“I made breakfast.” He grinned, clearly pleased with this news, like he’d done me some kind of favor.
“It’s too early,” I groaned.
“It’s eight o’ clock,” he tossed his hands up in exasperation, “that’s not early. You’re as bad as Emma. Now come on and get ready. We’re all going snorkeling.”
“Snorkeling?” I sat up completely, this bit of news making me a little excited despite the early time.
He nodded. “Yep…or you could stay here and sleep. Your choice.” He shrugged nonchalantly.
I pointed a finger at him in warning. “Don’t you dare leave without me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, Westbrook.” He flashed his winning smile and closed the door.
I immediately tossed the covers off and ran over to my suitcase.
I pulled out all of my bikinis and dropped them on the floor, rifling through them. I ended up picking a solid black one. The top made my breasts appear larger than they actually were and had several overlapping straps in the back. The bottoms exposed more of my ass than I was used to, but let’s face it, I was planning on driving Ezra crazy.
I put on a pair of old ripped jean shorts and a see-through blousy white top over my bikini.
I brushed my hair and it hung in soft natural waves just past my shoulders.
I didn’t bother applying makeup, just a bit of gloss.
Before I left my room I grabbed my sunglasses and stuck them on top of my head.
Ezra’s bedroom door was open, but I didn’t see him inside so I figured he’d already joined the others downstairs.
Everyone was seated at the dining room table and a smorgasbord of breakfast food was sitting on the table. An empty seat was left between Arden and Ezra.
Ezra looked up when I entered the room, his dark eyes raking over my body. They flared with hunger and he sucked his bottom lip between his teeth. His eyes rose to meet mine and he winked.
I sat down and Arden smiled. “Morning.”
“Morning.” I reached for a biscuit and put it on the plate that was already waiting for me.
“They all made breakfast,” she hissed like it was some kind of secret, “the guys.”
“We have many talents.” Hayes quipped, having heard her. “Did you know Mathias can rap?”
Mathias rolled his eyes. “I can do a lot of wicked things with my tongue.”
Emma snorted and Remy nudged his arm with her elbow in a silent gesture to tell him to shut up. She also threw in a glare for good measure.
“Sweetie, do you want another biscuit?” Hayes asked.
At his words we all turned to look at him and saw that he was talking to three-year-old Mia. Her hair was a vibrant red like her mother’s and she looked up at Hayes with wide blue eyes.
She nodded her head and he grabbed one for her.
Arden watched the two in awe.
“She doesn’t normally like strangers,” she whispered.
“Everybody likes me,” Hayes scoffed, flashing a wide smile, “I’m irresistible.”
“I’m beginning to think so,” she agreed.
Beneath the table Ezra’s handed landed on my thigh and he gave it a soft squeeze. I closed my eyes and my lips parted on a breath. He quickly let go before anyone could notice and my body instantly ached for his touch.
Once breakfast was done we all cleaned up and then piled in the SUVs to head over to a different beach.
There, we met with a guy that went over instructions and what to do in case of an emergency—mainly if a shark happened to swim by. It wasn’t likely to happen, but they still had to warn us.
I bounced with excitement, eager to dip my toes into the blue-green water and see the creatures that lived inside.
“I’m going to stay behind with Mia,” Arden said, holding her daughter’s hand and moving back a few steps.
Hayes paused what he was doing and frowned. “Come on, Arden, you don’t want to miss out on this. I’ll stay with her.”
“No, no,” she waved him away when he started forward, “I don’t want to be a bother. We’re fine here.”
He shook his head adamantly. “Go,” he said firmly. “Mia loves me,” he grinned, bending down to the little girl’s level. “We’ll go hunt for seashells while you snorkel.”
Arden seemed to be contemplating his words. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.” He reached a hand out to Mia. She put her much smaller one on top and her pale pink nail polish sparkled in the sunlight. A little yellow hat was perched on her head to block the sun from her eyes and she was dressed in a cute bathing suit with little ruffles on her butt. She was such a cute kid.
