y/n: your name

tws: swearing, drinking

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y/n's pov *

"beach day for the beach babes?" marina suggested, and i picked up my phone to see her picture on the facetime screen. she was sitting crisscrossed on her bed, phone flat on her comforter so it only showed about half her face as she chewed the edge of her pen absentmindedly. we had been talking like this for about an hour now just brainstorming and throwing out ideas for something we could do for naomi before she left for college.

you know, one last hoorah with everyone to wrap it all up.

at an absence of a response from me, marina picked up her notepad and smacked it with her writing utensil demandingly. "well?"

"oh— i think a beach day sounds good. god knows naomi loves to wear a bikini," i replied after a moment, squinting to see the list of ideas she had written out and deciding it was by far the best one.

"that she does. hell, she'd skinny dip if she didn't think she'd get arrested."

"please, as if that'd stop her," i laughed, and marina chuckled.

"i'm gonna miss her," she sighed after a moment.

"girl, you act like she's dying! she's only moving forty minutes away. she'll be here like every other weekend!"

"forty minutes? y/n—"

"are you guys done planning my surprise party in there? cause i'm good with the beach day decision," naomi yelled from the hallway, and i leapt off my bed to open up my door.

"what— were you just standing there listening?"

"yeah, i don't like surprises. i gotta be ready for shit, you know?"

i stared at her blankly.

she huffed. "woo, yay, i'm so surprised you're taking me to the beach! now wear this bikini bitch and let's go!" she demanded, and shoved a two-piece at my chest.

"good god, what's gotten into you?" i laughed, holding up the swimwear in front of me.

"excitement girl. i wanna hang, and if you two keep deliberating about the place then i'm gonna be gone before you know it. and then you'll be sad. and you'll miss me. and you won't have fun anymore."

"we'll have fun, it'll just be without you—"

"oh my god, please mari, i'm gonna start crying if i think about that. now—" she took a deep, calming breath and clasped her hands together in front of her with a smile. "are you guys ready to go or what?"

"i guess? but this swimsuit?" i echoed, pressing it to my sweatshirt and turning side to side in the mirror. it was a vibrant red color (as were a lot of things in naomi's closet) with thick white straps that ran vertically up the shoulders and in a high-set curve on the hips.

"yeah, i know, it's hot— i mean, of course it's hot. do you think i would just hand out a paper sack to my beloved? no!"

"sassy sassy," marina chastised, and naomi narrowed her eyes.

she marched over to the phone and held it out in front of her, pointing her finger at the screen. "i will not stand for this," she said simply, and ended the call.

i quirked a brow and watched as she dialed again, and marina answered immediately.

"that was just for dramatic effect," she stated as the dark brunette glared.

"you're a dramatic effect," marina deadpanned.

"and you're bad at insults. oh ho!" she made a sizzling sound with her tongue and lightly touched the phone with the tip of her finger. "burn."

"you're a dumbass."

"a dumbass with a 140 IQ that's going back to college baby! once again i will ask: are. you. ready?"

"okay fucking— albert einstein— shoo shoo so i can change into this badass swimsuit and actually get ready. also let the boys know what's going on. i just realized we've left them out of the loop," i rambled, hands on naomi's shoulders as i pushed her out of my room.

"nah— not albert— compare me to like— judit polgar. she's a baddie. a chess baddie," naomi argued, clinging to the doorframe as i continued to try and boot her.

i grunted as i leaned all my weight against her back. "you don't— you don't play chess though—"

"i do actually. i was captain of the chess club at my high school as a matter of fact." she checked her nails as she pushed back against me, not struggling against my effort despite how much i was putting in.

"but you were popular? how—"

"i told you, i mastered the duality of genius and popularity. it was some queen bee shit, lemme tell ya. but anyway—" she flipped around and placed both hands on my shoulders, looking me dead in the eyes. "hurry up. i'm gonna go change into my bikini, and if the three of us don't look like the hottest girl group to ever exist in the history of hot girl groups, then we're doing something wrong."

