by Holly Renee
"I wasn't really concerned about it, to be honest." I looked back and forth between him and Olly who couldn't stop smiling.
"That just makes me like you more."
"Are they harassing you?" Beck held out the most delicious apple I had ever seen in my direction as he stared at his friend.
"Nope." I reached forward and grabbed the apple before quickly sinking my teeth into it. "Carson was just asking for advice on how to please a girl with such a tiny penis. Apparently, he's been getting a lot of complaints."
Beck laughed just as Carson winked at me. "Carrie hasn't been complaining."
Allie groaned next to me, and I couldn't just let him walk away with that parting shot. Not when he had just questioned where I stood with Beck and definitely not after the way he had been treating my best friend.
"Carrie doesn't seem like she complains about much." I pointed toward her with the apple that was good enough to make me moan. "She seems pretty content to just follow you around."
I knew I shouldn't have said it. I was being petty and cruel, and I didn't even know this girl. But Carson made me stabby when it came to Allie.
"Says the girl who had a sex tape on Instagram but is still out here with Cami's man."
The apple was halfway back to my mouth when her words registered. All I could do was stare at her, this girl I didn't even know.
"Fuck you, Carrie." That came from Allie at my side, and I knew that she was as angry as I was.
"He's not Cami's man." It was the only thing I could think of as her words repeated over and over in my head. I didn't care that she thought I was an idiot for being here with Beck after what he had done. I didn't care what anyone thought, but I did care that Cami still had some sort of fucking claim on him.
At least in everyone else's eyes.
"That's not what she said." She shook her phone in my direction. "She said that she was with him last night."
She thought she had something over me. Some secret information that would make me crumble, but she didn’t.
"I’m well aware of where Beck was last night," I said it as calmly as I could manage. "I trust Beck, and he already told me that he was with Cami."
"Drop that shit, Carrie." Carson's words were firm, and she actually had the audacity to look embarrassed.
"I was just saying."
"Well, don't." I stood and walked away from her. "If someone needs something from you, I'm sure Carson will snap his fingers."
I could hear Olly snickering behind me, but I didn't care. I was too busy focusing on not letting what she said get to me. Because it was. No matter how hard I tried to push it aside.
It mattered that people thought Beck was still hers. It mattered that I couldn't seem to compete with Cami even when Beck was here with me.
Beck caught up to me quickly as I walked away, and he wrapped his fingers around mine without a second thought. "Don't let her get to you."
"I'm not." I shook my head even though it was a lie.
"You are, but don't. I'm yours." He squeezed my hand, and that one simple move, that one little phrase, calmed something inside me instantly.
"All mine?" I looked over at him and the way the setting sun seemed to glow against his skin. He was so damn gorgeous that it was unfair.
He didn't even try. He just was.
And I was a sucker for it even though I knew that I shouldn't let the way he was grinning at me flip my stomach. I couldn't do anything to stop it.
"All yours." He lifted my hand and brought it to his mouth, and I was mesmerized as I watched his lips meet my skin. "And you're all mine."
"I don't think I agreed to that part."
He narrowed his eyes at me just as he pulled me in closer. "Don't worry. You did."
"Did I?" I cocked my head to the side and slowly ran my tongue over the caramel apple that was becoming sticky in my hand.
"Be careful, Josie." Beck wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and pulled me toward him. He kissed me, the caramel on my lips mixing between us, but he didn't care. "I'll start getting territorial, and you might not like that."
I would definitely like that.
Just the words made me press my thighs together.
"And what exactly would you getting territorial look like?" I ran my tongue over my apple again, and he watched the movement as if he couldn't look away.
"Josie."
"Yeah?" I asked innocently just before he grabbed the apple out of my hand and chucked it in the trash. "Hey! I was eating that!"
He wasn't listening to me, though. He was too busy pulling me through the crowd and away from our friends who were still a few yards behind us.
He tugged me forward until we reached the end of the boardwalk that was scattered with ancient arcade games, and he didn't waste a second before he pushed me against the side of the wall where a loud pinball machine was going off.
"What are you doing?" I laughed as he kissed my jaw with his hands on my hips.
"Kissing you," he practically growled, and I did nothing to stop him.
"We're in public." I looked around, but no one could really see us where we stood. We were almost directly in the middle of the crowd, but we were far enough hidden away that no one was paying us one bit of attention.
"I don't care, princess." He snaked his hand up into my hair, and I let my hair fall back against the machine. "I need you."
He was out of his mind. He hadn't stopped touching me since we had arrived. "Beck."
"Yes?" He was still kissing me, running his lips and tongue over my skin, and I felt like I was going insane. I knew that we shouldn't be doing this here, but God, I wanted him just as badly as he said he wanted me. I felt irrational in my want for him. In my need.
"We can't do this here." I chuckled as I clung to him harder. He pressed his thigh between mine, and I thought I was going to die from the friction. I needed more. More of this, more of him, more of anything he was willing to give me.
He leaned back to look at me, then tugged me forward. He didn't stop until we walked down the long pier of the boardwalk and onto the beach. And I didn't stop him.
