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  I’m about five houses down now and the water assault has stopped. They must have run out of water or gotten bored. I stop running and bend over to catch my breath. When I finally turn around to see where my brothers have gone all I see are two water guns in the sand.

  I slowly make my way towards the water guns and pick them both up. Full. I look around, but I don’t see my brothers anywhere. I call out for them, but I don’t see them. This is not good.

  I’m starting to worry when I hear them snickering. I feel their assault before I spot them. The water guns I’m holding were decoys. I start to slowly back up when I realize they’ve got me right where they want me. I have nowhere to run. The only direction I can go is into the ocean. The freezing cold ocean.

  I’m shooting them with both guns, but they aren’t even fazed by it. Warm water drips onto my hand and I realize why. My heel hits the wet sand and I know I have to figure something out quick or else I’m going to be wet and cold.

  I take another step back and step on something. I turn around to see what it is and find that I’m staring directly at a tan, muscular chest. A chest I recognize. A chest I want to reach out and touch. I almost do. Then, I remember my brothers are standing behind me and I don’t need to give them any reason to tell our parents about our hot new neighbor.

  Did I just call him hot?

  Pretty sure that might be the understatement of the year. He’s more than hot. He’s more than attractive. It’s like he has his own gravitational pull, and right now it’s pulling me in. Deeper and deeper.

  “Need a hand, Mac?”

  The way he says my name makes me shiver. There’s so much meaning behind it. I know want he really asked me but what I heard was “Can I kiss you, Mac?” I’m such a stupid girl sometimes.

  Without saying a word, because I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to speak even if I tried, I hand him a gun. He empties it and then fills it with the water from the ocean. He hands it back to me, takes the other one from me and does the same.

  Ready for action. Damn! That sounds a little dirtier than I thought it would. I’m glad I didn’t say that out loud.

  I turn and find that my brothers are gone. They couldn’t have gone far, though. We’re only a few houses away from ours and I’m pretty sure there are not many places they can hide between here and there.

  Roe grabs my hand and pulls me behind him. I’m so distracted by him holding my hand that I drop my gun and forget how to walk.

  “Mac.”

  I hear him say my name but I’m staring at our hands. I watch as he slowly shifts his hand and puts his fingers between mine. He squeezes my hand gently and I hear him say my name again. This time I look up. There’s that grin again. It’s slightly higher on the left, now that I’m looking closely, but still as dangerous as it was last night.

  “Sorry, I…” I’m stuck. I can’t even think straight enough in his presence to come up with a lie.

  “Yeah.”

  That’s all he says before tugging gently on my hand and we walk down the beach. I never picked my water gun back up and at some point he put his down. All thoughts of retaliation against my brothers is forgotten. All I can think about right now is the feel of my hand in his. All I can hear is the racing of my heart. The pounding of it against my chest. It’s freaking out and to be totally honest, so am I.

  Things like this don’t happen to me. I’ve had exactly two boyfriends my entire life. With my first boyfriend, I was thirteen and quickly found out that all he wanted to do was make out all the time. He didn’t care about me or what I wanted. He just wanted to make out. Looking back, I can’t really blame him. After all, he was a thirteen-year-old boy.

  My second, and last, boyfriend and I broke up a few months ago. I guess boys don’t change much between thirteen and sixteen. There are only have a few things that can capture their attention and hold it for a period of time. One is making out. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy making out as much as the next girl. It’s fun and my parents would totally flip out if they caught me. It also gets old really quickly.

  When I told Trevor that I didn’t want to make out one night he took it as a sign that I wanted to do other things. I did not want to do other things. He “insisted” until I kicked him square in the balls.

  We didn’t break up over our miscommunication, but we probably should have. We went back to making out a week later. Then, a few months later I found out that he was seeing someone else behind my back. Apparently, he was doing things with her that I wouldn’t.

  I’m not going to lie. It hurt like hell. I was falling pretty hard for him. Obviously, I wasn’t in love with him or else we would have been experimenting with those other things that I wasn’t willing to do with him.

  Alexa says I did the right thing by breaking up with him. He’s called me a few times, asking what went wrong. I never told him I found out about his skank and I probably never will. That’s where the real hurt comes in. Admitting that I was blinded by what I felt for him.

  No. I don’t blame myself. I blame him completely. There really is no point in pointing fingers, though. It’s over and I’ve accepted that. I’ve been telling myself for weeks now that I need to move on and date someone else, but no one has interested me.

  Until last night.

  Until this moment.

  Roe. He interests me. He intrigues me. He confuses me and makes me speechless.

  Roe.

  Even his name is interesting. I want to ask him why his parents named him Roe. Is it short for something? Is that his nickname or his real name? There are about a million questions running through my head but I can’t seem to get my mouth to cooperate so I say nothing. I don’t ask him anything. Instead, I savor the feel of my hand in his and let him lead me down the beach.

  I see a pier up ahead. It looks like that’s where we’re headed, so I focus on that. I focus on the pier and all the questions I’m going to ask him once I find my voice again. I’m so focused, so caught up in my thoughts that I don’t realize he stopped walking until I feel my shoulder pull back and his hand slips away.