“Okay.” Arden agreed, watching as Hayes swept Mia up into his arms. He tickled her stomach and she giggled happily. I’d never seen this side of Hayes before and it made me smile. He really was maturing and I was beginning to think what he told me on our date about settling down wasn’t a lie.
Arden had brought a beach bag with her and she rifled through it. She pulled out a small bucket and handed it to Hayes.
“For the seashells.” She smiled at him, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “Thanks for doing this.”
“It’s not a problem. Mia and I will have lots of fun. Won’t we?” He addressed the little girl. She nodded eagerly.
Arden stepped away slowly, still a little reluctant to leave her daughter behind.
I put the goggles on that covered my eyes and nose and turned to Ezra. “How do I look?” My voice sounded thick and funny since it had a nosepiece.
“Adorable.” He grinned and kissed me quickly.
I froze and so did he. We both turned to see if anyone saw.
Luckily everyone was busy putting their own masks on and didn’t notice.
We both let out an audible sigh of relief.
That had been a close one.
My heart still pounded in my chest and I eyed them all warily in case one of them was pretending not to have seen.
“Relax,” Ezra whispered, his lips near my ear.
I didn’t know how he expected me to do that with him standing so close.
We followed the others to the water’s edge and I giggled when it tickled my toes. It was warm and the sand squished between my toes, which were painted a pretty pale purple.
I walked out into the water until it hit my hips. I fixed the mouthpiece between my lips and then dove slightly into the water, making sure to leave the snorkel sticking out so I could breathe.
Beside me Ezra did the same. Arden was close by with the others a little farther out.
Beneath me tiny bright colored fish swam around. They were gorgeous and seemed unafraid of us. One tickled my arm as it swam by.
I swam farther and saw a crab scuttling over a small rock.
The coral was gorgeous and in a rainbow of colors.
I’d never seen anything so beautiful before and I was flooded with inspiration for designs.
Seeing all of this beauty made me realize I’d been missing out on so much that life has to offer. I’d been stuck in my hometown for so long that I forgot that magic was all around us.
A piece of aqua colored coral—or maybe it was some kind of weird grass—swayed from the ocean current.
A finger tapped against my elbow and I jolted.
I turned to look and saw Arden. Her red hair billowed around her like a flame. She pointed to my right and I glanced that way.
It was a turtle and it swam right up to us, completely unafraid of us like the other fish had been. I itched to reach out and touch its shell, but the man we met with on the beach warned us to not touch any of the animals. After all, they were wild and this was their home.
I don’t know how long we swam around, but eventually we all emerged from the water with wrinkly fingers and toes.
Instead of returning to the beach house and hanging out there, we set up on this beach.
Hayes met us with Mia—the bucket now full of seashells. Mia was grinning from ear to ear and
clinging onto him. I’d say the little girl had a crush.
Arden went over to join him, smacking a loud kiss on Mia’s cheek. Mia giggled merrily and reached for her mom.
I headed over to my bag and pulled out my towel, using it to dry my body before sitting down.
I grabbed my tanning oil and started rubbing it on my body.
Arden put her towel down beside mine and sat with Mia between her legs. Mia immediately toddled off of the towel and into the sand. She picked up a handful of sand and threw it at her mom’s legs. Arden merely shook off the sand.
“It’s unfair that you can get a nice pretty tan and I’m going to end up looking like a lobster and I’ll probably gain a hundred more freckles.” She nodded at my already natural olive-toned skin. She tugged her hair back into a ponytail and then began slathering herself in sunscreen before grabbing Mia and putting some on her too.
“Hey, I might get a tan but I’d kill for your hair.”
“I guess we all want what we can’t have,” she quipped.
Hayes strolled over to us and squatted down so that he was at our level. “I thought Ms. Mia might want to dip her toes in the ocean, if that’s okay?” He addressed Arden.
