After the two little brothers walked away, I saw Jude standing next to Jess. I wanted to greet him, but Jess cut me off with a smirk. "Jude, great. Now I can leave, and don't worry about your brothers — you were with me the whole time." She winked. I blushed and wanted to tell her to stay, but I was again cut off, this time by Jude.

"Awesome. Bye, Jess." Jude lightly pushed her away. She laughed and went to God knows where. I sat on the sand and played until Jude sat next to me. He grabbed a handful of sand in his palm and threw it in the air, away from our hair. I looked at his face and saw that he was already looking at me. I did not know if Jude was leaning forward or just my imagination, but I felt his breath on my face when he licked his bottom lip.

"Lexi..." He trailed off in his sexy voice and looked at my lips. The wind was blowing my hair to the back, and, for once, it did not bother my face — it was like nature wanted something to happen between us, and it did.

His lips brushed over my lips, and he looked again into my eyes to see if I would withdraw, and I did not move. He took that as approval and kissed me. We closed our eyes, and I was on cloud nine. He wrapped his hands around my waist and brought me closer to his body. The kiss got more heated, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, and my hands found their way to his dark, soft hair.

I did not know what had gotten into me, but I sure did like this. Jude was handsome but also a player, and I did not want to be his toy. As the thought ran through my mind, I gently pushed him away and caught my breath. "We shouldn't," I whispered while my forehead was pressed to his. He arched his eyebrows and leaned back to look at me more clearly.

"Why?" I felt terrible, but he needed to know how I felt, and I did not want to feel bad every time we kissed — that's if we kissed anymore. I sighed and brushed my hair with my hand.

"Jude, you are a player and flirt with every girl you find attractive. I don't want to be just another girl whose feelings you play with and then disappear," I admitted, trying to fight back the tears at the thought that the kiss meant nothing to him, while for me, it meant the world.

His eyes widened, and he grabbed my shoulders gently. "Lexi, didn't you notice that recently I didn't touch any girl but you? I stopped flirting once I realized my feelings for you. I stopped being a player for you! And you are the smartest and most attractive woman I've ever seen. I was too dumb to realize it." I looked around to see if anyone was listening, but we were out of earshot of anyone. He cupped my cheeks and made me gaze at him again. "That kiss... meant everything to me! I loved every second of it," he confessed, and I was shocked at his words. As the words sunk in my head, my lips twitched into a smile.

"You really mean that?" Ugh, the cringe. Lexi, stop it!

"I meant every word. I'm not playing, Princesa!" Jude declared, and I blushed at the new nickname. His voice was deep and husky, sending shivers down my spine. He leaned forward and kissed me again, but I did not waste any second and kissed back almost instantly.

This was the first time I was that intimate with a guy, and I knew that if my brothers were here, the guy I was kissing — their best friend — would be dead. We pulled apart and suddenly felt so relaxed that I could not hold my head. I rested it on his chest, and he wrapped his arms around me like I was his teddy bear. I liked the warmth and the affection.

"You know we can't say anything to my brothers, right?" I pointed it out, and he hummed.

"I know. I do not want to die, at least not now," he added, and I nodded. "I hate to ruin the mood, but I need to tell you about the pranks." I raised my head and smiled widely.

"Don't worry, the mood can be restored, but the pranks? Nah uh. Let's go. You can tell me on the way." I got excited and stood up. I grabbed his hands and walked with him to — wait, shouldn't he lead the way?

I ran to the dorms and made sure that my brothers were busy. I returned to Milo's car and saw Jude preparing for the first prank. Jude knew Milo's car was dear to him, so he made it a space car by wrapping it with aluminum foil. I kept an eye on my brothers in case one of them decided to open the main door. It took Jude about half an hour to complete his masterpiece. I grinned. "That's fantastic. Now for Arlo," I said, and he nodded.

"I will go first, then you wait five minutes and then come to your room. We don't want them to suspect that you were with me and not with Jess," he mentioned, and I agreed. Five minutes was too long, so I started singing five little monkeys jumping on the bed in a quiet, slow tone. I took a deep breath when I finished the song and entered the dorm. I saw my brothers sitting on the couch watching TV without Jude. I smirked and greeted them.

"Hey, Lexi, what took you so long?" Theo asked as he saw me.

"Girl stuff. You really want to know?" I challenged, and he grimaced, then shook his head. As I went to walk to Arlo and I's room, I was stopped by Milo. Thinking that we were busted, I cursed under my breath.

"Don't go to the bathroom; Jude's in there," he said, and I nodded. Bathroom, my butt.

As I opened the door to my room, I was in the arms of Jude. "God! You scared me!" I whisper-yelled at him. He chuckled and kissed my forehead.

"Sorry, I thought we were busted, but now I'm relieved. What do you think?" Jude asked as he showed me Arlo's bed. An ice sculpture in the shape of a dog was in bed and looked fabulous. Luckily, the ice would take some time to melt.

"Now, it's your turn to do Theo's prank. Like I told you, I will call for him, and you get dressed. It doesn't matter if your brothers see you, as they don't know what's waiting for them," he explained with a grin, and I laughed.

"Make sure to capture everything on video," I reminded him, and he nodded.

We walked out of the room carefully so my brothers would not see him with me and start questioning. I sat next to Arlo, and Jude called for Theo. When he was out of eyesight, I jumped from my seat and walked around the TV to get my costume. It was a furniture costume. We will do the 'the furniture is alive, and it's looking for payback' prank on Theo.

Milo and Arlo wanted to ask, but I shushed them. After what felt like forever, I heard Jude say the keyword: Bloody hell, I stubbed my toe. I made him say that. It was hilarious to listen to it from him in his Australian accent.

A few seconds later, I felt Theo sit on me — the chair — and I wrapped my arms around him. He let out a loud scream and jumped from my lap. We all burst out laughing, and I got out of the costume. I was laughing so hard that I snorted a bit. Theo's reaction was priceless.

"Did you get that?" I asked Jude between laughs, and he nodded while laughing. My brothers were laughing too, but they did not know what awaited them.

"Guys, that was brilliant. Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to see Latoya. Bye," Milo said as he stood up from his seat, followed by Arlo.

"And I want to take a nap, so see you later," Arlo said, and Jude and I sat on the couch while waiting for their reactions. Two minutes later, Milo and Arlo came running with angry faces.

"Jude! Lexi!" they yelled, and we laughed.

Theo asked what was happening, and we showed him. The reactions we caught on camera were incredible, and my parents came running with Holden. "What happened?" they asked, and we just showed them. Today was a good day: I pranked my dear brothers, and Jude kissed me. Hope I'm not dreaming.