Skyler
The next morning, I somehow manage to peel myself out of bed just before sunrise.
I’d like to say it’s paddle boarding that made it possible to survive on less than four hours of sleep, but it’d be a lie if I didn’t also include the blond-haired, blue-eyed boy waiting for me at the edge of the water.
The sun is still painting bright colors across the sky as I make my way toward Kip on the beach, paddle board in tow. It was a sick form of compromise that we agreed to — in exchange for me not staying with him last night, I agreed to show him how to paddle board today.
Stupid.
I knew I was in trouble after our kiss at Bella’s, but then the pier had happened. We walked around laughing and playing games like a couple of high schoolers, and then, with no one watching, with no fake proposal as an excuse, Kip had kissed me at the top of the Ferris wheel.
My heart flutters at the thought of it, though I try my best to hold its wings down to keep it from taking flight.
It’s nearly impossible, especially now, staring at his back as he watches the sun rise over the waves.
His hands are tucked easily into the pockets of his board shorts, his white t-shirt blowing in the breeze, bronze skin shining in the morning light, a brand new paddle board in the sand by his feet.
The man is too beautiful for his own good, too sexy for me to even try to resist.
And I had tried.
But with him opening me up the way he is, asking me questions no one else ever has, breaking through walls no one else even knew existed… I’m helpless.
And at the top of that wheel, with his eyes on me and the lights casting him in a soft glow, it all seemed very simple.
I couldn’t not kiss him.
That’s just all there was to it.
Of course, I’d realized my mistake in the cab back to the sorority house, chastising myself for letting it go too far.
And to top it all off, Erin had been waiting for me after our date, and she had the next part of her little plan in place.
All I needed was one conversation with her to be brought back to reality, to be sobered up to what I was actually doing.
I have less than two weeks until the Valentine’s Day dance, until the night when everything with Kip will end.
Thirteen days.
So, maybe it’s a sick kind of self-flagellation, but I choose to ignore that ominous date when I should have it in the forefront of my mind. I choose to shove it down, bury it under the sand, and live in my fantasy a little while longer.
At least for today, I’m just going to enjoy the time I have with Kip. I’m going to pretend like we’re just a boy and a girl, enjoying the sunrise on a couple of paddle boards. It’ll all be fine.
Sure.
“Sorry I’m late,” I say when I’m close enough for Kip to hear.
He turns at the sound of my voice, his blue eyes widening a little at the sight of me as he scans me from head to toe.
“Yeah, you better be sorry,” he says with a grin, his gaze sweeping over the sunrise again as I sidle up beside him. “It’s half past early as fuck and we agreed to meet at the ass crack of dawn. Way to make me wait.”
I smile at his joke, dropping my board into the sand beside his. Without another word, and without a warning I probably should have given him, I strip my light blue tank top over my head and pop the button on my jean shorts, shimmying them down over my hips.
Kip watches my every move.
I know before I meet his eyes. I feel the heat of his gaze on my skin more than I do the rising sun, and when I finally look his way, I can’t stop my grin at his dumbfounded expression.
“You just going to stand there and ogle my boobs all day or are we doing this?”
“Can’t I do both?” he quips back quickly, and I shake my head with a laugh, making my way toward the water without checking to see if he’s following.
It’s been so long since I’ve been able to spend time on my board, I audibly sigh once we’re out past the easy waves and gliding on the smooth water as the sun rises over the beach.
I start out on my knees, showing Kip how to catch his balance and maneuver the waves before we both stand.
Surprisingly, Kip catches on pretty quickly, and doesn’t fall even once as we paddle parallel to the shoreline.
We’re both quiet for the most part, enjoying the sounds of the beach waking up — the soft crash of the water on the shore, the high chirp of the birds, the distant sounds of the ships coming to life.
When I notice a thin sheen of sweat gathering on Kip’s defined abdomen, I nod toward a sand bar not too far away and we make our way toward it, both popping off our boards once the water is shallow enough.
We hydrate with the water I brought for us, both of us watching as more and more people make their way onto the sandy beach in the distance.
Kip is quiet, but I feel him watching me, that same heat sparking on my skin like it did before when I stripped out of my shorts.
