chapter ten

~ T H E N ~

 “Hey boys, do you know where I can find-”

“Storm?” Oli asked as Jackson started to snicker.

I shot them both a look, “No, what? I was going to say-”

“Well, that’s a shame because he just came by looking for you,” Jacks said offhandedly with a raised brow.

I rolled my eyes and rocked onto the back of my heels, my hair blowing around my bare back and neck as the ocean air pushed against me. “Just tell me where Tom and Sarah are, you assholes.”

They both chuckled and pointed down one end of the beach, opposite of where the huge bonfire was.

“Down there somewhere,” Oli nodded.

“Probs rooting,” Jackson added with a cheeky grin.

Ugh I swear, if it weren’t for the obvious opposite looks – Jackson having almost black hair, dark eyes and big build while Oli was blonde haired, green eyed and slender – they could probably pass for twins with the way they acted.

I leaned over and smacked both their foreheads lightly, causing them to almost topple over into the sand considering they were both on a large log, their laughter echoing behind me as I turned around and walked off to where they pointed me toward.

“Idiots,” I laughed to myself, shaking my head with amusement as I squinted into the dark and avoided walking into random drunk people.

My phone beeped in my pocket and I pulled it out to check who it was, getting no further than unlocking my screen to the unknown number before someone’s hands suddenly hooked against my waist and then pulled and spun me into a broad body.

“Found you,” a familiar voice murmured playfully as soft lips met mine in greeting before I could get a word out.

After a moment, I pulled away with a small laugh and smacked Storm on the chest. “That was not funny! You scared the bloody shit out of me!” I scolded, ignoring the way my heart fluttered and my cheeks warmed.

He grinned innocently, his pearly whites glowing slightly under the moonlit dark. “My bad,” he winked hooking an arm around my shoulders and walking me back to where I came from. “By the way, you do not want to go back there,” he said jerking a thumb to the complete darkness of where I was just headed. He leaned in, eyes wide as if he was going to tell me a secret, “That’s where all the kiddies are ‘exploring’ and where I stumbled onto Tom and your Asian friend getting ready to-”

“Ew! Okay, I get it: don’t go there,” I cut him off, wrinkling my nose in disgust at the thought of my two best friends actually doing it… again!

And then, out of nowhere, he threw his head back and laughed loudly, arm tightening around my shoulders as he pulled me closer in order to keep him upright whilst he laughed, the sound deep and rich and so damn contagious I wanted to laugh as well.

“I almost… forgot… how innocent… you are,” he said between snickers as I brought us to a stop and tried to give him my best death glare, arms crossed as I stood in front of him and watched as he continued to laugh, one hand on his knee and the other on his stomach.

“I am not!” I protested attempting a frown as he continued laughing loudly.

“You totally… are!” he wheezed standing straight again but still chuckling to himself.

“I’m notttttt,” I whined pouting like a child and feeling the want to stomp my bare foot against the cool sand. I frowned deeper, eyebrows pulled in and my lips pouted slightly even though his stupid big grin and his genuine laughter made me want to laugh as well… even if it was at me.

“Okay,” he finally nodded, chuckles dying down but his huge grin refusing to. “Okay, fine. I guess you aren’t that innocent,” he agreed, brushing hair behind my ear as his grin turned into a teasing smirk.

I turned around and walked off sassily, “Thank you.”

“I mean, after all,” he said not far behind me from the sounds of it, “You did give me a-”

“Storm!” I squeaked spinning around so fast to cut him off only to have him bump straight into me, taking me down with him as neither of us gained balance quick enough due to the uneven, sandy ground. Before I knew it, I was on the ground, the cool sand pressed against my back and a grinning boy against my front.

“A hand with getting rid of my crazy ex-girlfriend?”  He finished off innocently as I tried and failed to shove him off.

“That’s what I thought,” I muttered still shifting beneath him and trying to push him off only to find that he wouldn’t budge.

“Mia, you keep moving around like that and nothing is going to be innocent ever again,” he warned, voice low and husky and suddenly making me freeze, warmth spreading down to my belly. And then, a little lower, “Not after I’m done with you.”

“I – what?”  I stuttered, cheeks hot, body hot and my heart beating so fast and hard he probably could have heard it even over the crashing of waves and the soft music that came from where the main area of the beach was. Hell, he probably felt it.

“That’s what I thought,” he mocked playfully, a satisfied smirk on his lips as he noted my sudden standstill and flushed cheeks.

