It had been three days now since Marcus was released from the hospital and everyone finally managed to relax enough to enjoy their last few days in Barbados.
The boys hadn’t spoken to Leo since their encounter back at the hospital, not being able to look him in the eye after what they had found out. They had informed Marcus on the entire situation, letting him know what he had missed while he was recovering.
The girls didn’t know anything and as far as they were concerned, Leo had taken a few days off to recruit what had happened in the club, oblivious to the truth.
“Are you okay?” Kadra asked for the fifth time that morning earning a frustrated growl to come from Marcus who laid in a beach chair, letting his skin soak in the sun, the doctor letting him know it was okay as long as he had his wound covered.
“I’m fine,” Marcus muttered through clenched teeth, pinching the bridge of his nose. “And I’ll be fine ten minutes from now too so lay off, okay?” His patience had finally thinned out, not being able to handle Kadra’s constant buzzing every few minutes, her worrying only adding onto his stress.
Kadra frowned, “I’m sorry. You know I just worry—”
Marcus shook his head, looking over at her. “You’re suffocating me babe.” He admitted quietly.
Opening her mouth, Kadra pouted, usually by now she would be fighting back but she thought against it as she turned away from him, sighing heavily. “Whatever,” She muttered, “But when you start to bleed out again, don’t you dare come crying to me.”
Knowing he had done it now, Marcus reached towards her but caught nothing as she moved out of the way. “Kadra…”
“I’m sorry; Kadra is not available. Her boyfriend is currently being a douche-bag and she isn’t in the mood to talk right now. Please tell him to come back when he’s done being an ass. Beeeeeeep!” Kadra snapped with a sweet, sarcastic voice before glaring and turning away, stalking off in the girls’ direction.
Letting his head fall back in annoyance, Marcus threw his arms in the air, “Why me?” He cried out into the air before grunting aggravatingly.
“She’ll come around,” Marco lightly patted his shoulder, taking a swing of his beer and sitting in the chair next to him, his tanned chest wet from the water. “They always do.” He cooed teasingly as he gave Marcus a bottle of water.
“Thanks for the words of encouragement,” Marcus mumbled before unscrewing the cap and taking a sip of water, letting the cool substance slid down his throat, easing him slightly.
“No problem,” Marco gave him a cheeky wink in return, laughing as he earned a shove from his bestfriend.
Justin’s Point of View:
Kelsey sat with her legs crossed like a pretzel, the wind swaying her hair back as she clawed her fingers into the sand, taking a handful before letting it fall from her grip, watching as each piece knit together once more.
It’s funny how some things in life can have a similar meaning to ours. It could be something small, something you don’t really think much about but it’s there and it means a whole lot more to you once you come to realize its true meaning.
We were all grains of sand, meshed together in this crazy, messed up world; trying to find our place again. We all get picked apart and then seconds later, we’re let go to piece ourselves back together again—but we can’t because once you’re torn, there’s no stitching it back up. You have to find your way back a different way—the harder way.
Dropping myself in front of her, I cocked my head to the side, grasping her chin before pulling her to meet my eyes, “What are you thinking about?” I murmured quietly, absentmindedly swiping my thumb across her bottom lip as I caught my own in between my teeth.
Shrugging, Kelsey smiled softly, sticking her tongue out as she poked my thumb, giggling as I chuckled, letting my hand fall to her knee as I gave it a squeeze. “Just… life in general. Everything to be honest,” Her eyes shined gently and I knew that behind this calm façade was sadness.
My brows met in a frown as I sighed, “I’m sorry,” I muttered, my thoughts clouded, “I know I promised you a few nights of just you and me, no drama and it got ruined,” I felt myself getting angrier as the thought of what Leo had said rang through my ears, “But I promise it won’t happen again.”
“Hey,” Kelsey shook her head, cupping my cheek in her palm as she caressed it gently, pressing a kiss to my chin, “It’s okay. I accepted this a long time ago, you have nothing to be sorry for. It’s not like you planned for this to happen.”
“Yeah,” I scratched the back of my head, grabbing her hand in mine as I laced our fingers together before kissing the back of her hand, holding it in my lap, “You’re my world you know that?”
She nodded her head. “I know and you’re mine,” Leaning over, she kissed me full on the lips before pulling away, smiling brightly. “It’s so nice out today,” She noted, letting her eyes close as she took in the warmth around her.
Laying back against the sand, I grabbed her hand, pulling her down on top of me.
