"Yeah, well I dare you to run down the beach naked!" Quil shouts at Embry, staggering around the makeshift bonfire they'd built clumsily and plopping down on the log beside Dani, sloshing moonshine out of the jar and on both of their legs.
Embry shakes his head, somehow the most sober of all of them, and leans back in the sand, laying back on his elbows to look up at the brilliant navy sky and glowing stars. "Hell no, Quil, last thing I need is to get arrested for streaking on the beach."
"Pussy." Quil muttered as he took another swig of the clear, burning liquid. Dani watches Embry for a moment before standing up, stumbling a bit in the sand before collapsing beside him and cuddling against his side.
He smiles softly and wraps his arm around her shoulders as she looks up at the sky with squinted eyes. "The sky's pretty tonight." Rolling onto her stomach and propping her head up on her hand, she pouts slightly at Embry as she whispers, "C'mon, Emmy...I'll go with you, it'll be fun!"
"You'd really run naked across the beach with me?" He raises his eyebrow at her, trying to smother the blush rising on his caramel colored cheeks. When she nods with a bright, excited grin, he heaves a sigh before shaking his head once more. "If I'm gonna run naked with you, I'm not doing it in front of that jackass."
"Then you gotta pay up!" Quil calls out to the cuddling teens, leaning back to drink the last swallow of the moonshine and falling backwards off his log. Dani collapses against Embrys' chest, giggling and pressing her face into his chest to hide it.
Embry laughs softly and wraps his arms around her slim shoulders, knowing she was probably the drunkest of their trio. Everyone knew Dani was a lightweight, thanks to an eighth grade party that got out of hand. "Dani, honey, you're drunk."
"So are you!" She whines quietly, relaxing against his body as she curls up with her legs in his lap.
"Not as much as you though." His hands slowly caress her legs, massaging them as she relaxes on his chest.
"If you won't run naked, then I dare you two to kiss!" Quil slurs, then laughs uncontrollably while Dani and Embry stare at each other in silence.
"Is that okay?" Embry whispers so that Quil won't hear, his fingertips brushing along the back of her thigh just beneath the swell pf her ass.
A moment passes before she nods, a soft blush on her high cheekbones. "I've never...really..."
"Me either." Embry gives her what he hopes is a comforting smile, his heart racing in his chest as he slowly runs his hand up her back, lowering her head to his.
Her lips felt like silk against his and he could taste the sharp, refreshing mint of her lip balm. As their lips touched, he could feel her heart hammering against his chest through their thin tshirts and he kept one hand on the small of her back, rubbing tiny circles to soothe her. To his surprise, he could feel her tongue brushing against his bottom lip and he parted his lips immediately. Her tongue slowly brushed against his own, then retreated as she pulled back for breath, her dark eyes glowing and her mouth parted slightly. Embry's hand comes to a halt on her back and they just stare at each other, neither sure what to say.
Quil stands up after a moment and stumbles, holding onto his coat as if it would give him balance. "'M gonna go..." He slurs, stumbling off in the direction of his house and leaving Embry and Dani in the sand.
They lay there a moment, recollecting their scattered thoughts before Dani raises her head, her eyes sparkling as she murmurs, "Let's go skinny dipping."
"You're serious?" His eyes widen a bit as he raises up on his elbows, watching her kneel beside him and nod excitedly, any shyness they had after their kiss dissipating.
"Of course! C'mon, how many times do we get to be drunk teenagers on First Beach?" She tugs on his hand insistently and pouts, knowing he'd never be able to resist it. "Please, Embry?"
He stares into her eyes for a moment before heaving a sigh and sitting up, looking around to make sure no one else was around to witness it. "Fine, but only for a minute."
Dani grins, standing up and slowly pulling her tank top off, making Embry's eyes widen as he sees her cream colored, lace patterned bra and the edge of her matching panties peeking out from above the waistband of the cutoff jeans he was sure had once belonged to Paul. He forces himself to look away as he slowly stands and undresses, a crimson blush on his cheeks as he realizes he has no way of hiding his reaction to her nakedness.
