The Sweetest Thing
Chapter Sixteen
The road was pretty much straight and we managed to reach the water park faster than we anticipated. We got out of Kyle's car and headed to the entrance with the rest of the group. Everybody except for Randy and Emma was pretty much ignoring us. We all paid for ourselves and then headed inside.
The place was huge, with swimming pools and slides all over. We walked around the place a bit and then decided to go change into our bathing suits. The guys seemed really excited about one slide in particular. It was very high and very steep. Aiden was still limping badly so I wasn't sure if he was going to attempt any of the slides. He looked a bit disappointed but there was nothing anybody could do to help him, he was just going to have to deal with it.
The guys all headed to the men's changing room while the girl's headed to the ladies changing room. Kyle walked with me and then went to go change. He never really hung out with anybody but me. I went inside but didn't see any of the girls, I could hear Sophia and Olivia talking from inside a stall though. I used to get along great with Olivia but lately it seemed like she had changed or maybe it was me who changed. I'm not sure but I've never felt so grateful to have Kyle in my life. I know he will never drop me no matter what.
I quickly stepped into a stall and closed the door behind me. I stripped off my clothes and dug my bikini out of my bag. It is made up out of a little short piece and a top that tied around my back and my neck. It's black and fits my body perfectly. Kyle helped me pick it out and I smiled as I remembered it. He hasn't seen me in it yet but I had a feeling he was going to like it. I quickly folded my clothes, pushed them back into my bag and took out my towel.
When I stepped out of the stall and saw Sophia I nearly choked. She was wearing a little white bikini that looked like it was made for a child. She has a good body but the bikini didn't do it justice. She didn't look hot, she looked ridiculous. I shook my head and headed out of the changing room without saying a word. I didn't feel like wasting my breath.
I saw Kyle walking towards me from where the men's changing rooms were and ran to him. He had on a pair of black swimming trunks that hung to his knees and a black t shirt. I smiled at how true he is to himself, he really doesn't care what anybody thinks of him. I could see him checking me out as I got closer and felt myself blushing. I'm not sure why but it was happening a lot lately.
"You look hot," Kyle stated when I reached him. His eyes lingering over my body.
"If you weren't gay, Id think that you are checking me out," I joked. He smiled at me and then shrugged his shoulders.
Randy, Craig, Oliver and Aiden were standing not too far away and when the rest of the girls came out of the changing room they headed over to them. I didn't really feel like hanging out with any of them but we joined them anyway. Aiden had changed into his swimming clothes so I figured he was going to give it a try even with his bad ankle.
The guy's all wanted to go on the ride they were looking at earlier so we started walking towards it. On our way a group of guy's walked past us. The one noticed me and poked his friend in the ribs, pointing at me. Soon the whole group were checking me out. I felt a bit self conscious but I have to admit that I was enjoying it as well. Not because I wanted guys to be drooling about me but because they were completely ignoring Sophia and by the look on her face I could tell that it was killing her.
Kyle tightened his grip on my hand and pulled me closer to him. He has always been protective of me but he was really acting strange lately.
When we reached the slide we all put down our bags and towels. I dug out my sun tan lotion and handed it to Kyle.
"Will you put some on for me?" I asked.
"Yeah," he replied with a strange expression on his face. He opened the bottle and I turned around, lifting my long hair out of the way. The lotion was cold against my skin but his hands were warm and soothing. He rubbed it in slowly, making sure not to miss a spot. Kyle has rubbed sun tan lotion on me a lot of times before but something felt different. It felt nice.
As soon as I realized what I was thinking I pulled away from him and took the bottle. Luckily he was done with my back and neck or he would have noticed my reaction. I quickly rubbed some lotion on my stomach, chest, arms and legs and then looked up at Kyle. He was just standing there looking at me. I looked away and found both Randy and Craig staring at me too.
"Your turn," I stated, holding up the bottle of sun tan lotion.
"Yeah, we wouldn't want me to burn, I'm already hot enough," he joked, pulling off his shirt and letting it fall to the ground. I almost immediately regretted it. He wasn't tanned but his body was perfectly shaped and although I have touched him a million times before I felt myself getting nervous. I shook my head in confusion, cursed myself under my breath and squashed some lotion onto my hand.
"Turn around," I instructed. He did as I said and I took a deep breath before placing my hands on his back. I rubbed the lotion on, making sure to put it nice and thick over his dragon tattoo. He had it done last year and it is really amazing. The guy said that if he burnt in the sun the tattoo's color would fade and I didn't want that to happen. Once I was done with his back I handed him the bottle to do the rest of his body.
When we were all done applying our lotion we headed up to the slide. Everybody except for Sophia who said she would rather tan. She threw her towel down on the ground and laid down, trying to act sexy but failing miserably. Aiden groaned and sat down next to her. I wasn't sure if it was because of his ankle or if he was scared that his girlfriend might hook up with another guy if he wasn't there. I felt really bad for him but it is his own stupidity for dating a girl like her.
