S E V E N T E E N
[age 16]
ONE OF THE DOWNSIDES OF HAVING YOUR BIRTHDAY ON THE FOURTH OF JULY WAS HAVING TO SPEND YOUR NIGHT WITH A BUNCH OF DRUNK KIDS. Juliette didn't want to go to the party tonight — she wanted to stay at home, have dinner with her father and the Camerons, play Monopoly with Sarah, Rafe, and Wheezie, and then when it got late, sneak out with her boyfriend to eat ice cream by the boardwalk and watch the stars and fireworks out on the Benjamin.
She had no idea what went through her head when she agreed to go to the party Topper was hosting in his house. He and Kelce came by for lunch with Juliette and Rafe, the Thornton boy inviting them for his Fourth party since his mom would be out all night working the night shift.
Rafe knew she didn't want to go, so he'd turned down the offer at first, saying that he just wanted to spend the rest of Juliette's birthday alone with her. But she felt bad because Rafe had been missing all the previous Fourth of July parties because he'd insist on spending it with her. That's why she told Topper that she and Rafe would be at his house tonight after their annual Monopoly game.
"Jules, baby," Rafe's voice was that quiet, murmured slur of his as he reached for her hand across the gearshift. His palm was warm as it covered hers, his fingers caressing hers — she could feel his ring graze against her skin.
"Yes, Rafe, I'm sure," she said, already knowing what it was he was going to ask. She turned to look at him, seeing the way his eyebrows were knitted together. "I want to go to this party. You don't have to keep worrying about it."
Rafe glanced at her for a second before returning his attention to the road, driving down the street to Topper's house. He lifted her hand he was holding, bringing it up to his mouth as his lips brushed over her knuckles. "I was just going to say I love you."
Juliette said nothing at first, stunned at the suddenness of what he'd said. "Oh," she said, turning to look out the window so she could hide the stupid smile she had on her face from him.
This wasn't the first time he'd said he loved her, it just always seemed to catch her off guard with how much fondness and affection his voice held when he'd say it.
She swiveled in her seat so she could face him again, bringing their entwined hands to her own face this time. "I love you," she said wholeheartedly, pressing a kiss on his knuckles before laying his palm over her cheek.
Rafe had that contented grin on his face as he turned the wheel with one hand to pull into the driveway, his other hand on her face. His thumb traced the line of her lips, grazing over them as he trailed his hand down to grip the side of her neck. The pad of his thumb brushed over the curve of her throat, his fingers tightening ever so lightly around her, and Juliette let out a soft sigh.
"It's not too late to go back home, baby," Rafe was murmuring, putting the car into park as he shifted in his seat to face her. She was looking up at him through heavy half-opened lids, her mouth slightly parted as she subconsciously tilted her head backwards.
"Hmm?" She didn't seem to be comprehending what he was saying.
Rafe leaned over so his mouth ghosted over the skin of her jaw. His hand was still on her throat, and he could feel her body gravitating towards him. "I said," his voice was no louder than a whisper, pressing butterfly kisses along her jaw, down the side of her neck, and on her exposed collarbone. "It's not too late to go back home."
Jules was breathing heavily, her eyes were closed as she pulled her hair away from the side of her neck where Rafe was peppering kisses on. "Huh?"
Rafe grunted under his breath, unbuckling her seatbelt off her as he gripped both sides of her hips and lifted her onto his lap. He reclined his seat backwards just enough for her to have some space. A gasp left her lips, and Rafe had never heard a more beautiful sound in that moment.
"Yeah?" he mumbled, his mouth on her neck again as she held onto either sides of the seat. He made his way up to her jaw, lips hotly against hers as he slipped his tongue inside her mouth. A groan echoed deeply in Rafe's throat as his fingers dug onto the skin of her hips, rocking her against him.
Jules pulled her head back, her chest rising and falling with every breath. Her hair fell over one shoulder, curtaining the side of her face as Rafe reached up to brush the stray pieces away. "Let's go," she whispered.
Rafe perked up. "Home?" he asked eagerly.
There was a smile on Jules's face as she pressed a kiss on his cheek. "No — inside Topper's house." She unlocked the doors and slid off his lap, fixing her clothes. "Come on."
Rafe groaned, pouting at her as he begrudgingly made his way out to follow after her. "You're cruel, Jules. So, so cruel." He adjusted his khaki shorts, taking her hand in his as they made their way to the front door.
Jules glanced over at him, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she winked at him. "I learned it from you, baby."
𓆉
Juliette never knew she had a psychotic side to her until she met Clara Santos. She was gorgeous, had a perfect natural tan, legs that went on for miles, and she was older than Juliette by one year which made Clara the same age as Rafe. She was a recurring Touron that came to Outer Banks every summer for a month before returning home to Brazil.