Only this time, I hear questions he’s not asking, and it makes me more curious about him.
I try to talk myself out of more conversation. Just enjoy being close to him and keep that distance in place, I silently warn myself. But the more we stand there, the more I want to know. And when I cast a casual glance his way as I tuck my water bottle away again, I can’t help myself.
“So, what’s your story, Kip?” I ask as he leans his elbows over his board.
“What do you mean? My story?”
I shrug, wiggling my toes in the sand. The sand bar is a little mushier than the sand that lines the beach, but the water is crystal clear, and I can see all the way down to my pink toe nail polish.
“I mean, why did you move out here? Why did you transfer to Palm South of all places? Where are you from? What do you like to do? You know, besides lick tequila off strange girls.”
“Hey,” he defends quickly. “That was not my fault. And who’s worse off here — me or the strange girl?”
My throat warms, remembering the way it felt to have his wet tongue tracing lines on my stomach. “I think I got the better end of the deal.”
“And I tend to disagree.”
Kip’s eyes fall to my stomach, half of it covered by the water, and my cheeks flush. But I just watch him, waiting for his response to my question.
“Let’s see,” he finally says, looking up at the white, whispy clouds floating by us.
“I transferred to Palm South because I wanted to get out of the Midwest. And because Palm South has a pretty decent screenwriting program, which is what I want to do with my life. It’s not the last stop by any means, but it’s a good transition. ”
I smile, thinking about how Kip is in our Writing for Television class. It’s only been a few weeks and I already know I won’t be changing my major to anything related to writing, but it has been fun to read his pieces, to listen to him talk about his passion with Dr. O’Neal.
“It also helps that I could get away from my dad,” he adds, his voice a little softer.
“Uh-oh, Daddy drama?”
Kip snorts. “Well, he’s an Army Major General, if that gives you any idea.”
“Yeesh,” I say, raising both eyebrows at that. “Sounds fun.”
“Yeah, real fun. I mean, I love him and everything,” he says quickly. “He’s my dad, he’s a good dad in the sense of the word, but he just wants to live his dream through me and I’m over trying to be what he wants. It’s nice to be out here away from his constant glare of disapproval.”
My stomach twists at that as I try to imagine being in his shoes.
My family and I may not have had much, but we had love.
My mom and dad have always been supportive of me, and though I help them with their bills, they’ve tried everything they can to get me not to do that.
They want me to live my own life, to do what makes me happy.
But helping them is part of what makes me happy.
“What dream?” I ask after a moment.
“Huh?”
“His dream?” I ask, cocking a brow. “That he wants to live through you? What is it?”
“Uh…”
Kip’s eyes widen, and I watch with curiosity as he scans the water with his breath coming a little harder, like he said something he wasn’t supposed to. Playing poker lets me pick up on peoples’ quirks easy, read when they’re uncomfortable or, worse, when they’re lying.
And something tells me there’s a thin veil of dishonesty over his next words.
“Being in a fraternity,” he says. “College, the whole thing. He went straight into the service after high school and I guess he always wanted to go. So he’s had this big dream for me ever since I was little. Perfect school, perfect fraternity, you know.”
He shrugs, his eyes still on the water as I watch him, trying to decipher the truth. It makes sense, what he said about his dad wanting that experience. Still… he’s hiding something.
I pop back up on my paddle board, stretching until my back is pressed against the warmth of it. I breathe in a deep sigh, letting one leg hang in the water as I reach out toward Kip with the opposite hand.
“Hold me so I won’t float away?”
Kip swallows, a smirk finding his lips as his hand wraps around mine. And just like every time the boy touches me, my skin sparks to life under his fingertips, a constant rush of energy flowing through me and cycling back toward him.
“So,” I say, letting my eyes fall up to the sky. I stare at the white clouds through the safety of my sunglasses, bringing the conversation back around. “If it were up to you, would you be in a fraternity?”
“Maybe. I guess I don’t really know. It’s just always been ingrained in me that I would go to college and be in a fraternity.
I’ve never really had the chance to think if I’d actually like it.
But, at least being here, I can do what he wants and still do what I want, too.
I don’t have to live under his scrutiny, his constant judging of whether I’m doing the right thing or not. ”