I pouted, realising what just happened before shifting beneath him one last time, but this time against his groin and on purpose. He sucked in a breath and the second he jerked back a little I grinned and all but shoved him off, rolled away and jumped up ready to run off.

I heard him curse and get up, quick to follow me. Not a moment later he pulled me back to him, arms around my waist and my feet no longer on the ground as his fingers dug into my sides so firmly I was a giggling mess.

“Put me down, put me down!” I squealed, squirming like crazy until he eventually had no choice but to do so considering I was moments away from eating sand.

“What are the magic words?” he sang putting me down enough so my toes and the tops of my feet reached the sand, but not enough that I was flat on it, his fingers still digging slightly into my bare waist and ribcage.

“Stop! Stop, I’m sorry, okay, I’m sorry!”

He finally puts me down, laughter bubbling out of his mouth and his eyes sparkling with amusement as I turned around, punched him in the chest and swore profanities at him. Before I could hit him a third time he caught my wrists in his and pulled me close. “Actually,” he breathed, leaning in even closer until my breath caught in my throat and my belly erupted into butterflies – no, scratch that; a stampede of freaking elephants. “You’re wrong. The magic words are: Storm you are a Sex God.”

“Those are your magic words?” I asked trying my best to give him a disgusted look even though I was seconds away from laughing.

“Yep.” He grinned devilishly, refusing to let me go or move away from him.

I shook my head and tried to hide my smile as I leaned in even closer, my mouth brushing his as it tilted into his annoyingly attractive smirk. “Storm,” I murmured quietly earning an even smugger smirk, “you are a complete and utter… loser.”

“Hey!” he protested, finally allowing me to move away from him as I laughed and turned to walk off. “That’s not very nice of you,” he pouted, walking so close beside me our arms and hands and fingers would brush against each other.

“Well then,” I teased ignoring the tingling sensation that spread up my arms and down my back, “I guess I’m not a very nice person.”

“You’re right; you’re a terrible person,” Storm grumbled childishly as the sounds of the beach party finally met our ears and the bonfire they had going lit up our faces enough so we could see each other properly.

Surprisingly, he still had a fading bruise on his left eye, but aside from that he looked completely fine compared to the last time I saw him.

I smiled and elbowed him so he’d glance at me. “Now who isn’t a very nice person,” I said pointedly only to earn breathy laugh, the kind that had me smiling.

“Wait, wait, wait,” he said, suddenly grabbing hold of my hand as he pulled me to a stop before we got any closer to the fire and talking, dancing, drunken teens of our suburb.

“What?” I laughed at the urgency in his voice and face.

“It’s just-I wanted to-” and then he kissed me.

A short one.

A sudden one.

An innocent one.

One that ended much too quickly.

Once he pulled away I couldn’t help but smile, the real and genuine kind that was full of unexpected happiness.

Oh, this boy.

“You keep kissing me like that and I’m going to start thinking you have a thing for me,” I teased, one half of my mind hoping and the other half hitting myself internally for saying such a thing.

“And if I do?” he asked surprising me for the millionth time as we finally made it to our friends who were sat exactly where I had left them; Tom – surprisingly – and his little crew. No Sarah.

Before I could answer, too surprised to even think of one, I was suddenly shoved backwards as Tom tackled me, grabbing me around the waist, spinning me around once, before the two of us were free falling. We landed hard, me on top of him on purpose which caused me to groan at the sudden impact whereas Tom laughed like a maniac, his drunken self not caring about nor feeling the pain.

“Missed me?” he grinned as I dropped my head to his chest to try and get my bearings.

The second I caught my breath again I rolled off him and sat up shaking my head. “You winded me!” I whined smacking him on the stomach the second he sat up too, causing him to groan and bend forward with laughter still coming out of his mouth.

“Mia, love me!” Tom mock-begged as I was helped off the ground by Oliver.

I laughed along with the boys, my head shaking as I leant out a hand to the obviously drunk boy. “Get up you alcoholic,” I teased, using all my weight to help him up only to have him bump into me, arms wrapped around my neck with his face buried into my hair.

“I love you, Mia, you’re the bestest friend anyone could ever ask for,” he mumbled as I tried my best to stand straight, the warmth of his body causing my own to heat up considering not only was I just in a bikini and thin shorts, but he was in nothing but his swim shorts.

“Uh, guys, bit of help please?” I called out to the group of five who continued to chuckle and watch Tom and I with amusement.

