CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
BIANCA
“Girls!”
I hear Mom before I see her. Jamie and I look in the direction of the door before she saunters in with Olivia.
A smile on both of their faces causes apprehensive ones to start on ours.
Mom has her beach hat on and Olivia wears a light sundress, and trailing behind them is Ana holding a boom box, with said boom box being way too big for her shoulder.
“Beach trip!” she says, and I sprint off the bed, hugging her as she puts it down to hug me better. I pull back to see Jamie behind me, and I turn around, ready to introduce them.
“Jamie, this is—”
She points at her. “Ana, Liam’s mom?”
Ana looks at me with that smirk that I see all the time from her son. “Talking about me? I’m flattered.” We laugh, and Olivia looks at me with an annoyed glance. As she leaves, Mom looks over sadly at the closed door. Jamie hugs Ana, and it fills my heart with warmth.
“I love you already, Jamie.” A huge grin grows on Jamie’s face and she looks at me happily.
She always loves it when parents like her.
Ana chuckles, giving her another side hug.
“Okay, now come on. Everyone’s waiting for us outside.
” She looks at us, frowning at our pajamas, and we chuckle sheepishly.
“I’ll give you guys five minutes. Come on, Kate, let’s hurry along that fiancé of yours.” Ana drags Mom by the arm as they both laugh, causing smiles all around.
They close the door and I look over at Jamie. “Brought a swimsuit?” She chuckles and walks over, throwing open my closet as I raise a questioning eyebrow.
“I did, and I know just the one for you to wear.”
A blush comes on my face, but then I think about the past couple of days. This is going to be awkward.
“Okay, you need to talk to him.” I sneak a glance at Liam, only to find him still looking in my direction as Jamie and I lie on our towels.
Thank goodness he drove in his own car because it would not have been fun.
I mean, I get it, we’re kind of in a weird place.
But he’s looking at me as if he’s lost, and I’ve got to be overthinking that.
I slide my sunglasses down from my head.
I shrug. “I messed it up, Jamie. Besides, if he wants to talk, he’ll come over.
” Jamie sighs, going back to her magazine, a small mumble of annoyance leaving her that I pretend to ignore.
I never realized I missed the beach until Ana and William invited us.
The sun is shining and the clear water is practically begging for me to take a dive in.
I move my head from side to side, making it seem as if I’m cracking my neck.
I catch a glimpse of Liam once again. He’s wearing a light beige linen shirt, all buttoned, which makes the tattoos on his arms and neck look delectable as always.
Though, I do my best to seem nonchalant.
He has dark blue swim shorts on, the tattoos continuing their descent down his legs.
Gosh. He’s really handsome.
Some girls whisper behind him, and I roll my eyes as I don’t seem to be the only one who’s noticed him. I huff, pissed at myself as all get-out, when a volleyball rolls toward me. Confused, given I didn’t notice anyone at those courts a bit ago, I pick it up as a guy jogs over.
“Sorry, miss, we—” I freeze as he raises his head and tilts it as he looks at me with familiar blue eyes. “Harrison?”
“Chase?” He lets out a hearty laugh and hugs me. Squinting, I spot more familiar faces behind him. He pulls back, a smile mixed with shock on his face.
“I didn’t know you’d be here,” he says, playfully knocking me against the arm as he turns back, waving over the group of people. He shakes his blond hair out of his face.
I let out a laugh of disbelief. “Me? You live like five hours away.” Goose bumps form all over my body as a warm presence comes up behind me, and I don’t have to look to know who it is.
“Chase? What are you doing here, man?” He smirks, his eyes darting between us, and my smile drops when I notice a familiar girl jogging over and shrieking. Vanessa crashes into me and my eyes widen.
“Bianca! Oh-em-gee! So good to see you again, girl!” She shakes me back and forth in her embrace as I see Liam upturning his head at the bunch of guys; I’m hearing slivers of their conversation.
“What are you guys doing here?”
She shifts her weight. “It’s summer break, and this beach is beautiful. I was, um—” She looks off and meets the eyes of a tall guy with black hair, brown eyes, and a smile on his face. “Hanging with a friend at the frat house, and they were all coming down, so I thought I would join.”
I nod in all the right places, smiling even though it’s not real. She’s standing here in the smallest bikini known to man, and while I’m an advocate for showing off what you got, I hate that it makes me feel so inferior.
Her eyes flit for a few nanoseconds and finally focus on Liam.
“I can’t believe he’s here,” she whispers, and Liam looks over at us, his eyes meeting mine. His expression drops when she raises a hand, waving at him, and I look away from that.
Yeah, today’s shaping out to be a great day.
She giggles while a pit in my stomach forms. I excuse myself as she goes to where all the guys are, her eyes trained on Liam, causing my head to hang a bit. Jamie looks up at me, confused, and I blow out a breath in disbelief.
“Do I wanna know?” she asks when I make my way back to her.
With a sigh, I say, “Those guys are in the fraternity Liam’s in.
And that girl—she’s the one who hooked up with Liam a couple years ago.
” Her eyes widen and she mouths the words “well, goodness,” and I nod self-deprecatingly.
“Yeah, so on top of Olivia’s little looks toward Liam, I have to deal with Vanessa’s.
” She gives me a saddened expression, and sits up, hugging my arm.
