I knew I didn’t want to run in the same crowd as Beck did. That party wasn’t my scene, and it certainly wasn’t a scene I wanted to be a part of. Plus, it was highly unlikely I would ever have another moment like this with Beck again, so I didn’t want to taint it with information about my father.
“It’s not that.” He smiled, but this one didn’t seem nearly as sincere as earlier. This was the fake Beck. This was the guy he put on for show. “I’m going to be helping my dad run his business.”
“You’re smiling, but you don’t seem happy about that.”
He chuckled, and it was like I could see his mask slipping firmer into place. “Isn’t it my turn to make an assumption about you? I think we skipped my turn.”
I waved my hand, telling him to go ahead. He took a moment to think, then snapped his fingers. “You, Josie… wait. What’s your last name?”
“I’m not telling you.”
“Why not?”
Because I don’t want you to think differently of me. I don’t want you to judge me solely based on who my family is.
“Because I don’t know you.” I laughed it off. “Next, you’ll be asking me for my social security number.”
He rolled his eyes, and the gesture was so cute on his handsome face.
“Fine. What about a middle name?”
“Rose.” It was a middle name I shared with my mother and just saying it out loud made my chest ache. “What’s yours?”
He winced just the slightest bit. “Eugene.”
“Aw.”
He pointed his finger so close to my face, and I immediately closed my mouth. “Do not say it’s cute.”
“But it is cute.”
“Josie Rose, I think that you probably have a thing for jocks.”
“Negative.” I shook my head.
“Why not?”
“Umm, most jocks are douchebags.” The beach curved to the right, and there was even less light the farther away we got from the party. I pulled out my cell phone and clicked on the screen.
I had one text from Lucas.
Where did you go?
I quickly responded to let him know I was on the beach as I listened to Beck talk.
“I take offense to that.”
“So you’re a rich boy and a jock?” I slid my phone back into my pocket.
“Does that mean I have two strikes against me?”
“Absolutely. You’re walking a thin line here.”
He chuckled and nudged my shoulder just as we made our way around the curve. I could barely see the beach behind us, but I wasn’t looking there. I was looking at the giant rocks up ahead of us that formed into a cliff. The waves crashed violently against the rocks like they were angered by their mere existence, and it was so vastly different from the way they hit the beach.
It was absolutely breathtaking.
Beck pointed to a particularly dark spot among the rocks. “There’s a small cave in the rock over there. We swim out and climb into it every summer.”
“There’s no way I’m going in there.” I didn’t think he was asking, but I wanted to make sure I was clear from the beginning. I had goose bumps just thinking about it. If the waves were that violent on the outside, I couldn’t imagine what it would be like in there. Who knew what lurked in there?
I barely swam in the ocean. There was no way in hell I would purposely go into a cave.
He watched my facial expressions and laughed. “Even I’m not dumb enough to go into that cave in the middle of the night. Even though I’m a dumb jock.”
“I didn’t say jocks were dumb.” The sand beneath our feet was changing over to small rocks, and I picked one up and attempted to skip it across the water and failed. “I called you all douchebags.”
“Oh. Much better.” He laughed. “I can tell you didn’t grow up playing sports, your throw is weak as hell.”
“Hey.” I was actually offended by that.
“Here.” He picked up another rock and placed it in my hand. This one was much heavier than the last, but I barely noticed the weight as he moved behind me.
If I thought his smell was overwhelming before, it was suffocating now. But it was the most delicious suffocation. The ocean practically disappeared as I was consumed by him. His smell, his warmth at my back, his breath against my neck.
He lined his body up with mine, and he gently gripped my hand in his. I feared he could feel mine trembling, but if he noticed, he didn’t say. He simply moved my arm back and forth as he talked.
“When you’re trying to skip a rock, you have to throw it from the side.” He showed me the movement again and again, but it wasn’t registering. “You have to whip your wrist quickly and let the rock go at the perfect angle. The ocean really isn’t the best place for this, though.” He pressed his chest against my back and used it to turn my body in the correct angle. “You really need the water to be calm.”
There wasn’t a thing about me that was calm.
There wasn’t a thing about me or the ocean that was calm.
“So there’s no point to this?” I looked over my shoulder, and he was right there. His mouth was so close to mine. I would have to stand on my tiptoes to reach them, but I could do so easily. I could kiss him, and I knew I wouldn’t regret a thing.
“There is definitely a point.” His hand tightened around mine, and his gaze dropped to my lips.
He was going to kiss me. I didn’t know anything about this boy or who he was or what he wanted, but I knew that. We didn’t need to know anything about each other
