27. Tara
The wind whipped my hair around my face as we drove down the coast. The waves of the beach were so close I could hear them over the music, and could smell the salt of the air.
This was paradise.
My legs were propped up on the center console between Jesse and Charlie, who sat in the front. They held their hands together over them, all of us touching for the entire drive. I leaned back, my eyes drifting up to the sunroof. The sky was the perfect shade of blue and the clouds were the perfect puffiness. They blocked the sun just enough so it wasn’t blazing down, but it was obvious there wouldn’t be a drop of rain falling today.
“Looks like the hotel is only a few miles away,” Jesse said. He’d been backseat driving the entire time, and I could tell Charlie was exasperated, but didn’t really show it and just agreed with him.
Charlie hummed in agreement and stretched. He’d been driving for almost nine hours at this point. Each of us had offered to take over for him, but he always waved us both off, saying as long as he had his grape-flavored energy drink he was fine. Though that energy drink was long gone and the cracks in his back were starting to get louder.
But Jesse was correct and soon we were in front of the cutest beachside B&B I’d ever seen. It was all white on the outside with decks on every floor. There were firepits surrounded with chairs on the outside along with a tree swing I can see in the distance.
I was still gawking when my door was opened and Jesse was standing there, holding their hand out for me. It took me a moment to sit up straight and get my legs under me before I could take it and slide out.
When I went around for my bags Charlie was already fully loaded up, all of our belongings strung across him with the two rollers at his sides. It was only a three day trip, but it seemed like Jesse and I packed for weeks. Charlie was the only pragmatic one with a single bag, but we needed our things, and I liked to be prepared for everything.
We were halfway through the door when a bellhop came and took the bags from Charlie. It was airy and breezy in there, with sandalwood floors and a matching front desk. There were floor to ceiling windows open on each side, letting in the cool ocean breeze.
“Checking in?” the woman at the desk asked.
Her eyes were honed in on Charlie, as if the two of us weren’t even there.
“Yeah, last name Martin.” He began to pull out his ID and credit card, probably used to the routine of this.
The keyboard clicked as she looked up the reservation. The lobby was quiet, with the real sounds only being the light chatter of other guests and the sound of bellhop carts rolling around.
“Got you here in a suite,” she smiled wider than necessary, and I felt jealousy course through me.
“Thanks.” I knew it was ridiculous, but even just him speaking to her had me agitated.
“Have you stayed with us before?” she asked, scanning the little plastic keys through the machine in front of her.
“Nope.”
“Well, I can tell you about all of our amenities if you’d like, we have a wide range of…”
Her words faded as I stopped listening, my arms crossed, waiting for this interaction to end.
Suddenly, Charlie’s arm came around me, pulling me close to him. “We appreciate it, but it’s been a long drive, and I think we just want to get settled.”
The corner of her mouth twitched only briefly. “That’s fine. Your room number is written on the packet.”
She handed it over and it seemed like Charlie was almost careful not to touch her, which soothed me the smallest bit.
Once settled we made it to the elevator and Charlie hit the button to the fourth floor.
“What was that?” Charlie asked me.
I turned to him. “I don’t know what you mean.”
His arm came around my shoulder and pulled me into him before he kissed my temple. “No need to be jealous babygirl. You guys are it for me.” I could feel him try to soothe me through the bond, and I had to admit it was working.
My cheeks flushed. “I’m not jealous.”
He smirked. “Yeah, okay. Tell that sent you were dousing me in your scent. I’m sure the entire lobby could smell it.”
Jesse laughed for a second, but I leaned forward and gave him a look, and he bit his lip until he stopped.
“Tell me I’m wrong.” Charlie cut back in.
I groaned. “Sorry I don’t like some rando flirting with my alpha!”
He pulled me in, his scent suddenly filling the elevator as well. “I never said I didn’t like it. I love how possessive you are.”
My face heated as I tucked myself under his arm. That possessiveness is what got us here in the first place. I initially thought it ruined everything, but it seemed to be the best thing that could have happened to us all.
I grabbed his collar and pulled him down for a kiss. The doors opened and Charlie backed off, going forward to hold the elevator. When I turned to Jesse I noticed him looking away, as if not to interrupt.
I rolled my eyes and pulled him forward, pressing my lips against his. He seemed taken aback for a moment, but quickly melted into me.
When I pulled back their eyes were hooded and their lips a bit swollen, my favorite way to see them. “Ready?”
They only nodded, taking my hand and pulling us through the elevator Charlie had been holding open for us. Our room wasn’t too far from the elevator and when the door opened, I couldn’t help but gasp.
The first thing that caught my eye was the large window overlooking the ocean. Just the living area was larger than my entire apartment, with a couple couches, a fireplace it would be too hot to use now, and the largest painting of a tiger I’ve ever seen across the back wall.
As I got closer to the big window, I realized it wasn’t just a big window, but a sliding glass door leading to the balcony. The ocean breeze hit me as I opened it. I padded across the smooth wood that was warm against my feet from the sun. It was large, and the edges were all glass, giving a good view of the ocean below. I first made my way to the soft top covered jacuzzi. I couldn’t wait to go in there. I hadn’t been on vacation since I was a child, and that was normally to the campsite closest to our house, and only included a playground and some sprinklers.
This was definitely an upgrade from the sprinklers. Most of the time only one of them worked and everyone had to take turns.
