As she faced her own front door and rang the bell, she continued to think about Ryan, about the look on his face when she'd left the pool house. Her mother answered the door. She started grilling her when she saw that Marissa was wearing some guy's clothes. What had happened? Where was Luke? Why was she wearing Luke's clothes? Squawk, squawk, squawk. They weren't at some charity event playing the happy family. Marissa faced her mother and for the first time told her to go to hell before walking into her bedroom and locking the door. She'd never said that to her mother, but damn, it felt great.
The next morning she woke up, still wearing Ryan's clothes. They sort of smelled like him, musky and rugged. She smiled, looking forward to seeing him again tonight. She got up, got dressed and collected the sweats and her wet clothes together to wash.
Her mother was gone when she went downstairs, off to another aerobics class. Whatever. She was happy to have the house to herself.
That night, she snuck out of the house and made her way down to the sandy beach below. She's told Luke that she was catching a cold so he wouldn't come over. He said he would go out with some friends. He seemed to be doing more and more of that lately. He was probably cheating on her despite her "giving up the goods" as her mother put it. Whatever, asshole.
She found Ryan already sitting on a black blanket on the beach. He was wearing jeans and a black long sleeved shirt and black jacket. He had a bottle of Highland single malt perched in the sand in front of him. He was watching the small waves ripple in the moonlight. She felt her heart skip a beat. She couldn't put her finger on what it was about him, but there was something there between them, she could feel it.
Not knowing what to say, she just sat down next to him on the blanket and handed him his sweats, washed and neatly folded.
'Thanks" he said quietly as he set them on the other side of him on the blanket. He reached for the scotch and took a swig. He looked at her. After the party last night he wasn't sure she wanted to drink again. She reached for the bottle and took a swig. She didn't feel a need to get drunk with Ryan, she didn't need to drown her feelings being with him, but she welcomed the smooth scotch and the warmth it created in her.
She looked at him as she set the bottle down and then just decided to go for it. She leaned into him and opened her mouth. As she started kissing him she could feel his resistance slip away. He opened his mouth and began kissing her back. He reached for the back of her head and pulled her into him. Before she knew it, she was on top of him and kissing him with the heat and passion she'd never had with Luke. She felt a soft moan escape her lips just as she heard another familiar voice.
"Hey, let's go over there, we can make love under the stars baby."
It was Luke! She rolled over and sat up. So he was cheating on her! Of course, here she was here with Ryan. They were in the dark cove, not easily seen by Luke and the girl he was with. Marissa didn't recognize her, she didn't go to Harbor. Ryan sat up next to her, obviously realizing who the voice belonged to by the look on Marissa's face.
She looked at Ryan and held her finger to her lips. She didn't want Luke to know that they were there, or that they'd heard anything. They were low to the ground, and in the darkness, Luke wasn't going to see them unless he started walking directly towards them.
Which he did. Ryan motioned for Marissa to take the blanket and sweats and go and hide behind one of the rocks that were in the cove. He got up and started walking towards Luke and the girl with the scotch, acting like he was out for a solo walk.
"Hey, aren't you that asshole I saw hanging out with my girlfriend last night?" Luke yelled.
"Can't be, I've never seen this girl before." Ryan replied coldly, eyeing Luke's date.
With that, Luke took a swing at Ryan, who ducked out of the way and swung hard with an upward punch to Luke's chin, which sent him over backwards. With the first blow, Marissa knew that she couldn't keep hiding and let the two men in her life get hurt. Luke's date was already screaming for them to stop fighting.
Marissa ran over to the boys yelling for Ryan to get off Luke. She knew she couldn't really scream at Luke for cheating on her, this time at least, because she was equally as guilty. Suddenly the scene was flooded with lights as the beach patrol pulled up. It was curfew and they must have heard the screaming. Two of the guys jumped out and separated Luke and Ryan. Marissa stood next to Ryan looking at Luke and his date.
"It's over." She said to Luke as the patrol guys were escorting Luke and his date to their Jeep. One of the patrol guys also asked them to leave. As they drove away, Luke yelled, "It's not over yet asshole!"
Marissa turned to Ryan. In 24 hours, she had completely turned her life inside out and it was all because of Ryan. She hoped that she had made the right decision, and feared her mother's response when she found out that Marissa had broken up with Luke. She was scared and thrilled at the same time.
Looking into her eyes, it seemed like once again, Ryan knew what she was thinking. Without saying a word, he laced his fingers through hers and leaned over to kiss her.