I lean my head on hers, the beach day not shaping up as the best. Someone sits next to us, and I look, hoping it’s Liam, but am surprised to find Chase.
“Is this seat taken?” I shake my head and smile.
Chase was the one guy who was sweet to me during orientation.
Jamie stiffens and his eyes drift toward her.
“I’m Chase Collins.” He gives her that suave smile and an outstretched hand that Liam has told me he gives to a bunch of girls.
His platinum nose ring that I swore he didn’t have before shines under the bright sun.
Jamie rolls her eyes, giving him her hand regardless. “Jamie Beckett.” He repeats it, savoring each and every letter, and she takes her hand away. I glare at him.
He raises his hands in surrender. “Nice to meet you, Jamie.” She nods before someone calls him over, and I turn to see that they moved their net closer, as they probably invited themselves to hang with us. He looks over and smirks. “We need another person, you up for it, Harrison?”
I shake my head before I elbow Jamie lightly. I point at her. “She was captain of the volleyball team for a bit in middle school.” She slaps my arm and I rub it, pouting.
He laughs and stands, offering a hand. “Well then, Cap, you’ve gotta show us what you got.
” She sighs as she grabs his hand. Upon standing, she snatches it back and he walks them toward the game.
Behind his back, she runs a finger horizontally along her throat toward me, and I giggle.
Glancing around, I find Olivia and Vanessa talking together, sighing at that potentially becoming a thing.
My eyes then lock on Josh saying something to Mom, causing her to roll her eyes at him.
Hm, that’s new.
A shade casts over me as Liam sits. He crosses his arms and I fidget with my fingers.
“Didn’t know they were gonna be here,” he mutters.
I nod. “Coincidence. I’m glad Chase came.”
Liam’s head snaps toward me, his gaze heating at the simple sentence. “Why?” he asks, and I look at him, confused.
“He’s nice . . . and my friend. One of the first ones I made at Mella Colta.
” He hums, but looks as if he didn’t even listen to what I said.
He doesn’t say anything for a bit and I sigh.
“If you’re here to give me the silent treatment, you can do it somewhere else.
” He looks at me in disbelief—no, that doesn’t make any sense, disbelief about what?
“I thought it’s what you wanted. You haven’t exactly reached out the last couple days either since the driving lesson.” I don’t bother defending myself because that statement is utterly true.
Resigned, I hang my head. “Why’s this so hard?”
He shrugs, sighing. “I don’t know.”
I glance up. “I’m sorry for that day. Maybe if I didn’t say anything . . .”
He stops me. “Hey, don’t blame yourself. You went through a lot that day, and my comment didn’t help either.” He pauses. “Sorry, I’ve been acting kinda like an idiot.”
I raise an eyebrow, shaking my head. “We both have.” We chuckle at that, and he smiles at me while scanning me from head to toe.
“You know, I don’t think I’ve seen a swimsuit like yours today.”
I nod. “Yeah, it’s not the most flattering on me either.” Jamie swears that this thing is the best swimsuit I own, accentuating my features and using other fashion-related terms that I don’t know the meaning of. I fuss with material and he stops me.
“That’s a damn lie.” I raise an eyebrow and he looks at me like he can’t believe I think otherwise. “Bianca, you look gorgeous. You’ve outshone everyone on this beach, sun included. You’re beautiful. When aren’t you?” His voice stays reverent, but I stay stunned.
I’m wearing a simple dark green tankini.
On this part of the beach alone, I’m practically fully clothed compared to the other girls here.
He rubs a thumb over my cheekbone before someone calls his name, and the little bubble we’re in pops.
I look around to see everyone’s eyes on us, most of them with smiles, except Josh.
Liam opens his mouth, but before he can utter something, someone pushes his shoulder jokingly. “As much as you wanna keep giving heart eyes to Harrison, the guys are trash-talking. We got Jamie, the badass captain—”
Jamie sits next to me. “No, I’m out.”
Chase looks at her. “What, why? You’re the only reason we’re even winning. We need you on the team, Becks.”
She rolls her eyes. “Swap me with Liam.”
He groans. “I need you both.” He’s basically begging Jamie to keep playing, but she’s stubborn. “Back to you, then, come on, you owe me.” Liam looks appalled before Chase smirks.
“I mean, I did convince you to—”
“Fine, I’ll play,” Liam interrupts, standing as he looks at me. “I’ll be right back.”
I nod and Chase gives me a small smile before he follows Liam, who is currently dragging his feet in the sand. I look down at Jamie as she’s grabbed her notebook, sketching something along the lines of a cute swimsuit.
“How was beach volleyball?” I ask.
She continues to draw as if the inspiration is oozing out of her. A small smirk comes on my face as she rolls her eyes at my implication. “Fun. I had fun, okay?” she finally admits.
“I saw, and by the looks of it, I think Chase likes you,” I whisper, and she flashes me a deadpan stare.
“He’s the type of guy who likes everyone.” I shrug at that, and we turn around to watch them play.
Did I think volleyball was hot before? Not particularly.
But now . . . Wow.
Liam’s muscles flex with every hit and his beautiful ink travels down the length of him. A hand covers my mouth, and I cough, embarrassed. Pretending to be looking at Jamie drawing while taking occasional glances, I don’t miss when they finally finish.
He instantly makes his way back, but doesn’t make it far before Vanessa stops him. My heart tugs painfully once again, but I ignore it as I’ve done so far.