A Different Side (University Park #4) (63 page)

Her hands slipped around my neck. “What did you want to mark off?” She bit her lip and it took 2.2 seconds for me to think of the first thing I wanted to do.

“I figured we could mark something off my list, too.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “You have a list?”

I shrugged. “I may have done a lot of things, but that doesn’t mean I’ve done everything.”

She rolled her tongue along her bottom lip and my skin chilled over, my thoughts immediately turning to what she could do with it. “What’s the first thing you want to mark off?”

“Sex on the beach.”

“Seriously?” She looked around, contemplating the idea.
Alright!
“We won’t get caught?”

“If anyone walks by, just lay still, like we’re asleep.”

“I don’t think we’ve ever had motionless sex before.” She giggled.

I slipped my hand under the base of her jaw and drew her close to me, preparing to prove it could be done. “Then I guess I haven’t made passionate love to you.”

“Sounds like you need to show me.”

“I will.” I threaded my fingers through her hair and breathed in all of her sweetness. Not only was I the luckiest man on earth, but truly blessed. My lips lingered on the edge of hers as I took my time kissing her. I was ready to give her what she needed — all the love I had for her. I was ready to show her the passion that had been building inside of me. I was ready for her to sink into my trap and allow the blue waters of the Gulf Coast to carry us off to a remote island and never return.

Our lips never parting, I lay her against the blanket and covered us with the one Josh and Shelby left behind. I pressed the length of my body against hers and we molded together. We were made perfectly for each other. There was no one I needed more than her.

“Damn, Lexi, I could never stop loving you.” My hands roamed over her curves, relishing every mound and plane. She had a body that deserved to be worshipped and I’d make sure she knew it. All I wanted to do was:

Love her.

Touch her.

Cherish her.

For all eternity.

She responded fervently, soaking up every caress. Without hesitation, she kissed, touched, and stroked me — her lips, tongue, and fingers working like magic. Healing every wound and imparting a deep love she only shared with me. With the love and passion we were making on the sand, we had to be lighting up the shore for miles on end. But I couldn’t complain.

The love between us was pure.

Genuine.

One of a kind.

And meant to be forever.

Σ

Chapter 41

There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.

~George Sand

“Get up! There’s a beach that’s calling us!”

My eyes popped open just as Shawn dived on top of our bed. “What the hell, dude?” I quickly threw the covers over Lexi, hoping he hadn’t seen her naked. “Can you knock next time?”

Lexi and I had one hell of a night. Having sex on the beach was pretty damn cool, although the sand did pose somewhat of a challenge. After I made love to her under the stars with a soothing crash of waves, we hung out with Josh and Shelby in the hot tub. The night didn’t end there either. I made sure she felt every bit of my love for her until the wee hours of the morning.

“What time is it?” Lexi looked around, rubbing her eyes.

Shawn propped himself on his elbows, making himself at home. “Almost noon.”

I sat up in bed and reached for my phone. “When did you get here?”

“I left Houston around five this morning.” He yawned and ran a hand over his face. “We were ready to get the hell out of my aunt’s house.”

“Why were you at your aunt’s house?” Lexi asked, pulling the covers up to her neck.

“I had to drop my mom off. That was the deal. If they were going to fund my way down here, I had to take my mom to her sister’s house in Houston.”

“Dude, you should’ve come with us.” I checked my messages to see if Luke had decided whether he and Delaney were coming. Josh invited them, but he said he wasn’t sure since he was supposed to go with his family to Colorado.

“Nah, it’s alright.” He shook his head. “Kyle came with me, so it wasn’t that bad. It’s just that my aunt is nuts. She was preaching the whole time about us going to hell for coming out here. Kyle and I were ready to leave last night.” He sighed and let out a deep breath.

“Where is he?” I moved to the edge of the bed, grabbed my boxers, and slid them on.

“He’s in the kitchen, eating with Josh and Shelby.” Shawn motioned with his head. “I thought we could hit the beach today. Cook out. Drink a little beer.”

“Beer?” Lexi eyed Shawn, concern covering her face.

“Just a few, Lexi.” Shawn got up from the bed. “Don’t worry, your boy knows his limits.” He patted me on the back.

