Chapter Thirteen

"Get up," said Jake a week later.

"What?"

"Up up up," he said, pulling away the comforter.

"Why?" I asked as I stood.

"Because you've spent too much time in bed lately. And I know you're not pregnant and fairly sure you're not sick so I figure it's because you're sad and I don't like that. And you're getting thinner again and I'm getting worried about you," he said.

"Okay."

"So we're going out. Grab a swimsuit. Dropped Jenny of at the Café-Karen and Keith were making out when I got there-and we have all day," he said. I smiled and pulled a brush through my hair.

"Okay," I said again, walking to the bureau and pulling out a bikini before darting to the door to change in the bathroom.

After we'd stopped sleeping together (though we still slept in the same bed) I'd stopped changing in front of him. Gradually, in the last week, I'd begun to hide from his kisses. This was necessary if I wanted to also hide from Lucas's, who was still pursuing me.

The two of us sped away in my car. May was quickly giving way to June. Our finals were over, attending school was no longer necessary. Soon would be prom and the basketball final. Soon I'd have to spend all day with Jake and finally start to be actually married.

We ended up at the beach. On a summer day or on the weekend it would have been packed but on that Friday morning it was virtually empty. We ditched our shoes and ran down the steps to the beach, collapsing in the warm sand.

He pulled of his shirt and was left in a pair of blue swimming shorts. Turning from him I pulled my t-shirt off my head and slipped my skirt down.

I turned back. His eyes, so long kept from my body, took a long, admiring gaze

The string bikini was black. The top part covered only enough to remain descent and relatively covered but showed off as well as it could. The black bikini bottoms were low and small.

I hadn't chosen the suit on purpose but I was glad I had. His gaze stayed fast on me, greedily taking in the sight. While he was occupied I took a long glance at his firm stomach muscles-they were still nice.

By the time I glanced back I noted that he was still staring. I snapped by fingers in front of his eyes. He glanced into mine and laughed.

"Do you think the ocean works as well as a cold shower?" he asked. I giggled and reached for his hand.

"Definitely."

We ran, screaming into the cold, salty sea. We ran out to our waists (my waist, his thighs) in the water and gripped each other's hands as a huge wave came and pulled us up from the sandy bottom. I tightly shut my eyes and mouth as sea water seeped in and soaked my hair.

We braced ourselves as another wave came crashing against us and then a third. Around my feet I could see shells and even occasionally a crab would scuttle by. We spent half an hour in this way, laughing and shouting at each other over the waves.

We were out of breath as we collapsed onto the sandy beach. The sun was hot on my back-I dug into the bag he'd bought for sunscreen lotion and began to slather my arms, legs and exposed stomach with lotion and finishing with my face. I handed him to the bottle after I was done.

"Do my back?" I asked, turning away from him.

"Are you trying to do this to me Pey?" he said, laughing and joining me on the ground.

I cringed as he untied the back of my bathing suit to spread the lotion properly and held it up with my arms. I smiled as he tied it back up and finished with my back. It was incredible that after two weeks he wasn't pressuring me in the slightest, yet managed to make me feel attractive enough to show that he wanted to.

"Don't you want to tan?" he asked as he tossed the bottle back into the bag. Obviously he had less concern for the matter than I did.

"I don't tan. And even if he did I like the though of noting dying of skin cancer," I retorted. He laughed.

I spread a towel out and rolled onto it. I closed my eyes and folded my hands across the stomach as the sun's rays hit me. For the first time in weeks I felt completely relaxed-I didn't even feel relaxed in bed any more.

"What are you doing?" I heard him ask.

"Just because I don't want to tan doesn't mean I don't like the sun. It's nice," I explained, not bothering to open my eyes.

"Okay." I vaguely heard him settle down somewhere near my feet as I gave away to the relaxation.

After an hour I propped myself up on my elbows and looked over at him. He was sculpting a large sand castle with his hands and was beginning to decorate it with seashells.

"Well, haven't you been a busy boy!" I said brightly. He laughed.

"I used to come here all the time when I was a kid," he said.

"I did, before Mom died," I said.

"That must have been hard for you," he said. I nodded-I barely ever talked about it.

"That's Nathan's parent's beach house," I said, pointing to the largest one on the beach. Jake glanced at it, his eyes traveling from the elaborate wood staircase and walkway that led to the large porch.

"It's nice. Have you ever been there?" he asked. I laughed.

"Dude, I've spent the night there," I said. I crawled over to where he was.

"Why did I have to ask?" he asked the sky. Why did I have to bring up sensitive issues like that?

"I'll give you a lolly if you go get me a drink," I said brightly, playing on the sandcastle joke. He leaned across and tickled the bare expanse of skin my bathing suit left. I jumped up and stepped a few steps backwards, shrieking with laughter. He jumped up too and followed me. Shrieking playfully I turned to run across the beach. I heard him follow me quickly as I sped up.

He caught up with me in twenty feet and threw an arm around my waist, pulling me to him. He threatened to tickle me again as I fell backwards on the beach.

He dropped down too. He crawled over until he was directly atop me and attacked my exposed skin. I squirmed and giggled but his strong arms on either side of me refused exit. He stopped only when I opened my eyes and gazed into his green flecked brown ones. With a gentle finger he pushed a damp curl from my face and admired me.

"You're so beautiful," he said, leaning down. I stared as his lips approached mine. I wanted to kiss him again, so badly.

I turned away just as he reached me and his lips met my hair. He stood again, and towered over me. He offered me his hand, and I pulled myself up on it. He dropped my hand and didn't take my waist or put his arms across my shoulders.

His cell was ringing as we neared our spot on the beach and he sprinted to answer it. He talked for three minutes before hanging up. He turned to me.

"My lawyer-Nikki's been sentenced to three years with no chance of bail," he said. He held out his arms as I leapt into them. We twirled around.

"That's so great," I said. Both of us knew that even after she got out, and the trial continued, we'd win. There was no way they'd chose Nikki, the single hooker, over Jake the married working dad.

We were still in a festive mood that night as we arrived back in town so we didn't go back-we drove to the local bar.

I used my fake ID to buy us each a beer. We clinked glasses, speaking easily of light topics.

"I guess we're going to have to go find a place to live sometime," he said. I frowned reflectively. Besides missing staying in the house I'd always lived in, getting a place with him would make us seem so much more married than living at my father's house.

"Yeah," I said softly.

"Maybe by the beach?" he suggested. I smiled at him.

As we finished our drinks we abandoned the glass on the counter and walked to the empty pool table and set up the balls in the triangle.

"Ha! Kicked your ass," I said happily half an hour later, after I'd sunk all the balls. He put an arm across my shoulders and moved to me, kissing the top of my head.

"Yeah," he said happily.

Brooke was sitting on the steps when we arrived in front of the house. Her expression was alarmed and shocked, and I ran to her in alarm. I took both of her hands and she looked at me in surprise.

"I just slept with Mouth," she revealed.