  That got my attention. I instantly feel the loss of his body heat. It’s at least eighty degrees already yet I feel cold without him holding my hand.

  I look up and his crooked grin is watching me, assessing me. I clearly see his eyes now. They are a deep shade of brown, at least two shades darker than my own. His jaw is chiseled and I can tell he didn’t shave this morning. His hair is light brown, barely a shade darker than the sand.

  He’s still without his shirt and it’s taking every ounce of strength I possess to not openly ogle him. I know his body is toned and well-defined. I felt it last night when he pulled me into the shadows. I got a fantastic glimpse of his golden skin when I backed up into him earlier today while trying to escape my brothers.

  My brothers. I wonder where they went off to. I wonder if they told our parents that I left with a boy. I wonder how much trouble I am going to be in when I get back to the beach house.

  “So, Mac… where are you from?”

  His question bring me back to reality. His voice slices through the clouds which have started to circle around my brain. The fog begins to clear. I can do this. I can have a conversation with him. My voice will work.

  I clear my throat to make sure, never once breaking eye contact with him. “Chicago. You?”

  “San Diego,” he says, tugging on my hand and pulling me down into the sand.

  I sit next to him, close to him, and stretch out my legs. He let go of my hand once we were seated and again I felt the loss immediately. I’m not sure why I keep getting these feelings. Is it because he’s attractive? It can’t be just that. I’ve been around attractive guys before and I’ve never had a hard time holding up my end of the conversation. This guy… he takes my breath away.

  We sit in comfortable silence, watching the waves. Every once in a while Roe asks me a question. They are always innocent in nature. How old am I? Do I play any sports? What’s my school like?


  I ask him the same questions but I become uneasy the more we ask each other. Why does he want to know all of this about me? I’m obviously attracted to him and he’s probably attracted to me. It’s not like we could start a relationship, though. I’m only here for a month and then we’ll be worlds apart from each other again.

  “How long are you staying?” I hear myself ask before I even realize I’m about to speak.

  “The whole summer. I was thinking about going home halfway through the summer but now I’m not sure. How long are you staying?”

  It’s there. You can hear it. He is definitely attracted to me. The way he asked, the way his voice hesitated a beat, I could tell he was hopeful that I was going to be staying the entire summer.

  “About a month, I think.”

  “Oh.” Defeat. That’s the only word which could describe the way he sounded in that moment.

  “We can still have fun for the next few weeks, though.” What am I saying? Am I eluding to what I think I am eluding to? Why would I start this conversation with him? I’m not normally this bold. I don’t normally initiate things like this. I do the opposite – I sit on my hands and wait for the guy to make the first move.

  He lifts an eyebrow – so fucking hot – and his grin appears. “So, you want to have fun for the next few weeks then? With me?”

  I feel the heat from my cheeks. He called me out. I know I shouldn’t be embarrassed but I am. It’s not like I jumped him but the hint at something more was caught.

  Be bold. Go after what you want, Mac. You never have to see him or talk to him again if you don’t want to after you leave here.

  The thought makes me sad and I frown. What if he doesn’t want anything to do with me after I leave? Why would I risk that?

  “What’s going on up there that’s causing you to look so upset?”

  “Nothing. It’s just…” How do I put this? “Well, I was thinking about what happens after I leave, once we go back to our real lives.”

  “I guess that depends on what happens before you leave.” Damn that grin.

  “I can read your mind right now. You better be careful.” I’m trying to play around with him but the second me touches me I know my idea of playing around and his are different.

  He moves his hand from my shoulder and scorches a path with his finger all the way up to my lips. I shudder the second he puts his finger on my lips and am rewarded with that damn grin again. I’m going to be dreaming about it all summer at this rate.

  “What am I thinking about right now, Mac?”

  Keep teasing my lips. Please keep teasing my lips. I like the way my body is responding to you. I want more, though. Maybe you could kiss me?

  That’s what I want to tell him but instead I make an attempt to play his game, and hopefully beat him at it.

  “Football?”

  “Nope. Care to try again?”

  He’s caressing my cheek now and I involuntarily lean into his hand. Damn! He’s good at this.

  “Hmm. The beautiful view?”

  “Getting closer. I do have a beautiful view.” He’s staring in to my eyes as he says it and my insides melt into a puddle. “Give up?”

  “Yeah,” I say, breathless. The way he’s looking at me is making it hard to think, hard to breathe.

  “Care if I show you instead?”

  I nod, knowing what’s next. I have been kissed before so I’m not scared but I have no idea what to expect from Roe. I’ve only known him for a few hours, but I’m more attracted to him than I have been to anyone else before.

  He runs the pad of his thumb over my lips and leans in. I lean towards him and the second our lips connect I gasp. He pulls back for a second and then pulls my head towards him again and devours me. That’s the best way to describe it.

  I melt into his body and allow him to devour me. I need air but I need this more. I need him. I have never felt so consumed by someone else from a kiss and I absolutely love this feeling. I never want it to end but knowing that it will, eventually, makes me enjoy this moment even more.

