Oh look, another chapter. Still short. Sorrry. Read on! Happy Bday Miley!
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I looked around, seeing nothing but the blue around me. My lungs burned, screaming for relief. My hair flew around me, flowing towards the wave that rolled over me. Finally, when I was sure I would drown, o pushed off from the sand and broke the surface. My lungs expanded as I breathed in the sweet, sweet air. I stood up, but the cool air did nothing to soothe my burning skin. I was feverish. I went back underwater in an attempt to erase the feeling of Miley's gentle fingers.
I floated on my back, staring into the sun. I thought of boys I'd been with. Cooper. Hottie Lamodie. He'd been my first. Rico's older brother. He'd been a bundle of Latin Flavor. A wave crashed over me, bringing back my goosebumps. Johnny. He'd been so sweet; he even told me he loved me. And then there'd been that night with Oliver. People did odd things when they were lonely. So, I consoled myself, there was no way I could be that way…Then, I remembered, none of them had worked out.
"What are you doing?" A voice asked casually.
I jumped, and quickly sunk under the water. I came up sputtering. "Don't you know not to sneak up on people like that?"
Miley was quick to answer. "Hey, if you weren't so dang nervous everytime I was around, we wouldn't have this problem."
I scoffed. "You? Make me nervous? Please."
"Really? Prove it." I gave her a look, and she took a step closer. "Are you nervous now?"
My heart jumped. "No." She swirled the water between us with her hands, then stepped even closer.
"How about now?"
"Definitely not." I could barely squeeze the words out of myself.
She moved closer to me, until there was less than an inch between us. "Are you nervous?" I shook my head, afraid my words would betray me. She reached up, running her hand from my shoulder all the way down my arm, renewing my goosebumps. "Now?" I shook my head again.
A small part of my mind, the only part still capable of thought, wondered how far she was willing to go to get me to say yes. She ran her hand from my waist across my stomach, where she let it rest. "Still not nervous," I choked. "You're just-just terrible at this game."
"Oh really?" I nodded at her. She grabbed my arms, pulling me closer to her, until we were flesh on flesh. Instinctively, my arms wanted to wrap around her. She put her face closer and closer to mine, until I could feel her breath on my lips when she spoke. "Nervous now?"
I wondered what the correct answer would be, but 'no' was what I said. And suddenly, she was gone. For a moment I couldn't understand what had happened. But there she was, coming up from under the water.
"I guess I just can't make you nervous." She said wistfully as she back stroked away.
I ducked my head under the water and screamed. I was tingling all over, and burning up even in the cool water, which I was used to by now anyway. I could still feel her all over me, as if our stomachs were still pressed together, her arms, pulling us to each other. I tried to stop it, but my imagination was already in overdrive. I turned towards the beach and covered my face. I heard splashing behind me, but decided to ignore it. I found out how bad an idea that was when Miley's arms wrapped around my shoulders and her legs around my waist. I gasped out of shock, but quickly regained my cool. No strange girl was going to break the walls I'd been putting up for years. "What do you think you're doing?" I asked indifferently, pretending her answer didn't actually matter.
She put her face close to the side of mine. "Why are you always so serious?" I could feel her lips on my ear.
I ignored her question. "What do you want?"
"I want…" She stopped. I wished, for the frst time, that she wasn't hanging on me. I wanted to see her face.
"You want…?" I encouraged.
"Um…to lay on the beach for a while."
"Again?"
"Yep."
"Ok." I waited for her to let go of me, but, if anything, her grip tightened. So I put my hands under her legs and walked to the towels on the beach. She released me, lying down in her back with her arms behind her head. I sat down on the towel next to her, propping myself up with my arms. I let my head fall back, and I looked straight up into the sky. I thought about her arms around my shoulder, her lips grazing my ear.
"What are you thinking about?" Her sweet voice broke my thoughts. I looked down at her, but my her eyes were closed. I studied her face. "Well?"
"I'm not really."
"Not thinking?"
"Nope."
She rolled onto her side, propping herself up on her elbow. "Why don't you just admit it?"
"Admit what?" My heart raced. I had no idea what she was talking about.
She rolled onto her stomach so that she was closer to me. She covered my hand with hers. "You know."
"No. I don't. But I think it's time for me to go home." I pulled on my shorts and gathered up my things. I didn't even stop to pull on my shirt or shorts. A part of me hoped, but she didn't call for me, and I didn't look back. By the time I got to Rico's I was practically ready to run back to her. But what she was implying just wasn't right. I bought a smoothie from Rico, and when I turned around I was surprised to see who was there. Gabe.
He sat at a table by himself, with his head on his hand. I watched him for a while. He was clearly down, so I walked up to him. "Is this seat taken?"
He didn't look up. "Be my guest."
I sat across from him. "What's got you so down?"
"Amber dumped me last night."
"Why?" I was surprised. I had no idea they were dating.
"I don't know. I just don't know." He dropped his head on his arms.
I reached out, putting my hand on his. "It's ok. Or it will be."
He raised his head, giving me a half hearted smile. "Thanks. I think I'm just gonna go home now…"
"You want me to walk with you? I was on my way anyway."
"Yea. That'd be cool."
We walked together in a companionable silence for a few blocks. My house came up before his, so he walked me up to my front door. "Thanks Lilly."
"It's no problem." I stood on my tiptoes to give him a hug, and when I let go, he didn't step back. But, neither did I. He looked into my eyes, and gave me a quick kiss.
"I'm sorry." He looked down in shame. And if I hadn't seen Miley looking out on her porch I would have let it go at that. But I did. And at that point, I was willing to do anything to get the feel of her hands all over me gone. I threw my arms around his neck, kissing him with a reckless abandon I never had, even when we were dating. "Lilly, what-"
"Just kiss me." And he did. His hands roamed over my body, covering all traces of Miley. I pulled back a bit. "Do you want to come inside?" I murmured.
"Yea." I turned to unlock the door. He picked me up, carrying me inside. The last thing I saw over his shoulder before he closed the door was Miley's stricken face. But I pushed it out of my mind. Gabe put me down on the couch, and I pulled him down on top of me, letting him put his hands wherever he wanted. And I told myself I wanted it.
Afterwards we were lying on the couch with the TV on. We were both naked, but there was a blanket covering from our waists down. He held me close to him, rubbing my back. "I have to go." He said, "It's getting late." He slipped out from under me, looking for his clothes. He turned to me. "I really like this, by the way." And he traced his finger over my tattoo. He got dressed, I stood up, wrapping the blanket around me and following him to the door. "I'll call you later."
"Ok." He kissed me quickly, then set off into the waning afternoon light. I hurried upstairs to take a shower to get the smell of him, the feel of him, off of me.
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Who's disgusted with Lilly? I am. Reviews?
