Define Me

by Culine Ramsden

  “Holiday from Hell?"

  “Yeah, after my final exam I went on holiday with my boyfriend and his family, to say it was Hell is putting it lightly. We had what you can call a difference of opinion and I walked out on him. Once I got home I felt like I needed to do something to help me forget the pain in my heart so I got a tattoo on my back, it took 2 hours to do the outline and then about 3 to do the colour. I did it all in two sittings and for those few hours the pain in my heart was really gone, because the pain on my back was more”

  “Why a water fairy?”

  “The Ocean calms me and fairies protect me, ok enough talking about me and my Tattoo, what do you guys think of the outfit, will it work?

  After our shopping trip I quickly made the girls a banana and pineapple smoothie before we went down to the beach to practise. By lunch time we came back to my place for something to eat and to do some planning. The competition started in 4 weeks, it gave us some time to work on our fitness, or should I say on Sam and Isabel’s fitness. No more junk food, running every morning before class and then 3 times a week after class some Zumba at the local gym. Yes I knew it was a lot but really I wanted to win.

  At 4 the girls went home and I spent the rest of the day reading. I went back down to the beach to watch the sunset. It is the best time of the day, the sand is cooling down and you get a soft mist that blows back from the sea. I can sit like this for hours just listening to the waves breaking. It’s a time that I can just close my eyes and drift away.

  I wished I could forget about all the sadness that I still had in my heart. I couldn’t take the tightness around my heart any more, I wanted to be free from all the heartache, how could I let a guy like Hunter define me, how can I let him destroy me. I gave myself to Hunter because I believed I was going to marry him. He was my one and only, the love of my life, my future. I did not know who I was more upset with, Hunter or myself.

  Something felt different that night, I felt like I was being watched, but not in a bad way, just like someone was watching. On my way down to the beach I saw the Corvette again. Who did that belong to?

  I woke up late on Sunday morning, it was a dreadful night, and I had that horrible nightmare again. It didn’t help that it would have been Hunter and my one year anniversary.

  I stayed in bed most of the day, the soft mist rain outside was not good for my mood. I cried, screamed and ate chocolate. By lunch time I was getting quite irritated with myself and decided to go for a run in the rain. I took an extra-long route, I thought that if I push a little harder, ran a little further just maybe I could push this feeling a little deeper down where it didn’t hurt so much anymore.

  On my way back I stopped at Simplicity. Rebecca the shop manager was working behind the counter when I walked in.

  “Hi, what are you doing running in the rain; you are going to get sick!”

  “I just needed some fresh air; the 4 walls of my place were closing in on me”.

  While I was drinking my Strawberry smoothie (shops speciality) an older lady walked in, she was flustered and quite upset.

  Rebecca asked her what was wrong and if she could assist. She said that she was just mugged and that a young gentleman, (with chocolate brown eyes) in a camo uniform called Brent came to her rescue. I had noticed some army looking vehicles in the area over the past few weeks.

  After getting back to my apartment I put my music on and relaxed, day dreaming of the day Brent called me princess. I don’t think I will ever forget those eyes. I wished we had more time to get to know each other, but after he beat the shit out of Hunter, he was suspended and I did not even have a chance to say thank you.

  I eventually fell asleep but this time I dreamed of brown eyes.

  Monday morning I woke up with a loud banging on my front door. I grabbed my phone to check the time and realized that I overslept. It was 05:15 and I was supposed to have met the girls outside Simplicity for our morning run.

  I ran to the front door to find Brooke glaring at me, both Sam and Isabel looked like they were still fast asleep. I let everyone in while I quickly went and dressed no need for a shower because I would just have to do it again afterwards. 5 minutes later I was ready and we headed out for our run.

  We ran along the shoreline. Sam was bitching about how she was never going to make it and we would have to carry her. Gosh she was going to be hard work and my teammate. I had my job cut out for me.

  We decided that it would so much easier if they stayed with me over the next 4 weeks whilst we trained. After a week of bitching and moaning from Sam and Isabel, things started coming together. We looked good; there were some of the other teams that also practiced on the beach. We played a few friendly matches, it was good.

  It was hard having a house full of people, I like my space. But it was only for a little while.

  Chapter 5

  Our four weeks training went well and I believed that we were ready for the showdown. From what I could see from my front door there was a big group of people gathering on the beach. Simplicity really went all out; they even had grand stands put up for the spectators. It was going to be amazing.

  We were limited to 8 girl and 8 boy teams on a first come first service basis. Luckily I put our names down that morning after my run otherwise we would never have been able to enter. Whist we were sitting waiting for all the registrations to be confirmed I spotted the Corvette pulling up and two guys climbing out of it.

  I think my heart skipped a beat, WOW!!!

  OMG! I really hoped they are not going to take part in the competition. I would never have been able to concentrate on my game with THAT hanging around.

