Preacher Man // ross lynch + driver era

62

I'm an impatient person.

I can't just lay here and "tan" because I get bored.

My skin is burning and I can't even attempt to fall asleep because there are kids screaming about sand castles.

I glance over at Ross through my sunglasses. His arms and crossed behind his head and his eyes are closed.

I'm also an annoying person.

I crawl over to his towel. Everyone else is in the water and I'm way too scared to try that right now. "Pssst," I whisper to see if he's awake.

I see his eyebrow raise but he doesn't open his eyes. "Yeah?" He mumbles.

"I'm bored," I reply.

I place my hands down onto his chest. "Why are your hands cold?" He groans, picking them up off his warm body.

"I don't know, but I'm bored," I whine, knowing it'll annoy him. "We've been laying here for twenty minutes."

He leans up on his elbow, staring at me while squinting. "There's not much else to do, bub."

I pout and crawl back onto my towel. "Okay," I murmur.

"Want to go in the water?" Ross asks.

I shrug and turn my face to look at the almost clear water. "I'm scared," I admit softly. "The waves look crazy, I don't know how to swim in an ocean."

"I'll be with you the whole time. Come on," he replies, standing up off the towel.

He grabs my hands and pulls me off, his hand going to the small of my back. We walk to the edge of the water and I stare down at it, my heart racing.

"Come on, Hayley!" Kayla screams from the water.

Another wave crashes and the water goes across our feet and continues up the shore line. "Thankfully the water isn't too cold," Ross murmurs from beside me.

I nod in agreement. "I'm scared," I say again.

"Let's try going in. If you really don't like it, I'll come out with you and we can toss the football around. Deal?" He asks, his hand sliding over to intertwine our fingers.

I nod, squeezing his hand. "Deal," I watch as his right foot moves forward and beginning his walk inward.

I hold his hand tighter and start walking beside him. "Okay, we have to walk a bit quicker right here because we don't want to stand where the waves crash. Just keep following my lead, babe," he pulls me quicker.

I nod and continue walking, feeling the waves crash. We get closer to our group of friends who all tower over me when we are standing. As they are standing normally with their feet still in the sand, my legs are kicking vigorously in the water to keep my head above.

"So glad you came in," Liv says, squeezing my waist.

I smile at her and face Ross who is already in deep conversation with Rocky. "Wave!" Riker yells.

Wave? Wave what? Wave where?

"Go under," Rydel says, her face observing the panic on mine. "3... 2... now," she counts then pulls me under.

I hold my breath and go under, the wave crashing above us. I can't feel Rydel anymore so I push myself off the sand to help reach the surface. I poke my head up, gasping for air.

"You okay? I'm sorry, I didn't even see it coming," Ross says, swimming over to me.

I squeeze my eyes tight, the stinging causing a bit of pain since I didn't shut my eyes right away. "I can't reach the bottom," I say, still trying to catch my breath.