Which, for some strange reason, annoyed me.
I lied back on the towel, pulling the hem of my dress down and closing my eyes. Ah, this is life. Sitting under the palm trees on the beach and hearing people yelling and kids laughing…
I opened my eyes to find Darius looking at me. “What?” I asked. He shook his head and took out his phone. I rolled my eyes. I really should lock that phone away. This guy didn’t even bring his bathers!
I, being the smarter one in this marriage, had worn my bathers underneath my dress since I never did like changing in those horrible toilets at the beach, if you can even find them in the first place.
“Hey.”
I opened one eyes to see a shadow, or six, shadows looming over us.
“You guys interested in joining our volleyball game? We need two more players.”
I sat up, nodding my head. “Yep!” I said while Darius just shot me a look.
“Awesome,” he said with a smile and I stood up, looking at Darius as he also stood up and raised an eyebrow.
“You know how to play?”
“Of course,” he said, looking at me like I was an idiot. My bad. I thought rich kids didn't like getting their hands down and dirty. Correction. I thought Darius wouldn’t partake in such activity with complete strangers.
“You guys can have the girl. She may be hot but she’s not gonna know how to play,” I heard one of the guys whisper.
“Hey! For your information, I played 5 years in a male hockey team,” I snapped, glaring at the guy.
He turned around to stare at me with a raised eyebrow. “Sure.”
I glared back at him. Asshole. Let’s do him some collateral damage.
Darius and I were split to opposite teams, and, of course, the grey-eyed asshole was on his team. Perfect for me to plan my revenge.
“Okay, this is the plan,” said Henry, the captain of our team.
“Kyle, you and Jeffery take the back and Aluminium and I will take the front. You guys are the tallest so you will be able to pass back.”
“MY name is NOT Aluminium!” I replied, facing them as they all gave me blank stares.
“That's what he said,” said Henry, pointing to Darius, and I glared. Of course he did.
“It’s Ivory,” I said. They all nodded and Henry continued with the plan. After a little team hug we all took our spots.
Darius could play.
Now I wasn’t exactly sure if this was a good thing.
Damn, he could play. But I knew I could play just as well. I just needed to up my game. Darius scored eight of their team’s points and I had done nine. It wasn’t much but we were ahead by just one small point.
The grey-eyed asshole – his name is Daniel – served, which landed right to Jeff who passed it to me and I hit it back into their court, which was, of course, picked up by Daniel who passed it back.
I could tell this was going to be another long rally as neither of us wanted to give up.
There was a small crowd by the time we were nearly finished.
“Hey, can we join?”
Jeffrey paused his serve and our group turned around to see three guys approaching us with smiles.
Jeffrey looked around and Henry shrugged. “Yeah, sure. We’re nearly done and you guys can join in then.”
“Nah, we’ll help you finish. Just a quick game. We saw you lot have been playing for ages,” said the second one, shooting me a look. What was his problem? Girls can’t play?
“Sure, I guess, then. One of you guys can join us and then the other there, and the third just watch till we’re done or else it’ll be uneven.”
“It’s fine, he can join us. I need to take a phone call anyway.”
I looked around to see it was Darius who had spoken. Daniel groaned, slapping Darius on the back. “You gotta go, man?”
Darius laughed, nodding. “I’ll be back.” He walked off and I sighed.
Typical him. Who was it? Another model-girlfriend of his?
“Hey, I’m Blake.”
I looked up to see one of the guys smiling at me.
“And I’m Aluminium,” I said. Henry cracked up laughing and Blake shot him a look of confusion. “Is that really your name?” he asked.
I raised an eyebrow. “Are you mocking my name?”
Blake put up a hand with his palm up, shaking his head. “I didn’t mean it like that, just-”
I frowned, returning my attention to the game. I wouldn’t mind telling him my real name, but the way he was looking at me, I would rather not tell him. And it didn’t help that the others continued to call me Aluminium even after I told them I was Ivory.
I watched the ball rally between Daniel and Henry before Henry scored the point and I cheered. Take that, grey-eyed moron.
We all swapped spots and I switched with Jeffery so he had a shot at the front.
“You single?” asked Blake, switching with Kyle. I shot him a look.
“No,” I said. Well technically, I wasn’t really single and like I was going to tell him that. The way Blake watched me gave me the shivers.
“Hey man, you playing?” questioned Henry. Blake turned around to serve the ball and I sent Henry a thankful smile, which he returned with a wink.
