''I never said she wasn't.''
''No, but you hoped she was.''
''Nah.'' I look back into the hallway, where she's just disappeared through. ''I know she isn't like that. You don't have to be a genius to see she's a relationship or not at all kinda girl.''
Bing steps forward until he's right in front of me. He's got a couple of inches on me height wise, but I meet his eyes anyway.
''Then unless you plan on being in a serious relationship with her,'' he warns in a tone of steel, ''you keep your hands, eyes and dick away from her. Hurt her, play her, break her heart, and I'll break your legs. Understood?''
''Understood,'' I say in a clipped tone.
''Sweet.'' He steps back and grabs his toast. ''We'll go for a beer soon. Catch you later.''
He walks away, leaving me wondering what the f**k just happened.
~
ALEXIS
"Hello?" Jayna answers in her upbeat tone.
"It's me," I say, my smile showing through my voice.
"Oh, hey!" She tries to sound excited but I know she's hiding something.
"You okay, Jay?" I question.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"No reason. You just sound a little hurried."
"I'm getting ready, we're all heading out to Red tonight."
That would explain the noises in the background.
Red is a club we frequent each weekend, and Monday nights in the holidays because of the £1 drinks. I have a fake ID, so it's not really a problem for me that all my friends are eighteen.
"Oh, cool."
"Wish you were here, though. It ain't the same getting ready without my girl," she says in a softer tone.
I smile slightly. "Yeah, I'm stuck here for another seven weeks."
"It totally sucks you're there for your eighteenth! I mean, what are you gonna do for it? Milk some cows? It's not like farm county is the most happening place."
A small bubble of annoyance rises in my chest and I bite my tongue.
"It's not that bad here," I say tightly, thinking of Jen, Carl, and yes, okay, Alec.
"You alright, Lex? You sound a bit.. Funny." She says suspiciously.
"Stubbed my toe," I lie. "Hurts like a bitch."
"Oh, gutted," she says, accepting my answer. "Is, er, is your brother there yet, or is he here for tonight?"
I suppress an eye roll at her crush on Bing. Even if he wasn't my brother, I still wouldn't touch him with a ten foot barge pole. He's good looking, I can appreciate that, but he has more notches on his bedpost than Hugh Hefner.
"He arrived this morning," I say.
"Oh," her mood slips a little. She's so readable. Like Bing even cares about her crush on him. He's known for years and all but ignores her.
That, I respect him for. But that's about all.
"How long is he there for?" she asks, almost hopefully.
"He said he was seeing the summer out down here. He'll head down to Exeter and Plymouth a couple times to see mates and probably spend most of his weekends in Barnstaple."
"I didn't know you guys had friends down there."
"Yeah, we made some when we were little."
"Oh, right. Well, I gotta go finish getting ready. I'll talk to you soon." She clicks off the line and I take a deep breath, looking at my phone.
I've only been in Devon almost a week, and she's already drifting off.
Stuff her.
CHAPTER FOUR
ALEXIS
Birds are singing. The sun is shining. I have a spring in my step.
Trashy novel lines aside, something about Devon is magical. When I opened my curtains earlier this morning, birds really were singing and the sun really was shining. In fact, the birds are still at it, and the sun just keeps higher, the temperature hotter. Because of this, I'm just not quite Tigger today.
I fall backwards and look at Grammy incredulously.
''How can you carry on? It's too hot,'' I moan, wiping my forehead with my hand.
''It's about six degrees hotter in London, Lexy girl,'' she replies, yanking a weed out and setting it aside.
''Yes, but at home I'm not likely to be weeding a garden,'' I point out.
''Oh, away with ya, girl.'' She shakes her head fondly. ''Go and text Jen and go down the Bay. If you see Alec, tell him not to worry about coming tonight. You kids have fun.''
''You know, Grammy,'' I say as I climb up. ''If I didn't know any better, I'd think you're trying to set me up with him.''
''Is it working?'' Grammy turns to me, that twinkle in her eyes again.
''No, it's not.'' I look at her pointedly and go back inside.
''Then you know better!'' She laughs after me.
I shake my head and grab my phone from the kitchen side. I pull up my messages and text Jen.
Beach?
She replies almost instantly with a resounding yes and we agree to meet in ten minutes. I thank my lucky stars I thought to pack a bag earlier, and I pick it up from its place by the front door.
I step back into the muggy summer heat and slide my sunglasses on.
I pass rows of brightly coloured houses, pink, blue, yellow, green. Somehow, they don't look out of place in the small, tucked away village. Flower boxes adorn the windows with every colour of the rainbow. I find myself smiling and I don't know why. A week ago I hated the idea of coming here, but now.. I'm kinda enjoying it.
My revelation surprises me, and as I approach the Bay, there's another surprise waiting for me.
A surprise in the form of Alec.
I'm undecided whether he falls into the bad or good category.
''Are you stalking me?'' I peer at him over the top of my glasses.
He leans against his surfboard and flicks his hair out of his eyes, grinning.
''Would you like it if I was?''
''I'd be pretty scared if you were, to be honest.'' I sweep past him and find our spot by the rocks. I lay out my towel, readjust the waistband of my shorts and pull off my top.
When I sit down, I feel Alec's eyes on me. Bravely, I look at him. His eyes are slightly hooded as they sweep me from my head to my toe. A shiver runs through me at the look in his eyes.
God damn, this guy is dangerous.
''Please stop looking at me like you wanna eat me,'' I say in a bored tone.
''Just admiring the view.'' He winks.
I roll my eyes and point to his surfboard. ''You do realise you might have a tough time with the surfing today, right?''
''Na, we won't.'' He looks out to sea and points to the cliff. ''There's a bit of the cliff that juts out. When the spray hits that full force, you're good to go with your board.''
''But there's no wind?''
He sighs like I know nothing and props his board up before coming and sitting next to me. His wetsuit is undone to the waist and yes, I admire him yet again.