Craig basically jumped onto the slide. He was followed by Randy and Oliver.
"Go on," I said to Emma who was looking at us. She sat down at the edge, looking horrified and then slid down.
"I'll catch you," Kyle said, looking at me reassuringly. I wasn't scared of water or swimming but I hated the impact that you landed with when going down a slide.
"Thanks," I replied as he jumped down the slide. I waited until he was at the bottom before I sat down and pushed myself down.
As I reached the bottom I was tossed into the air and into Kyle's arms. The force was incredible and he toppled back, letting us both fall into the water but breaking the impact for me. I slipped under the water but had enough time to catch my breath. As soon as I went under Kyle pulled me out.
"Are you ok?" he asked, brushing my wet hair out of my face.
"Yeah, thanks for catching me, that thing is ridiculous," I replied, imagining how hard I would have hit the water if he wasn't there to catch me.
We went from one pool to the next, sliding, laughing and having fun. Sophia eventually got the message that nobody was paying attention to her and decided to join us. When she forgets that she is supposed to act like an irritating slutty bitch she is actually ok. Maybe it's that part that attracted Aiden to her. He was battling with his ankle but went down a few of the gentler slides.
It was around two in the afternoon when we decided that it was time to get some lunch. There was a food court so we all ordered what we wanted from different stalls and sat down in the shade on a patch of grass. There was a big pool not too far away from us and I saw the guys that checked me out earlier. They were all fooling around and showing off by somersaulting into the water.
It took them a while to notice us but when they did their eyes lit up. They shouted at each other but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I looked away and focused on finishing my soda.
"His coming this way," Kyle said from beside me. I looked up and saw one of the guys walking towards me. He had long blonde hair that clung to his face and a perfectly tanned six pack. There was no denying that he is hot.
When he reached us he greeted the group and then held out his hand to me.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" he asked. This was a very brave move from his part considering that the first time he saw me I was holding Kyle's hand. To anybody who didn't know that we are best friends and that Kyle is gay it would look like we were dating. I looked around at Craig, Randy and Kyle, they all had very different expressions on their faces but one thing was clear, not one of them was very happy with the idea.
"Yea sure," I agreed, reaching up and taking his hand.
I wasn't trying to hurt anyone of them but I had to do it. I had to do it for myself so that I could get over the feelings I was feeling for all of them. I had to get over wanting Craig, I had to stop feeling guilty about dumping Randy and I had to stop feeling whatever it was I was feeling for Kyle.
The guy led me over to the pool and we started walking around it.
"Is that guy your boyfriend or something?" he asked, curiously.
"Nope, his just a friend," I replied.
"Could have fooled me," he smirked.
"What do you mean?" I questioned, intrigued.
"The way he looks at you doesn't seem very friendly to me," they guy answered. I didn't know what to say to that or what to think about it so I changed the subject.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" I asked.
"I wanted to know if you will go out with me, we can go to a club or something tonight," he answered, sounding excited by the idea.
"Oh, I can't. I don't live around here. My friends and I are actually on a road trip. We are leaving this afternoon," I replied. I don't think I would have agreed to go out with him but even if I wanted to I couldn't.
"That's really sad," the guy said pretending like he was going to cry or something.
"I'm sure you can find another girl that will be more than willing to go with you," I said honestly. He is a real hottie after all.
"If I can't see you again I want something to remember you by," the guy said coming to a stop. I stopped walking and looked around, we had walked half way across the pool. I could see Kyle and my friends on the other side but I didn't focus my attention on them. Instead I looked up at the guy.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"This," the guy replied, leaning forward and pressing his lips against mine.
He took me by complete surprise. I didn't expect him to do that after I just turned him down. I didn't want to kiss him and for a second I considered pushing him into the pool but I fought the urge. I wanted to get over my feelings and move on with my life so I gathered all of my courage and kissed him back. Every second of it felt wrong. It felt like I was cheating on somebody but I wasn't quite sure who or why. I wasn't seeing anybody after all.
The kiss didn't last long before I pulled away. I'm not sure what the expression on my face said but the guy looked really happy.
"I have to go," I whispered and then turned around and walked away. I couldn't face Kyle or any of my so called friends after what I had just done so instead of walking back to them I just walked into another direction, not really caring where I was going. I was feeling so confused and overwhelmed with everything that was going on that I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.
I reached the edge of the park so I took a look around. There was a warm water swimming pool nearby so I sat down on the edge and let my feet hang into it. I was so deep in thought that I didn't even notice somebody sitting next to me until I heard his voice.
"Why did you do that?" Craig asked. I jumped with fright and it took me a few seconds before I could answer.
"Why not?" I asked in return. Craig didn't answer my question. Probably because he knew I was right. There was no reason why I couldn't kiss whoever I wanted to.