Right as I was prepared to shove Tom’s deadweight off, Jackson eventually stepped forward to help out, a grin on his face as he grabbed hold of Tom’s arms to unwrap them off me. “Alright, drunk boy, get off; you’re crushing our favourite midget.”

I send him a glare but otherwise say nothing to the midget comment.

I wasn’t that short… there are way more people who were my age and shorter…

“You assholes have fun, I’m getting a drink,” I rolled my eyes after I watched Jacks ‘accidently’ let Tom go and send him flying to the sand, face first which made everyone erupt into laughter considering Tom had grabbed Jacks midway down and pulled the dimwit with him.

There was a grumbled and incoherent reply of goodbye’s and ‘get me one too’, before I turned and looked at Storm last who gave me a parting wink. I rolled my eyes and laughed a little before turning and walking off to the other side of the huge bonfire, through the dancing, grinding, drunken people and towards the table and Eskys full of drinks of all kind – majority obviously filled alcohol.

“Eenie, meenie, miney-”

“Moe,” some unknown voice said for me, behind me and close.

I turned around and found a guy a little older than me standing there, a small and amused smirk on his face with two drinks in his hands, one held out toward me.

Not to mention with a body to die for, one that made my mouth go dry.

“I don’t take drinks from strangers, for all I know it could be drugged,” I said with a raised eyebrow.

His smirk widened a little more, “Ah, she’s gorgeous and smart.”

“She has a name,” I couldn’t help but smile.

“Well, then, Beautiful, what is your name?” he asked as he lowered the drink a little after I’d crossed my arms over my chest and gazed at the stranger with amusement.

“Are you hitting on me?” I asked instead, unable to stop the way my cheeks warmed immediately and a grin tugged at my lips.

He chuckled and shifted a little, whether to get comfortable or due to nerves I wasn’t so sure. “Is it working?” he queried with a genuine smile full of pearly whites, one that was rather lovely, but not quite as nice as Storm’s.

I bit my lower lip and glanced at where I’d last left the boys – and Storm – only to find that the only people left there was Oli, Jacks, Ian and Tom.

“Maybe,” I relented once my eyes found its way back to meet his green ones.

Storm is just a friend. A bedmate. In fact, he’s probably off dancing with some hot chick right now, so there is no way I should feel bad right now…

“Then how about a dance, Miss I-don’t-talk-to-strangers?” he asked dramatically, stepping back and sweeping me a low bow with a single hand out for me to take.

I grinned and stifled my laughter before putting my hand in his.

“Fine, but only one,” I relented, grabbing the drink he’d offered me earlier and basically drinking it all at once before throwing it in the closest bin and then letting him pull me to where everyone else was dancing – right in the midst of it.

“So, tell me something about yourself, Miss I-don’t-talk-to-strangers,” said the stranger as I put my hands on his shoulders and swayed slightly along with him, a small amused smile on my lips.

I pretended to think for a bit, before I finally settled on the most obvious thing, “I have really boring brown hair.”

I tried my best to keep a straight face as he rolled his eyes teasingly.

“Gee, who knew?” he asked sarcastically, suddenly spinning me and dropping me into a dip – somehow managing that in an area full of bodies which amazingly moved to give us space. “And for the record, it’s not boring – it’s so long and silky I want to run my fingers through it,” he murmured, face close before he suddenly yanked me back up before I could say anything.

I blushed madly and let him pull me closer.

“I-my name is Mia,” I stuttered for lack of anything else to say, causing him to pull back slightly so he could look me in the eyes with a smile.

“Mia,” he murmured, trailing a hand down my bare arm and causing my hairs to stand, before he took hold of my hand and spun me. “Lovely.”

“What about you, Mr I’m-so-charming? Why are you really talking to me?” I asked – or more like blurted.

“You think I’m charming?” he asked instead with a smug smirk that made me roll my eyes and laugh a little. “And hey, am I not allowed to try and entertain a pretty girl at a party?”

I wasn’t buying it. I mean, after all, even though I wasn’t ugly there was no way in hell a hot 20-something-year-old guy like him would ever talk to me whilst there were so many more prettier girls here – on a beach and all half naked with their breasts just about ready to burst out of the tiny piece of fabric they called a bikini.

After a few more moments of me just staring at him with a raised eyebrow and an unamused look, he eventually sighed and pulled me closer until our bare bodies were almost touching and his mouth was by my ear.

“Gorgeous and smart,” he said for a second time, more to himself than to me, before he pulled away again until he could meet my confused gaze. “Look, you really are a pretty girl, you know?” he said honestly, spinning me once more before trailing his hand behind my back again, more sensually this time and causing my muscles to tense. “That’s why I wanted to warn you about Storm.”

