Cruel Summer

3. Killing Me Slow

Aaliyah asks me to go the beach with her in the afternoon and as we walk downstairs in our bikinis I see our moms watching a movie in the living room. I can tell Karen is analyzing me, probably still thinking about what Shawn said to me but I just walk outside as Aaliyah lets them know where we're going. As we walk to the beach I see Shawn and Zayn hanging by the pool, my brother seems a little angry so I wonder if they're talking about me. I sit in the sand while she runs to the water yelling for me to get in too, but I'm not really in the mood and the water is probably cold. After a while I see Zayn running into the water and playing with Aaliyah.

 " You're going to be sunburnt if you just stay sitting there." I hear Shawn's voice from behind me.

 " I forgot my sunscreen in the house." I say looking at him and then I notice he has one in his hand.

 " I can help you with that." He says sitting down behind me in the sand.

 He moves my hair out of my back and applies sunscreen on it, massaging my shoulders and making me angry because he totally knows what he's doing to me. I turn my head around to look at him but them he puts sunscreen on my nose and laughs. I try to hold my laugh but that's impossible, just looking at him I feel the need to smile. He finishes with the sunscreen and gets closer like he's about to kiss me, but then he pulls me by the waist over his shoulder and gets up running to the water.

 " Shawnnnn! Let me go!" I scream as he walks through the waves and throws me in the cold water. " I hate you!" I say as I throw water at him.

 " You wish." He says pulling me by my waist as he tries to drown me.

 Aaliyah gets super excited that I finally got in and suggest for us to play something. She gets on Zayn's back as I do the same with Shawn and we try to get the other down. Even though she's twelve she still manage to throw me in the water and suddenly we're all laughing. We spend the rest of the afternoon in there and only go back to the house when it's already dark.

Karen and my mom are making popcorn in the kitchen and tell us to change into some dry clothes so we can all watch a movie together. We all walk upstairs and when I close my door the last thing I see is Shawn getting inside his own room looking back at me. As I take a shower I start to wonder why he's provoking me in front of everyone but haven't tried to kiss me once. It's almost like he's testing me to see how long I can take before I finally give in. Well, if he wants play then let's play, I'm just not sure if he'll like when I play my cards.

 I get downstairs in dry clothes with my hair still wet from the shower and I see my mom, Karen and Aaliyah sitting in one of the couches. I lay down on the other one not leaving much room for anyone else and then I see Shawn entering the room and looking at me like he just won a prize. He gets close and start to tickle me and asks Aaliyah's help, who comes running to contribute with my torture. I'm totally breathless from laughing too much and my stomach hurts when I hold Shawn's hand trying to stop him. Aaliyah goes back to her seat and Shawn and I just keep laughing as I hold his hands, but then I see the way our moms are looking at us, so I let go of him and sit down. He sits next to me as Zayn finally comes downstairs sitting at Shawn's other side. My mom hands us some popcorn and Shawn and I end up sharing the same bowl. The lights are off as the movie starts and I genuinely try to pay attention, but every time we take popcorn at the same time our hands touch and it's like there's electricity running through my veins. I feel him put his arm around my shoulders but I don't think anyone else noticed since it's all dark. His hands starts to caress my arm and I can't help but lean my head on chest, just then I have an idea to provoke him. I look around to see if anyone is looking at us and then I reach his neck and kiss it quietly. I see him gulp, letting me know it's working, so I feel a little more brave and lick his neck, which makes him look down at me as he holds firmly on my arm with his hand. Well, two can play his little game. I hold back a laugh and go back to watch the movie with my head on his chest. When I take my eyes off the tv again I see my mom looking at us, so I just look away and snuggle further into Shawn's chest taking in his scent, which makes him hold me tighter.

 Next thing I know I wake up cuddled up on Shawn in the couch as Aaliyah turns on the lights. I quickly move away from him when I notice they're all looking at us, which makes Shawn wake up too. We all get up, but Shawn just lays down in the couch as I take all the bowls to the kitchen. Aaliyah comes help me as our moms and my brother go upstairs.

 " What's going on between you and Shawn?" She asks going straight to the point.

 " Nothing." I say cleaning up some stuff.

 " You're both such liars." She says annoyed. " Are you two dating?"

 " No, we're not." I say ignoring her attempts.

 She groans in frustration and heads back to her bedroom giving me goodnight. When I finish in the kitchen I go back to the living room to wake Shawn up, since he fell asleep again in the couch.

 " Shawn? Wake up." I say shaking his shoulders.

 He doesn't say anything but he's definitely awake because he pulls me down, making my body fall on top of his. I get up and manage to pull him with me, so we walk upstairs to our rooms. As we reach the top of the stairs I see Aaliyah at the end of the hallway mouthing a "liar" to me, which makes me laugh. I go to bed trying to figure out what this all means, because I have no clue what's going on right now.