Get Pucked

31. cold beaches and princesses

I keep hold of Layla, but let her run into the freezing water, laughing as she tries to jump over the small waves.

"I see why you love it out here," she squeezes my hand, "it's much more peaceful than Florida beaches."

"It's always like this, too. Even in the summer, everyone chooses to go to the more popular ones instead."

My friends and I used to be out here every day we didn't have a summer practice. We'd skimboard and body surf all afternoon, and at the end of each summer break, we'd have a sandcastle building contest. The winner got to pick where we ate dinner that night.

Sitting in the sand, I pull Dakota down so that her back is to my chest, soaking in every moment I get alone with her. Today is her only full day here because she obviously wanted to be able to spend most of her break at home with her family.

"Listen," I say quietly, kissing the side of her head. "I know this is the last thing you probably want to talk about today, but I need us to so that I can stop thinking about it all the time. We need to talk about the Josh situation."

I feel her sigh heavily, and she turns sideways, so just her shoulder is on my chest. "Honestly? I think he's just talking out of his ass, I don't think he'll actually do anything."

"I hope you're right, love, but what if he is serious?"

Using a gentle hand to tilt my head down, she places a kiss on my forehead, lips lingering for a second before speaking again. "El and I have to stay at your place anyways to take care of Birk, and Brooks just had those security cameras installed after the last party, remember?"

I forgot about that. Two idiots tried to steal some of our shit, so Brooks had them put up the week after.

"I'm not going to act like the only time I'll leave the house is for class, we'll probably end up out at least once, whether it be to dinner or a bar."

"Have you even told Ellie?" my eyebrows furrow slightly.

"No," she says firmly. "I know my best friend, she'd get back together with him to protect me, and that wouldn't be fair to her or Connor."

Nodding, my fingers automatically find the ends of her hair, twisting them. "You'll call me if you feel uneasy or if anything, even something minuscule, happens?"

She laughs quietly, "absolutely, baby. You'll call me after every game?"

"Absolutely, baby." I steal the words from her, sealing them with a hard kiss.

She melts in my arms, and I'm thankful that I wrapped Layla's long leash around my wrist when Dakota turns to straddle my hips, grinding down. Moaning into her mouth, I grip her hips and push her down again, my dick already going rock-solid.

Dakota bites my lower lip, and just as my fingers slip under the waistband of her leggings, Layla runs back from the ocean and shakes, spraying us with cold seawater.

Unfortunately for me, Dakota squeals and stands up, switching her attention to my dog. "You love the water, don't you, sweet girl?" And my dog fucking barks in response to her.

~

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Dakota tense up when we get back home and the driveway is now full of cars. Leave it to my entire family to show up an hour early.

"Park, I'm not dressed to meet everyone!" She gestures to her leggings and my hoodie from this morning. Her hair is pulled back in a clip now, thin strands framing her face.

Bringing the back of her hand to my lips, I mumble, "you always look gorgeous no matter what you wear. They won't care if you're wearing a garbage bag."