I gasped as hands wrapped around me, along with that buttery blueberry scent. “I love the smell of the ocean,” Charlie said as he rested his chin on the top of my head.
My attention was pulled from the ocean smell, now fully focused on him. “It’s pretty.”
“Not as pretty as you,” he said.
I rolled my eyes, rotating to face him. “That was cheesy.”
“But true,” he said with a smile. “Jesse’s getting ready to go down to the beach then the board walk. You game?”
“Always,” I said with a smirk.
My skin was tight with the salt from the ocean as we made our way towards the boardwalk. I had mostly dried, but my swimsuit cover still stuck to me in a bunch of places with the water. It was a sheer purple and matched my tye dyed white and purple bikini. When I first put it on Charlie had some… feelings. But once I showed him the other options I had he conceded this was the best one as long as it didn’t come untied anywhere, which he was very concerned about. Though I wasn’t sure why. He’d scented me so strongly that not even the ocean water washed it all away, not that I minded.
Jesse and Charlie walked slightly ahead of me. Jesse still had his towel wrapped around his middle, his plethora of tattoos and freckles shown off everywhere. His blonde beach waves made him look like he’d lived on the beach his entire life, though we knew he much preferred the company of his bed and computer. I would be more worried about how amazing he looked if I wasn’t sure at this point he smelled like a walking fragrance bar.
Charlie was no better, with his towel flexed around his broad shoulders, water dripping down his built back over his tanned skin. He was almost the antithesis of Jesse, his skin with not a single mark anywhere. I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever thought about getting a tattoo. I would need to ask him later.
“Want to stop for churros?” Jesse asked, pointing to the stand on the corner with the big, sun faded sign for them.
“You know they’re my favorite,” I said, coming up to stand next to them.
“That’s why I asked. Come on.”
We made our way to the stand and waited in line, the smell of fried dough and cinnamon goodness filled the air. We each left with one as we walked around. They were perfectly crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle, with the exact right amount of sugar-cinnamon coating. Truly magical.
“Why don’t we go in here?” Charlie asked, stopping in front of a pizza place called Flour Girl Pizza.
“Are you still hungry?” I asked. We’d grabbed sandwiches before we left the beach, but I wasn’t surprised my large alpha was still hungry.
“Yeah, come on.”
We made our way inside. It looked like any other hole-in-the-wall pizza place, with peeling checkered floors, red vinyl booths and a counter with warmers and pizzas behind the glass, ready to be doled out in individual slices.
Something in the back corner of the dining room caught my eye. It was obviously some kind of arcade game, and we would definitely need to check it out.
“Welcome in, can I help you?” the person behind the counter asked. They had a visor with the words “Flour Girl Pizza” across it.
“I’ll have a slice of buffalo chicken,” I said, realizing I was a bit hungry again as well.
Charlie and Jesse ordered the prosciutto and feta to split. As we waited for them to get warmed in the oven, I pointed back. “Can we go back and look at the games?”
Charlie’s smile got strangely wide. “Yeah, we should.”
We walked back and I could see the one I’d spotted initially was street fighter, a classic. Next to it was an original donkey kong, Pac-man next to that.
“This is awesome!” I said, walking through the aisle happily.
When I passed Defender and reached the end I froze. There, next to the machine tucked a bit in the corner were those blue and red lights that felt so familiar to me. It was a vintage Spider Man pinball machine, almost in perfect condition. The whooshing sounds and catch phrases brought me back to standing on a box in the laundromat to reach the controls, my mom giving me any extra quarters we had to play. I remember sometimes I used to hide my dirty clothes in hopes to make the loads smaller for more quarters.
“Do you like it?” Charlie asked from behind me as I ran my hand over the cool metallic edge.
“Did you know this was here?”
He nodded. “That's why we’re at this beach. You told me how much it meant to you and I wanted to find one for you. But I couldn’t do it without Jesse. Their search skills are much better than mine.”
Tears formed at the edges of my eyes and my throat choked up. I glanced up at them both standing there, watching me. “This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
I flung myself at them both, and they caught me, pulling me in a tight hug. “No problem sweetie pie.” Jesse said. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” I pulled back and wiped my eyes.
The person at the counter called for our pizza. “I’ll grab it,” Jesse said, giving me a little nod towards Charlie.
They walked away, leaving just the two of us. “This is truly amazing,” I said.
“Anything for you babygirl,” he said easily.
His dark eyes shone, so much care in them I thought I would burst. “I love you, Charlie.”
His breath caught for a moment. “I love you too Tara, so much.”
“And Jesse?” I asked.
He looked back towards them as they laughed at something the counter person was saying. It was obvious they were trying to give us a moment, and it was really nice of them. But it was times like this that also showed how personable he was.
Charlie nodded once. I knew things started rocky, but it seemed like after their day out things were getting better, which made me so happy. It was obvious from the day we met that Charlie cared more for Jesse than a friend did, and though they were oblivious, Jesse felt the same.
“I think this is a good time to… make things official. With all of us.”
It takes him a moment to parse my meaning, but his face shows exactly when he does. “You mean, bonding them?”
I nodded. “I want it to be us. Forever. Don’t you?”
“I do,” he said without hesitation. “But should we ask them first.”
I glanced back over at them. “We will, but I think we should do something nice for him first.”
Charlie's devious smiles suddenly matched mine. “What do you have in mind?”