Clara was known for having a Kook boy toy summer fling every year — last year was Kelce, the other year was Rowan Cash, the year before that was Topper.
But this year, she had her eye on Rafe Cameron.
Juliette had separated from Rafe about half an hour after joining the party — she was with some other girls huddled by the TV, eating chips and drinking soda. They were the non-alcohol bunch who seemed pretty cool; a few asked if Sarah would be coming, but Juliette said she was at the house and wasn't really up to coming over. Rafe was with the boys, playing beer pong most likely or foosball — she wouldn't be surprised if he was smoking a cigarette. He'd been trying his best to cut back, and the past couple of months he'd only done one or two cigarettes a day. Juliette was proud of his progress.
"I drank too much Coke," Juliette said, setting her empty can down on the coffee table as she rose to her feet and told the girls she'd be back.
She'd made it to the bathroom, waiting outside the locked door as she heard two girls inside washing their hands and gossiping to each other.
"Did you see her all over him on the foosball table?" one of the girls was saying. "God, I wish I had Clara's confidence and guts to march up to him and everything."
The other girl snorted in return. "I'm so glad I'm not Clara. The amount of times he kept pushing her away made me embarrassed for her. Like Jesus, the guy has a girlfriend, leave him alone."
"Well, yeah that's true. I hate how she's advancing on him when he's taken — and she knows he's taken. It's a pretty highkey bitch move, if you ask me."
"Clara looked hot as hell though, and he didn't even look her way once — Julie is so lucky to have a boyfriend like Rafe. Hey, you know, maybe we should go tell Julie what Clara's been doing."
Juliette was frozen on her feet. Realization dawned on her when she heard her name, just understanding that Clara Santos was trying to hit on Rafe.
She didn't really register the next thought that flashed across her mind. All she saw was red and all she felt was the ugly bubbling in the pit of her stomach that screamed one word: jealousy.
Keeping her chin up high, Juliette backed away from the bathrooms and headed down the hallways to where she knew the boys would be at. She entered another living room, seeing a couple of people crowding by the foosball table. Rafe was there on one end, hands twisting the knobs to make the little men kick the plastic ball with half a cigarette burning between his fingers.
Clara was there in her hunter green tank top and booty cut white shorts that complimented her tan so well. She was leaning against Rafe, pressing a hand on his arm as she said something to him. Rafe shrugged her hand off, bringing the cigarette to his lips and then turning his head so he was exhaling the smoke at Clara's direction. This made her cough and take a step backwards away from him.
Juliette's eyebrows were raised in that haughty manner of hers around people she disliked. It was as though a switch inside of her had been flipped, and she strode over to get closer to them. There was nothing angelic in her presence — currently resembling what Lucifer must've looked like when he fell.
"Yo, Rafe, your girl's here," Kelce pointed out, waving at the girl along with Topper who raised his solo cup at her.
Rafe turned to see her walking over at him, and he blew out the smoke he'd dragged in his lungs a second ago — making sure to exhale in the direction away from her. "Hey, baby," he crooned, killing the light as he smushed the cigarette on the ashtray. He opened an arm for her to sidle up next to him.
What Rafe didn't expect was for Juliette to reach up and grab him by the collar of his shirt, tug him down so he was level her height, and capture his lips in hers in a heated kiss. He was taken by surprise at the sudden action, but reacted quickly by snaking his arm around her waist and drew her in closer against him as he kissed her back deeply.
The boys were hooting wildly like dumbasses all around them, and Juliette opened her eyes to look past Rafe's shoulder. Still making out with him, she made sure to purposely meet Clara's gaze. Rafe is my boyfriend, mine, her eyes seemed to say to her.
Juliette pulled back to look Rafe in the eyes. His lips were slightly swollen and full, those ocean blue eyes of his locked on her mouth. "Let's go home," she said in a quiet voice.
He nodded absentmindedly, patting his pocket to check if he's got his car keys. "Yeah, okay, let's go." He took her hand in his, and took a step away from everyone else to lead her out of the house.
"Oh, and Clara?" Juliette said before letting Rafe pull her out of the crowd. Clara glanced up at her, her mouth pressed into a thin line. "When you're feeling someone up, and they push you away — they're not interested."
"Julie, I swear, it was just one time that I touched Rafe's arm — "
"When?" Juliette cut in.
"Literally right before you walked in — "
"No, I mean — when did I ask?"
The boys went crazy yelling at what she'd just said as Rafe continued to tug her out of the living room. He was chuckling to himself, shaking his head as he looked down at his girlfriend. "Jules Starling, who knew you had that crazy side to you?"
In that moment, Rafe knew he wanted to marry this girl. That there'll be no one else in this world who would love her the way he would and could.