The Deep End » Outer Banks [JJ Maybank] BOOK ONE

I: Submerge

Inside of the house, Lee was greeted by Gavin, a cute boy from her school that had ended up coming home with her the previous night. Lee held in a groan as she looked at Gavin's nervous expression. It was obvious that he wanted to have a conversation that she was very much not interested in. She glanced around the room, carefully grabbing clothing to change into as he approached her.

"Hey, Lee," he began, brushing a hand through his hair. "So—"

"Can I change really fast?" Lee said, cutting the boy off. "This swimsuit is just... not the most comfortable."

She didn't wait for an answer before darting into the bathroom. Just as she had pulled on a pair of shorts over a clean bikini bottom, the bathroom door flew open to reveal JJ. His eyes scanned her body as she held her bikini top tightly over her breasts, shocked at the intrusion.

"JJ!" Lee hissed. "Get out!"

He shrugged, ignoring her as he closed the bathroom door behind him and motioned for her to turn around. "You want me to tie that?"

Lee grimaced. "Not particularly."

She didn't have much of a choice, however, as JJ spun her around, nimbly tying the bikini. His fingers brushed over the cool metal chain of her necklace, hovering there for a moment before harshly slapping her shoulders to let her know that he was done. She turned back to face JJ as soon as he was done, smacking his arm as his eyes fell to her breasts.

"Like what you see?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

"I'd like it better without the top on."

Just as Lee opened her mouth with a witty response, there was a knock at the door. "Uh, Lee?" Gavin's voice echoed through.

She shut her eyes in frustration. "Just a sec, Gavin!"

JJ laughed as she threw on a cropped tee. "You seem frustrated, was he not very good?"

Lee sneered at JJ, turning to grab her swimsuit from the floor. "You seem horny, was the girl from last night not kinky enough?"

"Oh, Lee, don't be jealous. You know you'll always be my favorite," JJ said, pinning Lee against the wall with a wink.

She froze as her swimsuit began to soak into the fronts of their shirts. She stared into JJ's blue eyes and wondered if she could bring herself to kiss him before he had brushed his teeth.

"Uh, Lee, I think I'm just gonna go home," Gavin's voice rang out.

JJ went back to the sink, grabbing his toothbrush. Lee exhaled the breath that she had been holding.

"I had fun last night, so, uh, text me anytime."

Lee rolled her eyes. "Okay, see you around, Gavin!" she responded, shoving JJ as he made mocking kissy faces at her. Throwing open the bathroom door, Lee ignored JJ's pleas for her to close it behind her and wandered into the living room. There she saw Kiara pulling on a headband to hold back her wild black hair.

"Sorry if we kept you up last night, boo," Lee said, throwing her arms around her best friend. Kiara only laughed, brushing her tousled black hair out of her face as Lee released her from the hug.

"That was nothing compared to that one boy—what was his name, Caden? Man, he was loud," Kiara said, laughing as Lee sat down on the couch in front of her.

It was routine for Kiara to do Lee's hair in the morning. Lee had never learned to do her hair as a kid because her mother always wanted to do it for her. When her mom had begun to lose her hair from chemo treatments, however, Lee couldn't bear asking her to do it without feeling cruel. She had turned to Kiara, instead, who was all too thrilled to play with Lee's honey brown curls.