13
I
was really looking forward to the beach party for a few reasons. One, any time I got to put on a bikini, I knew it was going to be a good day. Two, it was probably going to be one of the last times we'd get to go to the beach. It was getting into fall and soon the air would be too chilly to lie out, and even though we'd have warm days well into early November, it wouldn't be the right weather for the beach.
Annie and I rode out to Folly Beach with Ryan, Chris, and the chick Ryan was dating. It was a bit awkward, being shoved in the back with Chris and Annie. Their whole relationship was kind of up in the air. He liked her and she liked him, but I sensed there was someone else for Annie too. I didn't know who and I didn't ask, but it was clear Chris liked her a lot more than she liked him. He just couldn't get it through his head that she wasn't ready to jump into a serious relationship. She'd barely had any fun in her life, so I couldn't really blame her for it.
Liam must have been keeping an eye out for us, because he was there waiting when I crawled out of the back of Ryan's Civic. “ 'Bout time you showed up.”
“You should know by now that Cami is high-maintenance,” Ryan said.
I flipped my dark hair over my shoulder and shrugged. “I can't help it if I like to look good.”
“I kind of like that about her.” Liam's grin got wider and he draped his arm over my shoulders.
Ryan's eyebrows shot up, but I was too stunned to react for a few seconds. Liam had been pretty adamant about not letting Ryan know we had something going on. What the hell had changed?
“Umm . . . Okay.” Ryan narrowed his eyes on me and I squirmed.
Liam just pulled me closer, which for some reason annoyed me. He wasn't my boyfriend, and part of the fun of going to the beach was having guys ogle me. They weren't going to do that if Liam was all over me the whole time. I wasn't really sure where the boyfriend bit was coming from, but I wanted to put some distance between us
stat
.
“Let's go play some sand volleyball,” Ryan's girlfriend said. Honestly, I didn't even know her name, but I knew they'd met at Annie's birthday party. This girl and Annie had a couple classes together or something. I wasn't totally sure and it didn't matter. This chick was definitely a temporary part of Ryan's life, so it didn't seem worth it to me to learn anything about her.
She grabbed his hand and hauled him away. Chris followed, even though he was staring at Annie like he wanted her to beg him to stay. Annie didn't meet his eyes. She still looked a little gray from the car ride, so I used it as an excuse to wiggle out of Liam's grasp.
“Annie was feeling a little motion sick in the car.” I gave Liam an apologetic look as I grabbed Annie's hand and pulled her away. “Let's go get you something to drink.”
Liam's smile faltered, but he tried to shrug it off. “Okay. I'll catch you later?”
“Sure!” I called over my shoulder as I dragged Annie through the crowd. I could feel Liam's eyes on me every step of the way.
We got her a bottle of water and after a few minutes she seemed a little better. I was itching to get my blanket set up so I could stretch out and catch some rays. I'd been at the beach for about ten minutes and my cover-up was still on, which was just wrong.
“You feeling okay?” I asked.
“Yup.” Annie finished the water and crunched the bottle between her hands violently. If I didn't know how gentle she was, I would have thought she was pretending it was someone's head.
She glanced toward the sand volleyball court. Ryan spiked the ball and the dark-haired girl he was dating gave him a high-five. I didn't get their relationship. I'd heard a few things about her, and one of the girls in my speech class had called her a slut. She didn't really seem to fit with Ryan. He usually went for girls more like Annie.
“You want to play volleyball?” I asked hesitantly. I knew she'd played in high school and I didn't want to deprive her of something she enjoyed, even if lying on the beach for the whole world to admire sounded a hell of a lot more fun to me.
Annie shook her head and headed toward the beach. “No. Let's go lay out.”
Thank God!
We got our little oasis set up on the sand and I joyfully stretched out. My tan was phenomenal, but I wanted to be sure to soak up as much sun as I could manage. This baby had to last me through the winter months.
Annie covered herself in sunblock, but her skin was so pale I was pretty sure she would burn anyway. I swear, SPF one million may not have been enough to keep her from turning into a tomato.
