inconspicuously watch Beck through the tinted glass on our balcony. He was leaning down to grab clothes and I watched the muscles on his back pull and stretch. He’d developed a healthy tan from being in the ocean all day and looked even sexier than before. I, on the other hand, developed a red hue on my cheeks, but other than that I had stayed as pale as ever.

I stepped closer to the tinted window so that I could see him more clearly. I hadn’t realized I’d pressed my face against the glass until Beck looked up with a bemused smile. My eyes bulged and I quickly jolted into action, pretending that I was cleaning something off the window. Yup. Just a smudge on the window. I shrugged and gave him what I hoped was a nonchalant expression.

“ Okay, I love you,” my mom said with a defeated tone. Oops, I’d forgotten I was still on the phone.

“ Love you, too.”

Maybe the two weeks apart was good for both of us. We would both get to stretch our wings a little bit.

I slid the glass door open and Beck swiveled around to look at me. His damp hair looked even darker than usual and I just stood there in the threshold of the hotel room watching him for a moment. Each second I lingered there, the smile on his face widened until we were both perfectly clear about my obvious attraction to him.

“ Shower’s free,” he noted with amusement.

“ Perfect,” I replied, finally realizing that my limbs did in fact still work. I tossed my phone onto the bed and breezed past him, not taking my change of clothes with me. We’ll see how much he likes it when I come out in nothing but a towel.

The entire time I was soaping up and shaving and rinsing my hair, my heart was going a mile a minute. I wanted him to feel as affected by me as I was around him, but what if he didn’t even bat an eyelash? One eyelash, people, that’s all that I asked for.

The moment I turned the shower off, I heard muffled chatter from the other side of the door. I wrung out my hair and then pulled it up into a towel before pressing my ear to the door to listen for other voices. If he wasn’t alone, my plan of seduction would come crashing down around me. I wasn’t going to prance around in a towel for multiple people. One hot guy was enough for me.

With my ear pressed against the door, I realized that I could only hear his muffled speech. He must have been on the phone. Good, maybe I’d distract him and he’d drool onto the screen or something.

I unwrapped the towel from my hair and then wrapped it around my body. It hit a few inches below my ass. A glance in the mirror reflected my long strawberry blonde locks still damp and flung sexily (or so I hoped) around my face and down my back. I still had a healthy glow from the sun. My scar was peeking out from the top of the towel, but I tried to ignore it. He could take it or leave it. That scar wasn’t going anywhere.

As I creaked the bathroom door open, I heard him laugh into the phone, but as I rounded the corner, his laugh cut off suddenly.

Success. I was indeed a siren. An unstoppable, sexy minx. My baby toe hit the edge of his suitcase and I howled. Motherfucker. Stubbing your baby toe is the face of true pain.

I glanced over to him quickly, hoping my mishap hadn’t ruined the moment completely. His smile froze and then his features slid into a shocked gape.

“ Oh yeah,” he nodded into the phone, never looking away from me. “That recipe is good, but my grandmother makes one with pineapple in it as well.”

Silence filled the air as the person on the other end picked up the conversation. Why was he giving someone recipe advice? What guy even knew a recipe by heart? His eyes drifted down my body in a lazy manner, taking in my neck and chest, then drifting down the towel to the few inches of my creamy thighs exposed at the very bottom.

“ No, not the whole can. I’ll have her send you the recipe. She’s right here actually; do you want to talk to her?”

Why would he ask that? Why would I want to talk to whoever was on the other end of the phone?

“ Oh, okay. I’ll tell her. Bye. Nice talking to you, too,” he said before hanging up.

That’s when I realized that the phone in his hand wasn’t his. It was mine. God damn technology companies. Did we all need to have the same rectangular black phone? What happened to being unique individuals?

I stepped closer to him without even considering the fact that I was practically naked. “Who was that?” I demanded.

“ Your mom,” he answered casually before standing up. His height towered over mine and I clutched the towel tighter.

“ What?! Why were you talking to my mom?” I reached around him and grabbed my phone.

He didn’t move away. There was barely an inch between our bodies and I could feel his warm breath on my bare shoulder.

“ She called back twice while you were in the shower. I didn’t want her to worry, so I answered.” I know it didn’t seem like a big deal to him, but it was. My parents were already suspicious of me.

“ Beck! I’ve never introduced them to a guy before OR even mentioned a guy to them for that matter!”

I hated that there was amusement flashing across his heavenly features. Why wasn’t he taking this as seriously as I was?

“ You should give your mom more credit. I explained that I was your friend and that you were in the bathroom. She was confused at first, but then I introduced myself and we started chatting. I think she likes me.”

I didn’t have anything to say to that, so I wiped a hand down my face and stared up at him. If anyone could charm my mom, it was Beck.

“ Were you giving her a recipe at the end?”

His lips unfolded into a confident grin. “It was for my Grammy’s banana bread. Your mom wants you to send it to her.”

I couldn’t help but smile then. He took me by surprise at every turn. There was no limit to Beck Prescott; he couldn’t be pushed into a mold. Of course he would talk to my mom about banana bread, because why the hell not?

Date: 2015-02-16; view: 401