Loni

Chilled waves crawl up my toes and splash against my ankles. The water is so cold, but I'm still tempted to dive in. I love the ocean. I think it's the best part about living in Florida. I could fall asleep to the sound of the waves crashing on the shore.

Hadley walks back up to the shore towards me after taking a quick dip to cool off. Sleek black hair cascades over her shoulders. "Are you going in?" she asks, wringing out her hair.

I nod. "Yeah, when everyone gets here."

"I still can't believe it." She says on a laugh, tossing her wrung-out hair behind her shoulder

"Can't believe what?"

"You and Jace, fuck buddies. I knew I was right when I told you to go for him. I guess he is your type after all."

I fluff my hand in the air. "We aren't in a relationship. It's just sex."

"Just sex?" She raises her brows. Her body perks up suddenly. "Now how am I supposed to believe you when Jace looks at you like that?" She motions her hand behind me.

I turn around. Jace is walking toward us with the biggest grin stretching across his face. His eyes are locked right on me before he pulls down his black sunglasses.

"Hey, pretty girl," he greets.

Hadley shoots me a told you so look.

I give her a you don't know what the hell you're talking about look in return.

"I'm going to help Kaden get the paddle boards out of his jeep," Jace says as soon as he approaches us.

"Okay."

He takes my hand, gives it a quick squeeze, eyes my body up and down then shoots me a wink before walking back up the beach.

Did he really just walk all the way down here from the parking lot to find me? Now he's trudging back up the beach. I can't help but feel butterflies swirl around in my stomach. Heat grows in my cheeks as well as other places. And the way he just looked at me... Fuck.

I hate to admit it, but I really put a lot of effort into my appearance before I came to the beach today. Normally, I don't care what I look like. I'm going to get all sandy and wet anyway, so why doe it matter? Honestly, I wanted to impress him. So I'm wearing a light blue bikini. The top gives me some much-needed boob support, making them look bigger than they are. And the bottoms, well they are so far up my ass I can practically taste the fabric.

"Oh, babe, you are so past the fuck buddy stage it's not even funny."

"We are keeping it casual."

"Deny it all you want. But I know you. You don't do casual. Especially not with a guy like Jace. I was all for your little sex plan, but you can break it if you want to actually date him. I won't judge you," she laughs.

"Dating comes with a lot of baggage. I just don't think I'm ready for that kind of commitment yet."

Hadley sighs. "Fine. But just know, you are allowed to let yourself be happy. You are allowed to let your walls down."

I shrug. Hadley is right, but I'm not ready yet. I just fully got over Eric to where the thought of him or the sound of his name doesn't put a sour taste in my mouth. If I get hurt again, I don't think I'll be able to recover.

"I can't wait to go on Kaden's paddle board," she says, changing the subject which takes a weight off my chest.

I glance up the beach towards the parking lot and when I do, there's a girl walking right towards us. She's beautiful. Tall and lanky with boobs that are probably the prettiest, perkiest set I've ever seen. She looks like she should be a supermodel with her long legs and pinched waist.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Hadley curses under her breath.

"Who is that?"

"Valerie."

"Hello, Hadley," Valerie greets.

"Hello, Witch," Hadley scoffs at Valerie's surprisingly nice tone. She turns to look at me. "I'm going to see if the boy need help." Without another word, just a disgusted grunt, Hadley stalks towards the parking lot.

"I'm Valerie Marquez," she holds out her hand. "And you are?"

I shake her hand reluctantly. "Loni Davis," I force a smile.

"Oh, Loni, right. I think I've heard my Tyler mention you."

At the moment, the girl doesn't seem like the vile creature Kaden has described. She does seem a bit possessive though. I mean "my Tyler" what the hell is that?

***

I don't see Hadley for pretty much the rest of the day. But the boys are using the paddle boards while Valerie and I are laying on a couple of towels.

"Yeah, so I'm pre-law at Bayside. I'm going to open up my own firm, and then one day get my own reality tv show." Valerie says, applying more tanning oil to her limbs.

