My chest heaving and a sheen of sweat on my forehead, I pulled myself up and took Tori's hands in mine. She licked her lips and smiled, the moon and starlight illuminating her hair, eyes, lips, and teeth.
"You have a beautiful smile," she whispers. I kiss her and pull back to gaze into her eyes.
"That was…"I pause. "Great."
"Wow. Such enthusiastic words," she teases with a laugh. I bite my lip and shove her backwards into the surf, and she screams and flails. I laugh ridiculously hard, so hard that I fall to my knees in the sand. I hear a splash and then I feel wetness surround me when I realize that Tori pulled me into the water. I stand and scream, peals of laughter exploding from my body. Tori grins and bends down, grabbing a handful of mud.
"Vega, what—" she launches the mud ball at me, landing in the middle of my face, mouth, and nose. I stand there, momentarily frozen, as my mind registers what happened and where the mud was. A wave crashes into my back and Tori laughs as I spit the water out and wipe it from my eyes. A gust of wind blows from my front and I shudder, suddenly feeling extremely cold except for the warm water lapping at my calves.
"Are you cold?" Tori asks. I nod and she pulls me under her arm, leading me back onto the beach. We search for our clothes, making sure they're our own before putting them on to avoid confusing Tori's family. Despite being soaking wet and having my legs still slightly shaky from my orgasm, I'm happy as Tori wraps her arm securely around me and pulls me back down the beach, the sand finally beginning to cool off. I lean my head on her shoulder, surprised at how much I trust her. She's also a warm body.
As we walk back down the beach, rounding the curve of the shore, homes come into view and their lights illuminate the golden sand, lighting our path. I automatically pull from Tori, suddenly self conscious about being seen with her. I sigh and look down, knowing how she might feel as my hand pulls from hers, my palm now cool.
"I'm sorry," I find myself whispering.
"No. Don't. It's fine." Her voice is short, no lingering pause. Mouth open and closed, eyes not looking into mine. A heaviness looms over my heart and I shake it away with thoughts of the somewhat clumsy yet mostly glorious sex we just had. As we near her house, I take her hand and pull her close to me. The ocean breeze makes her hair flutter around her face and over her lips. My heart starting to pound, I brush her hair from her lips and kiss her softly. She pulls away and squeezes my hand and we walk back to her house without a word.
"Hey guys," Trina says, coming out the back door as we near the table. I pick up my phone and put my shoes on.
"I'll see you later," I mutter to Tori. Trina pouts as I walk away, but I wave as I trek back to my car.
"No!" He screams, running his hand through his sweaty hair. "I can't fucking believe you!"
"Beck, who do you think you are?" His father asks, his arms crossed. "Who do you think I am?"
"You're a pretentious douche bag who just forced me to break up with my girlfriend! All over a stupid lie!" His fist hits the side of his trailer with enough force to put a dent in it. His father is silent, watching his tall son grit his teeth as he tries not to break something.
"It wasn't a lie," his father says. "I got the job in London. But I said no at the last minute because I thought—"
"You thought what?" Beck demands, turning to face his father with enough fury in his eyes to cause the shorter man to look away for a moment before returning to his son's gaze. "You thought you could just force me to break her heart and then crawl back to her and say 'sorry, my daddy turned the job down, I'm staying,'?" Beck swallowed and waited for a response, but didn't get one. "Wow, dad, I really couldn't have asked for such a fantastic daddy." His sarcasm whips out of his mouth furiously.
"So now what?" His father asks, stepping forward and staring directly into his son's dark chocolate eyes. "You better have another plan, Beck, because you're not staying here." Beck blinks, confused and shocked. "If you hate me so much, go somewhere else. You're not welcome here anymore."
"I have the trailer," Beck growls.
"And I can turn off your utilities," his father hisses. "You've got three days to find somewhere else to live or I'm calling someone to haul this piece of shit away," he says, slapping the cold metal, "with you in it." Beck's eyes flicker between his father's before he turns around and throws his truck door open.
"Go to hell," he spits before slamming the door with enough force to rattle the glass window. He starts the engine and revs it before speeding toward his father, stopping it at the last second to put the vehicle in reverse and pull out of the driveway. His father stares after him, running his hand through his hair before turning around to kick the tire of the trailer and go back inside his home.
I turn down my street and pull up to my house, nearly having a heart attack when I see a familiar blue truck parked in front of my house. I turn into the driveway and my headlights wash over a familiar license plate. I don't know if I'm hallucinating. Lights are on inside and I turn my car off, stepping out slowly, my hands and legs beginning to shake. I reach the front door and it seems like a year before I can get the key into the slot in the knob, and when I turn it, it feels even slower. My mom stands up in the living room, and I walk around the wall, my eyes landing on the figure sitting on my couch, and drop my keys and purse.
"Hey," Beck smiles and his voice is soft. He stands and comes to me, wrapping his arms around me as I begin to cry, breathing in his familiar scent, relief washing through my body. I feel his warmth, his strength, enveloping me as I cry into his blue flannel shirt. I hear my mom leave the room and go upstairs, but I couldn't care if she was trying to pry us apart and stab Beck in the throat.
"I thought you were supposed to be in London," I mutter.
"Me too," he admits. I pull away from him and stare into his eyes.
"What happened?"
"My dad didn't take the offer," he replies slowly. He looks down. "Jade, I have to tell you something." I nod.
"Me too," I whisper, my mind flicking back to Tori. "But you first."
"I got kicked out. I can't stay there. But your mom told me I could stay here." My heart jumps, but the thought of Tori wrestles it back to my throat.
"Y-you-you're staying h-here?" I stammer. Beck nods. I smile, half fake and half somewhat relieved.
"So you had something to say?" He whispers. I nod, panic taunting me. I don't want to bring up Tori now, because Beck, was, well, my boyfriend. Was, is, I had no clue. We broke up because he was leaving, but now that he wasn't, were we still together?
"I love you so much," I murmur, pulling his body closer again to mine.
