by Nella Tyler
The big, gorgeous bastard smiled. “Whatcha doin’?”
“Go, Bennie!” The big guy stepped around me, and I kicked him right in that sexy tat on the back of his leg. It was like kicking steel – my toes hurt and he didn’t even flinch. He went after Bennie, and I went after him. I saw him reach out and take Bennie down, board and all, with one hand just as poor Bennie reached the end of the alley. “Let him go!”
“It’s okay, Summer,” Bennie’s voice sounded out of breath and I realized it was because his sexy captor had his knee in his back. I grabbed the guy’s massive arm and tried to pull him up off of my friend. He looked amused as he wrapped the other one around my waist and pulled me down against him. I wondered how sick it was that I was enjoying the way his body felt against me. I started trying to squirm away, but he only held me tighter. I heard Bennie grunt and realized we were probably killing him.
“Be still!” the sexy dickwad snapped at me.
“Let him up and I will!”
The big guy looked down at Bennie and said, “Fine, I’m going to get off of you, but unless you want to hit that hard ground again, I’d suggest you don’t go anywhere.” Bennie grunted again. The big guy took that as consent and stood up, taking me with him. I started twisting and kicking again. “I thought you were going to be still,” he said, tucking me more tightly underneath his arm.
“Let go of me!”
“Not until I’m sure you’re not going to run.”
I looked down at poor Bennie, who was still on the ground trying to catch his breath. “I wouldn’t leave him here, now let go of me!” I felt the wind rush back into my lungs as he sat me down. I was also cold as soon as he let go of me. His body was not only as hard as a rock, it was literally hot. “We weren’t stealing the board,” I said, foolishly.
The hunk raised an eyebrow as Bennie groaned. “Really, this guy was going to take it around front and pay for it?”
“Yes,” I folded my arms. He couldn’t prove we weren’t, could he?
“Show me the money.”
“What?”
“Show me the cash or the card you were going to pay for it with.”
“Fuck you!”
“You’ve got some mouth for a little bitty thing,” he said. “Let’s see if it’s still working overtime when the cops get here.” He pulled his fancy iPhone 6S out of his pocket, and I felt a surge of anger burn so hot inside of me that I could only sputter, I couldn’t even form words. Proving he was a dick, the big guy said, “What was that? I didn’t hear you?”
I sucked in a hard breath and tried to still the anger as I said, “Please don’t call the cops.”
He looked back down at Bennie and then at my face. “Why shouldn’t I?”
I didn’t have an answer for that, except that I didn’t want to go to jail. That was probably not good enough so I said, “At least, let him go.”
“No, Summer, I-”
“Shut up, Bennie!”
“Why should I let him go? I caught him red-handed with the board.”
“You saw me hand it to him. He didn’t know I stole it, right, Bennie?”
“Summer-”
“Jesus, Bennie, just tell him you thought I paid for the fucking thing!”
Big and sexy laughed. I think he was having fun. That only served to piss me off more. “So, this guy thought you went in there, bought a surfboard, and handed it out the back door?”
“You can’t prove any different. He never stepped inside of the store. You may as well just let him go.” He was looking at me with those blue eyes. It was taking every hot fiber in my body to hold still and not shiver again.
“True, I didn’t see him in the store, but you, I saw.” He started to press numbers into his phone. I did shiver then, not because of his sexy eyes, but because the anxiety was rolling through me in waves.
“You go to jail, so do I, Summer.” Bennie just wouldn’t let well enough alone. The big guy looked back down at him like he’d forgotten he was there.
“You’re quite the gentleman,” he said.
“Fuck you,” Bennie said. “You’re quite the dick if turning this girl over to the cops is going to make you feel like a man.”
He raised a dark eyebrow again. He seemed torn between shock and amusement that Bennie was still mouthing off after taking a one-armed beat-down. He obviously has never known a street person. “I was actually being serious,” he said. He looked at me and said, “You should appreciate a good friend like him…or is he your boyfriend?”