“That’s right.” I puffed my chest and flexed my muscles as I looked at myself in the mirror. I needed to workout harder if I wanted my abs to get more defined. Shawn stood next to me, showing off his large biceps and the tattoo of branches swirling around it.
Shit head.
His arms were bigger than mine, but my stomach looked better than his. So did my tattoo.

Lexi cleared her throat a few times. I had totally avoided the situation by distracting her and she wasn’t going for it. It wasn’t that I couldn’t go without drinking — I knew the consequences if I got caught — but I didn’t plan on getting drunk. I just wanted to have a beer or two on the beach. After all, it was Spring Break.

“I brought a canopy and thought we could set it up.” Shawn relaxed his arms. “Kind of like we do when we tailgate.”

“Yeah, that’s cool.” I turned away from the mirror, feeling Lexi shoot lasers in my back. “We’ll beach bum it and just chill.”

“That’s what I’m talking about.” Shawn stepped up to me and we rammed our chests into each other.

“Alright, see you on the beach.” Shawn darted out the room, shutting the door behind him.

“Raven?” Lexi called. I cringed. The last thing I wanted was to fight with her.

“I know what you’re going to say.” I held up my hands in surrender.

“You promised.” She eyed me, but kept a calm voice.

“I’ll be good.” I jumped on the bed, pinning her between my arms. I whimpered and gave her the best pouty face I could make.

Her eyes softened. “Don’t get me wrong. I want you to have a good time.” She combed her fingers through my messy hair. “To have a week here to remember.”

“And that’s all I want, too.” I moved the strands of her hair away from her face. “Lexi, the last thing I want is to get kicked off the team.”

“I know. I just think you need to be extra cautious.” I traced the dove on her neck — the one I’d bought her for Christmas — listening to her valid points. Reality was, I didn’t have to do a urine test this week. Even if I had to do one when I got back from Spring Break, the alcohol would be long gone from my system.

Twisting the conversation to my advantage, I said, “I thought we didn’t have to be cautious anymore.” Purposely, I pressed soft kisses above her breasts, luring her once more into my trap. Her throat quivered and a whimper escaped.

“If you’re talking about sex, then no.” Her fingers relaxed and the covers dropped to her waist. My eyes widened, taking in her beautiful bare breasts. “But if we’re talking about you being on your best behavior, that’s another story.”

The room suddenly reached over one hundred degrees. Just thinking about making love to her had me completely hard. “When it comes to you, Lexi, I’m not sure I can be on my best behavior.” I rose up, supporting myself with my arms, and teased her by rubbing my body against hers. She hooked her legs around me and pressed her pelvis to mine. All sense of control flew out the window. I wanted her — now. “Then again, I don’t think I want to.”

She wrapped her arms around me. “Good, because I don’t want you to.”

“Damn, this IUD rocks,” I said with a huge grin.

“Ha-ha.” Her head tilted back. “I know something else you can rock.”

“You want me to rock your world, baby?”

She nodded enthusiastically.

I lowered my head, joining our lips. I kissed her deeply and our tongues swirled together as I showed how her much I wanted her. Nothing could stop me from showing her how much I needed her at that very moment. My mouth took off with a driven purpose as I traced a path down her neck. Her back arched and she moaned as my tongue swept across her breasts. Oh yeah, she wanted me. But I’d have her screaming my name before long.

Not done teasing her, my mouth continued on a mission, searing her skin with more kissing and sucking. Her entire body writhed under my touch, her stomach tensing as my tongue traced around her navel. Her fingers dove into my hair and she squirmed, moaning. “Oh, Raven. Please…”

“Please what, baby?”

“Please don’t stop.” At her command, I didn’t. My tongue and fingers continued down the driven path calling out to me. I gave her what she wanted — not once, but a few times. And she loved every minute of it.

***

We finally made it out of the bedroom and on to the beach. The girls were relaxing under the PHU purple and white canopy and the guys were playing football. The air was humid, despite the slight breeze off the water, and the sun made it feel nice and hot. Perfect for a day at the beach and swimming.

“Damn, it’s about time.” Josh threw the ball at me. I reached up and caught it single-handed.

“Oh, whatever. Like you two didn’t screw all night in the hot tub.”

Shelby’s eyes widened and her nose flared. “Josh, why did you tell them?”

Josh shot her a look. “I didn’t. But you just did.”

