Chapter 2
Aurora - 4 Days Later
“I can’t believeit’s one of our last nights,” Willow cried as we made our way to the lobby for drinks. The days had flown by, and I’d barely accomplished getting a tan, never mind what I had set out to do.
“I’m starving and I’m in pain. I’m so sunburnt,” Lorelai cried, looking down at her arms.
I glanced at her red skin on her shoulders and back. “I told you to wear the wetsuit,” I muttered. “We were on a catamaran and snorkeling in the scorching sun all day and you refused to take the sunscreen from the guys who offered.”
“I told you, I didn’t want ‘their hand’ at putting it on me. Plus, I’m positive I knew the one from somewhere.”
“So, you could have taken it and given it to me. I would have put it on you,” I bit out as I tried to apply a little more aloe as we walked.
“Who doesn’t bring sunscreen?” Willow questioned.
“Girls who wear wetsuits,” Hannah and Adalyn said in unison.
Lorelai glanced over at them and scowled. Looking at her burnt skin, I was glad it was one of our last nights here. From the looks of her, she wouldn’t be taking part in much tomorrow.
“You know what I can’t believe.”
“What?” Willow asked.
“I can’t believe that Aurora didn’t act like her mother and drop to her knees for the guy who was eyeing her all day. He just looked too familiar to me, but I will agree he was hot and had an amazing body to go with it,” Lorelai said, wincing in pain as we walked.
“You mean the one whose friend offered you sunblock that you wouldn’t take?” I asked, looking at her.
“Yes, that one,” she muttered.
“Same here, because damn, he was fine,” Willow said, waving her hand in front of her face to cool herself. “I was actually looking forward to watching Aurora lose herself.”
I’d be lying if I said Willow and Lorelai were lying. The guy was fine. Hell, he was more than fine, and so were the four guys he was with. However, I’d been too intimidated by him to even think about talking to him, never mind doing anything else.
Lorelai held true to her promise by trying to encourage me the entire afternoon. That was until the sunblock incident. That was when she finally gave up. The girls teased me the rest of the afternoon, while the guy gave me major glances for the rest of the day.
“How about a round of drinks?” Willow questioned as we approached a table in the lobby.
We all nodded just as our regular server approached our table, already carrying a tray full of shots and drinks. He placed a full glass down in front of each of us, smiling because he’d remembered our orders from the previous nights.
“Amazing!” Willow screamed, raising her hands above her head in excitement. “We have to get our friend here to loosen up so she can talk to the handsome man who’s been eying her all day,” she said, pointing to the four guys who’d been on our trip today.
“Oh god! He’s here,” I said, gripping Lorelai’s arm, causing her to scream out in pain.
I wanted to kill Willow as the bartender looked at the men she was pointing to and then looked my way. “Is that so…little shy, are you?” He chuckled.
Hannah reached for her shot of tequila and raised her glass in the air. “Ladies, come on, get those drinks and toss them back. This should help her loosen the hell up, Aurora. At least enough to go over and say hello and apologize for being so damn uptight.”
I glared at the girls, becoming annoyed.
Adalyn and Willow picked theirs up and looked at Lorelai and me. We looked at one another and, feeling the pressure, picked ours up as well.
“To being single and free,” Willow, Hannah, and Adalyn said in unison.
“And living without abandon like Aurora’s mother!” Willow added, which she had done many nights this week.
The five of us chugged our tequila and then stuffed the lemon slices into our mouths and sucked. As I put my glass down, I caught sight of the guy who had been on the tour with us. Once again, he was staring back at me with those brilliant blue eyes of his against his tan skin as he ran his forefinger around the rim of his glass, brought his finger to his mouth, and sucked the salt off. I shyly smiled, which, of course, attracted all my friends’ attention.
“Who are you smiling at?” Willow asked, looking over her shoulder toward the bar.
“No one,” I mumbled, turning my attention back to what Hannah had been saying. There was no use. All eyes were on me.
“It’s that guy,” Adalyn said, turning back to me.
“And I said, it’s no one. Now, continue with your story,” I said, waiting for Hannah. Finally, she started talking again, keeping them all occupied.
“Another round of shots?” Willow yelled as soon as Hannah finished speaking.
I looked over at the bar once again while Willow tried to get the server’s attention. The guy was still there, still staring at me. Once again, I shyly smiled in his direction. That was when he leaned over and whispered something to his friend, still not taking his eyes off me.
“No, no more for me,” Lorelai replied, gripping my arm. “I’m done. I actually feel like I’m going to be sick.”
“Yeah, Willow, any more and I think I’m going to be sick as well,” Hannah cried, helping Lorelai up.
“Adalyn, Aurora?” Willow asked with a huff, waiting for us to answer.
Adalyn shook her head. “Willow, I’m going to have to detox my liver when I get home. I just can’t.” She placed her hand on her flat stomach.
Willow let out a laugh and turned to me. “Aurora?”
I shook my head. “Honestly, I think it’s time we all turn in. It’s been a long day. We’ve all been out in the sun, and I’m exhausted.”
Lorelai, Adalyn, and Hannah all gathered their things as Willow turned to me. “You can’t abandon me too. What about the fact you are supposed to be reclaiming your life?”