"ayo, check my suit, check my suit?" marina butted in, propping up her phone against something so she could stand back and show us what she was wearing. it was a simple black two piece with spaghetti strap strings and loopy bows tying everything together, and it was stunning. the bottoms sat high on her hips and rounded out the generous curve of her waist in an almost artfully perfect way, and naomi and i burst into clapping and cheering at just how well it fit her.

"hell yes! this is the energy i ask for! god— i love when women!" she praised, getting close to the phone to look her up and down.

"mari, i love you— i am in love with you—"

she rushed towards her phone laughing and brought it up to her face, scrunching her nose at us. "simps. both of you."

"damn right dude! holy shit!" naomi yelled, and wandered out into the hallway with my phone to keep talking to her.

i shut the door behind her and quickly stripped out of my clothes and into the bathing suit she was lending me, popping on some cutoffs over the bottoms. in the few minutes i left naomi unsupervised, she had tweeted 'boobies' from my twitter and flipped my profile picture upside down, but thankfully, she did actually fill in the boys on today's plan, so at least she was somewhat productive in her little ventures.

"should i invite alyssa?" george asked naomi as i came out of my room. i started brewing coffee in the kitchen and casually listened in as she whirled to face him.

"alyssa? the hospital chick? you haven't gone out with her already? what the hell have you been doing?"

"talking. i mean, we've been texting nonstop, but—"

"you haven't asked her out yet?"

"no?"

"bruh," naomi deadpanned, "the ball is in your court. it has been in your court. she was the bold bad bitch she is and gave you her number, and now she's waiting for you to make the next move."

george paused, considering. "so should i ask her if she wants to come to the beach?"

"what do you think dumbass? text her!"

he almost dropped his phone at the loud response and started typing immediately. after no more than a few seconds, a swooshing noise signaling a text back came through.

"she's free!"

naomi sighed and shook her head. "you are so bad at this."

"hey, cut me some slack. it's been a while."

"no shit sherlock. god i need to give you people some flirting lessons."

"ooh, sign me up," i chimed in, whisking into the living room and passing the pair cups of coffee.

naomi peered into the mug and then took a tentative sip, clicking her tongue. she lit up with a smile. "you put a shot of baileys in this, holy shit, i love you, marry me—"

"i knew you'd like that."

clay dragged his feet down the hallway, towel-drying his wet hair, and his eyes landed on the three of us in our swimsuits and froze. "what's going on?"

"we're going to the beach babe, catch up," i said, hopping off the arm of the couch to peck a kiss to his cheek.

"what— i just showered though," he frowned, hands finding my waist as i stood close to him.

"nobody cares, nobody asked," naomi groaned sarcastically, throwing her head back.

"yeah, any askers dream?" george added.

he rolled his eyes but sighed and headed back to his room to put on some swim trunks.

after everyone had eaten breakfast and changed, we all crammed into the car with the dogs and started driving to the beach— not before picking up marina from her house— which some passengers mildly regretted because she insisted on playing sea shanties the entire way. we also stopped to pick up alyssa, who was wearing the cutest color-block pink and teal bikini i had ever seen in my life, which marina, naomi, and i made known by the way we fawned over her as she walked to the car.

by the time we made it to the beach, we were already high off our own laughter and hankering for a tropical drink and tropical waves.

well, i was hankering for tropical waves, and apparently the only other people that were feeling the same way were the dogs.

everyone settled down in their sun lounges to start soaking up a tan, cash and dog started roughhousing in the sand, and i was left standing in front of them all— the shadow blocking their light.

"hon, your body is banging, but if i get a tan in the shape of you i'm actually going to weep," naomi said, rubbing her hands together with sunscreen before lathering her arms with it.

"dude you're already gorgeously tan, you don't even need to lay out," i frowned, bouncing on the balls of my feet, "come in the water with me."

naomi sighed and set the sunscreen bottle in the sand. "okay, one: that would be physical activity, and two: i'm literally the pastiest motherfucking asian woman you will ever meet, so let me live a little and lay out. i plan on getting two types of vitamin d today, the first kind being from our beautiful lady the sun, and the second potentially from that herd of hunks playing volleyball over there. now if you'll excuse me." she pushed her shades back up the bridge of her nose and sighed, gazing off into the distance.

marina joined me in looming over her. "girl, no, i did not take you here today to get dicked down."

