I don't own Virals. Kathy Reichs does.

Tory's POV

At the docks, I let the boys run ahead while I slowed my pace to a walk. Sewee was tied up and bobbing in the water, next to Ben's father's boat (Hugo). The water gleamed like a million little sapphires, white foam crashing against the sand. It was beautiful and perfect.

Finally my feet touched wood, and the grass gave away to planks. The breeze cooled my arms and legs, swirling my hair into tangles.

Ben climbed off his boat and onto the dock, where he began emptying buckets of ice that he had been storing his Cokes in to keep them cool. He didn't seem to notice me as I approached, and was talking to Hiram as he worked.

He was in his usual attire: khaki shorts and black t-shirt that clung to his chest with sweat. I tried hard not to stare at his chest and strangely succeeded, and instead began examining the nails in the wooden planks carefully. Any minute now, Ben would look over and notice me, and then I don't know what would happen after that.

Then Ben seemed to notice a fourth presence on the dock and looked up at me. Dark brown eyes that locked on my green, so dark I couldn't see what he was thinking. He froze, still holding a bucket, and I felt Hi and Shelton's gazes switch from him to me like this was a very exciting tennis match.

To me, it was anything but a tennis match. Nor was it exciting.

After a moment of long awkward silence, I cleared my throat.

"Hey." I mumbled, keeping my eyes away from him.

Then I felt somebody's large hand shove me into Ben's chest, and his arms went around me instinctively. Some snickers behind me told me it was Hi that had roughly shoved me, and I vowed to make him suffer. Later.

At the moment, I was too lost in Ben's deep brown eyes. And from the looks of it, he was lost in mine.

"Hey." He breathed, and I felt his heart racing through our shirts. Or maybe it was my heart. I couldn't tell anymore.

Okay, woah. That was way too mushy.

"Umm…" I said, and he let me go and backed up, as if trying to make the last ten seconds never happen. His face flushed, and I knew I was red too.

"Aww…" Shelton said, and our heads snapped to him. He was looking at Ben and I the same way he looks at puppies online secretly when nobody is watching. Or so he thinks.

"What?" I ask, trying to calm the heat in my cheeks.

"Two wild and aggressive yet adorable puppies falling in lurve. Isn't it just so cute?" Shelton said.

"Are you calling me a dog?" Ben narrows his eyes.

"Love?" I warble.

"Why are you acting like a first-grade girl?" Hi asked Shelton.

Shelton was laughing too hard to answer.

"Whatever." Ben said, turning back to the gleaming water. "Want to go to Morris?"

"Sure." I say, and Hi and Shelton agree. I wanted desperately to forget what just happened, and going to Morris seemed like a perfect way. Together we launch ourselves onto the boat and soon we're speeding across the water.

I sat beside Hi and Shelton, who were both texting. From the way their phones were pinging like crazy, they were texting each other. Talking about something they didn't want me to know about probably. What though?

Then I stiffened. Ben and I? No way. Chances are though, Ben did tell them about his crush on me and they tried to help him out. Apparently in the boy's book, shoving a girl into a guy is romantic. I didn't think so.

Did I enjoy it, being wrapped in his warm and strong arms? Very much so. And I almost didn't stop myself from moving my gaze to his soft pink lips, aching for him to kiss me. Oh I wanted so badly to curl my hands in his hair and bring his face down to mine, to watch his eyes flutter shut as our lips met. Standing up on my toes to kiss him-

Whoa! Where did all that come from? More importantly, did I like Ben?

"Tory! Ms. Brennan!"

I jumped and blinked a few times, then realized we were on Morris. All the boys were in the water, waiting for me to come down. Ben was still on the ladder, looking at me intently.

"What? Oh sorry." I say, then climb down the ladder after him and knee-deep into the water. I should've taken off my shoes, damn it.

I let out air through my cheeks and followed them onto the island.

As soon as Hi's feet touched dry sand, he through his shoes down and ran off into the bushes. Shelton, Ben and I all turned away, waiting for Hi to finish his business. Hiram had the weakest stomach of the group, no matter how much he ate, and after a boat ride was always barfing up his guts in the bushes. We had all seen that before, and did not want to see it again.

Ben seemed to stand closer to Shelton than to me, even though he was in the middle of both of us. Was he nervous to stand by me? Weird.

Shelton seemed to notice this as well and sat down in the sand and began rolling up his soaked pant leg. I plopped down next and stuck out my feet to let the surf wash over them. Ben stood tall in the middle, eyes distant as he looked at the horizon.

Finally Hi joined us, and we all sat down and thought to ourselves. I had my hands behind my head, which made the hem of my shirt ride up and expose my pale belly, but I didn't care. I was under some stress now a days, with a project due and the dance coming up. But it could be worse.

Oh yeah, it could be worse. I thought to myself, staring up at the clear blue sky. Beside me, Hi was fiddling with the diamond stud in his ear absentmindedly, while Ben looked asleep. Shelton had sat up and his eyes were unfocused as he looked into the surf.

"Hey, Tory. Want to go for a walk?" Shelton finally said, and I sat up.

"What?" I was surprised, since Shelton and I didn't really spend much time together. I tended to hang out more with Ben and Hi than Shelton. Maybe this was what he wanted to talk about.

"Hey….Tory…want…to…go…for…a-

"Alright, alright. Let's go." I say, and together we get up. I stepped over Ben's chest and followed Shelton across the sand as the surf lapped at our feet.

"It's kind of weird, going on a walk with you. We never really talk much." Shelton said after a few minutes.

"Well, we're here now, so what do you want to talk about?" I ask him, starting to get a bit impatient.

"Nothing…I know you and Ben are…struggling, and I just wanted to say that you should give him a chance, okay?" Shelton said.

"As long as he gives me one too." I answer.

"He's been giving you chances, over and over and over! Ever since he first saw you, he liked you! And we boys would know since we've been with him longer than you have, but he changed as soon as you moved into Charleston. As soon as your eyes met, he changed. So please, give him a chance."

I was too shocked to answer. Ever since we looked at each other? That was like a year ago! He's been all over me for an entire year and I've done nothing? Why hadn't I noticed?

"Really?" I said in a soft voice after a few minutes.

"Yes." Exasperated. "So maybe next time he tries to do something sweet like wrap his arm around you don't get all freaked out or something."

"Sure." Not going to happen. It was so awkward around Ben now, I would be amazed if he put his arm around me.

Suddenly I felt the back of my neck tingling, that same feeling you get when you're being watched. I spun a 240, looking into the trees.

Shelton turned too, noticing what I was doing. Then his eyes widened, and he cleared his throat. Loudly.

"So, uhh…nice weather we're having?" He finally said, and I rolled my eyes and snorted.

"Come on. Let's go join the others." With that we spun and started walking the way we came.