LITTLE SECRET | RAFE CAMERON

08: 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨

The first rays of sun fell through the window of Alice's room and left bright light on the wooden floor.

It was the perfect morning. The first one in a very long time and even someone like Alice - who wasn't a morning person at all - felt quite rested as she blinked awake.

Normally after waking up she would spend twenty minutes rolling around in bed, trying not to fall asleep again and lying to herself that she would get up straight away.

But the summer - which had completely taken over Outer Banks by now - was incredibly good for her.

She sat up on her bed, stretched and looked over to the window, offering a view directly into her garden which was bathed in warm sunlight.

It was just before seven in the morning and actually far too early for her standards, but the sight of the weather awakened an idea in her.

She got up and hurried over to her dresser and opened the drawer with all her swimwear.

She pulled out her light blue bikini and rushed into the bathroom. Her whole morning routine took her about twenty minutes. Brushing her teeth, applying sunscreen, tying her hair up and changing into her bikini and a loose beach dress over it.

She only grabbed the bare essentials and left the house within half an hour after getting up without anyone even noticing.

It was just fifteen minutes down to the beach and as the morning was very pleasant, she decided to walk.

And although she wanted to use this morning for herself, her thoughts were restless.

Thoughts upon thoughts which were louder than the sound of the ocean.

She tried to understand her own mind, to understand why it did what it did, but she couldn't.

Rafe Cameron was the definition of an asshole and yet her mind painted him beautiful.

Alice was more than familiar with the many stories and rumors that were whispered about him on the island.

It was nothing new for her and yet this morning she found herself thinking about Rafe more than she actually wanted to.

Something about him bothered her. Not in a negative way, but definitely in a confusing one.

He was mean - she couldn't deny that - but would someone like him offer to take care of the problem with her ex-boyfriend, then drive her home safely and wait for her to get into the house before driving away?

With that small change in his behavior he had managed to get stuck in her head.

He had a scent of his own that radiated security. Intense scent surrounded by something warm and fresh. Almost like the morning after a heavy rainstorm.

The scent wafted across her nose like the morning she had woken up in his bed.

Something deep inside of her didn't want it to be the first and last morning in his bed, but the desire was wrong in many ways and she knew it.

But then there were his eyes. Icy, deep blue like the abysses of the sea that could swallow her, but she would be brave enough to try to swim in them.

Even though she almost drowned in his eyes in his car yesterday.

The mere thought of Rafe shook something inside her that made her uneasy and she didn't know why. She probably wouldn't understand it either.

With a sigh, she lowered her things to the ground when she finally arrived at the beach.

The sand warmed her feet and tickled her soles as she listened to the waves lapping on the shore. She had come to surf - not to think about assholes - so she took off her dress and grabbed her surfboard.

Goosebumps ran through her body as she stood ankle-deep in water. The waves threw small cold droplets onto the bare skin of her legs, sending the cold rushing through her body, but still she went deeper in, little by little, until she hoisted herself onto her board and paddled out.

When she was far enough, she sat on it and looked up at the sun as it warmed her skin. The water rushed around her legs, which she let hang loosely at her sides while she simply listened.

There were waves, the slight rustling of leaves and the cries of seagulls somewhere in the distance.

There was nothing to indicate a human, but that was more than fine with her.

Alice tried as best she could to block out everything that was swirling around in her mind as she approached the first wave. And as long as she was on the waves, she somehow managed it. All she felt were the splashes of water soaking her hair, touching her skin and falling down it.

The loud rushing of water around her ringed in her ears, but when the image of Rafe suddenly flashed through her mind again, it threw her off the surfboard and into the cold of the water.

Gasping for air, she came back to the surface. Her hair was soaked, letting her swim over to her board and lie down on it.

It couldn't be true that it was enough that she had a little more contact with Rafe in the last few days and that she was already so distracted by the thought of him.

But as her gaze fell over to her spot in the sand, there was something else distracting her. The unpleasant wave of unease hit her as she spotted him.

He gave her a petty wave, making her shake her head in disbelief. Slowly she paddled back to the shore, grabbed her surfboard and stuck it in the sand when she got to her towel, which he was sitting next to.

„What the fuck do want?" She asked harshly, putting her hands on her hips.

„Wow, someone's happy to see me"

„Did he send you, cause' if he did-„

He shook his head and interrupted her. „no...no he didn't send me"

Alice furrowed her brows. She didn't know to what extent she could trust him, but she didn't believe him.

„He didn't, I saw you surfing and I wanted to talk to you" He explained himself, which made no sense because this wasn't his side of the island.

Alice wasn't a part of the whole Pogue vs. Kook war. She thought it was pathetic, but she knew he usually never hung out around here. Quite a time had passed since she last spoke to him. Or any of the Pogues at all. However, she didn't really have a choice because she was never one of them.

She was always the Kook princess girl trapped in a bubble wrap, at least that was the silly term Sarah used.

„Talk about what?" She narrowed her eyes.

The boy cleared his throat, his brown strands of hair blowing in the breeze. „Everything."