  The passenger of the car must be 6’2 with light brown hair; he wore red swim shorts and white T-shirt. The driver; a 6’6 beast of a man, white swim shorts that hung low on his hips and a Hulk T-Shirt.

  I could not breathe, my tongue felt like cotton, I struggled to swallow, I could feel the embarrassment radiating from all over my body and from the cocky smirk on his face I knew that the “Hulk” had seen it too.

  “Hey Ladies” (The Hulk speaks)

  With a silent plea; I looked to Sam to say something, anything but she I was as dumbstruck as I was. Isabel broke the silence.

  “Hi guys are you here for the Volley Ball?

  “Yes, we are the new owners of Simplicity, so you can say we are in charge of this rodeo”

  Snap out of it girl, a guy as good looking as him can only be trouble.

  I managed to get my head to function again.

  “Hi, nice to meet you both, this is Samantha, Isabel, Brooke and I’m Caitlin”.

  "Hey, this is Cole and I'm Vincent."

  “Are you girls taking part or are you just coming to support us?”

  Sam finds her words. “We are here to win this thing"

  “Bring it on, let us see what you’ve got” Cole’s smiles and walks away.

  Vincent lingers a little longer staring at me and then turns and disappeared into Simplicity.

  I sat staring at the shop a little longer, wow that is a seriously good looking guy.

  At 11 the proceedings kicked off, there was press everywhere; Simplicity really knows their stuff, the marketing that was done for that event was really good.

  Vincent and Cole thanked everyone for coming and did some great give-ways on the beach, the crowd loved it. Before the games could start one of the newspapers did a quick interview with the guys and we were asked to stand for a photograph.

  I got to stand right next to Vincent. Oh he smelt divine and my mouth started watering. I could feel my body heating up; there was a red glow all up my neck and into my face. I just knew my body had betrayed me in a serious way. Right at that very moment the photographer snapped the pic. Great I would be on the back page of the sport section blood red next to the sexiest Hunk alive.

  Vincent’s arm moved around my shoulders; he dipped his head and whispered in my ear. “Hey, you ok, it looks like you got sunburnt already, and do you need me to
help you put some sunblock on?”

  “Oh lovely, he noticed”. I shrugged him off. “What? No I’m fine don’t worry, I will sort it out I don’t need your help” I started walking away. Should I look back, shouldn’t I? Fuck it, sure as hell when I turned my head, I saw that sexy smirk again. The bastard! I couldn’t believe the man has this type of effect on me. I vowed I would never let a man affect me again and look at me, a hot bloody mess.

  After four rounds Samantha and I cleaned up and killed the opposition. It was time for lunch and I was bushed. As we settled on our towels to have lunch I could see Vincent and Cole approaching us. I needed to get out of there, Vincent had taken his shirt off, there is no way I could be anywhere near him looking like that! So I jumped up and rushed off to have a swim. I quickly pulled off my tank top. I heard Sam call my name but I just needed to hurry way.

  After 15 minutes watching them from a distance, I saw that the girls were finally alone; I couldn’t see Vincent anywhere although I knew they were around. I went to join my friends and finished my lunch. We needed to finish up the remainder of the matches that day as the following morning the finals for both men and woman were to be held. Sam and I stood a good chance to take the lead with Isabel and Brooke in third place.

  “Where did you run off too”, Brooke asked. “The hottest guys on the beach comes to talk to us and you run away, I could see Vincent was put out a bit when you ran off, he could not keep his eyes of you when you pulled your top off, I thought his eyes were going to pop out when he saw the tattoo on you back”

  “Whatever I don’t believe you. Why would a guy like that look at a girl like me?” I could feel a blush coming on again; thank goodness he was not around to witness it.

  The next few games were tough; we went down to second and third. I was not happy about it, but Vincent was standing on the side lines watching us play and I just could not keep my head in the game. I wished he would just go away, didn’t he have better things to do? Like run a business instead of standing around looking sinfully hot.

  We made it through to the finals; tomorrow was going to be a killer. The teams we were facing in the final had played at professional level and knew their game. So it would be an early morning fitness session, the game at 11, prize giving and then a big beach party.

  On our way home I spotted Vincent's car still outside Simplicity. I wondered what he was doing.

  To finish a great day we decided on yoga on my patio. Before we started I made a fresh jug of Lemonade. Everyone was in good spirits; the day went well for both teams. Sam and I made it to the finals.

  Sam could not stop talking about the 2 gorgeous hunks that we met and the how I had run away when Vincent came to chat to us during the lunch break.

  We started yoga; the girls were all giggly and being silly.

  "OMG did you guys see the tattoo on him, wow that is so freaking hot, I wouldn't mind running my tongue all the way down past that tattoo and ...."