I stretched out on my stomach and tried to relax, but sitting still and being quiet didn't come naturally to me. After less than fifteen minutes I found myself studying the people at the party. My eyes landed on Liam, only ten feet or so away from where I was lying, and my insides clenched with what I could only assume was jealousy. Some blond bimbo was draped all over him, giggling like a fool while her boobs practically fell out of her bikini top. It didn't matter to me that I acted the same way most of the time, or that I also had a bad habit of wearing a too-small swimsuit. I still wanted to claw her eyes out and spit in the empty sockets.
I rolled over to face Annie before I did something stupid. Like charge the bitch hanging all over Liam. He was probably just flirting to make me jealous, anyway. “Let's do something fun this week. We haven't worked on your list since that night we went out. I've been spending too much time with Liam, I think.”
Annie glanced Liam's way and when I followed her gaze, my eyes met his. The smug expression on his face confirmed my suspicions. He'd wanted me to see him with that chick. Damn him! I hated that his plan was working.
“I thought he wasn't the relationship type?” Annie said.
“So did
I
,” I huffed, turning away from him.
I scanned the beach while my blood simmered, and my gaze landed on a group of guys not too far from us. They were dangerous-looking. Covered in tattoos and piercings. Smoking. A couple of them were actually pretty hot, though. Like the bad boy you'd bring home to piss your mom and dad off. Sexy and brooding and probably lethal. It gave me a great idea. Two could play at Liam's game.
“Smoking's on your list,” I said, tilting my head toward the guys.
Before Annie even had the chance to check them out for herself, I was on my feet, pulling her up after me. She didn't resist and she didn't drag her feet either. She headed straight toward the group of delinquents like she was ready to dive in. So was I, to be honest. If Liam wanted to play games, I was going all in.
A couple guys had been throwing a football back and forth, but stopped when they saw us coming. All six of them turned to watch our approach, and my eyes zeroed in on the really beefy tattooed guy who looked like he lived in the gym. He stood frozen in place, holding the football as if he couldn't decide whether he should keep throwing it or head over to see what was going on. I flashed him a smile, but it took him a few seconds to return it. Geez. He must have traded his brains in for the biceps he was sporting.
When we stopped, I turned my attention to the guy in front of us. He was good-looking and built, with way more tattoos than the others. Plus, a few piercings. He studied us quietly for a moment, paying special attention to Annie's long legs. He was relaxed and confident. The kind of guy who walks into a bar knowing every girl in the place wants him. Even if they don't.
His eyes stopped on Annie's face. “You look like honey. Do you taste as sweet?” he said, then took a drag off his cigarette and blew smoke in the air, grinning like he was the cleverest person in the world.
“Maybe if you're lucky, you'll find out,” Annie replied, raising her eyebrows.
My mouth dropped open and suddenly
I
was the one who was speechless. Where the hell did that come from? Annie could hardly get a word out in front of Ryan sometimes! I honestly hadn't thought she had it in her.
Luckily, it only took me a few seconds to find my voice. I flashed the tattooed guy a smile while I sized him up. He couldn't keep his eyes on Annie's face, and he was as close to drooling as a “cool” guy like him could get. He seemed like the type who'd just love to get his hands on a sheltered girl like Annie. Yeah, playing up her inexperience was the way to go.
“Maybe you can help us,” I said with a sly smile.
“Maybe I can.” He shrugged as if he was too cool to act interested, but curiosity flashed in his eyes.
“See, Annie here has never smoked and is dying to try it. I thought you'd be the perfect person to introduce her to something new.”
The corner of his mouth turned up as he eyed Annie. Just like I thought, he was all ready to bring her down to his level. “Annie, huh? I like that.” He took another drag off his cigarette and blew smoke right toward her. “Sounds innocent. There's nothing I like more than corrupting the innocent.”