“No,” I said, a little too quickly. I gave Ben an apologetic look. Later, I’d just tell him I was so adamant because I thought he’d use that against us. For now, I said, “He’s a very good friend. Please, I’ll do anything. Just let him go and don’t call the cops.”
“What’s the board for?” he asked.
“Summer, just let him call the cops-”
“Hush, Bennie! It’s for me. I’m going to enter that contest and win that ten grand.”
“The contest Ruckus is putting on for amateurs?”
My mouth never rests. “I may be considered an amateur, but I could out surf you any day, rich boy.”
He laughed. “Do you know who I am?”
“Narcissi?”
He threw his handsome head back and laughed. “You’re something else. I tell you what – I’ll give you a chance to prove that. Let’s have a little competition tonight, shall we?”
“Summer, just let him call the cops-”
“Hush, Bennie!” The big guy and I said that simultaneously.
“When and where?” I asked.
“Meet me at Black’s Beach at-”
“No fucking way!” Bennie shot up then all the way to his feet. “She’s not meeting you out there-”
“Bennie, I can speak for myself.”
“Summer, you don’t know this creep. He could rape or kill you up there and toss you in the ocean.”
The big guy laughed. “She’s so small, I could throw her over my shoulder and take her anywhere and rape or kill her right now if I wanted to. No, this is about whether or not I should call the cops. I’m torn. I really think I should; it’s the right thing to do. But I like a little healthy competition-”
“It’s not going to be a competition! Summer can’t surf!”
“Bennie!”
“I’m sorry, Summer, but you can’t.”
A slow grin spread across dark and sexy’s face as he said, “How about a handicap?”
“What kind of a handicap?” I asked.
“You surf naked.” He ran those ice blue eyes across my body. I shivered hard as his smile grew wider. Trying to keep the quiver out of my voice I said,
“How in the hell would me being naked give you a handicap?”
He ran his tongue across his lips. My panties were suddenly so damp that I was afraid I’d let my bladder go. “I won’t be able to concentrate on the waves,” he said. I agreed without even giving it any thought, anything to keep from going to jail at this point. I’d think about it later and figure out what to do.
I heard Bennie ask, “What do you plan on doing when she doesn’t show up?”
The big guy smiled and jerked his head towards the shop. “I always know where to find your little friend in there. It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to send the police home after her one day.”
“Fuck,” Bennie muttered as I watched the surfer god collect the surfboard, wink in my direction, and head back into the shop.
Chapter Four
DRAKE
The water was frickin’ freezing. It was times like this that I longed for Australia or Hawaii or even Istanbul. California’s ocean is always cold, no matter how much warmth and sunshine we have during the day. I came home for the tournament at Laguna – and to appease my father. He’s not going to be happy when I leave again, but I doubt that anything I do will ever make him happy.
I kicked at the sand underneath my flip-flop and wondered what the hell I was doing here. I was co
nvinced that Summer wasn’t going to show up before I took that long hike down the cliff carrying two surfboards to get here. I was also scared to death that if I didn’t come, she would show up. After she and her friends took off today, Kobe turned the tables on me. I told him about catching her taking the board, but even Kobe could hear the sound of excuses in my voice as I did.
“Weren’t you the one who was just telling me I had to be wary of these homeless people?”
“Summer’s not homeless.”
He laughed. “What makes you think so?”
“If she was homeless, wouldn’t she be out there panhandling with your girl Phoebe? I’ve never seen her before, have you?”
“I’ve seen her in here; she was probably casing the joint.”
I rolled my eyes. “Have you ever seen her working the streets?”
“No.”
“I was really close to her, and she smells really good, too. She’s clean and her hair looks professionally done-”
“Lots of street people wear dreads. It’s easier for them to take care of.”