I glanced over to the bar to see the guy still staring. This time, a chill ran through me as I watched his eyes make their way down my body, drinking me in. I couldn’t remember a single time in my life I’d seen a guy look at me that way. Then one of his friends handed him a drink and then leaned in and whispered something in his ear. He fist bumped the other two guys who were with them and they wandered off.
“Earth to Aurora?” Willow said, snapping her fingers in front of my face.
“No worries. I’ll stay for one more drink, okay?”
“Yes!!!!!” Willow said as she took off toward the bar, leaving me at the table to say good night to the rest of the girls and watch them leave.
I turned and sat down while waiting for Willow to return when a server approached our table and set two shots along with two drinks on the table.
“Sorry, you must have the wrong table. My friend is at the bar getting our drinks.”
The server smiled. “No, miss, this is the right table.” He nodded toward the bar.
I looked up and over to see the guy who’d been staring at me for the past little while with one of his friends. They both raised their glasses to me and smiled just as Willow came back to the table and glanced over her shoulder.
She looked back at me and raised her eyebrows in jest. “Ohhh, this is it. This is where you lose all control and be like your idol,” Willow said, her voice full of excitement.
I felt my cheeks heat and shook my head. “I don’t think so.”
“Oh, come on, live a little!” Willow cried. “He is fucking hot. Look at him, look at those broad shoulders, those amazing glass-blue eyes against that black hair, his fucking legs… Jesus even I’m getting wet at the thought of having him.”
Was this really something my mother would do? Pick up a complete stranger at a bar and let the night take her where it may? Absolutely! However, my luck, I’d come home with some disease or worse, pregnant. I didn’t have a care about what this guy wanted. Nor was I interested.
“I think my mission to reclaim myself is over,” I muttered, shaking my head. “It was a stupid idea.”
“At least drink the shot.” She gently bumped me.
I gave her a look as we both picked up the shot and drank it back. The alcohol burned as it went down, bringing tears to my eyes, which I quickly blinked away. We placed the glasses down on the table and sat back down just as we heard a man clear his throat.
“Care to dance?”
We both looked up to see one of the guys who’d been with my admirer.
Willow gave a smile and looked at me as if I needed to decide for her, but I just shrugged.
“Well now, let’s let this party begin, shall we?” She threw her head back and laughed, then followed the tall, muscular, dark-haired man to the dance floor.
I sat there shaking my head and laughing as I watched her dance with the guy. Willow always was a free spirit. If I’d not known, I’d say she was my mother’s daughter and I’d been adopted. She was crazy. Once the second dance started, she came running over to me. “You may as well go to bed. I have a feeling it’s going to be a late night.” She giggled, hugged me, and ran back to continue dancing.
I sat there for a bit, watching them before getting up and gathering my things. I took one last look at my friend on the dance floor before walking away. She looked comfortable wrapped in his arms, and the second I saw them kiss, I knew she was fine. She appeared to be having a good time, and there were still many people around, so I made my way out of the lobby. Just as I reached the end of the walkway, I heard a throat clear. The guy from the bar stepped out from behind a pillar to my left, his blue eyes bright and twinkling.
“Your friend is out of control there.” He chuckled, nodding in their direction.
“Yeah, well, what can I say? She’s always up for a party,” I said, glancing over my shoulder to see her grinding herself against the guy she was with.
“I see that.” He chuckled, looking over at them. “And what about her friend?”
I softly smiled. “I’m not really that crazy.”
“That’s too bad. I could use some company tonight.”
I felt my cheeks heat as I thought for a moment. I looked over at Willow to see she was still dancing with the guy.
“Well?” his deep voice asked.
A moment of unease passed through me, then I cleared my throat. “Sure, I’m—”
He held out his hand, stopping me from saying any more. “No names. Let’s just have a night of fun.”
Since I’d just broken up with Greg, and I really wasn’t in any place to be looking for anything, I reminded myself that this was exactly something my mother would want, so I went with it.
“Okay, no names.” I smiled.
He pushed himself off the railing he’d been leaning against and took my hand in his as we began walking.
“How did you enjoy today?” he questioned.
“Oh snorkeling? It was fun. What about you?”
“Not too bad. I’m not a huge fan of the ocean. I went more to appease my friends.”
I smiled. “Same here.”
“How long are you here for?”
“Five days, but we leave the day after tomorrow. It was a quick girls’ trip before school starts. What about you?”
“We leave tomorrow morning.”
“Ah, back to reality.”
“Guess you could say that.”
We stepped onto the beach, and I quickly slipped my shoes off. We continued to walk toward the water’s edge, the cool sand beneath my feet. The water glistened as the moonlight danced over the gentle waves.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered, stopping to stare.
“That it is,” he whispered, bringing us to a stop.
When I finally looked at him, I noticed his heady eyes staring at me–a look that my ex rarely ever gave to me. He grabbed hold of both of my hands and gently pulled me forward until my body rested against his, then he slid his hands around my waist.
I swallowed hard as my body heated. He smelled good, a mixture of cologne, sweat, and sea air. His one hand locked on my waist, the other drifted slowly up to my cheek and slid into my hair. Our eyes met, and he leaned in, his lips gently grazing mine.
“I’ve been wanting to do that all day,” he said in a throaty whisper.
I was so shocked I said nothing, and before I knew it, his lips met mine again.