Now I was even more confused.

“Storm? As in golden eyed Storm?” I asked frowning, my eyes instinctively moving to find the said guy only to find him with some girl by the drinks table.

“Yeah, that Storm,” Green eyed boy muttered looking in the same direction as I was, but still moving in time to the music, forcing me to do the same even after I’d frozen up. “I mean, since you’re just friends, you probably don’t know about all the bad things about him then. God knows how much he loves keeping secrets.”

This time I really did freeze, my body jerking away and my arms no longer around his neck.

“What are you talking about?” I basically snapped, not liking the tone of his voice and how patronizing he sounded when he was talking about Storm.

He tried to reach out to me, stop me from making a scene in front of all the drunken people who won’t even remember a thing tomorrow morning, but I wasn’t having any of it. “Whoa little lady, calm down,” he laughed uneasily even though none of the partygoers were even sparing us a glance.

“Don’t touch me,” I warned crossing my arms and suddenly feeling so open and cold in nothing but a bikini. My head throbbed. How did I keep finding myself in such weird situations at every party?

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, annoyance filling his eyes and anger contorting his once handsome features. “Look, I’m trying to be nice, okay? All I’m saying is that you should probably stay away from that one. Girls are nothing but toys to him-”

“I don’t believe you,” I said naively, eyes narrowed. “He’s one of the nicest-”

“Mia, he raped my sister!”

That shut me up.

“What?” I asked, head shaking on its own accordance before I had even finished saying the word. “No. No way. He would never-”

He grabbed me by the shoulders and held on so tightly I grimaced in pain, body still frozen in shock. “Well he did. And the only reason why he’s not in jail right now is because she loves him,” he practically spat.

“But-”

“He is a rapist, Mia. So heed my warning and stay away from-” him he would have said had someone not shoved him away from me and stood to block my view.

Storm.

“What are you doing, Matt?” Storm growled, body tense, but mine even more so now that the information ran through my mind as a possibility no matter how much I told myself it couldn’t possibly be true.

Maybe that’s why he gets into all those fights?

“Nothing,” the man with a name now grinned casually.

Why the hell is he grinning?

“Just making new friends, isn’t that right, Mia?” Matt asked meeting my gaze after I’d shifted enough so I could see him again.

After hearing my name Storm’s hatred filled look only sharpened, his mouth pulling back in a sneer whilst his hands fisted tightly. “Don’t talk to her ever again, Matthew, or so help me I’ll-”

“What?” Matt asked as his grin disappeared only for an ugly leer to take its place. “You’ll get with my sister again?”

And that’s when the storm hit.

Quite literally, and figuratively speaking as the said boy launched forward and threw a hard punch at Matt who fell back due to the uneven ground and then pulled Storm down with him. Before I knew it, they were rolling around in a flurry of arms and legs and curses and sand flying everywhere, and even though it didn’t last for very long – the nearest boys happening to be our friends who were quick to pull Storm away – it sure as hell was enough to shake fear into me all over again.

Fear and disgust and helplessness.

Just like the night of the last party.

And just like last time, I was so damn scared, not just for Storm, but of him.

“Christ, Storm! You promised this wouldn’t happen!” Someone was screaming as the group all but hauled the boy over to a somewhat secluded part of the beach – bringing a confused and dazed me with them. “I told you he would be here!”

“He was hurting her! What else was I supposed to do?” Storm shouted back as the boys finally let him go. He kicked at the ground harshly even though it did nothing but blow sand everywhere.

“She’s fine!” the same voice snapped. It was Tom. “Look at her, she’s fine!” he turned to me as if to make sure, eyes shining with worry despite the fact that he was still quite drunk and his words were still slightly slurred. “You’re fine, aren’t ya, Mia?”

Storm, Jacks, Oli, and our other two friends Ian and Ryan turned to look at me simultaneously.

I cleared out my throat and refused to meet Storm’s gaze, “Fine. I’m fine.”

But Storm was the only one to step forward, just as the throbbing in my head became so painful that I realised it wasn’t at all due to the fact that the fight Matt instigated caused a headache, nor could it have been the three cans I had drank earlier in the night. I felt my muscles tense and then loosen, my head feel light and my eyes go heavy, all in such a way that I knew – I just knew – I was going to pass out in the near future.

“I don’t feel so hot,” is the last thing I managed to get out as the only person I didn’t want touching me then was the one person close enough to catch me.