"oh relax, i'm just daydreaming. they've got nice abs or whatever."

"what you mean to say is you're hunting for a one-night rebound—"

"ah ah ah ah ah, no, i'm not trying to accidentally get emotionally attached to anyone today. just let me... observe," she trailed off, peeking over her shades again.

marina and i raised a brow at her skeptically, and she huffed again, kicking her legs over the side of her lounge chair and planting her feet in the sand.

"fine. whatever. i'll come. i need a drink first though."

"and a drink you have," clay chimed in, coming back from the bar and handing everyone some kind of tropical alcoholic beverage.

naomi grabbed for hers and took a long, drawn out sip. when the only noise coming from the straw was the loud sound of sucking up an empty drink, she set the coconut shell down, tucked the tiny yellow umbrella into her hair, and turned to us. "i'm ready now."

"jesus naomi," i laughed, taking a smaller sip of my drink.

"please, these things barely have any alcohol in them. don't look at me like that."

"it was merely a look of admiration."

"right. and this is a look of doubt." she narrowed her eyes at me, and i chuckled.

"can someone do my sunscreen?" clay asked, and started to pull off his shirt over his shoulders. my gaze flicked from naomi to him, and i'm not sure if he was moving slowly or my brain was just perceiving it that way, but the entire act of him undressing was teasingly prolonged, and i felt shy just catching a glimpse of it. clay happened to be built with that perfect, subtle lean muscle like a swimmer or runner maybe, outline of his abs just faintly visible when he shifted his stance, v-line peeking out over the hem of his purple swim trunks, and it made my cheeks flush red.

"i got you!" i blurted, peeling my eyes away and taking the sunscreen from him.

"oh yeah, mari do you need sunscreen?" nick asked, already picking up one of the bottles.

"yeah, probably. not trying to toast myself out here."

george shuffled where he stood, looking like he was about to say something, but stopped himself.

naomi caught on and kicked his shin.

"alyssa do you need sunscreen?" he blurted.

"oh! uh.. yeah! thanks, that'd be good," she smiled, and sat down on the lounge chair next to him.

naomi sighed. "and i sunscreened myself like the independent single woman i am. i'm gonna go get another drink."

"love you!" i called after her, and she waved me off with her hand, just barely cracking into a smile.

clay laughed under his breath as i turned him around so i could get his back first, and i squeezed out a bit of sunscreen into my palm and lathered his shoulders to start, not-so-subtly tracing the lines of his muscle with my thumb. when i reached the divet where his shoulderblades met, i pressed a little harder, and he sighed, leaning into me.

"that feels kinda good actually," he mumbled, turning his head to glance at me through half-lidded eyes.

"mmhm. that's pressure point GB-21," i said like i was reading from a textbook, "it helps relieve stiffness and stuff." i released the pressure point and traced my hands high up to his neck and threaded my fingers into his hair, pressing with both thumbs. "this one is pretty good for that too."

"mm, you're telling me."

i chuckled and released, lastly bringing my hands to two points on either side of his lower back and digging the pads of my fingers in, to which he slouched against me entirely in response.

"that— wow—" he sighed, and i let go and slapped his shoulder to get him off me.

"i feel like you just instantly corrected my bad gamer back with that," he laughed, stretching his arms high above his head with a groan.

"i don't know. i mean maybe, but it's so bad i'm not sure that's even possible," i shrugged, smile smug.

"oh, that's bold coming from you. you know when you're really engrossed in gaming you practically look bent in half?"

"hmph, you wouldn't understand, it's a cracked gamers only thing. for the vips, you know?"

he hummed once, hands finding my waist and lifting me ever so slightly off the ground. "you think you're tough stuff huh?"

"i do," i answered flatly, trying to completely ignore what he was doing to me, "what was that thing i did that one time? beat you in your own minecraft manhunt as a complete rookie?"

"hm. i'll get you in the rematch."

"oh yeah, the minecraft vs five hunters final epic grand finale rematch to end it all," i mocked, and he threw his head back with a laugh before setting me down.

