"Are you happy to be back?" James asked after a long stretch of silence.
"Yeah, it's really great to be seeing my best friend again. Things kind of went down hill once he left, I don't really like talking about it." I told him.
He left it alone at that and pulled me closer. I swung my legs up across his lap. It felt so right to be sitting here with James, cuddling in the cool night. We listened for a while, just breathing and listening. His hand that was on my back was rubbing it slowly. I looked up at him after a while. His eyes were fixated on the ocean, very calm and serene. He noticed the movement of my head ant looked down into my eyes, a sweet smile plastered on his face. Ever so slowly I brought my face to meet his, I let him close the gap. As his lips brushed mine a wave of chills ran through my body. He held me tighter. It was easy to get lost in the kiss. It was tender and soft, he didn't try to go any further. A kiss was all it took.
As we broke apart I smiled up at him. A guy I barely knew had kissed me and I let him. His smile was wide and loving.
'This is right' I thought to myself.
After a while we noticed how late it had gotten. I untangled myself from James' arms and stood up as he took my hand in his. We didn't talk as we made our way back up to our rooms, but he gave me one last kiss as we parted for the night. I passed out before I could think too hard on what had just happened.
The next morning I woke up around ten to Cat bouncing on my bed.
"Wake up, wake up, wake up." She prodded me.
"Ugh" I moaned rolling over and shoving her off the bed. "You're killing me"
"Oh hush, come on everyone's already up and eating breakfast, stop being such a lazy bum."
I looked up at her, right she didn't know about last night. Oh well, there was no need to tell her.
Before we headed down to the kitchen I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and fixed my hair. When we walked into the kitchen everyone seemed preoccupied. Cat cleared her throat to get their attention.
Carlos' head was the first to pop up "Good morning!" he sang.
The other boys mumbled their hellos, both James and Logan avoiding my eyes. Hmm, that was weird, I thought.
As everyone stated finishing up their food they all made their way upstairs to get changed for a day on the beach. Logan and I were the only two left.
"Look, Rachel, I'm really sorry about last night. I don't know what came over me. Maybe it was just seeing you for the first time in so long and seeing how much you had changed. I know that's no excuse, but it's all I can think of."
"Don't worry about it Logie." I teased, using his least favorite nickname.
"Ah, not with the Logie name again." He begged, "I thought we got past that in sixth grade!"
"Old habits die hard" I stuck my tongue out at him as I got up to place my bowl in the sink.
"Mean"
With that we both raced up-stairs, shoving each other to be the winner. Luckily for Cat and I, Kendall usually kept extra bathing suits around for when his family, namely his girl cousins who always forgot their own, came to visit.
"Dude, do you think his cousin's have big enough boobs?" Cat asked walking out of our guest room's bathroom, her top tied extra tight to keep it on. "Well of course it fits you!"
I looked down at myself in the teal bikini, my large c-cups filling out the top nicely.
"Sorry?"
I looked at myself in the mirror, my Texas-summer and California-fall tan glowed, my dark auburn hair neatly pulled back into a sleek pony-tail, damn I looked hot.
Ten minutes and a bottle of tanning lotion later we were out on the beach. The day was perfect. Sweet waves, just hot enough to swim, and cute boys on surf boards.
"Want to come surf?" Logan asked plopping down next to me in the sand, as Cat went off with Kendall to play in the water.
"Me? Surf?" I asked him in astonishment, "Logie, do you not remember how utterly accident-prone I am? The only thing I'm good at that involves a board is snow-boarding."
"Ah! Stop with the name!" Logan hissed, showing me "And yes I do remember, but, hey, you've grown since then."
He winked as he said that last part, so I tackled him. Did he not learn last night? We ended up in a wrestling match just like old times.
"Uh, whatcha doing?" someone asks as a shadow falls over us. The pair of us look up to see James standing there looking confused.
"We, uh, well-" Logan cuts me off.
"Dude, we were just wrestling, duh."
"Yeah, well you probably shouldn't be doing that in such little clothing, cause, uh, you know, it looks...weird." I look up at James in disbelief. He had been ignoring me since I got up this morning and now here he was having a hissy fit over two friends having fun. No, not cool.
"Uh, James, do you want to go inside with me and get some lunch?" I ask him, not intending to take 'no' for an answer.
"Well, not really"
"Yes, you do." I grab his arm pulling him back towards the house.
"What the hell, let me go!" James complains, but I keep my grip. Once we reach the cool air inside the kitchen, away from the views of the others, I slam my hands down on the counter.
"What the hell James!"
"What, I didn't do anything! You're the one who looked like she was about to bang her so-called best friend in front of everyone on the beach." James sneers.
"Uh, last time I checked, one- you aren't my boyfriend, and two- you haven't even looked me in the eye since we got up."
"Oh, well last night, I was just caught up in the moment. Sorry, if you thought it was anything more than that." James says crossing his arms over his chest.
"So, that just excuses you from acknowledging my presence at all? Even Kendall, who is totally into Cat, came to sit with me in the sand. If I had known what a dick you were, I would have never even gone to sit out there with you last night."
With that I walked out back down to the beach to enjoy the rest of my day with the other guys. Logan successfully taught me how to stand up on a surf board and I even caught a small wave. He also successfully managed to get my top off in the water. Asshole.
This new relationship with him was definitely different than the one we had before, but in most ways it was better. The hugs were probably the best part, he would just stand there for long moments holding me in his arms, like he was trying to make up for lost time. The way his muscles flexed when holding me tight, were enough to make any girl melt.
By five o' clock that evening Cat and I had decided it was time for us to head home. Kendall and Cat said their mushy goodbyes, kissing and all that couple crap. Logan was taking us home so I said a short goodbye to Carlos and Kendall and only gave James a nod.
The ride home was quiet. I watched the cars pass by, just thinking. How had this even happened. It was like nothing had changed between Logan and I and yet it felt like everything had.
"Home sweet home!" Logan exclaimed pulling in to the guest parking at out apartment complex. "I'll walk you girls up.
Cat gave me a look and went on ahead. What was that for?
Logan walked over to me and put an arm around my shoulders. We walked in silence up to my apartment, but no words were needed.
"Welp, this is me." I said as we came to my door. "Now you can stalk me."
"Noted." Logan said with a wink. "You'll have to come by my place sometime, just text me when you're free and such and we can hang out."
"Don't worry Logie, I was planning on it."
"Nickname, not cool!" I stuck my tongue out at him. "Seriously though, I don't want to lose you again."
I could see the seriousness in his facial expression so I pulled him in for a hug.
"You're not going to lose me ever again, I promise" I said into his chest. His arms tightened around me. I wanted to cry in this moment as a strange feeling came over me. I didn't want this hug to end, I wanted to stay in his arms forever. Nothing in the world mattered more to me than him at that very moment. I knew what this was because I had only felt it once before.