“Sure, if she wants to.”
Hayes turned to Mia. “Want to be a mermaid?”
The little girl nodded her head enthusiastically and I wondered if she actually knew what he said. I wasn’t around kids enough to know what they understood at what age.
Hayes picked up Mia and lifted her onto his shoulders. She grabbed the longer strands of hair on top of his head and tugged. “Horsie!” She cried.
Hayes winced and loosened her fingers. “Don’t do that.”
“Sowwy.” She frowned.
Before she could get too upset he took off running, holding on tight to her, and her giggles trailed behind her.
Beside me Arden shook her head. “It’s the craziest thing. Normally Mia hates strangers, so I don’t know what it is about him that she likes so much.”
“He’s a nice guy,” I supplied.
“I suppose so.” She shadowed her eyes with a hand to her forehead as she watched Hayes and Mia in the ocean. He was holding her now, barely dipping her toes into the water. She giggled and her legs flailed wildly.
Mathias and Remy sat in chairs off behind us beneath an umbrella, far enough away that they had some privacy from the rest of us.
Emma and Maddox were talking to the man we’d seen earlier about something, while Ezra was walking down the beach.
I itched to join him, but I knew Emma would see and draw conclusions.
I hated keeping our arrangement a secret from her, but I had to. No one could know. It was already messy enough with only Ezra and I involved. But if the others found out, I knew they’d root for us to end up a couple, and when we didn’t I feared that would lead them all to feel like they had to pick sides. If they didn’t know, they couldn’t form an opinion and pass judgment.
I watched Ezra pause and stoop down to pick something up out of the sand. He turned it over in his hand before tucking it into his palm. He squeezed it tight and continued on.
“I’m going to take a nap.”
Arden glanced at me and arched a brow. “Didn’t you go to bed early?”
“Uh…yeah. But the beach sun makes me really sleepy,” I lied. I couldn’t tell her the truth—that Ezra had kept me up most of the night. The possibility of getting caught had heightened every sensation in my body, and the effort to quiet my cries of pleasure had been exhausting.
“Okay,” she said doubtfully. “I’m just going to read for a little bit since Mia’s occupied. I never get to read anymore.”
I nodded and laid back. My sunglasses shielded my eyes from the sun and the warmth from the rays felt like a blanket.
I really was sleepy and in no time I drifted off.
Cold water prickled the skin of my stomach and I jolted into a seated position.
“What the hell?!” I exclaimed and looked up to find Hayes standing over me with a squirt gun. Where he found that I had no idea.
He smiled boyishly. “I didn’t think you’d want to miss this.”
“Miss what?”
He pointed to the sky.
“What the hell?” I repeated, blinking my eyes. “Is that—?”
“Yep,” he answered, grinning at the sight before us with his hands on his narrow hips.
“They’re insane!” I stood up, leaning my head back so I could see better.
Maddox and Emma were parasailing. To say they were adrenaline junkies was an understatement. They were always looking for another crazy adventure.
Ezra stood a few feet away with his phone held aloft, videoing our crazy best friends.
“One day they’re going to get themselves killed,” I groaned.
Zip lining, skydiving, and now parasailing. What was next? Cliff-jumping?
“Probably,” Hayes answered.
“Did I say that out loud?”
He chuckled and nodded.
“Oops.” I glanced away and noticed that Arden and Mia were gone. “Where did Arden go?”
“Mia was sleepy so she headed back to the car. We’re leaving after these two finish.” He pointed up at the sky.
“I’m posting this on YouTube,” Ezra chuckled, “the whole world needs to see these fools.”
“Wouldn’t your manager have a heart attack if he knew Maddox was up here?”
“Hells yeah,” Hayes laughed. “He’ll probably shit his pants. Julian is such a fucking fun-sucker.” He paused, his lips pursed in thought. “Maybe if he got laid he’d be happier.” He snapped his fingers together with a sudden though. “Ez, we should hire a hooker for him.”
