Authors: Nia Stephens

Like This And Like That (17 page)

BOOK: Like This And Like That

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Chapter 5

Sex on the Beach

G
emma attempted to shield her eyes from the blaring sun, scanning the beach for Christopher. She was still a little leery about dating out of her race because she never really had before. But when she had spoken to Christopher on the phone he didn't really seem very different from any of the other boys she'd dated. She was still a bit worried about her father's reaction but when she told him she was going to the beach, he never even asked with whom. Instead he just asked if she needed any money and then told her to have a good time. She walked out of her front door with a more relaxed feeling and an extra fifty in her purse.

Although she didn't know what to expect from this date, she did decide to go sexy in her brand-new white string bikini and a jean skirt. If it got colder in the eveningâif she were even out here that longâshe brought a sweater. She clipped on a long ponytail and wore her favorite Chanel sunglassesâthe ones Maria had given her for her birthday. No harm in looking good, right?

She gazed out at the surf and spotted several guys doing crazy tricks on their boards. One was flipping around like he had been doing this all his life. She was truly impressed with his skills. It sort of reminded her of some of the showboating she did out on the court. If she couldn't find Christopher, Wave Dude out there would be a great consolation prize. Finally the guy made his way to shore. As soon as he hit the sand Gemma got a clear view of his face. It was Christopher. Immediately recognizing her, he headed straight toward her.

“Gemma?” he asked, extending his hand.

She nodded as she took his soaking wet hand. Then without warning, he plopped his surfboard onto the sand and grabbed her, giving her a huge, wet hug.

“You did that on purpose,” she complained, laughing. She gazed down at her now damp clothes.

He winked at her and smiled. Gemma thought he looked even better than his picture. He was at least six inches taller than her and his body was cut to perfection. It was all lean muscle. His tanned complexion made his blond hair look even lighter, and his blue eyes, bluer. He obviously spent a lot of time outdoors.

“You looked good out there,” Gemma said.

“And you look good here,” he responded.

Gemma ducked her head shyly, not wanting him to see how pleased she was. “Hey,” she said, regaining her composure. “You promised to show me some surfing moves.”

“Of course!” Christopher said with his bright, broad smile. “A promise is a promise.”

“I've always wanted to try surfing but I never knew anyone who could teach me.” Translation: She didn't hang out with white boys much.

“I'll show you on shore first and once you feel ready, we can hit the waves.” He directed her onto his board lying in the sand. He then positioned himself behind her. Gently he grabbed her hips. He was standing so close she could feel his breath on the back of her neck. He showed her how to maneuver her body and adjust her balance. She was incredibly aware of his body pressed into hers, of his strong, muscled arms moving hers.

“You're good for a beginner,” he commented.

“That's my competitive nature,” she told him. “I love to try new things.”

He grinned. “New things, huh? So is this something new for you?”

This time it was Gemma's turn to grin. Somehow she did not think he was referring to surfing.

“You want to hit the waves before it gets too dark?” he asked. “There's only so much you can learn onshore.”

Gemma thought about it, but decided to make sure her hair stayed intact. “No, I'll save that for next time,” she told him. That was a good thing to sayâit indicated she wanted to see him again.

He smiled that movie-star smile again. “Good, because I have something special planned for us,” he told her. He took her hand and led her to a little group of rocks near a dune. “Let's build a fire and hang out for a little while. Do you like toasted marshmallows?”

“Love 'em. But where are you going to get marshmallows around here?”

Christopher reached behind one of the rocks and pulled out two bags of gooey marshmallows. “I keep my own private little stash right here.”

“Got a fireplace in there, too?”

“Hey, you never know. I'm big on surprises.”

The sun had set and the moon was high in the sky. Christopher and Gemma were wrapped in a soft cozy blanket that he had pulled out from behind another one of those rocks. He definitely was full of surprises.

“So have you ever dated a white guy before?” he asked, catching her completely off guard.

