"So, are you ready to go?" Allie said smiling at Nikki
"Go where. Didn't your sister tell you that you have to stay home tonight?" Nikki said confused
"Nikki, Nikki, Nikki" Allie said laughing "I never listen to Cassi. Yes, she told me that I couldn't go out, but I think your brother will keep her busy, plus there's a HUGE party on the beach tonight, we can't not go" she said as she pulled her hair back
"What about Cassi having eyes everywhere. Wouldn't it be safer just to stay home. That way she won't totally kill you"
"Oh you are as innocent as Amber said. You gotta live a little Westerly! Yeah, I might get caught, but who cares. If one of her guy friends sees me I'll convince them not to tell her. You'll find I can be really convincing when I want to be" she said smirking
"I barely know your sister, I don't want her hating me" Nikki said skeptically
"Chill, ok? We'll go relax on the beach, have a few drinks, dance a little and come back way before she comes home. She'll never know! Come on, what's the worst thing that can happen? I get yelled at again? Been there, done that. Come on, it'll be fun!"
Nikki sighed, she knew this was a battle she wasn't going to win "Ok, you're right, we'll never know what we missed if we don't go, right?"
Allie smiled "Nikki, I think this is the beginning of an amazing friendship." She said "Now come on, lets get ready, the party can't start without us"
Cassi's jaw dropped as she looked at what was in front of her. There was a small blanket sitting on the sand, surrounded by candles and cover with food. "What happened to taking it slow?" she said, still shell-shocked
Bradin smiled "This is slow, its just dinner. It just happens to be in an unusual place" he said innocently
"Damn, you're just… you sure know how to make someone want to strip down and do you" she said rolling her eyes "I'm surprised Callie made it 3 months"
Bradin laughed "Come on, that's not fair" he smiled "So do you want to eat or do you want to just stand here and look at it"
She laughed "No, we can eat" she walked toward the blanket, but before she had a chance to, he pulled her in and kissed her. When they broke away, she looked at him "What was that for?"
He smiled and she melted "I've wanted to do that since I saw you at the party. I figured it was safe to do it now" he smirked "Now, let's eat"
"Come on Nikki!" Allie said, pulling her down the beach. Nikki looked around at the party that was going on around her. She didn't know anyone who was there, and they all looked older. "Nikki? Are you ok?"
She snapped back to reality "I'm fine Allie. Who are all these people? I don't think I've ever met any of them before"
"You probably haven't unless they hang out with your brother. They're, um, older" she smiled
"How much older?" Nikki asked nervously
"Chill out Nikki, they're just juniors and a couple seniors. Relax!" Allie said smiling as a few guys walked up to them "Hey TJ, Hey Brice. This is my new friend Nikki"
The two guys said "Hey" at the same time "So Allie, what's this I hear about your sister grounding you? We thought you'd be a no show"
"I wouldn't never not show TJ" she said flirtatiously "Do I ever listen to Cassi when she tells me not to do something? No, of course not! If I did, I wouldn't be talking to you right now would I?" she said laughing
"Of course" he said laughing "So, do you want a drink? The usual for you and your friend?"
