Chapter 7

When they arrived down on the beach, Katie and Patrick scanned the area around them looking for the rest of their group. They soon spotted Eden and Hannah laughing, standing at the water's edge. Zach wasn't too far away sitting on a towel reading.

"There they are", Katie pointed.

They walked over in the direction of the group. Katie headed down to the water where the girls were laughing and talking, and Patrick headed in the direction of the beach towel where Zach was sitting.

"Took you long enough", Eden giggled.

"We were busy unpacking", Katie blushed.

"So that's what you call it now", Eden cocked her head to the side.

"Oh leave her alone", Hannah rolled her eyes. "She hardly gets any time with him."

Katie turned and faced Hannah, "not for long. He's coming to Columbia in the fall." She began squealing and jumping in place with excitement.

"That's great", Hannah joined in.

"So things are ok now?", Hannah questioned as Eden glanced between the two.

"Yes, better than ok", Katie gave a quick nod. "Let's go for a walk."

The three girls began heading down the beach laughing and giggling as Katie shouted over her shoulder, "we'll be back in a little while."

Patrick nodded and looked down at the items that were piled on the beach towel. He spotted at green nerf football.

He looked at Zach, "wanna toss this around".

"Sure", Zach grinned up at him.

Where Zach was several inches taller than Patrick, Patrick made up for it in muscle mass. Zach was lean and lanky for his frame. Patrick was well muscled and filled out more. Years of playing sports had done wonders for him. Patrick toed his shoes off and tossed his shirt on the towel. He motioned with his head in the direction of the water and Zach followed suit. Zach tossed his shirt to the side and grinned looking in the direction of the girls retreating backs.

"So, how long were you and Katie together?", Patrick tossed the ball to him.

"Just a few months", Zach shrugged.

"Did you love her?", Patrick challenged.

"I'm not really sure if what we had was love.", he tossed the ball back. "We were really young. I was only 16. How many guys do you know who know their in love at 16."

"Point taken", Patrick nodded.

"What about you?", Zach probed.

"What do you mean?", Patrick challenged.

"Do you love her?", Zach clarified.

"With all my heart", Patrick smiled. "She's something special. "What we've got, we've been building it for a while."

"Really", Zach cocked his head to the side.

"We met several years ago, Iet it develop into something real with time.", Patrick shrugged. "We're adults, we know what we feel."

"Really?", Zach challenged again. "Maybe you should talk to her about that."

"What's that suppose to mean?", Patrick's anger began to flare.

"Nothing. Just talk to Katie", Zach smirked.

Patrick shook his head telling himself not to let this guy get to him. He's a jealous ex boyfriend, that's all Patrick muttered to himself. He saw the girls returning in the distance and tossed the ball back to Zach.

"Want to give them a show?", he challenged.

Zach shrugged and then shouted, "go long".

Patrick began running down the beach in the direction of the girls smiling a toothy grin. Zach launched the ball as hard as he could into the air heading right towards Katie. The girls were looking right at them and their boyish antics as they came closer to them.

"I can believe this", Eden groaned.

"What", Hannah smirked.

"What a show off", Eden rolled her eyes.

Katie giggled and shouldered into the rest of the group just as Patrick launched himself into the air to claim the football coming down hard into the shallow surf. Water splashed around the girls pelting them with droplets. Katie giggled as the other two girls ran from the water.

"Oh you think that's funny, huh?", Patrick laughed as he slung his head back to get his wet hair out of his face.

"Nice catch", she smiled as she began backing away from him.

"Where are you going?", he smirked at her.

"Patrick, I'm not wearing my swimsuit", she backed farther away from him getting ready to launch into a run.

"Neither am I, last time I checked anyway", he stalked closer.

Zach stood in the distance watching the two and eyeing Eden at the same time. He used Katie and Patrick as a distraction as he approach Eden from behind. Before she could react, he grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder.

"Ahhhh", she screamed. "Put me down".

She kicked her legs and pounded her fists into his back as he loped towards the water.

"I'll put you down alright. Right here", he rolled her body into his arms against his chest and took off for the deeper water.

"No Zach, don't you dare", she begged.

Just then, he dunked her and began laughing so hard he lost his own balance.

"I can't believe you did that", she slapped at him in the water.

Katie giggled and Patrick used this opportunity to capture her in his arms.

"No don't", she struggled against him.

He leaned in and kissed her lips in a soft kiss running his hands down her back to distract her. He picked her up and began walking into the deeper water. She was so into his kiss, that nothing else around her registered. Suddenly, he tossed her in the air and she crashed down into the surf. When she surfaced, she had a look of shock on her face.

"I can't believe you just did that", she scowled at him.

"Whatever do you mean", he smiled a cocky grin at her.

"You used your lips to distract me", she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.

"It worked didn't it?", he grinned. "Come on, you know you love me."

She sighed and walked up to him. Standing so close she could feel his body heat. She rose up on her tip toes and leaned in right next to his ear, "payback's a b%$#h".

Patrick groaned and then tackled her into the water again. The four of them stayed in the water for a while splashing and dunking each other repeatedly. Hannah sat on the beach reading a magazine just watching. Horseplay wasn't really her thing, and she was glad they hadn't tossed her in the water as well.

"So what do you want to do tonight?", Eden asked as she was squeezing her wet hair out in a towel.

"Doesn't matter to me", Katie chimed in.