  I feel his hands glide over my bare skin, up my back and into my hair. Goosebumps cover my body even though I feel like I’m on fire where he’s touched me. Then he pulls back. I’m afraid to open my eyes so instead I rest my forehead against his and take a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

  ROE

  This girl is amazing. I knew she would be the second I laid eyes on her last night. I watched her take in her surroundings, dip her toes in the ocean. When she finally turned around I thought my knees were going to buckle. She was stunning in the moonlight. Not that she’s not stunning right now, but the moonlight illuminated her features and made her look like an angel. Her blonde hair was pulled up high on top of her head in a ponytail and the light was shining off it, begging me to touch it.

  When she walked towards me I couldn’t think of anything to say. So, like the asshat that I can be from time to time, I offered her a hit off my cigarette. She doesn’t smoke so I crushed it out in the sand and hid the butt from my parents in case they came looking for me. No reason to start a fight on the first day of our “vacation” together.

  I asked her name – Mac – and I took a step towards her as she was staring at my feet. I’m pretty sure she wasn’t looking at them because I have nice feet. I’m pretty sure she’s scared to look up at me. I know the feeling. My body was trembling the closer I got to her. I had to force myself to calm down before I reached for her chin and tilted it towards me. Her eyes were closed. Damn.

  When she finally opened them I knew this girl was the girl. The one I was supposed to meet this summer. My grandmother told me I would meet someone special while we were here. She told me it would be a lot of hard work but that we would end up together. My grandma is crazy, like seriously bat-shit crazy, but seeing Mac, looking into her eyes…well, I thought I might need to give Grandma a call and find out what else she knew.

  “Roe.” I wanted to tell her my full name but that always comes with questions. I didn’t feel like answering those questions. What I wanted to do was get her naked and do naughty things to her in the ocean.

  I saw some kids our age coming down the beach so I pulled her back into the shadows of the shed and against my body to hide us. Her body was soft, her skin was smooth and my body was having a reaction to her being so close to me. I slid my arm around her stomach, grazing the underside of her breasts and had to resist the urge to shudder. Then, I felt her body shudder against mine and I couldn’t help the groan which escaped. I was hard as a rock.

  She pulled away and turned towards me. I stepped towards her but stopped short when I realized she was checking me out. I let her look. I let her take me in, all of me, so she could decide what she thought of me. I already knew what I thought of her. My brain and my body were on the same page. Hopefully, she didn’t notice the growing bulge in my pants.

  She held her hand out to me and introduced herself again. I know her intent was to shake my hand but I don’t shake hands with girls who I’m not doing business with. Instead, I kissed her knuckles. The second my lips hit her skin my body almost gave itself over to her. I had to let her hand go and walk away. I needed to or else a cold shower wasn’t going to help my situation. Jumping in the ocean even sounded good.

  Now, she’s sitting on my lap, resting her forehead against mine. At some point during our fucking amazing kiss she climbed onto my lap. She’s still there and if she shifts even a little bit then she might figure out how much I enjoyed that kiss. That is, if the way I was kissing her didn’t give me away already.

  Her eyes are closed and I hear her breathing. I feel her erratic heartbeat. Or is that my erratic heartbeat?

  I pull back and take a moment to take her in, all of her. Well, the front of her. Her face is beautiful. Her eyes are a mix between brown, blue and hazel. I can’t really describe them. What I love the most about them, though, is the way they are looking at me right now. Her hair is soft. She left it down today and it falls ju
st below her shoulders. Maybe because it’s what I’m used to seeing, but I would describe it as California blonde with light brown streaks, highlights, whatever girls call them.

  Her body is…I can’t think about how amazing it is or else I will have to make her get off my lap and that is the last thing I want right now. Her breasts are the perfect handful and the bikini she’s wearing shows the perfect amount of cleavage. I feel how toned her body is. Either she plays sports or she works out. She’s physically fit. I like that since I have a complex about being in shape.

  Her long legs are stretched out to the side and all I can focus on is the golden glow. She’s perfectly tanned even though it’s the beginning of summer. I wonder if she goes to the tanner or if her skin has a natural golden color. I would ask but I don’t want to offend her.

  “Earth to Roe.”

  Her voice. Damn! I actually close my eyes and savor it for a second, hoping she’ll say my name again. It’s so damn sexy the way it rolls off her tongue. Now I’m thinking about her tongue. I want to kiss her again. I have to. I open my eyes and grin at her, hoping she knows what it means and then capture her lips again before she can protest.

  She lets me devour her. I fucking love it. She tastes like mint toothpaste still. I hope I don’t taste like the cigarette I smoked before I ran into her this morning. I would feel awful if that’s all she can taste right now. I really need to stop smoking. Mac might be incentive enough to do so.

  I hear my name being called in the distance. I know it’s not Mac since I currently have her lips held hostage. It has to be my sister. As much as I don’t want to, I pull back. Mac has a look of confusion on her face for only a second before I hear my sister calling my name again. She looks in the direction of Sara’s voice and smiles when she sees my little sister running towards us.