Allie smiled "Duh" The two boys walked away "Are you ok with this, you look like you just saw a ghost"
Nikki tried to figure out what to say "It's just I'm kinda with someone, but kinda not, and if we are, I don't want to mess it up. Plus, I've never been with a guy this much older"
Allie nodded "Cameron, right? Listen, you and Cam have been doing this song and dance for a while, trust me, I notice these things. BUT he's away for a while, and unless he said 'Nikki, don't be with anyone while I'm gone' then you're fair game. AND Brice is a sweetie; he won't push you to do anything you don't want to. I wish TJ was the same, but he's not. Just go with it ok, you might only get to go to a party like this once with your brother being who he is. Just enjoy it"
"Well if TJ's like that, why are you, like, with him? Why not go for Brice and I'll leave?" Nikki asked
Allie laughed "Because I like TJ more than I like Brice, and he respects me most of the time. It's not like I've slept with him. I'm still a virgin Nikki"
Nikki smiled "At least it's not just me" they both laughed
"It's most of us, most of my friends lie about it, but they've never gotten any, the only one we know about was Pat and Melinda, and that's because it was together in my living room after a day at the beach. Worst part, no one knew that were dating"
Nikki laughed as the boys walked back over with 2 blue cups in their hands "2 Rum and Cokes" TJ wrapped his arm around Allie's small back "Come on baby, lets go dance"
Allie smiled "Totally" she said. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to where people were dancing. He immediately started grinding with her, which was so awkward Nikki thought, because he was like 6'1" and she was like 5'2". She rolled her eyes and looked at the drink in her hand
Brice looked at her, obviously aware of how nervous she was "Is your drink ok, Nikki?" he asked
She forced a smile "Yeah, its fine." She took a gulp, surprised that it didn't taste as bad as she thought it would
He smiled, showing small dimples. "So do you want to do something? I know this must be kinda awkward for you. But you must be Allie's good friend, she never brings anyone here"
Nikki smiled "Actually, I was supposed to be stopping her from coming here. Her sister's out on a date with my brother so she asked me to come watch her. A lot of good I'm doing"
Brice laughed "Her sister's pretty cool, not that she'd ever look at us, we're just lower than her, being juniors, not seniors. Who's your brother, he must be up there on the totem pole" Nikki looked back at her drink, not saying anything "Oh, he must be really up there, like kick my ass if he found out, right?" Brice said, looking at her
Nikki looked at him "Probably" she said simply, taking another big gulp "It's Bradin Westerly"
Brice looked her "You kinda look like him, the hair and all" She nodded "Listen, I don't care who your brother is, we can have fun if we want to. Do you want to?"
Nikki looked at him. He seemed so nice, and he was big and strong, obviously a jock anda total 360 ofCameron. In the back of her head she heard Bradin You're the smart one in our family…I don't want to have to come pick you up at 3:30 in the morning because you go into some trouble but she dismissed it "Sure, what harm can it do?" she took his outstretched hand and he led her into the dance area, where in 2 seconds, he was all over her like TJ was on Allie. She sighed and let him do it then got into it, partly because she knew if she didn't he'd get pissed, but mostly because she like being not the typical Nikki everyone expected, she liked being the new, crazy Nikki.
Cassi ran her hand through her hair moving it out of her face "That was so good Bradin!" she said, as they finished eating
"Thanks" he said "I just wanted to prove to you that I'm not just another jackass who screwed over your friend"
She smiled "I already knew that, would I have agreed to go out with you if I thought you were just going be another ass. Trust me, I've been there, I can tell who's an ass, and yes, you were, but I know Erika broke your heart, so you know how it feels. I trust you not to break mine, but I think you know I will be able to tell if you're going to, so I'll just dump your ass"
Bradin laughed "I have no doubt. Thanks for giving me a shot though. I know Callie must hate you over it"
She smiled "Callie just doesn't want you to be happy, and she knows I just might make you like that. She's quite stubborn. She's cool though, she'll deal." She looked into his deep green eyes "You have eyes to die for" she said subconsciously
Bradin laughed "Yours are pretty awesome too" he leaned over and moved a stray piece of hair from her eyes to behind her ear, then kissed her sweetly on the lips, softly and gently
"I like your kisses, they're not rough or crazy intense, just nice" she said, happy for the first time in a while
"Thanks" he said looking into her eyes "We should probably head home, because if we don't leave right now, I won't be able to be held accountable for my actions"
She laughed "Yeah, its late, already 11:45" she got up and hit the sand off of her. Bradin cleaned up the rest of the stuff and threw it out, then took her hand as they walked down the beach toward his car "This was awesome Bradin, by far one of the best dates I've ever been on"
Bradin smiled "Good to know, I'm happy you had a good time, but can I ask you something?"
She looked at him "Sure"
He took a deep breath "I know that I'm still on thin ice with you, but I want to get this out. I had a blast tonight. So, will you consider being my girlfriend now that we've done all this?"
She looked at him "I suppose" she said simply, turing and walking to the car
"I suppose?" Bradin muttered under his breath "What does that mean?" he rolled his eyes and ran up to her, opened her door, then hoped in the car, and started the engine and drove toward her house