Chapter 14
I woke up the next morning completely alone in the room. I don't remember falling asleep, I must've done so by accident. I touch my head to see if my hair was still in place and realize I was somehow wearing my scarf. It was terribly put on but it was put on nonetheless.
I looked over toward the couch where Julius slept and it was empty. No sign that he had been there at all. I pick up my phone and look at the time, almost 10:30 am.
I get out of bed and wobble over to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I remove my scarf and brush out my hair before sliding on my house slippers and walking out the door toward the main house.
"Stella good morning!" Mrs. Ashford greets as I enter the living room where she and Julius's aunt sat. "Good morning ladies." I greet back.
"Go ahead and help yourself to breakfast, everyone's getting ready. I hope Julius told you about the yacht trip today." She says. My eyes widen slightly, yacht trip?
"Oh yeah, of course. I was just picking something to wear." I say with a smile.
"Oh good! We leave at 12." I nod at the women before heading to the kitchen where breakfast foods were laid out on the counter. I pick up a plate and help myself to some eggs and toast before reheating it and heading back to my room.
When I get there Julius is in the room, rummaging through his suitcase. "Why didn't you tell me about the boat trip?" I ask as I enter the bedroom.
"Yacht trip." He corrects.
I roll my eyes, "Same difference."
"Not in price, I paid a lot for that yacht." He says as he continues to go through his bags.
"Julius." I say warningly.
"Stella." He mocks back.
I roll my eyes again, realizing I won't be getting anything from him, and sit down outside to eat my food. When I'm done I head over to my suitcase and look for something to wear on the yacht. The weather felt especially warm today and I thought it was appropriate to have a bikini on under just in case.
I pull out my Dior bikini set and some heels. I look for a simple sundress to wear over it and decide to hop in the shower. After that I get dressed and do my makeup and hair, pulling it into a high ponytail before strapping on my shoes.
The time was almost 12 and everyone was about ready as we headed down to the dock. When we got there, not one but two small yachts were parked and anchored in front of the dock.
"Alright, adults on Ashford I and kids on Ashford II." Mrs. Ashford calls out.
Jerrell chuckles, "Aunty we're not kids anymore."
"You always will be to me, now go on." She says urging him toward the second boat. We load onto the different boats. Ashford II was quite luxurious inside. Cream leather seating, dark interior, and sitting area with a plasma screen tv and bar. The outside of the boat had a place to watch the water and enjoy as the boat went across the water.
"Two mimosas please." Hailey told the bartender. She smiles at me, "You want a drink?"
I shake my head, "Maybe after the boat starts moving." The bartender hands her the drinks and she hands the other one to Penny. "I thought you can't drink?" I ask.
She scoffs, "Just not in front of my brother, and he's too busy with the helmsman." She says as she sips her drink. The boat begins moving forward and you can see the water start to go by from the window.
"We should go out onto the deck and enjoy the sun, it's kind of stuffy in here." Hailey says as she drinks her drink. Penny nods, "As long as you order me another one of these." She says holding up her now empty cup.
We get out to the deck where Hailey and Penny begin taking off their outfits. I quirk my brow at them until it becomes clear of their swimsuits underneath. Penny kept her jean shorts on top of her bathing suit and Hailey strutted around in her two-piece pink bikini. "Aren't you gonna strip?" She asks as she tosses her dress into her bag.
I shrug, "I don't see why not." I pull my sundress over my head, revealing my Dior bikini. The girls and I relax as the boat sails around the water. "I don't think we've taken any picture together since the start of the trip." Hailey says suddenly. She pulls out her phone from her bag. "Guys get in this." She says placing the phone up in front of her.
I get next to her and Penny follows as she clicks her screen to take the selfie. It was cute, the three of us squished into one frame, smiling happily at the camera. "I look ugly, let me take it." Penny says grabbing the phone from Hailey.
It took a few more flicks before we got one that Penny was ready to accept. The guys finally show up from wherever they've been hiding and join us out on the deck. "Babe I wanna show you something." Jerrell says to Hailey. She gets up and follows him elsewhere. Julius sat on a seat against the side of the boat as I scrolled through my phone next to him.
"I'm going to get a snack." Penny says as she gets up from her seat. I got up from my seat after she left, taking the opportunity to look over the railing of the deck and at the view of the water.
Julius approaches behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and placing his chin on my shoulder. "What are you doing?" I ask as he holds me.
"Do you know how good you look right now?" He asks quietly by my ear as his lips hover. "You make it hard to stay away." He says in a low voice as his lips start to graze over the crook of my neck. "And then yesterday you kissed me." He states.
I shake my head, "You kissed me." I retort.