Henry had scored the last winning point, giving us a margin and making us win.
“And someone said girls can’t play,” I said as Daniel walked up to us. He laughed and ruffled my hair like I was some kid.
“Hey!” I whined, pulling away.
He laughed as his other team members joined us.
“There’s a party on the beach tonight. Do you guys want to come?” asked Blake as his two other mates joined us. Mustafa, one of Blake’s friends, was explaining where and when and I barely listened. Darius and I had plans to go to the football and no party was going to sway my decision. I was going to go to that match alright!
“You have really nice legs,” whispered Blake quietly and sent me a wink. I frowned, stepping aside from him that made me end up getting out of the small circle we had all formed.
“I reckon they would be better wrapped around me.”
I stared at him in disgust.
“Hey, leave the girl alone,” barked Jeffrey, looking back at us and Blake laughed, punching his shoulder playfully.
“I’m joking, bro. You never know. She might want to, you know,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. I stared at Blake. What the hell did that mean?
“Back off. She’s taken,” said Daniel, glaring. I stared at the guys I barely met a few hours ago and who were already taking my side. I smiled, my heart swelling with pride. They were nicer than I thought, and I would have never expected that Daniel would stick up.
“Just saying we can share the goods, bro,” he said suggestively, shooting me a smile. I did a double take, my eyes widening. Did he just say what I think he said? Did he think I was some common whore they could pass around?
I opened my mouth to snap at him when I heard another voice.
“We can share.”
My jaw dropped open and I turned around to yell at whoever said that. But then I heard the last part and my heart skipped a beat.
“But the thing is, mate, I don’t share.”
Chapter FOURTEEN
Blake excused him and his friends pretty quickly and left just as quickly after that. I watched as Darius mingled with the guys. Did he mean what – oh come on, Ivory, he was joking. Of course he didn’t mean it. Did you forget that the guy hates you?
“See ya, Aluminium.” I looked up as Henry waved goodbye.
“Where are they going?” I asked. Darius walked over after giving them all a handshake. So business-like.
“Home,” he said. I frowned. Damn, I liked them. They were nice, unlike other people I’ve met in my life. They’ve become my friends. They did not care about our money or our past. They met us on the beach and for all I knew, they probably thought we were like normal people.
“Come on, let’s go.”
“Where
are we going?” I asked as we headed back to our spot on the beach.
“I need to make a phone call and you said you were going to collect seaweed or something.”
“Shells,” I corrected him.
“That,” he said. I grabbed my plastic bag from the ground and walked toward the rock pools while he leaned against the palm tree to use his phone. I rolled my eyes. So much for a break from work.
I didn’t care anyway. I looked down at the rock pools, smiling. Time to find my lovely shells. I bent down to pick up a plain shell, turning it over in my hands before placing it in my bag.
It was a good ten minutes later I placed another shell in my bag and looked around. Most of the people on the beach has left. I moved toward the rock pool shores away from the surfing area.
I squinted against the bright sun, focusing my eyes on a shiny object. Was that a shell? I dropped my bag and walked toward the object that was closer to the forest than the beach. As I got closer, I realised that the object was indeed a shell.
I picked it up and brushed the sand off. I saw the nearly rainbow-like colours on the pearl-like shell. I turned it around in my hands and noticed the letter engraved into it and froze.
10 months ago
“What are you doing?”
I looked up and pulled the shell under me. “Nothing,” I sang. James raised an eyebrow.
“Show me,” he said, grasping my sides and rolling me over. I lay back on the sand hiding the shell in my hand.
“Over my dead body.”
He made a grab for me but I stood up quickly and made a run for it.
“Iv!” he yelled. I looked over my shoulder to see him running after me.
I yelped, running faster, but he was faster. I felt two hands around my waist, pulling me back against his chest.
“Ivory,” said the stern voice.
Laughter bubbled from me as he held me against him and I leaned in his hands trying to pull out.
“Let me go!” I laughed, trying to get away. He spun me around so now I was looking into his eyes.
“Ivory.”
“Yes?”
“Show me,” he said. With one arm wrapped around my waist, he leaned in, his mouth centimetres away from mine.
“Is that all you going to say?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. He chuckled and I could feel the rumble from his chest.
“What is it?” he asked. My eyes fluttered close as he traced my lips and stroked my cheek, running his finger down the nape of my neck across to my shoulder and down my arm till he reached my palm where I was holding the shell.
“You going to tell me, little Ivory?” he asked. I opened my eyes to look at him.
