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storyline: Brighter

prompt - overgrown

NOT BETA'D

Pete rolled off of me, his brow glistening with sweat. I used to love seeing him like that, his face flushed from sex. It was like, despite his constantly collected demeanor, and the polished way he carried himself, there were still things that could illicit raw reactions from him.

It had been a long time, though since that sort of thing had made me gushy; we'd gone from friends to lovers to comfortable rather quickly. I thought back to the night we first crossed the line, how easy and comfortable it had been even then. I mean...Paris. Who doesn't get lucky in the city of love? I felt safe with him, and I adored him. I think it was the same for Pete. He trusted me, knew that despite my humble background, I was in no way after his money. He'd had to deal with that before, and had watched his older brother fall prey to gold diggers, so he didn't just hook up with anyone.

But, a year. So much happened in that time; we'd been to so many places. Had so much fun. I'd never dreamed it would bring us here, though. I felt out of my element, like we'd left the protective cover of all that was familiar. Would I survive it?

Would we?

Interesting thoughts to be having when my body was still coming down from the euphoria of orgasm.

"Wherever we move to..." Pete panted, his muscular chest still rising and falling from exertion, "...has to have air conditioning. It's a must."

I stared up at the fan, whirring lazily above us. "I kinda like the open breeze."

"Yeah, cuz I'm the one doing all the work," he teased.

Closing my eyes, I smiled. "Maybe."

It rained all day Saturday, forcing us to stay indoors. I spent most of the day doing laundry and phoning and emailing my friends and family back home, informing them of our decision. The barrage of responses I received confirmed what I'd expected: across the board surprise, a lot of envy, a little concern, and plenty of excitement. Angela swore that if we didn't come back to the West Coast for Thanksgiving, then she was coming to us.

I hadn't thought of missing the big holidays. My heart clenched. Maybe we would go home for that weekend; I'd never missed a Turkey Day with my parents, despite the fact they were divorced. We always came together that weekend.

But that was a couple of months away. I wondered how Crucians celebrated Halloween...if they got in to it at all. The juxtaposition of West Indian culture with American was an interesting one. People here were US citizens, spent dollars, didn't need passports to travel...and yet, their accents were so strong that I often didn't understand what they were saying. Not that I admitted to that. Ty and Mike would have a field day teasing me for my "Yankee ways" even though they were just as white as I was.

Whatever.

Tyler said Sunday was a big beach day. It seemed to me that, on St. Croix, every day would be a beach day but...no. People did work and go to school and run errands. Real life wasn't a party, although everyone here joked that it was.

Because we were staying on the East End, we rarely ventured to the west. I vowed to change that once Pete and I had our own place – somewhere more centrally located, for starters – and a car.

Today, though, we were going to Rainbow Beach, which was way west. Mike and Eric had the day off as well, so after making sandwiches, we piled in to a couple of cars and set out. We stopped to pick up Eric's girlfriend and a couple of twelve packs for the coolers, because God forbid we convene anywhere without generous amounts of beer.

"That place has the best ice cream," Ty commented, pointing out a place we were passing.

"Armstrong's?" I read, squinting at the sign. I was up front with him today; Pete and I usually took turns.

"Yep. Dude used to make it in his house and sell it to neighborhood kids from his garage. Now it's a family business."

"Maybe we can stop there on the way home," I said.

"For sure."

I patted my belly, making a mental note to find a gym, too. Or at least some exercise videos.

I could tell we were close to our destination when the road we turned down grew dense with cars. We pulled in to a dusty, pothole addled parking lot lined thickly with overgrown bush and trees.

"Now you see why I drive a Jeep," Ty laughed, backing in to a space.

"No kidding," Pete said. "It's like off-roading."

Mike pulled up nearby. We unloaded both vehicles and crossed the street to where Rainbow was. So far, most of my day-trips to the beach had been peaceful and serene, complete with lots of reading and picture taking. Rainbow Beach on a Sunday was a different story. It reminded me a little of the Full Moon party, except with sunshine and volleyball. And jet skis.

We found an available spot near a tree – unheard-of luck, according to Mike – and set up camp. Eric's girlfriend, Laurie, sat next to me. We'd met a couple of times at the house, and I really liked her. She worked at a cafe in town, and had told me to come in Monday for a job. Apparently it really was that easy around here; everyone was a friend of a friend, and favors abounded.

We chatted for awhile, slathering on sunscreen. I'd already gotten such a dark tan from my daily sunning that I'd abandoned the oil and SPF 4 for number 36 or higher. There was nothing cute about sunburn or – like some of the old timers I could see strolling the shore – leathery, wrinkled skin.

"Carrot stick?" Laurie offered, holding a plastic baggie out.

"Thanks," I said, taking a couple. Living with all those boys had made me miss produce. It was apparent that I would need to take over grocery shopping duties if I ever wanted to see a fruit or veggie again.

"So, are you and Pete gonna stay up East, you think?"

"Nah. I mean, it's gorgeous, but...it's kind of far to drive every day."

She giggled. "Funny how that happens, right? In the states anything under twenty minutes is close, but here it's a pain."

I laughed, nodding. "So true."

"I feel you, though. It's pretty out there, but it's a drive." She wrinkled her nose. "Expensive, too. You could definitely find something cheaper mid-island."

"What about Christiansted?" I asked.

"Town's okay, but, you just have to make sure you get someplace secure. Preferably where you can park your car off the street, in a garage or behind a gate or something."