"I'll dump her," Craig said, his words taking me by surprise.
"I don't believe you," I replied, remembering what Randy told me earlier.
"I promise I will. I don't want her, I want you Luce. I think you might be the one," he said. He sounded sincere and I really wanted to believe him but at the same time I didn't want to put my trust in him and get hurt.
"We'll see about that but until then don't try anything with me," I said, getting up.
"I won't but you have to give me some time Luce, I promise I'll do it, I just don't want to do it in front of everyone," Craig said, falling into step next to me.
"I don't want you to give me any false hope Craig. If you want to dump Olivia then you dump her and if you don't want to then you don't have to. It's up to you but don't expect me to wait for you because I'm not going to. I'm tired of being hurt," I said, looking straight ahead. Craig didn't say anything more and soon we reached our group.
It wasn't until we got there that I started wondering what he had said to them to get away.
"Is there a warm water pool around here?" Olivia asked very casually, obviously not suspecting a thing.
"Yea, I'll show you," I replied. The air was thick but nobody said anything about my little stunt from earlier.
"Good, because I'm starting to get cold," Olivia replied, getting up. Everybody else got up as well and we started making our way to where I had just come from. Kyle walked beside me but he made no attempt at holding my hand or talking to me.
I didn't realize it before but the sun had disappeared behind a bunch of clouds again and I was actually quite cold myself. When we reached the pool everybody got in and started swimming around slowly. This wasn't the kind of pool where you played around and joked, it was more like a pool that you held on to your partner and made out. There were only a few other people in the pool and they didn't pay much attention to any of us.
Olivia immediately grabbed a hold of Craig, twisting her legs around his body and her arms around his neck. Randy, Oliver and Emma just swam around and Sophia was actually hanging onto Aiden who looked happy for a change.
I moved to the edge of the pool and stood against the wall watching everybody. Kyle looked really uncomfortable as he swam around. It only took a few seconds before he came over to me. He grabbed the edge of the pool on each side of me and looked me straight in the eyes.
"What's going on Sweet Thing? Why did you let that guy kiss you? That' not like you," he asked, looking confused and sad at the same time. I was already regretting what I had done but seeing how disappointed he was in me only made it worse.
"I don't know what I was thinking, I was confused," I replied, honestly. Kyle nodded his head but he still didn't look to happy.
"What did Craig say to you?" he asked. I glanced over to where Craig and Olivia was and saw them kissing. I looked away immediately. I wasn't sure if Craig meant anything he said earlier but it sure didn't look that way.
"He said that he thinks that I am the one and that he is going to dump Olivia to be with me," I answered.
"Tell me you don't believe him," Kyle said, almost pleadingly.
"I don't know what to believe anymore," I admitted.
"I know you are confused but don't trust him Sweet Thing, he's not good for you," Kyle whispered softly.
"I know," I confessed. Deep down I have always known that Craig isn't good for me I just couldn't control myself when I was around him, but that has changed. I promised myself that I wasn't going to let him use or hurt me anymore and I was sticking to that promise.
"Are you ok?" Kyle asked, after a while.
"I am now that I'm with you. Why did you let him come look for me anyway?" I asked, scowling.
"I didn't exactly let him. As soon as you took off he jumped up and said that he needed to go to the bathroom and that he will look for you on his way back. I knew that it was just an excuse but everybody else seemed to believe him," Kyle replied. I looked back over to Craig and Olivia. She was hugging him tightly but he was watching me with a pleading look in his eyes. As if he was begging me to understand and give him the time he asked for.
"I hate this," I admitted, looking back at Kyle. He had somehow moved closer and I could taste his breath on my lips. A shiver ran down my spine and I cursed myself again. This is why I kissed the guy, to get rid of all of these feelings, I thought to myself. I wish I could tell Kyle but I couldn't. What if he didn't understand and it ruined everything?
"Then stop it," Kyle said, snapping me back to reality. I thought about his words for a second and then nodded my head. He was right, I had to stop it. I couldn't let Craig dump Olivia for me when I wasn't even sure if I wanted him anymore.
"Your right, I have to stop it," I replied, smiling at him nervously.
We swam for a while but then we had to get out. The weather was getting bad and we had to get to our next destination. We were going to spend the night at a motel in town. It wasn't a fancy place but I'm sure it could only be better than the cabin since we didn't all have to share a room. They offered single rooms and double rooms for couple's and since everybody was paying for themselves we could decide if we wanted our own room or wanted to share.
Craig and Olivia were sharing a room as well as Sophia and Aiden and Kyle and I while Randy, Oliver and Emma all chose to have their own rooms. Luckily we managed to reach the motel before it started raining. We were going to eat dinner at a little Chinese restaurant down the street. I was really hungry but wanted to take a shower before we got dinner so we all headed to our rooms to get cleaned up and agreed to meet downstairs at the entrance in an hour.