© Copyright 2012
All work is property of Leah Crichton, any duplication or reproduction of all or part of the work without explicit permission by the author is illegal.
Alexa ripped her sunglasses off. Sawyer stood in front of her clad in his own swimsuit with a surprised looking Devin to his right. Her eyes scanned his body which made Dean's look like a prepubescent boy. Dog tags hung around his neck to his chest which was chiseled and defined, she'd known he had a six pack because that where the scars were but in the sun it was far more distinguished, its lines begging her to trace them with her fingers. Her hand twitched.
“I-I-I,” she stumbled over her words; a clumsy effect of the liquor.
His eyes narrowed like a scope, resting on Dean then on his hand. “Move your hand, buddy.”
Dean scoffed and slid his hand further up Alexa's thigh. “Who the hell are you, buddy?”
Mandy, who'd been either passed out or sleeping on her chair shifted at the sound of her brother's voice. She sat up and although her eyes were hidden by her glasses, Alexa imagined them large and round. “Holy shit,” she breathed. “He's Sawyer West.”
“Huck Finn, huh? Well I don't see the lady asking me to move my hand.”
“Maybe that's 'cause you got her drunk,” he nodded to the flask. “She can hardly speak.”
“I'm not drunk,” Alexa argued but her words were jumbled in her brain.
“You're slurring,” Sawyer said pointedly. “Stand up.” His eyes darted back to Dean's hand. “I see you hand is still there. Move it or I'll do it for you.”
Dean grinned. “Ooh, a tough guy. Make me.”
Devin promptly stood in front of Sawyer trying to force a barrier between the two. “Please Alexa, listen to him. Get up. And touchy guy, please remove your hand. It's the best thing to do for everyone involved.”
“Isn't there a preschool missing you somewhere?”
Devin was appropriately appalled. “You don't need to be rude,” she said, stepping back. “I was just giving you fair warning.”
Alexa watched their exchange, lost in the fuzz in her mind. Why wasn't she moving? She could just stand up and say goodbye. But she didn't. Mandy was either videoing him or taking still shots with her cell phone, mumbling something about how no one was going to believe her while Andrew stared fascinated by something on the ground.
“Listen little tyke, why don't you run along now?”
Sawyer moved so fast, Alexa had a time delay in processing what he was doing. His hand was touching her thigh now too, grabbing Dean's middle finger and bending it backward. His teeth clenched. “I told you I was going to do it for you.”
Dean grimaced and rose to his feet, his body twisted awkwardly as he tried to find a comfortable position in Sawyer's grasp. Sawyer grabbed Dean's bicep so hard his fingertips turned white and hauled him forward so they were face to face. “You don't touch what's mine, yeah?”
Dean having realized it wouldn't be a fair fight, went from cocky to desperate in record time, his face distorted in pain. “I didn't know she had a boyfriend,” he said.
“No way!” Mandy piped up. “Unreal.”
Devin stood on the sidelines like watching Sawyer get in people's faces was something she did every other day.
Wait. What? Did Sawyer just say she was his? She attempted to stand but gravity was not her friend and she nearly fell back onto the chair when Sawyer, who still hadn't even looked her in the eyes caught her with his free hand, righting her on her feet.