Shelby’s jaw dropped and her sun-glowed face instantly paled. It wasn’t like they were saving themselves for marriage. Everyone knew they were screwing and frequently. They were always locked up in Josh’s bedroom at the apartment, much like Lexi and me.

“Celebrating the honeymoon early?” Shawn nudged me as he waggled his brows.

Although we weren’t doing the best job at being discrete, I hadn’t bragged to my friends one time — which was a first. Lexi was my fiancée, not one of the Silicone Triplets. I dipped my chin, glancing at him above my shades. “I don’t kiss and tell. Not anymore.” I tossed the ball to him.

“I got ya,” Shawn sneered. I gave him a friendly shove and he struggled to stay upright, stumbling in the depths of the brown sand. “You done whipped my boy.” Shawn told Lexi, laughing as he tumbled to the ground.

“Sorry.” Lexi smiled and gave a slight shrug. “What can I say?”

“It’s all good.” Shawn got up and dusted the sand from his shorts. With the football cradled to his chest, he took several steps back. “Kyle, let’s play for a while.” Shawn motioned for him to get up.

“Alright.” Kyle put his beer down and jogged to an open spot on the beach.

It was nice being on the south end of the island on private property. It wasn’t too crowded. Not too far down, a large hotel with an outside bar was jammed packed. Tents in a variety of colors begged for beach space and people were crammed together. Some of them were soaking up the Texas rays while others were playing beach volleyball, football, or just lazing around and drinking. No doubt, it was Spring Break in Texas.

“What do you think?” I wrapped my arms around Lexi as she stared at the waves hitting the shore. Her toes curled as the water inched closer to them.

“I think I’m ready to get in.” She lifted on the balls of her feet and let out a breath.

Just as I was about to pull off my shirt, two girls wearing bikinis caught my attention. I tried not to stare at them, but they were hard to miss. With spray-on tans and boobs the size of Texas, they even had Kyle’s full attention. He threw the ball to Shawn without any direction. “Hey.” He grinned, flashing his stark-white teeth.

“Hi.” Blondie waved, making a path directly toward him. The dark, curly headed girl trekked along side Blondie and I had to look away for fear of Lexi punching me. Her bikini top barely covered her boobs, which seemed to be screaming for release. I shot Shawn a wide-eyed look, telling him she was all his.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about.” Shawn tossed the ball behind him as he strutted toward her. She twirled her long waves around her finger, giving him a flirtatious smile. “What you ladies up to?”

“We were just checking out the beach,” Blondie said, keeping her eyes fixed on Kyle.

“Glad y’all made your way down here. I’m Kyle.” He gripped his waist and rolled back his shoulders, expanding his small chest. For a sophomore, he had a ways to go.

“I’m Megan and this is my friend Christine.” She gave a slight nod with her head, not removing her eyes from Kyle for one second.

“Hi, Christine. I’m Shawn Jackson.” He held out his hand, trying to display his perfect manners.

“Nice to meet you guys.” Christine’s voice was high-pitched. It made me wonder if it had anything to do with the top squeezing the air from her lungs. I’d let Shawn find that out for himself. “You guys like to play football?” She eyed the ball laying in the sand.

Kyle and Shawn looked at one another and laughed. “Do we?”

“Why? You girls want to play with us?” Shawn took a few steps back and grabbed the ball. He tossed it in the air a few times, squeezing his muscles with each throw.
Show off.

Megan and Christine nodded, practically toppling the guys. “Sure. We’ll play with you.”

Shawn and Kyle winked at each other and made a few hand gestures behind the girls. They were definitely planning on getting some tonight. I doubt these girls knew who they were, but I didn’t care, I had my woman.

“Come on, let’s get in.” Lexi tugged my hand, pulling me toward the water. Walking backwards, she peeled off her swimsuit cover, revealing her black bikini, and tossed it to the sand. Strutting a sexy pose, my eyes appraised her slender shape with curves in all the right places.

Damn!

“You like it?”

I flashed a smile, taking in every inch of her beauty. “Like it? I love it.” I’d begged her to try it on for me at the house, but she told me I’d have to wait. She even wore her one piece last night in the hot tub, creating even more suspense. She definitely made it worth while. I gathered her in my arms. “Damn, Lexi, you’re one hot woman.” Her lips called to me and I devoured them, not caring if anyone watched. My hands traveled down her back and over her nice butt. I gave a slight squeeze and she slapped my arm in a playful manner.