I didn't stop him as the sand flew up around his stomping steps or as he found a spot on the beach that was mostly abandoned. I definitely didn't stop him as he sat down in the sand or when he pulled me down over him until my knees straddled his lap.
I ran my fingers through his hair as I stared down at him, and he was looking up at me with so much want that it was intoxicating.
"I'm so glad you're here." He tugged me impossibly closer to him, and I groaned as our bodies connected.
"I'm glad I'm here too." I nodded and let my fingers slip down his neck.
"And are you glad you're mine?" he teased me, and I couldn't deny him anymore. I couldn't pretend that I was anything other than his.
"Of course, I am."
He pushed forward, bringing his mouth to mine, and this kiss was much slower than the one before. This kiss was deliberate and seductive and made me feel like I was falling apart in his hands.
He ran his fingers down my back, and I couldn't stop myself as I rocked against him. My knees dug into the sand, but I didn't care. I just wanted to be closer to him. I wanted to forget where he began and I ended.
I wanted to forget that there was anything other than the two of us.
And he let me.
He held me as I fell into the kiss and he guided me as I rolled my hips against his. He felt as desperate as I did. The two of us not caring that there were plenty of people around us that we should have been aware of.
I couldn't bring myself to care.
Beck moved me off his lap and onto the sand beside him. I thought he was going to stop us, but he didn't. He rolled toward me, both of us on our sides, and he pushed my hair out of my face before he kissed me again.
He peppered kisses along my lips before sucking my bottom lip into his mouth, and I groaned as I moved impossibly closer to him.
"You are so much trouble." He
ran his hand down my side as I lifted my thigh and draped it across his.
"I am not." I was still kissing him, and I didn't care that he thought I was trouble. I didn't care if he wanted to stop this. There was no way that I could.
"You are." He wrapped his arm around my back and forced my chest flush against his. "But I think I'm falling for you."
His words were a whisper, but they stopped my heart in its tracks. I was falling for him too. About that, I was one hundred percent certain, but he didn't give me a chance to respond.
He kissed me like he was dying to do so, and I let him. I let him kiss me and kiss me, and I kissed him back with just as much need. I kissed him back in a way that I hoped he knew how far gone I already was when it came to him.
I wasn't falling for Beck Clermont.
I had already fallen, and there was no way that I could take any of it back now.
Not even with my father's threats or the risk of my future on the line. Beck was more than any of that. He was more than anything I had ever known, and for the first time since I lost my mom, I felt like I might actually be okay.
As long as I had Beck and my friends, I would be okay.
I knew that deep in my gut.
Beck's finger toyed with the top of my jean shorts, and I pushed my hips forward. I wanted more from him. I didn't care that anyone could catch us on this beach. I didn't care that I could still hear the sounds of laughter on the boardwalk.
Nothing mattered but him.
He slid his hand just under the top of my jeans, and I gasped as his fingers skimmed the top of my bare pussy. It felt so forbidden, so risky, but God, it was thrilling. I peeked up around him before pressing my face back into his neck, but no one was watching us.
Everyone was lost in their own little worlds, and not a single one of them cared what was happening between us.
Beck rolled his fingertip over my clit, and I moaned into his shoulder. I was already so close and he had barely even touched me. Beck knew it too.
He swirled his finger in my wetness as he forced his thigh between mine, and I clung to his shoulders as my legs began to shake. I could smell the saltwater and his addictive cologne, and I wanted to be lost in it. I wanted to be lost in him.
"Take me to the water," I whispered against his skin.
"Here?" His chuckle was deep and throaty, and I knew he was as far on the edge as I was.
I nodded my head, dying for him to move, and he quickly stood and lifted me in his arms. I wrapped my legs around his waist and kicked off my sandals as he pushed into the water.
He didn't care that he was fully clothed, or that I was, and he didn't stop until the water lapped at our shoulders. His mouth was on mine again. Teasing, tasting, devouring, and I was falling apart.
He didn't hesitate as he buried his hand back into my shorts, and I moved against him, chasing the friction of his hand. Chasing the feeling that only he could give me.
My clothes were soaked and sticking to my skin, but all I cared about was him and chasing the feeling he was giving me. The waves crashed against my back, and he crashed into me everywhere else. He wasn't gentle as he moved his hand over my clit in quick circles, and I tried to lift my body to give him better access as he moved a finger inside me.
I fumbled with his own clothes, trying desperately to get my hands on his skin, and he groaned loudly into my shoulder when I finally wrapped my hand around his cock. He was impossibly hard and slick under the water, and I wasted no time as I began stroking him in the same rhythm that he was moving against me.
Neither of us teased or took our time. We were both desperate for each other, desperate for a release, and if I was being honest, I was desperate to have him in my hand and know that he belonged to me. A part of me hoped that Carrie could see us now, I wished that she would know exactly what we were doing under the water, and I wanted her to report it back to Cami.
I wanted her to feel exactly how I felt every time I hear someone say that he belonged to her, that she was somehow his.
I wanted her to choke on that feeling like I had been choking on it for weeks.
