Secret Rulebook of Cheating

Rule #27: Don't Blur the Lines

As tradition went, our next stop was the bar. The night's recipe was drink, laugh, dance, flirt, repeat. We drank tequila, adding to the round of shots from earlier on the beach. And with the drinking came the laughing. Soon our faces hurt and we switched to stretching other muscles. Everyone danced with everyone. We had formed a circle somewhere along the middle of the dance floor and were having the time of our lives. At some point the dancing became more intimate as Dan and Sylvia forgot about the world around them and Rob and Nadia were all over each other. Jason and I took our chance and found a more secluded spot at the edge of the dancing crowd where we rendered ourselves to shameless dancing and flirting.

I was aware I was overstepping the bounds. Hell, I was practically with my two feet on the wrong side of the line. It had been like that all day, starting with my 'fake' seduction on the balcony this morning, followed by the multiple moments on the beach, the breaking of one of my rules on the swing in our hotel room, our little make-out session at the sushi restaurant and now this. These were all missteps on my behalf and on some level, I comprehended that. On that same level, I told myself it was all for the greater good – meaning my good. With the deadline to our arrangement approaching, I had to do anything in my strength to get rid of this stupid attraction. We were going home on the following day and life had to continue as it was. And I needed to be able to focus on that and enjoy it. I didn't need confusions like the one that had placed his hands on my hips while I swayed them to the sides. However, there was that other level that was pushing me towards Jason without any agendas but solemnly for the purpose of enjoying myself. The existence of that one, I fiercely blamed on the tequila.

Jason pulled me to himself and I wrapped my arms around his neck. His eyes were so compelling, peering into mine like that from that merely existing distance that I almost pushed myself up on the balls of my feet to kiss him. Almost. We were a bunch of swaying bodies away from the others but we had had too many heart-dropping situations today with our friends almost busting us that I wasn't taking any more chances. And truthfully, this was becoming to feel too good. I detached myself from Jason and kept on dancing the night away.

--

'That was one hell of a night,' Rob proclaimed as we entered the hotel lobby a few hours later.

'Summer's officially over,' Dan pitched in melancholically.

The five of us shared his wistful look and headed to our rooms.

'See you guys in the morning,' I enunciated and we all wished goodnight.

I half-expected Jason to wrap his hands around me when we closed the door behind us - the way he had done both previous nights - but he didn't. He pushed past me, quite determined, and stopped in front of the wardrobe. I watched him pull out a couple of the additional blankets we had in there, unsure where this was going.

'Okay, come on,' he urged and moved back to the front door when he was done.

I was still mystified. 'Where are we going?'

Jason stopped to look at me, his eyes all purposeful. 'It's our last night. You really want to go to sleep?'

With one shake of my head, I found myself striding beside him on a familiar alley. I knew where he was taking me even before we got there. It was sort of sentimental. The place where it had all begun was going to be the place where it would all end. I stood still, hugging my arms, watching Jason spread one of the blankets on the sand, on the beach, where we had gone to on our first night here, when we nearly ended up in jail for skinny-dipping. Imagine the embarrassment if we actually had to go to trial. He motioned for me to sit down and then slumped next to me, throwing the spare blanket over our bodies. The air was chillier tonight, confirming that it indeed was the end. Of summer that is.

Jason lay on his side and stretched an arm for me to use as a pillow. I didn't need a second invitation to mirror his pose. It was just the two of us on the beach but even if it wasn't I wasn't sure if I'd notice anyone else. Jason was giving me the compelling look again and this time I acted on it, planting a kiss on his lips. It was just a peck but it took him a while to push his eyelids back up after.

In a moment, he spoke softly, 'You know, these three days have been the most fun I've had in a while.'

Oh, no. No, no, no, no. Don't do this, Jason. Please, don't say anything else. Please.

He was waiting for my response and when all he got was my silent eye-pleading, he went on.

'I guess what I'm trying to say is...' – Don't! Please! – 'I don't really want it to end.'

Damn! 'Do-

Before he finished that I grabbed his face and pushed mine further until I reached his lips. This was the only thing I could think of that would make him stop talking. He was taken by surprise at first but then quickly responded to the kiss, cupping my face with his free hand. It lasted only a short moment. He managed to pull away from my determined lips, my plan obviously failing.

'Do you?' he finished the question.

'Stop talking,' I muttered and went back to keeping his mouth busy otherwise.

'Nikki...' he peeled himself off again.

'Just stop talking, okay?'

This time, I climbed myself on top of him, bent on keeping our lips locked. At first, he laid back, letting me completely control the situation, probably still distracted by those unhealthy thoughts he had just voiced out but as I progressed further on erasing them from his mind, his arms wrapped around me, and began skimming over my back. Yeah, this seemed to work better.

Jason rolled us over and ended up on top of me, his body pressing against mine. His lips moved down my jawline to my neck and to every inch of my bare skin. Let me tell you, the air didn't feel that chilly anymore.

He went on kissing and touching me and it was all so super-mega-hyper phenomenal until he did something I didn't see coming. The kissing ceased, his body suddenly remaining still and it made me pop my eyes open in wonder. He was still here, hovering above me, but instead of the ravenous dark shade I was used to seeing in his eyes at moments like this, when all thought was lost in the haze of longing, the softest look was pouring out of his sockets over my features. He lifted a finger to caress my cheek, the cushions in his eyes following the movement to the corner of my mouth. I was so fazed that I just stood unmoving until he planted the gentlest kiss on my lips. I tried to add a little more intensity to it, leading us back to the fiery zone but he gained control and kept it soft. He carried on placing more kisses on different parts of my skin and they were all like that. And it wasn't just the kisses. His hands had stopped being grabby and insatiable. His body wasn't pressing against mine hungrily. Jason was taking his time, savoring bits of me slowly and tenderly. Somewhere at the back of my mind I knew this wasn't going to end well - somewhere way, way back, where it was practically disconnected from the rest of my body, which was slowly melting under the newly-found gentleness. So I let him do things his way.