"just turn around so i can get your sunscreen idiot."

i obliged, whisking my hair around my shoulders so he could rub on the lotion. he started in the same spot i had and in the exact same way, thumbs following the shape of my shoulders. when the lotion had all but completely been rubbed in, he paused, hands lingering on me, and leaned in closer to my ear.

"where was that pressure point you just did?" he asked, soft, and instead of trying to talk him through it, i reached behind me and placed my hands atop his, guiding them along the surface of my skin.

yeah, he had nice hands or whatever.

he pressed a little firmer and dragged his thumbs up the middle of my shoulder blades, pausing at the back of my neck before releasing. i laced my fingers loosely with his as he kept contact with my skin and guided his hands lower, tracing the curves of my waist, until he paused at my lower back and kneaded the pressure point there, a sigh passing my lips.

"dream— professional minecrafter and part-time masseuse," i mumbled, and he chuckled into my hair as he kissed the top of my head.

"nick— nick— i swear to fucking god—" marina yelled as he hoisted her atop his shoulders, and we both turned to look as they both bursted into laughter.

"i've got you!" nick yelled back, and started bouncing on his heels to shake her around.

"you definitely do not got me! stop it!"

"y/n! clay! stack up, we're racing into the water!"

the blond and i shared an eyebrow-raised glance, a silent "do you want to do this?" exchanged in the look, and before i could communicate a yes or no back he broke out into a toothy grin and swept me off my feet, swinging me onto his shoulders in one swift gesture that whipped my head around in a dizzy spiral.

"jesus mother of god!" i shouted, clinging onto him for dear life as he started bouncing around like an idiot, making like he was going to sprint off into the ocean but backing away as he got close to splashing into the water, only teasing.

"come on! alyssa! george! are you guys coming?" he shouted, whirling around to face the pair.

"um, i'm not really sure these things are water proof," george chuckled, holding up his wrapped hand. alyssa did the same, and they tapped their casts together in a soft fist bump.

"i think— i think we're gonna go for a walk with the dogs," she said, and reached to hold his good hand with hers. it was almost too perfect that they had broken opposite thumbs so they could still hold each other.

george flushed pink at the gesture and squeezed her hand twice excitedly. "yeah! walk, right! we'll uh— see you guys in a bit."

"alright," nick said, dragging out the word as he eyed them like a father suspicious of his son. "have fun you two."

"thanks! be careful out there!" alyssa called out, and turned on her heel to start down the stretch of the beach with george and the mutts close at her side.

they were cute.

"lovebirds, am i right?" i smiled, and clay tilted his head back to look up at me.

it was funny looking at him from this angle— backwards and upside down— and i leaned over and pressed a quick, chaste kiss to his lips.

"spiderman kiss?" he cooed when i pulled away, and i pecked his lips again.

"spiderman kiss," i repeated.

"ew, gross, what are you— dating or something?" nick said, nose crinkled even though he was smiling.

"how gross would that be," marina followed up, fingers resting on nick's jaw so she could tilt his chin up and press an upside down kiss to his lips too.

after a few seconds, he reluctantly pulled away, shaking his arms out at his sides. "okay, okay! enough of this lovey dovey shit! we are— going to race into the water. that's— that is the plan."

"the plan huh?" i echoed, shifting my legs so i was balanced on clay's shoulders. "you know this plan involves you losing right?"

"you're so cocky," nick chastised, digging his heels into the sand as he turned to face the ocean. "better be able to back it up."

"we can," clay assured, steadying himself the same way he had. "ready?"

"set."

"go!"

clay darted forward in sync with nick, kicking up sand and leaving a trail of haphazard footprints from our beach chairs to the water behind him. i clung around his neck as he ran, bouncing up and down as each stride he took threatened to toss me off and to the ground. i braced myself to fall every time i tipped a little too far, eyes squeezing shut as laughter caught high in my throat, but, against my expectations, we made it into the water— granted, behind nick— and i was still perfectly perched atop clay's shoulders at the end of it all.

"that was scary," i laughed, breathless, and loosened the tight grip i had held on clay.