There was a slight breeze at the ocean. Cole offered Izzy his jacket, but she wasn't cold. She felt good. That horrible empty feeling that had plagued her since her mum died didn't seem to be there. The two tequila shots she'd had back at the formal probably had something to do with it.
The city lights looked stunning juxtaposed with the wild surf. The group they'd amassed seemed to have grown in the past half hour. There were even some people Izzy had never seen before, including a mysterious girl friend of Zara's; someone she'd known for ages, apparently, though this was news to Izzy. Bish, of course, had found his way to the party too accompanied by the most beautiful girl Izzy had ever seen.
Without regard for their dresses, Tal and Izzy sat on the sand at the periphery of the circle. They tried to call Em but she wasn't picking up.
'I hope she's okay,' Izzy said.
'Probably not but she will be,' Tal said. 'Em's tough, she'll bounce. What about you though? How are you going?'
Izzy smiled. 'I'm alright sweetie. Honestly, I needed this. It's so lovely being out with all of you. I've had the best night.'
'And Dom?' Tal probed.
'What about him?'
'C'mon love. Its me.' Tal said. 'You can tell me anything.'
'There's nothing to tell, honest!'
'Cole said he saw you guys holding hands tonight. Is there something going on there?'
'We're friends Tal, that's it, for now.'
Izzy glanced at Dom. He was crouched in the middle of the circle lining up shots on a shelf made of sand. She smiled at him, and he raised a glass and downed a shot.
'What a douche,' Tal said. 'We're going to have a repeat of Uki if he keeps that up.'
'Yeah, and we can't rely on Bish dragging him home this time,' Izzy smiled. 'Did you see his date?'
'I did. She's gorgeous,' Tal said. 'I told him he's batting above his average. He claims they're in love.'
'Until the next one...'.
Just then Izzy received a text. She scrambled in her bag and glanced at her phone. Her face must have changed because Tal asked: 'What is it?'
Izzy turned the screen toward her, so Tal could read the message.
Em: Dom's a fuckwit. You're welcome to him.
'So...' Tal said cautiously, '...not forgiven then?'
Izzy turned her phone off and put it back in her bag. 'I guess I deserve that,' she said. She couldn't help feeling deflated.
'Forget it love,' Tal said. 'You can't change her. You be you, eh?'
Izzy smiled and hugged her friend. 'You're right, you know. I don't know where I'd be without you.'
As the evening progressed the party got bigger and more raucous until it resembled something of a crowd. Someone had brought a portable speaker, and a bunch of people got to their feet to dance. The sky was clear and the stars endless. Izzy took the best photos, it was like every frame captured something special-a moment in time, like no other.
Slowly as the night wore on, people started to trickle off home. Izzy had agreed with her dad she'd spend the night at Tal's, knowing well Tal's mum had waived her customary curfew for one night only.
It was almost daybreak and just their core group were left on the beach, when a very drunk Cole suggested they all go skinny dipping.
'Okay but...undies on!' Tal laughed.
Izzy must have been drunk too because the idea didn't horrify her. Before she knew it, she was tucking her jewelry away in her bag and climbing out of her dress. She felt ridiculously grateful she'd worn a bra.
There was an awkward pause as they all stood semi-naked on the shore. Then, holding hands in a chain across the sand, they all ran screaming and laughing into the ocean together.
The shock of her warm body meeting the icy water sobered Izzy instantly. Her hand slipped from Zara's grip, and she gasped for air, feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline.
The moon and stars had almost disappeared, and a glimpse of the rising sun appeared on the horizon casting a rosy hue across the sky. Izzy sank down to her neck in the water acutely she didn't have clothes on. The deep water was inky black, and foam top waves tossed her body relentlessly, as they washed to the shore. She tried to ground her feet in the sand and balance herself with one arm in the water whilst clutching her strapless bra to her chest. Then as if she'd willed it, she felt a pair of hands on her hips steadying her beneath the waves. Though she couldn't see him in the dark, Izzy knew instinctively it was Dom. He'd swum under the waves behind her and emerged unexpectedly from the foam. His touch was like electricity to her even in the ocean.
Without thinking Izzy turned around and put her arms out to him. Dom lifted her body toward him and she effortlessly floated through the water into his embrace.
'Hey you,' she grinned.
'Hey yourself,' Dom said, steadying her body with his hand between her shoulder blades. 'Looking good there, Iz.'
Izzy pushed her hair back from her face self-consciously.
'Do you always wear black satin lingerie?' he teased.
Izzy blushed. 'Only when Cole and I go out together,' she joked.
'Oh, it's like that is it!' Dom laughed.
'I had plans for this evening, you see.'
'I see that,' he nodded. 'I do like a bad girl.'
Izzy leaned in closer to him. 'We'll see about that...', she said, placing her hands on his head and dunking him under the surface.
Dom came up laughing. 'You are in such trouble!' He moved toward her through the water, their eyes locked, and his hand brushed against the skin of her back again. Every nerve in Izzy's body jumped with desire for him.
'You are wearing boxers under there?' Izzy asked shyly.
'Wouldn't you like to know?' Dom teased pulling her forward. Something about the way he said it, made her believe she was on safe ground. Izzy wrapped her legs around Dom's waist beneath the surface of the water.
'Hey, you two, get a room!' Cole yelled at them.
Dom laughed. 'Ignore him.'
Izzy glanced at the shadowy figures of her friends in the water and watched as one by one they emerged from the waves. Tal left the water first, sprinting up the sand toward the clothes they'd left on the beach, with Zara close behind her, both clutching their naked breasts. Their laughter made soft by the sound of the waves. Cole whistled at the girls from the seabed and emerged from the water shortly after, completely stark naked. The beach was an abandoned paradise they had all to themselves.
Izzy didn't care to follow. She'd wanted this moment of alone time with Dom for so long. Throwing caution to the wind, she wiped droplets of water from Dom's forehead and kissed him lightly on the cheek.
'I'm sorry for dunking you,' she said. 'I'll be good now.'
'Don't be...' he grinned.
'Don't be ...sorry?' Izzy laughed and pecked his other cheek.
'Nah... don't be good.'
Dom drew her toward him with his eyes. Izzy felt his hand slip beneath her hair on the back of her neck. Her heartbeat faster as his face came closer. She willed herself to look at him. Their eyes locked and then a second later, he kissed her; gently at first and then more intensely. She kissed him back. His lips were soft and salty, his mouth insistent, his tongue delicious. As the waves rocked them, Dom wrapped his arms tightly around her. This was the perfect night he'd promised her all those months ago and though the sun was rising, and the darkness receding; Izzy knew without a doubt, their story was just beginning.