11.
Beach
2:07 July 15th, Sunday
Derrick was trying really hard not to think of Massie on his lap. Or Tawny on his handle. Sure, he was used to a lot of female attention, but it was rarer when two got in a cat fight over him. Not that it hadn't happened, but definitely not between the literal girl of his dreams and a hot townie chic.
"Want to come in the ocean with me?" Tawny cooed, pulling at his arm. Derrick knew a trip to the ocean with her surely wouldn't be boring, but then he glanced back at the girl on his lap. And so he awkwardly shook off Tawny and nervously declined.
"Aw. Maybe later." As Tawny got up, she dropped her towel. As she bent from the waist to grab it, her curvy derriere was in full sight for a half a second, making Derrick gulp. As she righted herself, she winked at him and mouthed "You have the number." Derrick considered grabbing her and asking her what she meant, and saying that yes, he quite would like her number, again forgetting the brunette alpha in his lap. Massie! Right. Thankfully, she had missed the exchange.
"Wh-what was that about?" He wavered, torn between wanting to gaze at Massie and look at Tawny's retreating behind.
"Oh, nothing." Massie smiled brightly, lifting her petite frame off of his lap. "I could tell you wanted her gone, so I decided to help!" She busied herself with unraveling a white old-fashioned beach chair and placing it next to Claire's. "You're welcome." She added after a second, with a giggle.
"Thank you?" Derrick wheezed, suddenly caught in a coughing fit. A soft, smooth hand found his back, rubbing it softly. Derrick instantly relaxed, his thoughts returning back to Massie, and Massie only. His first love. His vacation neighbor. The girl he was desperate to get back. If he could only get out of the friend zone.
Massie's Beach House
5:56 July 15th, Sunday
"I am so fat!" The warbling voice of Dylan found its way through Massie's door. "I should just wear a porky pig shirt and call it a day."
"Shut up Dylan!" Kristen's sharp voice came in response. "We're trying to get ready."
"So am I!" Dylan's voice became clearer. "But I'm too fa-a-a-t!"
"Wear a freaking garbage bag then!" Claire joined the cacophony of voices, sounding pissed off.
"At least it would fit!"
"Emagawd everyone shut up!" Massie yelled, silencing the crazed voices. "I am trying to get ready!"
"So are-"
"DYLAN."
"Kay, fine, whatever!"
Massie pressed her two index fingers into the side of her temple, anxiously examining the outfits laid out in front of her. She needed something sexy, but refined, to help make Derrick forget all about that sleazy Tawny and her sexy, long red fingernails. But not like, fall in love with her. More like... kind of...
Examining her nails, Massie wondered if it was too late to paint them the same color. Right now they were glazed with a simple clear. Boring.
Not that she needed, wanted, or cared about Derrick's love (life). It shouldn't matter to her if he was involved with the slut townie. She had a boyfriend, Jacob, and he was her 10-year ex. From when she was like, 15.
"Massie, hate to burst this bubble." Alicia called from her spot on the window daybed, already donned in a scarlet silk trapeze dress that made her dark skin glow. "But we were supposed to be outside four minutes ago."
Massie snatched the first outfit in front of her, and slid on the dark wash AG jeans and the white silk ruffled tank. Sliding on her trademark aviators and snatching her Bottega Veneta knit leather oversized hobo, she looked like a cross between summer in the Hamptons and the West Indies. Maybe not perfect for sunny, relaxed, warm North Carolina, but comfortable and familiar.
Soon, the five girls were walking out the door, dressed in a myriad of different outfits. Kristen was all casual-beachy/sexy, wearing a pair of light denim shorts, a black low-cut v-neck and flip-flops. In comparison, Claire looked stiff and stuck-up, in a high-necked sea-green sleeveless Equipment blouse and a dark blue miniskirt. Dylan had chosen to wear an artfully draped black cotton v-necked shirt, with a simple, loose pair of medium destroyed boyfriend jeans. Together, the girls looked fashionable and beachy, and ready to break the boy's hearts. Or heal them. Outside, an Escalade and a Ferrari waited. Three of the five guys were leaning against the black car, while Cam & Derrick were sitting on the trunk of the yellow convertible.
"Massie!" Derrick's face lit up. "O'er here!" Massie and Claire split from the group, as their comrades watched jealously. Claire quickly climbed in the back with Cam, leaving Massie and Derrick to the front seats. Coincidentally, it was the exact same car Jacob drove. The thought was sobering, and as Derrick backed out of the sandy driveway, she slumped down in her seat, absentmindedly taking off the case on her phone and clicking it back on.
"So, what's up?" Derrick took his eyes of the still-light road for a second, watching Massie. Obviously, something was a little off.
"Nothing."
"Something seems wrong..." Derrick lilted, speeding up a bit. He, with a bit of hesitation, laid a hand on her knee and squeezed. It felt intimate. Way... intimate.
No. Bad. This was bad. Boyfiend. Jacob. Hand. Knee.
"It's just..." Massie considered her options. One, she could lie and say nothing was wrong. Option two was to gently remind him that she had a boyfriend, and she could have possibly maybe have been leading him on. And option three, throw herself out of the car and run off screaming. With a sigh, she ruled out number three, ruefully following with number one.
"It's my boyfriend, Jacob's birthday," Massie lied, taking a page off of Claire's breakup with Cam, like, twelve years before. "And I... forgot to call him."
His hand was instantly gone.
Derrick's knuckles clenched the steering wheel, an icy white color blooming across the joints. The muscles in his jaw tightened, his face turning flaming red.
"So?"
"So. So what?" Derrick let out an inhumane chuckle as he swerved the car into the restaurant parking lot. "So, nothing." He added. Without another word, he threw open the yellow door and clicked the locks shut as he shambled towards the restaurant door, hands in pockets. "Call him, Massie. Call him. Call him now. Or else he might get his heart broken." He called over his shoulder, a malicious tint to the words. He mumbled something else, but he was out of earshot, and his words were lost in the wind.
"Well, okay then." Cam's throaty chuckle cut into the howling silence. Massie whipped around, having forgotten the two girls in the backseat. Her cheeks flamed.
"Nice going, Mass." Claire grumbled, unbuttoning her high-neck top descretely. Underneath, a notably more exposing red glitter halter top shined. Massie opened her mouth, half in shock.
"Kidding. Help me out?" She spoke towards Cam. He nodded, extending a tanned palm to guide her out of the convertible. "Coming?"
"In a little." Massie slumped in her seat. Her knee felt icy with the removal of Derrick's wide hand.
And then, about ten minutes too late, she realized... maybe she didn't want to just be friends with Derrick.
I am so so so so so so so so so sorry for the month long absence. I completely forgot I had written this, and forgot to have it edited.
So are you team Massington, Macob, or Dawny?
And who of the other girls should get asked out by their respective pair first?
XOXOX!
splendeur