"Looks like there's quite a few dance clubs down the street from where we're staying. Wanna go clubbing tonight?", Patrick smiled.

"You wanna go clubbing?", Katie wrinkled her brow at him. "Since when do you dance?"

"Since I saw all those sexy little outfits you packed in your bag for the week. I wanna see one on you tonight", he winked at her.

"You went through my bag?", Katie scowled.

Zach snickered at Katie's out burst. Even he knew that she had a stubborn independent streak a mile long.

"No, I didn't go through it. I've just heard you and your friends talk about your nights out in NY. I wanna be able to join in on the fun.", he shrugged.

"Ok, we can go dancing, that is if everyone else is ok with that.", Katie shrugged. "First we need to get back to the hotel so I can shower and get dried off. Someone got me all wet", she laughed and shoved at Patrick's chest.

"Fine, a shower it is. Want some company?", he leaned in and kissed her neck as a slight blush covered her cheeks.

"Patrick", she shoved him again.

She couldn't help the desire that coursed through her body as she admired his bare chest. He had just a light covering of blonde hair that dusted his pecks. His tanned skin was stretched tight over his broad shoulders and arms. She shook her head to clear the lustful thoughts that were filling it.

"Like what you see?", he whispered in her ear.

She cleared her throat, "I don't know what you're talking about."

She tossed her hand in the air and marched back in the direction of the hotel leaving him laughing in the background.

When they reached the hotel, the girls locked themselves in Katie's room to get dressed.

"You're going to have to use Eden's room", Katie shoved Patrick's bag into his arms and pushed him out the door.

She wanted Hannah and Eden to hang out with her while they got ready. Katie and Hannah wore the same size. With the exception of Katie being taller, Hannah was able to share a lot of clothes with her. Hannah was not the clubbing type, so Katie knew that she wouldn't have that many choices of things to wear tonight.

"Oh no, not that", Katie pointed to the jeans that Hannah was holding. "You are wearing something sexier than that. We are finding you a boy to dance with tonight, and that will not do the trick."

Hannah shook her head, "you are not treating me like your personal Barbie doll."

Eden laughed and threw her head back, "now I know you're sisters. That's the first time I've seen you disagree about anything."

"Little miss perfect over there", Katie pointed at Hannah, "has never dressed up that figure of hers. She could knock em dead if she'd only let me help."

"Fine. You win", Hannah huffed. "But my butt and my boobs better be covered though."

Katie threw her hands in the air, "finally."

Katie riffled through her bag until she found what she was looking for, a black mini skirt and a blue gauzy top.

"Here", she tossed it in Hannah's direction. "I'll help you with some makeup when you're done putting that on."

Hannah rolled her eyes and walked into the bathroom to dress. Katie continued to dig until she found what she was looking for, for herself. A pair of black skinny jeans that came to the mid-calf and a silver sequin top. It had a low slung neck that dipped between her breasts. It attached around the neck and lower back. A pair of black heeled sandals finished the look. Eden had paired her signature fish nets with a black mini and a fuchsia top.

The girls crowded around the mirror brushing their hair and applying evening makeup.

"I don't think this is really my style", Hannah began to whine.

"Hush, you look hot", Katie glared at her. "Some poor college boy is not going to know what hit him."

"She has a point", Eden shrugged. "I never knew you had all that under those clothes. I mean you dress so conservatively."

Hannah shook her head and sighed, "if my dad saw me now, he would kill me."

"He's not here, and you look amazing", Katie begged. "Please just give it a chance. Patrick and Zach will keep the douche bags at bay."

Eden and Hannah burst out laughing, "you crack me up."

The girls finished putting the final touches on their makeup and headed out into the main area of the room to meet the boys. When they emerged from the bedroom, the boys were chatting and watching sports on the TV.

"About time", Zach groaned.

"Oh come on, you know the clubs don't get good until after 10 anyway", Eden whined.

"I forgot. You guys aren't old enough to get into the places I normally go", Zach shrugged.

"We are tonight", Eden winked as she handed an ID to Patrick and Hannah. "I always hook up my friends."

Patrick looked over at Katie and then down at the ID, "is this something that you do often?"

"No, only when my boyfriend's trying to surprise me", she giggled and placed a peck to his cheek.

Patrick nodded as he remembered his visit back in the fall when he came to see her and she was drunk. His mouth turned up in a grin, "let's hope you can control yourself tonight."

She smacked his chest, "you let me worry about that."

She grinned and let her eyes scan his body. Patrick had paired a pair of kaki pants with a black v-neck t-shirt. It was tight across his chest and arms showing off his muscles. The pants hung low on his hips accentuating his narrow waist. She unconsciously licked her lower lip causing Patrick to groan.

He leaned into her ear, "please don't do that. You're killing me already with the way you're dressed."

She giggled, "oh this old thing."

Eden walked over to the door, "we better go if we want to grab a table at one of these places. I'm sure they'll fill up fast."

As they walked out the door, Eden reached over and smacked Zach on the bottom, "nice jeans."

He grinned, "all for you babe."

Where Patrick had dressed up for the evening, Zach had paired a pair of ripped Levi's with an old Led Zeppelin shirt. He was the perfect match for Eden. The rocker side that he exuded fit her personality perfect. Hannah shook her head at the four of them as she trailed behind. It was going to be an interesting night, that was for sure.

Alright, there you go…Hope you enjoy.