As he was panicking, looking around for an excuse to not do it, she shed the rest of her clothes and bolted past him towards the water. "Last one there has to kiss Quil!"
"No way!" He smiles, running after her as he follows her into the shallow water, watching the moonlight glow on her smooth, pale caramel skin. He catches a glimpse of her breasts as she turns around halfway to throw him a teasing smile and his heart leaps into overdrive as his jaw drops open. 'Damn, she must be drunker than I thought...'
He hurries into the water behind her, hoping to hide the now raging boner that had popped up between his legs. She smiles and dives under the water for a long moment, invisible beneath the dark waves until she resurfaces right in front of him, her legs brushing against his as she treads water to stay afloat. His blush intensifies and he moves back, making her frown slightly and cross her arms over her breasts. "Emmy...why're you acting like I just admitted to having a fourth nipple on my ass?"
He couldn't hold back the laugh as he relaxed a bit, forcing his eyes back to the beach where the fire was slowly dwindling to a few embers. "We haven't been naked together since we were like 6, Dani."
"True." She shrugs slightly and turns to swim towards the shore, her hair sticking to her neck and shoulders as she glances around to make sure the beach is still empty before walking out of the water completely. As if forgetting she were naked, she stands by the dying fire and stretches, her back arching like a lithe, exotic cat. Embry swims towards her slowly as if in a daze, his eyes roaming her smooth, toned body and his drunken mind blurting out the first thing that pops into his thoughts.
"Your boobs are nice." Immediately, his eyes widen and he stands ankle deep in the shallow water of the shoreline, watching as she pauses for a moment then giggles, collapsing into the sand and spreading her arms to make a sand angel.
"Why, thank you, Embry!" After a few more giggles and a soft snort, she smiles at him and blushes seeing his hands covering his crotch. "Come sit?"
Glad that he hadn't offended her, he slowly steps over to his clothes and grabs his cut off jeans, yanking them on as she slips her panties and shirt on, falling backwards back into the sand once her head begins swimming too much to focus on dressing. He smiles as he watches her run her slim fingers through the sand, her eyes closed as she relaxes. "Hey, Dani?"
"Hm?" She opens her eyes, the soft green orbs meeting his as she raises up on her elbows to listen.
He sits beside her, twiddling his fingers together out of habit as he looks into the warm orange embers of the fire. C'mon, just say it. "I- I really-"
"Dani, get your fucking clothes on." Paul stood on the other side of the fire with a beer can in his hand, slowly getting crushed in his fist as he glared murderously at them.
Dani sits up immediately, reaching for her jeans as a bright red blush covers her face. Embry dives toward his own clothes and struggles to get dressed, getting his head stuck in his shirt as he tries not to antagonize Paul any further.
Everyone on the Rez knew Paul had a temper, especially when it came to Dani. He had been almost expelled a couple times for fighting at school and he wasn't afraid to do it again. Embry didn't have a chance in hell of winning in a fight with him, Paul was a year older and had more muscle than Embry, Quil, and Jacob combined.
"Paul, calm down!" Dani huffs as she stands up, carrying her shoes as she pauses to help Embry untangle himself from his tshirt. "We were only swimming, and I'm pretty sure you've done far worse than that in far more public places."
"We're going home." His hand grabbed hers, pulling her towards the road leading to their home. She allowed him to lead her, rolling her eyes as she turned to mouth to Embry, 'Sorry, I'll come by tomorrow after work.' Embry nods, relieved that Paul hadn't tried to kill him.
When they were nearly out of sight of the beach, Paul turned to face her, picking her up so that she was eye level. "Why the fuck are you getting drunk with that loser?"
"Because he's my friend. Same reason you get drunk with those losers you call friends." Dani crosses her arms, glaring at him as he starts walking again, his hands holding the backs of her thighs.
"He has a crush on you." Paul grumbles, glaring over her shoulder into the woods as she rolls her eyes.
"That's irrelevant and probably not true." as she said it, memories of their kiss sent a blush straight to her cheeks. "But even if it were true, it wouldn't be any of your business. How many girls have you banged?"