I reached out and smacked the back of his head.
“Ow,” he rubbed the spot and mockingly glared at me, “that hurt.”
“Aw, poor baby.” I pouted. “I think you’ll live.”
Hayes smiled and his eyes dipped to my breasts.
I rolled my eyes and pointed to my face. “Eyes up here Hayes.”
“Sorry,” he cleared his throat, “I just can’t help myself. They’re just right in my face.”
“Dude,” Ezra glared, anger flashing in his eyes as he completely forgot about the video he was currently taking, “do you want me to punch you in the face?”
“Oh, so are you two—?” He trailed off, waving a finger between Ezra and me.
“No,” Ezra said adamantly, tucking his phone into the pocket of his board shorts, “but have some respect.”
Hayes made a sound in the back of his throat that made it obvious he didn’t believe Ezra. “Whatever. I’m going back to the cars. You guys can wait for them.”
Ezra let out a heavy sigh and crossed his hands behind his head. He wouldn’t look at me and that began to worry me. I stayed where I was, refusing to be the first one to break the silence.
“What have we done?” He asked, staring out at the sparkling ocean.
“What do you mean?”
He lowered his hands and plopped in the sand, draping his arms over his knees. “I knew this was a bad fucking idea, but I wanted you too much to say no,” he continued, “but this fucking sucks, Sadie. Anytime another guy even glances in your direction I want to punch him in the face.” He slowly raised his head and his dark gaze connected with mine. “I’m not allowed to have those feelings. You’re not mine.”
You’re not mine. Those words stung like a slap to my face.
“This is just sex. It’s not real.”
It’s not real. Another slap.
It was tearing me apart that he didn’t return my feelings, but I was still all too willing to take what he would give me for however long. The pain was worth knowing what it felt like to be held in his arms.
“Right?”
His voice startled me from my thoughts. I sat down beside him, crossing my legs in the sand. I picked up a handful of sand and watched it sift through my open fingers.
“Right,” I
echoed, immediately hating that word. How could a word that by its very definition meant correct feel so undeniably wrong?
He reached over and took my hand in his, holding it until he was forced to let go.
I wished so desperately that we could have more than stolen moments, but wishing gets you nowhere, because wishes don’t exist.
As our friends joined us once more we headed out to lunch and then back to the beach house. Both of us forced our conversation out of our minds.
We had to.
At least I did, because letting myself believe for one single second that I’d heard a note of longing in his voice when he asked me if he was right, would lead me to feel nothing but anguish later on because it would give me hope, and hope was suffocating.
We laid around on the beach for a while before the guys got the brilliant idea to play beach volleyball. They were forcing all of us to play too, except for Remy. Mathias glared at his brother and friends, daring them to go against his wishes and let her play.
Remy was fine with sitting out though, which I knew made Mathias feel relieved.
There was already a net set up on the beach, between our house and the next one, which was currently vacant, but we didn’t have a ball. All three guys—minus Mathias who chose to stay behind with Remy—headed to the store.
While they were gone the rest of us ventured into the house to cool off. My skin felt heated to the touch, but I wasn’t burned, unlike poor Arden who was starting to look a little red. She hadn’t been exaggerating about the whole lobster thing.
I poured myself a glass of ice water and took a seat at one of the kitchen stools.
Emma ventured in and fixed a glass of water too. Her blonde hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun and she wore a sheer ivory cover-up over her bikini. It had fringe on the hem, which made it very Emma-like.
She sat down beside me and I smiled. “So…do you want to see what I’ve sketched for your dress?” The wedding was fast approaching so I had to start the actual process of making her dress soon, so I hoped she loved what I’d come up with.
“Ooh! Yes!” Her blue eyes glimmered with excitement. “I wanna see!”
“Wait here.” I instructed her before running upstairs to grab my sketchpad.
In Your Heart Page 19