"Then I see her. What about her?"
"She's been after me for a while, and I'm fed up."
"An ex?"
"No, an unwelcome admirer."
I nod slowly and glance up at him. "So you thought you'd use me so she'd leave you alone?"
"Mmm," he replies, looking around.
"It didn't work." I smirk as I see her approaching us.
"What?!" he asks, panicked. He groans when he sees her. "Fuck it."
"Language, Timothy," I tut, shaking my head.
"Shush," he whispers and pulls me in closer to him.
"What are you doing?" I hiss.
"Making her leave me alone," he whispers into my ear.
I'm horrified to find my heart is beating a little faster than it was a few minutes ago.
This attraction is going beyond a joke, and I've only known the guy a day.
ALEC
She has this silky smooth hair that slides over my face when I press the side of my face against hers. I think it smells like strawberries. Strange, I imagined her as a mango type girl. Exotic, hard to get.
One of her hands is sitting on my waist, steadying her, and I can feel every inch of skin where she's touching it. It's like I'm hyper-sensitive to her touch, attuned to her body. She's breathing onto my neck and I can't help but run the tip of my nose along the length of her ear, my lips grazing it gently after.
She freezes and using all the damn willpower I have, I glance up to find Bianca has turned her back to us and is flirting shamelessly with some guy. Right. Like I'd be jealous of that.
"She's gone. Thanks." I smile at her and she steps back like she can't bear to be near me.
"You're welcome. I guess." She brings her cup to her lips and her brown eyes comb the beach, looking for Jen presumably.
"Behind the trees, snogging Carl's face off, most likely." I answer her unspoken question and lean against the rock.
"How did you know I was looking for Jen?" Her eyes narrow at me.
"It's clear you don't want to be alone with me, and she's the only person you know here besides me."
"What makes you think I don't wanna be alone with you?" She juts out a hip, putting a hand on it and shit. She is hot when she knocks out the attitude. It's a damn good job this beach is jam-packed with people.
"I'm not stupid, Princess." I smile at how ridiculous that thought is. "I won't hurt you."
"It's not you hurting me I'm worried about," she mumbles.
"What was that?" I lean in closer, trying to get her to repeat it.
"Nothing." She smiles brightly.
I give her a 'yeah, right' look and take a quick drink, watching her as she swings her hair over her shoulder and runs her fingers through the ends.
The fire is casting an orangey glow over her and in the low light she reminds me of an angel. A fallen one, but an angel nonetheless. She glances up and meets my eyes for a second and a faint blush rises on her cheeks. She's cute when she blushes. Actually cute.
I could stare at her all day. Not in a stalker way, in an amazed kind of way.
''Stop looking at me,'' she orders, her eyes sparking with a flame.
''Never,'' I reply, smirking. She huffs out a little growling sound and turns away from me.
That's fine. I'll just stare at her ass instead of her face.
CHAPTER THREE
ALEXIS
"Oh, fiddlesticks," Grammy mutters. "Now where have I put my gardening gloves?"
I look up from my laptop and frown. "You put them on the side a few minutes ago, Grammy."
She spins around, sees them and laughs. "Of course I did. I'm such a wally. Put them somewhere so safe I couldn't find them."
I quirk an amused brow and log in to Facebook.
"I don't know if a kitchen counter is classified as safe, Gram."
"Oh, you know what I mean!" She flaps her hands. "It's always the obvious places you forget to look." She shakes her head at herself as she goes into the garden.
I smile at her little eccentrics and turn my attention back to the laptop. Three friend requests and seven notifications.
I scroll through the notifications, clicking on the one that says 'Jayna Marshall has posted on your time-line.'
'Missing you,' she wrote, 'have some MEGA gossip so call soon. Love you xoxoxo'
I smile and click on the friend request box. One from Jen, one from Carl and one from.. Alec.
I accept all three, pausing only a second on Alec's. I roll my eyes at myself and scroll through the homepage. I comment on a few posts by my friends and a chat box pops up.
Alec.
Jen wants to go shopping. Coming?
I frown and type back. In Lilac Bay? I'm not into buying buckets and spades.
Lol. In Barnstaple.
I've been there a few times. It's practically the capital of North Devon, and it's the only decent place - besides Atlantic Village near Bideford - that you can go shopping unless you wanna travel for two hours to get to Exeter, the nearest city.
Sure. What time? I type.
Pick you up in half an hour.
He signs off and I shrug. I'm already dressed for the day, so I decide to snoop a little on his Facebook.
Hey, why not?
I click on his profile and read his info. He's nineteen, about a year and a half older than me. There's a large selection of photos of him and Carl, and a few others with people I haven't met.
Scrolling down his time-line, I realise he doesn't post much. What's the point in having Facebook then?
I sigh, click off the browser and shut the computer down. I hear a horn beep from outside and look at the clock. Have I really been looking at his profile for half an hour?
I blink a few times and grab my phone. I poke my head round the sliding doors and find Grammy vigorously pulling up weeds.
"I'm going into Barnstaple with Jen and the guys. I'll see you later!" I call to her.
She waves, indicating she's heard and I collect my bag from the front room on my way out.
Alec beeps the horn on his car a few times and I roll my eyes. I figure I seem to do that a lot around Alec.
When I reach the car, he's the only one in it. I pull open the front passenger side door.
"Where's Jen and Carl?" I ask.
"At Carl's Mum's café. Getting them on the way. Hop in, I won't bite." He grins impishly at me and I climb in.
"Not that I wouldn't like to," he adds as he pulls away. I shake my head, saying nothing.
He really is a terrible flirt.
We pull up outside 'Cara's Café' and Jen and Carl both come running out.
"No way, Carl's mum owns that place?" I look at Alec.
"Yeah.. She always has. Why?" He looks at me back.