She has been ranting about her life for the past hour. I'm pretty sure, at this point, I know more about this girl than she does. Future lawyer, current social media influencer, and a part of the dance club at school. She also does volunteer work on the weekends. How does this girl find time to fucking breathe?

"What about you?"

I'm honestly shocked that she's asking me about myself right now. "I'm hoping to be in the film industry. I'm at Bayside on a full-ride scholarship."

"A scholarship?" There's shock in her tone like she has never spoken to someone who needed a scholarship or financial aid to attend school.

"Yeah. I won this film contest in high school and was awarded a full-ride scholarship."

"Interesting." But her expression is anything but impressed. There's a moment of silence which is honestly kind of nice. But she breaks it. "So, you and Jace."

"What about me and Jace?"

I really shouldn't be entertaining this conversation right now. But I would much rather talk about something other than Valerie Marquez.

"Are you two dating?"

"No." I don't want to tell this girl my whole life story. So I don't go into much detail.

"No?" She eyes me over the brim of her blacked-out sunglasses.

"We are just hanging out." Yeah, that's a good way to put it.

"Well, good. Jace is not the relationship type," she says with a snide laugh. "The guy is a complete mess. He has hooked up with way more women than I can count. Multiple at the same time. It's disgusting. I mean who has that little self-respect you know?"

I writhe against my towel. I really don't want to hear this. I take back what I said. I would much rather listen to Valerie tell me all about her life story than hear about Jace's indiscretions.

"He used to get so drunk, I think it was last year, spring break, he got so wasted and passed out on top of the girl he was fucking. Tyler had to pull his naked body off of her." She lets out a sigh but never drops the smile on her lips as if thinking about Jace like that fills her with some kind of sick pleasure. "I mean, the guy is hot, don't get me wrong, but come on, does that sound like boyfriend material?" She pauses, scoffs, then adjusts her glasses further up the bridge of her nose. "I don't think so."

My stomach fizzes but I swallow down the bile that burns the back of my throat before speaking. "That was in his past and he's changed since then. He's a different person now."

"Yeah, okay," she snorts. "Like father like son."

My skin burns, and it's not from the afternoon Florida sun. "I'm gonna take a walk," I mumble before standing up.

Now I see why Hadley wanted no part in being near this girl. She's like a vampire, sucking the life out of everyone. I mean, fuck. I've never met a more negative, self-centered, bitch. How she and Tyler are dating is beyond me.

I walk across the warm sand and look out at the ocean. Jace is jogging up towards me and my heart flutters in my chest. Especially when a smile appears on his lips as soon as he sees me.

"Hey you, having fun?"

I laugh, "It depends on what your definition of fun is." I look past him at the blue ocean. "I love the beach. Especially the water."

"Oh yeah?" He says, genuine intrigue on his expression.

I nod. "Yeah. Growing up in Arizona, I never got to experience anything like this."

"I like learning new things about you." He grins, eyes squinted, and my heart flutters yet again. "Come on, let's go in."

Placing his hand on the small of my back, Jace walks us into the water until it's up to my hips. The chilled water laps against my stomach making me squeal.

"What do you think of Valerie?"

My fingers glide against the water's surface. "You know, I would rather not mention her name. Now, nor for the rest of my life."

Jace laughs and nods in agreement.

But there's an unsettled feeling lingering inside me. "She did talk to me about you."

"Why am I not surprised?" He rolls his shoulders back and tosses his neck from side to side. "What did she say? That I'm a pig? A man-whore?"

I grit my teeth and suck in a long, sharp breath. "All of the above." I let out the breath and we both laugh. "But," I start, losing my smile. "She mentioned your dad—"

"Speaking of my dad," he cuts me off and looks down at me. "Want to come with me to his place for Thanksgiving? I mean only if you don't have any plans."

I'm a little bit taken aback. Going to parties and hanging out at the beach together is one thing. But spending a holiday together, meeting his family, is a whole other thing. But I can't imagine spending my day any other way. Maybe I might actually get some real answers about this guy's past, and not just the harsh stories Valerie told me today.

"I'd love to."