Some Place To Hide. [ Harry Styles ]

e l e v e n

“I’ve never been to this part before—holy shit!” Harry saw something that made him jump backward. He bent over at his waist, looking at something on the sand in front of him. “What the fuck is this?” he asked picking up a horseshoe crab gingerly, holding it by the tail. “The fuck?” he said, approaching me with a crazed grin.

His smile was infectious. “It’s a horseshoe crab,” I told him. “They don’t have them in England?”

“This thing? It looks like it could suck my brain out through my foot if I stepped near it.” he exclaimed, staring interestedly at it.

“Well, it’s dead now. They’re all over the place. I’m surprised you haven’t seen any others yet.”

“Can you eat it?”

I laughed. “I don’t think so…but let’s not even try.”

He tossed the crab down back onto the beach. It rolled a little way before resting in the dirty sand. “Let’s go home now. I’m beat and need a shower.”

I agreed, reaching for his hand as we picked our way across the wild north beach, toward his beach house.

The last two days had passed in a whirlwind. Time dragged when Harry and I were apart, and flew by when I was with Harry, regardless if we were working or making out in secluded areas of the island. I wouldn’t let him do anything else, though my willpower was slowly dwindling. Something kept nagging the back of my mind, however, always stopping his hands when he lowered them to my waist.

Today, I’d woken with a start to realize Harry wasn’t next to me in his bed. Or in the house. I flew to my cabin to find him, and, finding it vacant, wandered into the store. There I found Harry lounging in the office, chatting with Brokaw like they had been friends for years. When I finally arrived, Brokaw had told us that our only task of the day was to scour the sea salt off the windows of all the houses, meaning that if we finished early we could have the rest of the day off. By skipping our lunch break, we were both done by two o’clock and had taken the long way back to Harry’s house, exploring the wilder north side of Holyoke Island.

My clothes and toiletries had, over the last few days, migrated slowly into Harry’s house. They now took up half his dresser and most of his shower rack. Harry’s house had three televisions, a dishwasher, a washer, dryer, and a king-sized bed, all amenities that my cabin lacked. Almost all of our free time was spent with each other, so there was no need to keep my stuff in my cabin.

“Any falls off the ladder today?” he teased over lunch, cold salads and french bread. Harry’s kitchen was well-stocked with good food; he’d made us steak fillets last night, which were delicious.

“No, and no one bitched me out about it either,” I teased back. I was glad we could laugh about that day. The scrape on my arm had long healed, as had my opinion of Harry.

He let me shower first, then joined me on the big couch after his own to watch TV. It didn’t take long for us to lose interest in MTV though. I breathed in his fresh shower scent as his tongue slipped into my mouth. With slight pressure, he leaned me backward until I was lying down, Harry leaning over me, supporting himself with his strong arms. One of his hands slid down my side, grazing my breast through my shirt. I felt my breath catch in desire. Gauging my response, Harry’s hand slid up under my shirt. The feel of his rough hand on my bare stomach returned me to my senses.

I broke off the kiss. “Harry…”

His hand stopped its progress instantly, opening his eyes. I could feel his breath, ragged now. After a second, he sat up quickly and faced the television again.

I returned upright as well, reaching for the remote to mute the TV.

“I just want to know…what is…what do you want from me?” I didn’t know how to say it, but I hoped he understood. I was sitting next to Harry Styles, a member of the biggest band on the planet. We’d made out multiple times. But eventually, he was going back to the tour, and then back to England. I didn’t want to risk a lot of emotion if it was going to go to waste. Who knew what would happen the rest of the time he was here? I couldn’t exactly start dating him.