Beck pushed his palm hard against my clit as he sucked my neck into this mouth, and I cried out as I could do nothing to stop the orgasm from rolling through me. I pumped my hand harder and faster as I tried to control the feeling that was rolling through me with his pleasure, but it was only a moment later when I felt his hot cum hit my hand and mix with the cool ocean water.
The two of us stood there, him holding us both up, while I sagged against him, and I didn't move for a long moment. I let the feeling he had just caused rock through me with the beat of the ocean and tried like hell to get myself back under control.
We still had to walk all the way back down the boardwalk completely soaked, but I didn't care. I was with Beck and I was deliriously happy, and nothing and no one was going to ruin that.
Not now.
Not while we still had this moment in time where there was nothing but us.
I lifted my head from his shoulder and looked at him before smoothing some water from his face. "I think I might be falling for you too," I whispered words that didn't need to be said.
He knew. He had to know.
But his answering grin was enough to make my heart skyrocket again. It was enough to make me want him, even though he had just wrung every bit of pleasure from my body.
"That's good to hear, princess." Then he kissed me, and I knew that there was no turning back from this. Whatever Beck wanted from me was his. All he had to do was take it.
Chapter Twenty-one
Beck
Josie couldn’t stop touching me, and I couldn’t stop touching her.
I didn’t want this weekend to end. I didn’t want to give up this bubble we had created around us and our friends that blocked out the rest of the world, but we had to.
This wasn’t real life. Unfortunately, both of us had to face our realities.
"One more kiss." I gripped her around her waist and pulled her back into me.
She giggled as her hands hit my chest. "You said that with the last kiss."
"I lied." I pressed my lips to her and ran my tongue over her soft bottom lip.
"I have to go." She pushed against my chest and grabbed her bag off the ground before jogging up to her front door.
I walked back around my car, my keys in my hand and a stupid fucking smile on my face, and I was still so lost in her that I almost missed Mr. Vos leaning against his garage door with his arms crossed against his chest.
My steps faltered, and even though I wasn’t scared of the man, I would be lying if I said just the sight of him didn’t put some fear in me.
I wasn’t foolish enough to not realize how much power he held.
I didn’t say a word to him. I simply walked to the driver’s side door of my SUV and put my hand on the handle. Before I could open it, he pushed off the wall and walked in my direction.
"Beckham, I guess it’s safe to assume that my daughter was with you all weekend instead of where she said she was going to be."
I hesitated but looked up at him. I didn’t know what to say. He clearly saw me dropping her off, and if it wasn’t for her, I would have told him to go straight to hell. But this was Josie’s father. This man controlled everything for her.
"That’s all right." He tucked his hands in his pockets and looked back toward his house. "I don’t need you to answer me."
"What are you going to do?" I didn’t know why I said it, but I knew that he was going to do something. I knew that he was going to hurt Josie for disobeying him.
"Beckham, I know you think you have life all figured out, but you’re young. You are going to meet plenty of pretty girls in your lifetime, and you’ve had enough of your fun with mine."
His words enraged me, but I couldn’t for the life of me form a complete thought to say back to him. "What?"
He just watched me, completely cool, fully at ease with what he was saying.
"M
y daughter is not going to be with you." He leaned back against the hood of my car. "You’re not good enough for her."
"From what Josie says, I’m surprised to hear that you care about her at all."
"Josie is my daughter. She is my blood. Of course, I care about her."
"I care about her too."
He pressed his lips together as he shook his head and looked away from me. "I don’t think my daughter needs the kind of care you give her. I think far too many people learned about your kind of care a few weeks ago."
"I didn’t…"
He interrupted me before I could finish my sentence. "Your ass is lucky that you’re not in jail. The fact that you’re still running around with her and that she seems to have forgotten that you showed her exactly who you are is nothing but luck on your part."
"Me?" I pointed to my chest, and my damn hand was shaking. "What about your stepson? I think both of us know that if anyone deserves anything, it would be him."
He nodded softly, and I knew that he was as aware of that fact as I was. Even if he was the one who got Lucas out of everything.
"We’re not here to discuss Lucas, though, are we? We’re here to talk about you staying the hell away from my daughter."
"And why should I listen to you?" I cocked my head to the side and studied this man that I hated so much. "What makes you think that I would ever do anything that you wanted?"
"It’s called leverage, Beckham, and it’s something that you need to learn about if you’re going to be half as successful as your father."
"You don’t have any leverage over me anymore. You already used that card with your piece of shit son."
"Not on you. Her?" He nodded up to his house, and I knew that he saw the panic that must have flashed in my eyes. "She’ll either leave you alone or she’ll lose."
"She’ll lose what?" I knew what Cami had told me, but I needed to hear it from his lips. I needed to hear the selfish bastard tell me exactly what he would do to his daughter if she didn’t do things his way. If she didn’t do exactly what he wanted her to.
"Everything." He pushed away from my car and began walking toward the house. "You leave my daughter alone or she’ll lose everything she cares about. Her mother’s house. The money her mother left her." He ran his hand over his hair and looked back at me. "Did she tell you that she plans on getting as far away from this place as she can once she graduates?"