Intoxicated

Chapter 12

*KENZIE'S POV*

With my mind now clear and the hot Florida sunshine beating down on my eager to tan skin, I realized how much damage control I still had to do. The rest of the crew leisurely walked behind us, and all it took was one scratch behind my head for Mo to grab onto Ryan's arm, complaining that her flip flop was hurting her. He stopped dead in his tracks, crouching down to inspect her cute little foot, and giving me the space that I had wanted.

I peeked over at the sexy Irish boy next to me and took a deep breath. "So...about last night." My voice trailed off and I realized that I actually had no clue what I was going to say. My phrase hovered around us as we took a left turn, the smell of the ocean beginning to slip into my nose.

"What bout it?" He had a nice smile on his face, but his blue eyes held nothing but mischief. Sigh. This kid was going to make me work for this.

"I just wanted to apologize. And I was hoping we could ya know...just have a fresh start and forget everything that happened before." I found myself playing with my pendent as we waited for the red hand to turn into a silver man, the rest of our group now close behind us again.

"Well I'd love ta...but," my heart sank and I braced myself for the worst, "dere is no way I can forget certain parts of last night." Those ice blue eyes fell to my lips and I could feel my cheeks heat up. His cheeky smile only grew as I remained silent and willed my body to cool down as the cement under our feet turned into wooden boards.

"Uh..." I was at a loss for words, unsure how to answer to that which only caused my blush to intensify. Shit this kid needed to stop making me do that. A loud chuckle came from beside me and I allowed my eyes to meet Niall's again. "But ay, you said tat you wanted to give me a betta first impression. So make it a good one babe." I swear my skin was about to melt off of my body at that point. Babe? Does he not know what his accent plus that word does to me? As another laugh came from deep inside Niall's chest and he crossed in front of me to enter into a shop, I could bet good money that he knew exactly what he was doing to me.

A hand startled me out of my daze and I focused on my cute friend standing in front of me. "So? How did it go? Are you two good or what?" I cleared my throat and ran my fingers through my still wet hair. "Simone, I'm not so sure about him anymore." I could feel the lie pass my lips and Simone's eyebrow lifted, instantly calling my bluff.

"Kenzie that is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard." She shook her head and we both craned our necks to look at Ryan, Niall, and Dill inside the shop, talking to a middle aged man enthusiastically.

"No he is just...frustrating! Like I just don't think he is my type." I swear if my nose had the ability to grow, it would have been 10 feet long by now.

"Kenzie Elizabeth. Are you just upset because you found someone who hasn't just dropped to your feet the first second you two met?" I remained silent, my eyes taking in Niall's tall frame and snapback from a far. Mo's hands gripped my shoulders, forcing me to look at her again, a huge smile on her thin lips. "You missy are just pissed that you found someone who is a challenge for you! Like Niall is actually playing the game vs being a pawn! I think it will be good for you hun." She was beyond excited about this because she always felt bad for how all of my past guys never stood a chance once I got my claws into them, but now Niall had begun the game with a natural shield of defense that I wasn't used to.

I was used to making the rules, but Niall was different. He wasn't just making the rules, he was changing the game.

"Whatever, if he wants me to do work, fine, I'll do the work." I gave my heavy hair one last flip before putting on my game face and bouncing into the surprisingly large store filled with shirts, shorts, and other summer clothing. The three boys were shaking hands with the older man by the time Simone and I got to them, all of them exchanging huge grins with one another.