  Suddenly the girls stopped giggling; I looked through my leg and saw the pair of red Nike sneakers from earlier. “Oh hell, kill me now!!”

  I lost my balance and nearly fell only to have Vincent grabbing my hips from behind.

  I shot up, “Let go of me!" As I turned around I saw that smirk on his face again. His eyes were sparkling with mischief. I needed to get away.

  Sam and Isabel burst out laughing. I quickly rushed into my house to splash my face with some cold water and to get my heart rate back to normal.

  After 10 minutes I realized they were not leaving and I would be a very bad host if I didn’t join them.

  "Sorry for barging in on you guys like this, when we were leaving the shop, Cole spotted you here and we thought we would come and say Hello."

  "Oh, ok". My voice came out all shaky, can my mind please focus. I sounded like an idiot.

  "Sam tells us this is your place?"

  "Yes, it was my parents place before but when I decided to come and study at this university my dad renovated it for me. It was my 18th birthday present, my little piece of paradise."

  "Why here, why not on campus, close to your friends?"

  "I love the ocean, so it was the obvious choice, and I feel at peace when I'm close to the sea"

  "Oh right!"

  "And you, why did you guys decide to open a Health Bar on the beach?"

  "Both Vincent and I grew up in New York, we have been friends forever, but the life in New York just became too hectic and we needed to get out of the rat race. We decided that there are enough hot babes on the beaches down here for us to share"

  "Now that is a lie, we came to Long-beach because my grandfather left me the business. It was a beach pub before, but I'm not into drinking. I decided on a Health Bar and Cole was the obvious choice; we are both into health and fitness and the rest is history"

  I was curious, “Why run a volley ball tournament to promote your business?"

  "Well with the fuss over the World Series Beach Volley Ball that was held here in Long-beach, we thought we would ride the wave. It is still fresh in everyone’s memory, don't you agree? Were you here for the Word Series?

  "No unfortunately I missed it” the memory of that bad holiday briefly surfaced into my thoughts.

  "So girls, are you ready for tomorrow? From what I could see today, you stand a really good chance of winning tomorrow."

  "Thanks, I hope so."

  Cole and the girls were chatting about what had happened on the beach that day.

  I got up and walked towards the railing. The sunset was amazing; I love that time of the day.

  "You love the Ocean? I've often seen you outside here”

  "You have seen me?"

  "Yes, every morning when I open up the shop for Rebecca, I see you run along the beach front"

  "Oh yes I remember seeing your car outside, but never got to see who drove it"

  "My car…. a girl that notices old cars, aren’t girls into the latest hottest models on the market?"

  “No, I might drive one like that but I love muscle cars, my dad always took me with him to car shows”

  “Oh so you are telling me you like my car more than my tattoo?”

  I could feel my face glowing again.

  “You were not supposed to hear me say that! I think I need to go to bed now, it is going to be a long day tomorrow”

  As I turned to walk into the house Vincent grabbed me by my wrist and pulled me into his rock hard chest.

  He smelt amazing, for a second I was foggy, my legs shook, and I leaned into him. He wrapped his strong arms around me and held me tight.

  "I didn't mean to upset you, I liked what you said".

  For what seemed like a lifetime we stood there looking at each other, his aqua eyes searching for something in mine.

  "I would like to get to know you know better"

  Wow I had not expected that.

  "Would it be ok if I kiss you now or are you going to hit me?"

  I could not find my words, I knew for sure I wanted the Hulk of a man to kiss me but I would hit him anyway.

  "Ok what was that…No?"

  I closed my eyes lifting my head; I could feel his minty breath on my face, waiting for him to kiss me.

  He bent down, the rough rasp of his beard on my skin, his mouth covering mine, his tongue pushing past my lips; he kissed me slow and deep with so much passion, sucking on my lip biting me. I felt light headed.

  "Woo hoo, I leave you for a few weeks and look at YOU!"

  I spun around to find Heather standing with her hands on her hips behind us on the patio. Perfect timing! I pushed Vincent away; I had guilt written all over my face.

  "What are you doing here?"

  “I came to visit my bestie, is that a problem?”

  “Oh my word no; I'm so happy you are here.”

  I ran to Heather nearly knocking her off her feet, it had been more than a month since I last saw her. Although we spoke almost every day on the phone it was not the same. She was my best friend.<
br />
  "Are you not going to introduce me to Mr Handsome here? Scared I might let out some secrets about you or steel a kiss for myself?"

  I can't believe this girl! I swear her mother dropped her on her head when she was a baby, she says what she wants and when she wants. I could feel my face getting red again.

  Kissing Vincent was on impulse, I wasn’t planning on it happening and I was sure not planning on falling for a guy this soon after Hunter. I felt something, I was not sure what it was, and maybe it was just lust and would disappear soon. I couldn’t open my heart again; I was not prepared to get hurt again.