"No I clearly remember telling you to tell me to stop when I leaned in, but instead you kissed me." He reminds me. I sigh as he starts to kiss on my neck, making me moan softly as I watch the view of the ocean."How about we stop with the games Stella. You want me just as much as I want you." His voice was low as he continued to tease me with his lips. I shudder at his touch as his hands roam the side of my body while he presses himself against me.
I turn around to face him, placing both hands on the side of his face, bringing his face to mine. I place my lips on his teasingly, as if I'm about to kiss him. "Never." I whisper before pushing him off and grabbing my bag before walking toward the inside of the boat.
I throw my dress back on as I get inside where Penny was hanging out on the couch looking at her phone. "Hey, why didn't you come back outside?" I ask as I get a drink from the bar. "I did but you and Julius were dry humping so I left." She says nonchalantly as she scrolls. I choke on my drink slightly at her comment, feeling slightly embarrassed that she witnessed that.
"We weren't dry humping." I mumble.
"Stella! We're going to Paradise tonight okay?" Hailey says excitedly as she enters the room. I nod, "Sure, don't see why not?"
She smiles, "Good because you're going to love it! We leave at 10."
After our ride on the water had finally ended we headed back to the house and went our separate ways. Julius and I spent our time leading up to the night apart. I hung out with Penny as we gossiped about what life back home was like and our families.
"I wasn't allowed to go to senior prom with a date. So when my brother found out I did anyway, he hunted the guy down and threatened him to never talk to me again." Penny says nonchalantly as we relax on the couch. My eyes widen slightly, "And the guy listened?"
She nodded, "My brother can be very convincing."
"Did you like the guy?" I ask.
She shrugs, "It doesn't matter how I feel, nobody ever asks."
"Well, I'm asking."
She sighs, "Yeah I did. But hey, maybe I dodged a bullet."
"You think your brother did the right thing?" I ask questingly.
She shakes her head, "Definitely not, but if men can be that controlling. I don't need to add any more into my life."
I look at her apologetically, poor girl. "As Hailey said before, you can't base your opinion on a whole gender on your one experience." I tell her. How hypocritical of me to say.
"How does Julius treat you? Is he controlling with you?" She asks me suddenly. I sit back and think for a moment, good question.
"Julius cares about me, and always considers my feelings when he does things." That was a lie, but he was slowly getting better. "But regardless, you just need to be open to meeting new guys and looking out for the red flags that you want to avoid. Like the controlling and possessive traits, you have to give people a chance."
She sighs, "Hailey usually tells me the same thing all the time. I don't like talking to her about this though because she's married to my brother, and he's my main problem."
"Have you ever talked to him about his behavior?" I ask.
She chuckles, "I'm sure it's a little too late for that."
I shake my head, "It's never too late, I mean he's alive isn't he?"
She nods, "I suppose you're right, maybe I'll mention it."
I smile, "Good." I look over at the clock as it neared 9 pm. I stand up from the couch, "I've got to go get dressed, we'll talk more tomorrow."
"Wait!" She calls out as I leave. I turn around and she has her phone in her hand, pointed at me. "Give me your number."
I chuckle before grabbing it and putting it in her phone.
When I got back to the room Julius was there already starting to get dressed. "There you are." He says as he zips up his jeans. "Here I am." I repeat as I walk past his shirtless body toward the bathroom. I look in the mirror, I partially did look like a mess. My hair was in a lazy bun and I wore a simple top and jeans. I pick up a hairbrush and get to work.
I wash off my face and head over to my luggage to find the perfect dress to wear for the night. I pull out a dark red satin body-con dress. It ended right above my knees and had a v-neckline. The straps were thin but held up the dress well.
"Don't tell me you're wearing that." Julius's voice suddenly said from behind me. I turn to him, "And what if I am?" I ask questioningly. He sighs, running his hand over his face before walking out of the room. I roll my eyes, overdramatic baby.
When I finish getting ready it's just about to be 10 o'clock. I strap on my heels and grab my purse before walking out the bedroom door and toward the main house. When I got there everyone was already there waiting for me. Hailey wore a brown one-shoulder cut mini dress and clear heels, with her hair straightened.
"You look hot!" Hailey comments as I walk in.
Julius looks up from his seat on the couch as I walk into the room. He gazes at me for a moment, scanning his eyes over my body before turning away.
I smile at her, "Not as hot as you."
"Yeah yeah you're both hot let's go." Jerrell says as he waves his keys in the air. Julius gets up from his seat and joins me at my side, holding his arm around my waist as he leads me outside. We get into the car and Julius and I take the back seat while Hailey and Jerrell sit in the middle row. We were having a driver drive us because we would most likely all be drinking tonight.
The car starts and we head on our way to the club, where a night of unforeseen events await us.
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Its party time! What could go wrong?
- AuggiePooh_