The guy dug out a cigarette for Annie as we settled onto his blanket. She sat dangerously close to him and looked a hell of a lot more confident than I would have expected her to. But they really only had half of my focus. I was trying to get the attention of the empty-headed muscleman. He was still standing in the same position, staring at me like he didn't know how to use his legs. I smiled at him for what felt like the bazillionth time while adjusting my bikini top. If I pulled out any more cleavage, they'd have to arrest me for indecent exposure. Thankfully, I didn't have to go that far. The guy finally took the hint and threw the ball to his friend before heading my way.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Annie put the cigarette in her mouth. She took a puff, sucking the smoke deep into her lungs. Less than two seconds later she let out a little cough.
Annie's tattooed guy grinned. “I'm Ty.”
Before either one of us could answer, my very own muscleman plopped down next to me. “I'm Mick.”
Now that he was closer and I was able to get a good look at his pecs, I decided to forgive him for being as dumb as a rock. Not every guy was blessed with the full package.
“Cami,” I said, scooting so close my body was pressed right up against his. “I like your tattoo.” I traced my finger up his arm, right over the ridiculous tattoo of Mickey Mouse. Seriously, who got tattoos of cartoon characters?
Mick started telling me about his grandma and how she used to call him Mickey Mouse when he was little. He got the tattoo after she died. It was a strangely sweet story that made me wonder who the hell this guy was and where he came from. To be honest, though, I didn't give a shit. I could see Liam out of the corner of my eye. Just like I thought, he'd ditched the skanky blonde. He looked like he was on the verge of beating the shit out of Mickey Mouse, and even though I usually didn't go for the possessive guys, it got me kind of excited. Why the hell did I find that so hot?
Before long, Chris and Ryan had come up to join Liam. Less than five seconds later Mickey Mouse jerked his head toward them and asked, “You two know those guys?”
Annie turned to look at the guys and I did my best to act as if I hadn't noticed them before. It was hard to keep from smiling, though. Especially when my eyes met Liam's.
“The tall one is my brother,” I said, holding Liam's gaze. His face was bunched up in an adorable way.
Mick swore and moved away from me. Seriously? He had to outweigh Ryan by about fifty pounds of pure muscle. What was up with this guy? I needed to start calling him Minnie Mouse. I moved closer and smiled, even though I really wanted to tell him to grow a pair. A new pair, that is. His had probably shriveled to the size of raisins from the steroids.
“Until recently, Annie was dating the one who's glaring at you like he'd like to slit your throat,” I told Ty, tilting my head toward Chris.
Unlike Minnie Mouse, Ty didn't seem concerned. “Ex-boyfriend looks pissed.”
“Despite what he thinks, he's not an ex-boyfriend,” Annie said. “We only went out a few times.”
“You sleep with him?” Ty grinned and it was obvious to everyoneâwell, maybe not the brainless, spineless Minnie Mouse sitting next to meâthat he was fishing for information.
Annie shook her head. “No.”
Ty grinned. He liked that answer. He scooted closer to Annie, then leaned forward like he was going to kiss her. I couldn't really focus on what they were doing, though. Liam was headed our way, and my heart was beating so hard it was in danger of breaking my ribs.
He stopped in front of me and narrowed his eyes. “What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?”
“Just making new friends.” I wasn't sure why I did it, but I actually scooted closer to Minnie Mouse and focused my eyes on his pecs. I mean, they were nice and all, but I wasn't really attracted to the guy.
“I think you're on the wrong side of the ocean.” Ty flicked his cigarette toward Liam and it landed right at his feet.
“Yeah, take a swim, Austin Powers.” Minnie Mouse chuckled and I cringed. Oh my God, the guy was a huge nerd trapped inside the body of a WWE wrestler!
When Liam stepped closer to Minnie Mouse, the expression on his face was sexy as hell. Like he was ready to wrestle the guy for me. “Do I look like Austin Powers to you?”
Minnie Mouse made a move to get up, and I was sure everyone there thought he was going to kick Liam's ass. I had a strong suspicion he was going to make a run for the hills, though. It didn't matter to me a whole lot. The look on Liam's face had me ready to jump
him
.
I got to my feet and grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the group while I tried to act annoyed instead of incredibly turned on. “God, Liam.”