Bad for You by Weston Parker

21

TRISTIN

Icouldn’t keep my eyes off Brittany in her bikini. All I wanted to do was to bury myself deep inside her and never come up for air again, but I hadn’t brought her all the way out here this weekend for sex.

Hopefully there would be some of that, or else I was in for a very long, hard, frustrating weekend, but even if nothing happened, she was still here with me. That was the important part.

Her hair had been bundled into a bun on top of her head, only some wispy tendrils loose around her face and neck. With her feet bare and a towel over one shoulder, she looked like an image out of one of my wet dreams about her.

As she completed her turn, she smiled and lifted her brows at me, her hands still on her hips. “Will you do me when you’re done?”

My eyes flew open so wide they nearly bugged out of my head, and then she started laughing and motioned toward the bottle of sunscreen. “I meant will you put some of that on me. I can do your back if you’re done with your front.”

“I’ll put some of whatever you want on you.” The sand was warm and soft beneath my feet as I made my way over to her, lifting the bottle and squeezing a generous amount of the thick white cream into my palm. “Turn around and stop distracting me. The list of things I’m making you pay for later is only growing.”

“That’s not the only thing that’s growing,” she murmured with a chuckle when she turned and I came to stand behind her, the bulge in my trunks right up against her amazing ass. “I would just like to say for the record that I’m not doing a thing to distract you. I don’t think I should be made to pay for coming out here in my bikini when you’re the one that suggested it. If anything, you should be made to pay for threatening me when I’m the innocent party.”

“Bring it on,” I said, moving my head forward so my lips brushed against her ear when I spoke. “You knew when you packed that bikini that it was going to distract the hell out of me. Couldn’t you have brought a tracksuit to swim in?”

“Are you really complaining?” Her voice was a little huskier than it had been just a minute before, but there was a playful note to it as well. “I can always go change.”

“Hell no.” One of my hands came to a rest on her hip, and my fingers flexed. “But if I drown because I can’t stop staring, will you give me mouth to mouth?”

“You’re one to talk. Have you seen yourself in those shorts? I might need mouth to mouth long before you do.”

I laughed but took a step back from her and handed over the bottle when I was done with her back and shoulders. “Maybe we should go take a swim. Cool off a little. No staring until we’re sure we won’t drown? Not that I’d mind giving you mouth to mouth. I’d just rather do it under better circumstances.”

She took the sunscreen from me, nodding her agreement as she started applying the cream to her chest and arms. Her gaze lingered on me for another moment before she yanked it away and focused on the shoreline.

“The water looks good,” she said. “I’m definitely in for a swim. Last one there has to play bartender for the rest of the weekend?”

Without waiting for me to reply, she pressed the bottle against my chest. My hand went up to take it on instinct, and she grinned at me before she took off. Motherfucker.

It took my brain a few seconds to come back online, and when it did, I dropped the bottle right there on the sand and ran after her. I was only a few steps behind her when she hit the water, squealing happily when I wrapped my arms around her from behind and dragged her in deeper with me.

We played in the waves for a while, splashing each other with water and chasing each other around. I hadn’t had such innocent, lighthearted fun in a long time, and it made me laugh so hard that my face hurt eventually.

“I won,” she called into the spray of a wave that crashed around us when I caught her, then spun in my arms and wound hers around my neck. She smiled as she looked into my eyes, wrapping her legs around my hips. “You didn’t let me win, did you?”

“Nope.” I smacked a quick kiss to her lips, holding her to me as one of my hands caressed the skin at the nape of her neck. “You caught me by surprise, but I’m happy to be your personal bartender for the weekend.”

Her fingers tangled into the ends of my wet hair, and her mouth descended on mine. She kissed me soundly, making me consider dragging her back to our bedroom.

“What happened to cooling off?” I managed to ask between kisses, my lips never quite leaving hers. “Making out in the water is the opposite of cooling off, but don’t let me stop you.”

“You’re right.” She groaned, closing her eyes before burrowing her face into the crook of my neck. “I can’t help it. You’ve been gone for so long, and I never thought we’d get to be together again.”

Her words wedged themselves into my rib cage, making my chest feel so much fuller just for having them there. I laid my head down on top of hers, giving myself a moment to just take it all in.

Waves lapped around us, the water a shade or two darker than the horizon where the earth met the sky. Brittany was warm in my arms, her body soft and relaxed against mine. There were other people on the beach and in the ocean, but they weren’t anywhere near us.

“I know,” I murmured finally, holding her even closer. “I didn’t know if we’d ever get the chance to be together like this again either, but we’re here, baby. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

“It just feels a little surreal.” She lifted her head, nuzzling my neck before pushing away from me. Her eyes found mine as we trod water, lazily keeping ourselves up while looking at each other. “Tell me something about you that I don’t know. We’ve talked a lot about our past, but not so much about what’s happened between then and now.”

“Okay. You want to do this in the water or get out and talk on the beach?”

She spread her arms out to her side, floating for a moment before she nodded toward the shore. “Let’s head back. We can get a drink and sit on the loungers on our deck. The view should be amazing.”

“What would you like to drink?” I asked as we swam back to the shallower water before walking the rest of the way out. “They should’ve stocked that little bar in the corner with all the regular stuff. If you want something specific, I might need to make a call, though.”