“Oh, yeah. Plenty,” she lied.

He stared her down. “You serious?”

She shook her head. “Not really. You?”

“Dated a white guy? Never.”

She laughed as she nudged him in his side. “No, dated a black girl?”

He shook his head. “This is my first time, too.”

She snuggled a little closer in his arms. She was surprised how comfortable she felt with him, and so quickly. He was laid-back and liked to have a good time. Like her, he was also competitive and athletic. And the guy was seriously good-looking.

“So what's the craziest thing you ever did?” he asked.

Gemma thought for a moment. Crazy? Did she ever have any crazy moments?

“Your hesitation leads me to believe that either A, you have never done anything really out of the box or B, you have done something completely wild and are too embarrassed to say. And then there's C.”

“What's C?” Gemma asked.

“C is doing something
you
think was perfectly sane but everyone else will tell you was extreme.”

Gemma shook her head. “I'll have to say none of the above.”

She looked at him, expecting him to challenge her. Instead, he leaned over and softly kissed her lips. Still comfortably nestled under the blanket, Gemma arranged herself so that they were now face-to-face. As they continued with their kiss, she felt his fingertips flutter up and down her back, eventually resting on her backside. She could not remember a kiss that had made her feel like this before. It was sweet yet passionate.

Slowly, his fingers found their way to her front where they rested on her breasts. While still kissing him, Gemma gently maneuvered them off her chest. Seconds later, his hands found their way back to her breasts. This time she pulled away.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

Gemma found herself trying to figure out how she was going to explain her situation to him. She wasn't a prude but she definitely had not been around the block. And she was certainly not ready to have her first time with a guy she had just met.

She decided on the safest approach without giving away too much information. “I just think we should slow down.” When she saw the disappointment in his face, she added, “There's plenty of time for that.”

She was relieved when he smiled at her.

“That's okay. I don't want to rush you into anything you're not ready for,” he said.

“I appreciate that,” Gemma responded. She was a little surprised, though, when he wriggled out of the blanket and stood.

“I guess we should be going,” he said, starting to pack up.

“I guess so ...” Gemma hid her disappointment as he walked her to her car.

“Well, here you are,” he said.

Gemma took his hand. “I hope I'll see you again.” She wanted to be sure he knew that even though she put the brakes on while they were making out, she was definitely interested.

“Don't worry, you will.” He lifted her hand to his lips, giving it a gentle peck.

Chapter 6

She Got Game

“G
emma, honey,” her mother called from downstairs. “You have a phone call.”

It was early Friday morning. Who would be calling her this early, before school? The only person she could think of was Maria and she had already talked to her late last night after her date with Christopher.

“Hello?” Gemma said into the receiver. Upset that his sleep had been disturbed, LeBron jumped off her bed. He circled around and around and then plopped down into his little corner and began snoring.

“Hey,” Christopher said. “I just thought I'd give you a call and tell you I had a great time last night.”

At first Gemma was surprised that he would call so early but then her surprise was replaced with excitementâand a little bit of relief. She had been worried that he may have been put off by her decision not to hook up last night, he had ended the date so abruptly. But since he called her first thing in the morning, he must be cool with it.

Then she said something that surprised even herself.

“Would you like to come to my game tonight?”

“I'd love to.”

At breakfast, her dad was reading the sports section of
The Orange County Register
while her mom was flipping through her
Soap Opera Digest
.

“How was your date last night?” her mother asked.

“Do I need to round up the cops on this one?” her father added in typical fashion.

“Nah. This one is cool,” she said. She nearly burst out laughing at the stunned expressions on both of her parents' faces. Usually their daughter would complain about what a jerk the guy was.

“That's great,” her mother said, beaming. Her dad studied her suspiciously.

“So, you can't come to my game tonight?” Gemma asked her father.

He put the paper down and shook his head. “I'm sorry, honey. I can't. Remember I told you The Man has me doing some file clean-up?”