"It's that bad?"

She shrugged. "It's like anyplace. You just have to use common sense."

"I think I like town," I said. "That way I could walk to work..."

"Totally. I lived in town for awhile. I loved it...I'll give you the address of where I stayed. Maybe they have vacancies."

Pete walked over, handing each of us a beer. "You going in to the water?"

"In a while," I said, smiling up at him. Island life had been good to him, too, giving him some color.

"Cool. I'm gonna go play," he said, motioning toward the volleyball pit.

I blew him a kiss and watched him walk away, appreciating the cold beer in my hands.

"How long have you guys been together?" Laurie asked.

"About a year," I answered. "What about you and Eric?"

"Two years," she said, looking out to sea. "It's kinda weird, actually..." She laughed uneasily. "I came down here like you, with my boyfriend...except, we didn't come on vacation; he'd been offered a construction job. I'd just graduated high school, so we said screw it, let's go."

"And what happened?"

She shrugged, peeling the label off her bottle. "I met Eric at a party, and we hooked up."

"Just like that?" I asked, having a hard time imagining this sweet girl and the quiet guy I'd come to know doing that.

"Yeah. Just like that. We'd been drinking but...it didn't matter. I really liked him, and things were kind of over with Embry."

"Is he still here? Your ex?"

"Nah, Embry was over St. Croix even before he was over me. He went back to Philly."

"Do you ever regret it?" I asked, weirdly hungry to know every detail.

"Coming down or breaking up with Embry?"

"Either. Both."

"Nope." She shook her head, brushing her hands off on her towel. "What's meant to be will be and honestly, if your relationship can't survive someplace like this...it's not going to be able to survive, period."

Nodding, I thought about what she'd just said. There were so many stories. I wondered what Edward's was. My mind often came back to him; I didn't even bother chasing him out anymore.

Sighing inwardly, I stared out at the water. The sun was directly overhead, shining brightly, and the sea shimmered like a jewel. "Do you want to go in?" I asked, setting my empty bottle down.

Laurie grinned. "Sure."

The distant whine of jet skis came closer before receding again.

Shading my eyes, I squinted out, trying to see.

Laurie floated beside me, eyes closed, arms stretched out. We'd been in and out of the water for most of the day. I'd swum out to the buoys with Peter a little earlier, amazed at how clear the water was, even that deep. It kind of gave me the creeps, being able to see what was swimming around down there, but it was gorgeous, too.

An engine cut a couple of feet away, and I whipped my head up, startled at the sudden closeness.

Edward floated closer, nodding at me. "Come for a ride."

I wanted to, but I was slightly wary. We hadn't seen each other since Friday night, at the Full Moon party, and I wasn't sure he even liked me. His opinion of me didn't seem too great. Then again, maybe he was just a dickhead in general. Either way, things didn't look too promising.

Still...

"Or don't," he said, always with that stupid smirk.

"Laurie," I said, touching her foot.

"Go ahead," she said, smiling with her eyes shut. "I'm about to get out, anyway."

Biting my lip, I swam over to the jet ski and let Edward haul me up. He handed me a life vest, which I quickly clipped on before grabbing the handles at my side.

"You might want to hold on a little better," he said, patting my leg.

You know, because it wasn't awesomely awkward enough, having my legs slide wetly against his, our bodies separated by nothing but swimsuits and lifejackets.

"Okay," I said, hesitantly resting my arms around his waist.

Without warning, he revved the engine so hard we reared up slightly, before taking off at breakneck speed. I shrieked, holding him now in a death grip.

After a moment, though, I realized that this was probably the most fun I'd ever had. Salt spray blew against my face, and when we hit waves, we caught air, making me laugh hysterically, which made Edward laugh, too.

A couple of other riders were out, and they raced playfully with us, going straight for the horizon before turning abruptly, creating waves for us to crest over. Eventually we slowed down and came back in, cutting the engine completely a couple hundred feet off shore.

"So?" Edward asked, wiping water off his face.

"I want one of these," I said, grinning.

"They're fun," he agreed. "I don't bring it out every weekend, but...it's always worth it when I do."

"Well, thanks for the ride," I said, letting go of him so that I could unclasp my life vest.

"No problem."

We sat there for a second. I wanted to say more, but i had nothing.

"You... just let me know if you want to go again," he said after a minute.

"Okay." My legs were like jelly when I stood, my thighs burning. "Owwww..."

He chuckled, glancing at me briefly. "Yeah...you're gonna be in pain tonight."

I smacked his arm. "Thanks a lot."

"You'll get used to it," he said, watching me intently now.

Nodding, I tipped off the jet ski, hitting the warm water with a splash.

"Want me to tow you in?" he asked, teasing.

"I'll survive."

"I know you will," he said, smiling ruefully before driving slowly away, toward an empty spot on shore. I swam back as well, wanting nothing more than to sprawl out on my towel and recover.

Edward wandered by minutes later with a couple of friends, guys I'd never seen before. They were all talking at once, loud and joking, their accents letting me know they were Crucian, but he was looking at me. My arms and thighs ached from holding on to him and the jet ski, physical reminders of the closeness. The sun burned hot, and so did my face.

It cut me open, this feeling of inevitability.

thanks for the feedback, loved ones. i love sharing this journey with you. pina coladas for everyone.

that's my favorite frozen drink, anyway. what's yours?