“It’s a shell.”
“I figured,” he said with a laugh.
“With our initials engraved,” I said.
He smiled. “Show me.” His fingers tried opening mine and I released them, giving him the shell. It was a colourful shell, one I’ve never seen before. He turned it over in his palm, a smile etching onto his face.
“I love it,” he said, quickly pecking my lips.
“Mine,” I snapped as I reached for it. He held it above my head beyond my reach. With a frown I folded my hands across my chest, or tried to, since he was still holding me and I leaned back.
“Nope, I’m going to keep it forever,” he said.
“Forever?” I said, scoffing. He leaned forward and I leaned back as far as I could.
“Forever,” he said, his lips so close I could nearly feel them.
Present Time
“Hey!”
I blinked back several times and found myself looking into a pair of green eyes. It was so sudden that I yelped and leaped backwards, tripping over to the sand. I looked up at Darius who was staring at me.
“What the heck. You scared the shit out of me.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You were standing there like a frozen idiot for the past three minutes while I was talking.”
“You were talking?” I asked, standing up and brushing the dust off my dress.
“Yes, what’s that?” he asked, nodding toward my hand.
“Nothing. Just a shell,” I said, holding it up. The initials weren’t ours, and it wasn’t the exact shell I had but it was so close it reminded me of the time I wanted to forget.
“Anyway, we should go.”
“Huh?” I asked.
“It’s nearly time for the football match,” he said. I nodded with a smile and grabbed the bag of shells he was holding for me.
“By the way, you’re loading the car,” he said, smirking and walking off. I looked at him in disbelief.
“Hey, that’s not fair!” I yelled at his retreating figure.
Chapter fifteen
Like a man of his word, which I don’t appreciate, he had made me pack the whole car up. I shouldn't have brought all that stuff if I wasn't going to use it.
How was I meant to know! I thought I would use all that stuff. Sheesh.
"What are all those for, anyway?" He was referring to the three bags on my lap. I smiled, looking down at the seashells as he pulled into our driveway.
"Oh, we’ll us-" I stopped mid sentence, my mouth hanging open as I took in the scene in front of me.
"Is there a party that we are unaware of?" I asked. Darius looked at me with the same look of confusion etched onto his face. In our driveway - well, the driveway for this week – were three cars I had never ever seen before.
Darius swore under his breath, braking the car suddenly that I flew forward before my seat belt pulled me back.
"Okay? Care to share?" I asked. This person beside me, who was finally acting like a real human the past days, turned back to his old self. Cold. Businesslike. I can sense that this wasn’t going to be good.
The moment the car came to a full stop, he jumped out and I looked at him before he slammed the door in my face. Well, that's nice.
"Wait for me," I muttered, putting my bags on the floor of the car and unbuckling myself with some difficulty. Rushing out of the car, I turned around to follow him when something tugged at my clothes. I turned back to realise that I had closed the door on myself. I grumbled as I tugged at my shirt.
Perfect.
I ran into the house after him. I heard voices and rushed toward the lounge room.
"Wh-oh god," I muttered, seeing the people before me. It was no other than both our parents sitting on the couch. Darius didn't look any happier, leaning against the far wall away from them like they were infectious.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, looking at my parents. My mother feigned a gasp while my father cracked a smile as he stood up.
"There's my girl. We were in town and we decided to stop by," he said, looking at my in-laws then at me. I raised an eyebrow, in town?
They do realise that was hard to believe. Did ‘in town’ mean travelling for more than half a day?
"We have decided to stay with you for the last two days," said my mother matter-of-factly. I imagined my jaw hitting the ground in surprise.
"Absolutely not!"
"Now, now, Darius. That's no way to speak to your mother-in-law," said his father, standing up. I looked back and forth between father and son who were having a stare down.
I only just realised how much they looked alike. Apart from getting his mother's stunning eyes and sharp features, Darius’ strong build and height came from his father.
Wait, did I just check them both out?
Gross.
Instead, I turned to stare at my parents.
"We will be like...invisible. You guys continue," said my mother, waving her hands. Invisible? My mother? The center of attention. I scoffed, unladylike, and she glared at me.
"We'll just be in the guests rooms and you guys just continue. We want to see this town as well."
If they were going to take the guest rooms, where would I sleep?
"I'm out," I said, putting my hands up and stepping backwards.
"I'm not finished talking to you, Iv
ory" It was my mother.
Marriage by Law Page 10