Gemma remembered. She was just checking to make sure. “That's okay. I'm sure I'll have plenty of people there to cheer me on.” She grabbed a slice of toast and headed out the door.

Later at school, Gemma and Maria sat outside in the quad waiting for the first bell to ring.

“So you don't think it's weird he called so early this morning?” Gemma asked.

Maria shook her head. “Nope. It just means he's into you.”

“I don't know,” Gemma said. “If I called him the next morning he'd deem me desperate, clingy, and demanding.”

“Let me explain something to you,” Maria said. “Guys don't have that same three-day rule as girls. They can call whenever they want. If you're a girl and call before the allotted three days, then you're rightâyou're pathetic. If a guy does it, it's all right. It's not fair but it's the law of nature.”

“Did you just make that up?” Gemma asked.

“I'm telling you, that's how it is. I can't believe you have been dating this long and don't know that.”

“I can't wait until he sees me play,” Gemma said. “I just hope I don't make a fool out of myself.”

“You won't feel weird having him there?” Maria asked. “You know, the whole white thing.”

Gemma looked at her friend disbelievingly. “Weren't
you
the one that said that whole white thing wasn't a big deal?”

“Yeah, but now you're going to be around a bunch of kids you know. Before you were around a bunch of strangers.”

“Way to make me nervous!” Gemma exclaimed. “Why are you saying all this to me
now
?”

“What about your parents? What did they say?”

“My mom doesn't care, but I haven't told my dad yet.” Gemma hoped that it wouldn't matter to her father that Christopher was white. He'd always trusted her judgment and had no reason not to now. Of course, she had never brought home a white guy before.

Was this going to be more complicated than she had anticipated?

C'mon! Aim, relax and shoot
, Gemma told herself. She took in a long breath before releasing the ball. It hung in midair for eternity before it swished into the basket. The final buzzer went off and the crowd cheered wildly. Gemma and Taylor Collins, J. Marshall's six-foot center, slapped high-fives as the rest of the team congratulated their winning combination of Taylor's pass to Gemma to score the final two points of the game.

Although there were no winners or losers in this Friday night exhibition game, Gemma ended up scoring the highest number of points in her high school career. She had almost pulled out her secret weaponâher dunk that she had been practicing for weeksâbut decided against it. The game was going too well and she didn't want to risk it, especially with Christopher up in the stands.

As the crowd piled down onto the court, Gemma spotted Christopher headed in her direction. Judging by his expression, he appeared to have been thoroughly impressed with her performance. She did kick a little butt tonight and with Christopher cheering her on, she picked the perfect time to showcase her talent. She was just thankful he didn't feel uncomfortable about coming to watch her play. She was even more thankful that
she
didn't feel strange about it.

“Yo, that's what's up!” someone behind her said. She immediately recognized the voice. It was Ethan Jackson.

“Hey, Ethan,” she greeted him.

“Good game. I have never seen skills like that on a girl,” he told her.

“Thanks, I think,” Gemma said, finding his praise slightly backhanded.

“Do you want to go grab a pizza later?” Ethan asked.

Gemma never had a chance to respond. She felt arms wrap around her waist. Christopher leaned in and kissed her cheek. “You were amazing tonight,” Christopher said, glaring at Ethan over Gemma's shoulder. Immediately Gemma recognized the battle of the testosterone going on. She found herself enjoying the attention.

Ethan backed down first. “I'll catch you some other time,” he said, then walked away.

Christopher then turned Gemma completely around so they were standing face-to-face. He leaned down and kissed her again, a much more intense, deeper, tingling-to-her-toes kiss.

When they came up for air, over Christopher's left shoulder Gemma spotted Ethan on the sidelines. He had been watching them the entire time!

This night just gets better and better
, Gemma thought as she and Christopher walked out the gym door, arm in arm.