“Whatever, she’s not homeless.” I wasn’t sure who I was trying to convince, him or me. I wasn’t sure why it even mattered. She’s clean and she’s the hottest girl I’ve ever laid eyes on…so as long as she’s at least eighteen, it’s on. I wasn’t planning on taking her home to meet the family, anyways. “I’ll give you the money for the board. Don’t call the cops, Kobe, okay?”
He laughed again. “Do you really think I’d call the cops, man? If she would have just asked me for it, I would have given it to her.”
“Well, I’m going to pay for it and I’m going to give it to her,” I told him.
He held out his hand. “Your money, I’ll take.” I felt kind of like a fool now that I stood knee-deep in the water, holding my board and wondering if I wanted to go for a run or just call it a night and make the hike back up before the mist started coming in.
“Hey dick-wad!” The sound of her voice was enough to send my mood from one end of the spectrum to the other, and I never thought being called a dick-wad would make me smile. I was relieved that she showed up. I didn’t want to admit it even to myself, but the thought of not being able to find her again was causing panic to take root.
“You showed up!” I turned to look at her and when she was close enough the crescent moon brought her into my view. She was wearing the same shorts and t-shirt she had on earlier and still looked just as good. Her blonde hair shone underneath the moonlight and the little beads in her hair sparkled. She’s so fucking hot.
“Did you give me a choice?” I could see that she brought her shoulder chip with her.
“Well, yeah, but I guess you didn’t like the other one,” I can be as snippy and sarcastic as she can. “You’re half an hour late. You’re lucky I’m a patient man.”
“Thanks,” her appreciation sounded more like fuck you. “Let’s get this over with. I ditched my bodyguard, but I can’t guarantee you he won’t show up if this takes too long.”
I laughed out loud at that. “That guy was your bodyguard? Whoa, I hope he doesn’t show up-”
“Shut the hell up.” She is definitely loyal to her friends. She dropped the old board she was holding. It looked like it hadn’t been waxed since 1999. I was about to give her a hard time about that when she pulled off her t-shirt. My mouth was suddenly dry and all of my blood was rushing from one head to the other. She was wearing a bikini top underneath, but it looked like her chest had grown since she bought it and her sexy breasts were barely contained. “Don’t stand there with your tongue hanging out. Start stripping.”
“Stripping? Me? That wasn’t the deal.”
She was just about to unbutton those little denim shorts and she stopped and said, “If I surf naked, so do you.”
I have no idea why I didn’t just strip, but she made me want to argue, “I didn’t steal a surfboard.” Her eyes cut over to where the board she’d taken earlier sat stuck in the sand.
“Prove it. You’re the one with the board now, not me. I’m out of here.” She picked up her shirt and was about to pick up her board when I said,
“I bought the board. I have the receipt.” I suddenly didn’t want to argue any longer – I just didn’t want her to go. She stopped and turned to look at me with an even more suspicious look than usual.
“Why?”
“For you, so you can still enter the contest.”
“Why?”
“Listen, I figured if it was that important to you that you’d steal a board for it… I don’t know. I just wanted to give it to you. You don’t have to strip and we don’t have to do any of this, okay? I’m not going to call the cops.”
“Why?” She had her brows drawn together and her hands on her hips. She’s so pretty. I wanted to suck that plump bottom lip of hers into my mouth.
“Is that all you can say tonight?”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“I wanted to do something nice for you. Is that so bad?”
She didn’t say anything, but she reached back and untied her bikini top. I swear to God I nearly had a fucking heart attack. She reached for the button on her shorts again and said, “Are you stripping or am I leaving?”
I grinned. I may be a dick-wad, but I’m not a fool. I pulled off my t-shirt and had my board shorts down in a matter of seconds. For the first time since I met her this afternoon, I saw an emotion on her face that wasn’t anger or suspicion. She was staring at my body like she’d never seen a naked man before and I think she was at least slightly impressed. “You still have those little bottom things on…” She snapped out of her reverie, gave me a dirty look and pulled the bottoms off. My cock literally ached. The cold water would come in handy.
“Let’s go,” she said, laying that old board down in the water.