"A few." Was his terse reply. She could feel his grip tightening on her legs but she knew he would never do anything to hurt her.
"Have I ever thrown a fit and ran them off?" She raises an eyebrow and looks into his dark brown eyes for a moment before he looks away, something flashing in the dark orbs that she couldn't place.
"You shouldn't be out getting drunk with anyone, especially half naked. Why the hell were you half naked?" His hand moves up her back to her shoulder blades, his long fingers nearly reaching both sides of her back when laid flat. "And where is your bra?"
Crap, I must've left it... Dani sighs and rolls her eyes softly as Paul steps onto the porch of their cabin. Neither her father's truck nor her mother's green Mazda was parked out front, so she didn't bother to cover herself as she wriggles out of Paul's arms and stalks into the house.
"We went swimming, that's all. I took my bra off so it wouldn't get wet." The kitchen cabinets slammed as she searched for the stash of pain pills she knew her mother kept hidden. Her head was pounding, and once Paul was riled up it was sure to be a long night.
"Did he try anything?" Paul's voice was quiet and she felt a slight shiver go down her back as she turns to face him, bottle of ibuprofen in hand.
"You want the truth? You gotta promise you won't pick a fight." She levelled her gaze at him and nearly scoffed as he only glared at her, his soft, full lips set in a stony line. "Promise, Paul."
"Fine." He crosses his arms over his chest and stares at her.
She sighs, running her fingers through her damp hair. "We kissed."
It was like someone had pulled the pin on a grenade and they were just waiting for the explosion.
His body went rigid. She cringed. His hands curled into tight fists and she stepped forward, resting her small hands on his chest and looking up at him worriedly.
"Paul...it was only a kiss, please calm down." She pleaded with him with her eyes, her hands slipping up to rest on each side of his face, her neck craning to look up at him as she felt his pulse pounding beneath her fingertips.
His hands came down to rest on her hips as he stared down into her eyes, his brows furrowed in two thick black lines. "Do you like him?"
"What? No! I don't think so..." She presses her lips gently against his chest as high as she could reach. "It was only a dare."
He hummed low in his throat, slowly wrapping his arms around her tiny waist and trapping her against him. She didn't notice, too focused on gently running her fingertips along the planes of his face as if she hadn't had every feature memorized already. "That tickles."
"Well, too bad, deal with it." She leans up on her tip toes, waiting for him to lean down so she could reach his face. With an eyeroll to hide the grin threatening to overpower his stern face, he slides his feet out on either side of her, leaning against the counter and meeting her face.
She smiles in thanks and leans in, pressing her soft, minty lips against his in what she intended to be a chaste kiss like always.
If anyone had seen what happened and confronted them, he would have blamed the beer. She would have died blushing.
The moment their lips touch, a jolt of warmth spreads down Dani's spine, warming her as if there was a fire in front of her. Paul's hands held her hips gently but firmly, his fingertips pressing against the soft flesh of her ass. She slips her hands up to his broad shoulders, then up to tangle in his long hair.
The kiss didn't deepen any. It was simply their lips pressed against each other, their hands holding each other as closely as possible in the small kitchen. Dani was the one to pull away, her lungs aching as she inhaled deeply then blushed as red as the tomatoes her mother had sitting in a basket on the counter.
Paul's eyes were dark and alive with emotions she couldn't name, especially after that kiss. Finally, she managed to whisper breathlessly, "We should go to bed."
He nods, standing immediately and nearly knocking her down since her body had sagged against his sometime during the kiss. "I'll be back later."
Turning back to the counter to hide her disappointment, she nods and finally takes the dose of ibuprofen she had laid out before Paul sidetracked her. "'Kay."
She cringed when the front door slammed shut, then she slowly trudged to her room, leaving the door cracked open just in case Paul returned.
Sorry it took so long to update, I've had some family issues recently and I couldn't write for my current stories, it all felt forced. On the other hand, I wrote a oneshot Jacob/OC and the beginning of a Jacob/OC story as catharsis and practice so if anyone is interested in those, tell me in a review and I might post them.
Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, followed, and favorited! It means a lot to me, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. I promise the next one will be longer.i