“Nah. A cold beer will do the trick.” She shook the sand from her towel before wrapping it around her body. “I have simple tastes.”

“A girl after my own heart,” I teased, hooking my towel around my waist.

When I reached for her hand as we walked back up to the house, she linked her fingers loosely through mine. We only let go when we hit the deck, and she made herself comfortable in one of the loungers while I went to go grab our beers.

She was lying on her back facing the water when I handed over her drink. I took the seat beside hers, spreading out my towel before sitting down. There was a small awning above us, providing shade as we looked out over the beach and the waves lapping at the shore.

“So,” I said. “What would you like to know? You already know where I went and what I did in the time I was away. I’m not sure what else I can tell you.”

“What was it like?” she asked, still facing the water but turning her head enough to be able to glance at me while we talked. “Was it what you were expecting?”

“Yes and no.” I shrugged, sliding my sunglasses over my eyes as I rested my head on the built-in cushion. “A lot of it was what I thought it would be. Hard work, grueling days, and some fucking long nights, but I didn’t realize just how tough it could be. I also didn’t really know the kind of camaraderie I would find there. I’ll spare you the details for now, but it can be as heartbreaking as it can be rewarding.”

Brittany kept asking me questions, but she didn’t pry. It was like she knew exactly when to ask more and when to leave a subject be. She told me about college and about her friend Shelley. We talked for the rest of the afternoon, taking a few more dips before going back to our loungers each time.

We had a relaxed, easy day that reminded me how much I enjoyed her company and how good we were together. During dinner, however, the mood changed.

A chef had cooked our meals while we had sundowners on the deck, and he called us to the dining room when the food was ready. We sat down at the small table, the sun starting to dip closer to the horizon and painting the sky in hues of orange and pink as we sat down.

“I really could’ve cooked for us,” she said, reiterating a point she’d made as soon as the chef had arrived. “You really didn’t have to get it catered.”

“I wanted to. I didn’t want you to have a lift a finger this weekend. It was supposed to be a break, remember?”

“Sure, but I like making food. It wouldn’t have been a problem.” She smiled and thanked the chef when he put her plate down in front of her. “This looks delicious, though. I’m not sure I would’ve been able to make anything like this, so I can’t be too upset about it.”

“You might be a little upset about what I’m about to tell you,” I said, barely glancing at the filet mignon with roast potatoes and vegetables that the chef had prepared.

Brittany looked up, her expression sobering when she caught sight of my own. “What now?”

“It’s nothing serious, or bad, for that matter.” I held her gaze, taking a deep breath and swiping my tongue across my lips before I ripped off the Band-Aid. “My mother is throwing a party tomorrow in my honor. It’s at their house just down the beach, and I want you to come with me.”

I’d felt bad enough knowing I’d be catching her off guard, but seeing the look on her face when it dawned on her that this party was why we were here made me feel like absolute shit. “Before you say anything, I need you to know that I didn’t mean to trick you into coming here with me. I was just afraid you’d say no to the weekend if I told you up front.”

Her chin lowered, her throat working as she dragged air into her lungs. She just stared at me for a long minute, so many emotions flickering behind her eyes that it was impossible to know what was going on in her head.

“Not wanting to tell me because you were afraid I’d say no is kind of the same as tricking me, though.” She sighed, shaking her head as she brought her gaze back to mine. “I’m not happy about this, Tristin. I really thought you just wanted to spend the weekend together.”

“I do,” I said, reaching for her hand and holding it when she tried to pull it back. “If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to. I’ll go make an appearance for an hour or two, and you can stay right here.”

“You’d really let me stay?” she asked, but it didn’t sound like she believed it.

I nodded. “I’d never force you to do something you don’t want to do, but it would mean a lot if you’d come to this party with me. I didn’t ask for it, but Selena organized it anyway. The only thing that makes the thought of it bearable to me is if I could have you by my side while I’m there.”

At the mention of my mother’s name, she flinched just a little. I wanted to ask her about it, but now didn’t seem like the right time. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea for me to show up there with you. All your parents’ rich and powerful friends will be there. I won’t fit in.”

“You fit with me,” I said firmly and without even needing to think about it. “I don’t give a damn what any of them think. They can all fuck right off if they don’t think you belong there. You and I belong wherever the other is. That’s how I feel about it, anyway. Since it’s my party, that’s really the only thing that should matter.”

We went back and forth about it for a few more minutes, but eventually she agreed. She picked up her cutlery again, pointing at me with her fork before she speared a piece of her steak. “I’ll go, but it might not end well for us. I don’t belong in that world, Tristin. Everyone there will know it. It doesn’t matter how you and I feel about it. It never has.”

I frowned, confused about why she’d said what she had. Since I didn’t want her to change her mind about going with me when she was the only reason I’d agreed to going myself, I left her statement alone for the moment.

But that didn’t mean I’d forget about it. There were a lot of things we still needed to talk about, but I got the feeling that her comment was closely tied to the rest of it.

If only I’d known just how right I was, I’d never have left it at that. I shouldn’t have. I’d have saved us both a lot of heartbreak if I hadn’t stuck to my plan to be patient about talking about the things we needed to talk about.

Patience might be a virtue, but it turned out there was such a thing as having too much of it.