Gemma, Christopher, Maria, and Manny sat in a cozy booth in the back of Gino's pizzeria. Earlier, at the game, Gemma had been impressed when Christopher offered to take her out for a special celebration and asked if her friends wanted to join them. Maria had missed the game because she had to babysit.

“You should have seen her play, Maria,” Christopher said excitedly. “No offense to girls but Gemma here was playing like a dude.”

Maria exchanged a quick glance with Gemma when he said the word dude. Gemma raised her brow as if to say,
Doesn't countâa different context
.

“She really was amazing tonight,” Christopher declared. Gemma grew warm with all of his praise but she had to admit, she was enjoying it. Christopher placed his fingertips under her chin, pulling her face to his. Gently, his lips swept across hers. “It was great watching you,” he whispered softly.

“Okay, quit the smooching,” Manny said, interrupting the moment. “So how did you get into surfing?”

It was a blatant attempt to change the subject. Every time Christopher said something sweet to Gemma, Maria would reach under the table and pound Manny with her fist and ask him why he never said those kinds of things to her.

“Been doing it for years,” Christopher said.

“Is surfing dangerous?” Gemma asked. She remembered the amazing moves she'd seen Christopher doing on his board.

Christopher shrugged. “Can be, I guess. I'll tell you what scared meâI was out there trying to catch a wave and a shark started swimming around.”

“No way! What did you do?” Maria asked.

“Got the hell out of there. What do you think I did?” Everyone laughed.

“I'm telling you, yo, I'm ready to surf,” Manny told a skeptical Maria.

Maria rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. You hate water. The day I see you surf is the day I join the football team.”

Gemma smiled, watching Manny, Maria, and Christopher all share in the laughter. Not once did the fact that Christopher was white enter into any of their interactions. They were all getting along great.

Minutes later, Ethan sauntered through the door with his crew. As Ethan and his boys sat down a few booths away, Gemma noticed them tap each other and then nod in her direction. Gemma turned her attention back to Christopher but every once in a while found herself glancing at Ethan's booth. A few of his boys cracked some jokes and started laughing.

You're just being paranoid, Gemma
, she told herself. Still, she caught herself wondering if they were talking about her and her white date. Who cares what they think, she decided. She was having a great timeâand she wasn't going to let anyone spoil it.

“Did you have a good time?” Christopher asked as they sat in his car in front of her house. Gemma nodded as she gazed into his blue eyes. It was still early and she considered inviting him in but decided against it. Forewarning her father was a much better tactic than ambushing him with the fact that Christopher was white. His thinking aloud might just embarrass all parties involvedâespecially her.

Christopher leaned over and kissed her. Her body began to tingle at the touch of his incredibly soft lips. Gemma placed her hand on the back of his head, deepening the kiss. For a minute she felt like she was floating in air. She crashed back down to earth when she felt his fingers fumble around with the buttons on her blouse. Still in the midst of their kiss, she gently removed his hands and placed them on her waist. After a few more minutes, once again she felt his hands cup her breasts and then he began fumbling with her buttons again.

She pulled away. “Can we just chill a minute?” she said.

Christopher shrugged and flopped back into the seat.

For a minute they both sat in silence in the car until finally he said, “I understand. We can slow down if you want.”

His words told her one thing but his frustrated and disappointed expression said another. Gemma figured it was probably safe to start the countdown to the end of this relationship.

“Hey, listen,” Christopher said. “I'm throwing a party tomorrow night. Do you want to come?”

Completely surprised by his invitation, Gemma hesitated. On the one hand she had a great time with him and they clicked. But on the other hand, she felt as though he was pushing too hard for sex. Another important factor that had not even come into play yet was her father's reaction to the entire thing. Definitely something to think about.

“Can I call you in the morning?” Gemma asked.

“Sure thing,” Christopher said.

Good
, she thought as she climbed out of the car.
I really need to think about this ...

IF YOU THINK GEMMA SHOULD KEEP DATING CHRISTOPHER, THE SURFER DUDE,

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