“Aren’t you going to use your new board?”
She gave me another dirty look, but I was rewarded by the sight of her walking over to get the new one. Damn…she’s so hot. I stood rooted to my spot until she had the board strapped to her ankle and she lay forward on it and started to paddle. It was the most erotic sight I’ve ever seen. It was painful to lie down on my board, even after I hit the freezing water. She looked so fucking good that the cold water wasn’t even doing the trick.
She paddled out into the swell like a pro, but as soon as she jumped up on the board, I saw what her friend was talking about. Her balance was off and her stance was all wrong. Before the little wave hit underneath her board, I knew she was going off. She hit the water, and I dove under for her. As soon as my arm went around her waist, she started fighting me. I hauled her up to the surface and she jerked away from me. “Feeling me up was not part of the deal!”
I laughed. “I was saving you from drowning.”
“I wasn’t drowning.”
“You weren’t surfing, either. Sorry, but your friend was right, you suck.”
She climbed on her board and paddled back towards the beach in a huff. I wasn’t laughing for long as I followed her. That painful ache was back in my cock. She stood up about three feet out and picked up that heavy board. She carried it up to the sand in a huff and started putting her clothes back on. When I climbed out I watched her for a minute and then said, “I admit that was a little harsh. Maybe I should have said your surfing needs some work-”
“Shut up! I don’t care what you think of my surfing.” She was having a hard time wiggling into her shorts. She hadn’t put her shirt back on yet, so it was quite the pretty picture. “Quit staring at my boobs!”
I laughed. “I can’t help it. I’d have to be blind or dead not to. Jesus, you’re hot.” She stopped what she was doing and looked at me. I wished like hell that I could get into her head and find out what she was thinking. I’d never met anyone who hid their thoughts so well.
“You think I’m hot?”
“Um…yeah,” I looked down at my cock that was trying to stretch in her direction. “Isn’t it obvious?”
She shrugged. “I thought you were just horny.”
“That, too. You wouldn’t be interested-”
“I’m not a whore!”
“Excuse me? I never thought you were.”
“Well, I’m not. Guys seem to think homeless girls will do anything for money-”
“Homeless?”
“Duh…don’t act like you didn’t know. Surely, you’re not that stupid.”
“You are a little picture of sunshine, you know that? I really didn’t know you were homeless. I thought you just hung out with that Phoebe girl-”
“Whatever, I have to go.”
“Where do you have to go?” She ignored me, dropped the board, and took off towards the cliffs. She pulled on her shirt as she walked. I grabbed my shorts and stepped into them as I chased after her. “Wait! Summer, wait!” It didn’t take long for me to catch up with her. My stride was three steps to her one. When I did, she stopped and said,
“What do you want from me?”
“I just want to help.”
“Help? Help me do what? I didn’t ask you for any help. I’m out here on this stupid, fucking cold beach with the only set of clothes I have dripping wet because you blackmailed me. What kind of help could I possibly want from a person like that?”
Shit. I wish she would have just kicked me in the balls. It would have hurt less. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I was just having fun and to be honest, I am just that stupid. I never thought you’d show up tonight. I was hoping that you would because I wanted to see you again…but I honestly didn’t think you would. Now, I just feel like a….dick-wad.”
She actually smiled. It was only the second one I’d seen on her beautiful face and the first one had been fake and directed at Kobe. She is drop-dead gorgeous, and I just lost my mind for a second. I reached for her and my hand landed on her hip. I bent down slowly, expecting her to knee me in the crotch. When she didn’t, I put my other hand in her hair and twisted my fingers around one of those braids. Her breaths were coming in short little gasps, and she wasn’t hiding how she felt very well any longer. She cleared her throat just as I brushed my lips across hers. Once again, I braced myself for the attack, but it didn’t come. Instead, she sighed and tipped her head back. Her pretty green eyes were closed and for a few seconds, I just looked at her. “You’re so pretty, Summer.”