Shrieking as she fell, Kelsey began laughing loudly, peering up at me through her lashes as she slapped my arm, “You could’ve warned me!”
“Sorry,” I smirked, “I didn’t want to bother you.”
“But you’d rather scare me half to death instead?” Scoffing playfully before laying her cheek against my chest, Kelsey began scratching me lightly with her fingernails as she hummed to herself, the sun beaming down on us.
“I love you, you know,” I breathed out, my fingers repeatedly running through her hair as I untangled the ends, planting several kisses at the top of her head.
Nuzzling into me, Kelsey wrapped her arms around my middle, “I know,” Her voice came out muffled but I heard her perfectly clear, “I know you do.” She whispered, “And I love you too.”
Closing my eyes, I let the peaceful serenity follow suit around us as the sun bathed us in warmth. I let my nerves calm despite its friction to stay alive. I was used to being on edge every waking moment of my life, knowing with the way I lived, anything could happen at any time and I always had to be ready for anything.
But today, something inside of me shut down, knowing that for the first time in a very long time, everything was okay and I had nothing to worry about.
“Need some company?” A voice startled Kelsey as she looked over to see Kellan making his way on our turf with Ricky and Xavier by his side, both carrying 6-packs of beer, three girls trailing behind them.
Peeking one eye open, I groaned, letting my head fall back. “No thanks, I think we’re good.” I muttered, throwing an arm across my eyes.
“Fine,” Kellan grumbled, “No beer for you then, we’ll just take it for ourselves.”
“You do that,”
“Justin,” Kelsey hissed, sitting up in a straddling position as she held herself up with her hands on my stomach, “Be nice.”
“Yeah Justin, what the girl said,” Kellan teased, “Be nice.”
“That girl,” I hissed, propping myself up on my elbows, “has a name and I suggest you use it.”
“What’s gotten your boxers in a twist?” Kellan mocked in fake hurt, rolling his eyes once he met my glare as he held a hand to his chest, “My sincerest apologies, I seem to have forgotten my manners, I’m Kellan and you are?” He held his hand out in which Kelsey took, shaking it briefly.
“Kelsey,” She laughed lightly at his idiocy.
“What a pretty name for such a pretty girl,” Kellan winked, kissing the back of her hand.
“Okay,” I abruptly slid from underneath Kelsey before standing up, catching her before she fell forwards, “This girl happens to be my fiancé so I suggest you take a hike or I’ll gladly chop your hands off.”
Throwing them up in mock surrender, Kellan chuckled, “I was just messing man I know she’s off limits.”
“Good,” I shot back warningly.
“Someone’s whipped,” Xavier sing sang from behind as he opened the case, handing a beer to each of the guys, including me.
“If you’ve got an amazing girl like her, I think anybody would be whipped.” Marco called out from his seat behind Alec who merely waved off his comment, stuffing a chip into her mouth as he held her around her waist in-between his legs.
Blushing, Kelsey tucked her hair behind her ears as I tossed my arm around her shoulders, holding her close to my side, “You got that right.” I grinned while kissing her on the temple.
Nodding, Xavier grabbed a beach chair from nearby, pulling it over before plopping himself down, grabbing the hand of one of the girls and hoisting her onto his lap where he took a sip of his cold beverage. “So, what have you all been up to? I heard about the incident, I’m real sorry.”
“It’s nothing I haven’t been through before,” Marcus shrugged, holding his beer up as a sign of his acceptance to his friendly apology.
“We had no clue that was supposed to go down, we would’ve been down there in a second if we would’ve known but we were all out handling a job for Leo.” Ricky shared as he sat next to Kellan, a girl at his side who didn’t waste any time clawing at his body, her lips attached to the side of his neck.
“It’s alright,” Bruce cleared his throat, “What’s done is done. There’s no use in discussing the things you can’t change.”
“Yeah,” Marcus agreed, “We all just have to accept it and move on.”
“Easier said than done,” Kadra muttered with a look of disbelief on her face.
Marcus rolled his head back as he sighed bitterly, “Let it go already.”
“How can I let something like this go? You’re all sitting here acting as if you didn’t almost die!” Kadra shouted, throwing her arms in the air.
“Kad…” Kelsey bit her lip, shaking her head slightly.
“Don’t,” Kadra shook her head, “You were the same way when Justin was shot, so you have no right to even defend him right now.”
“I’m not defending anybody, I just think you should just respect his wishes when he tells you to drop it for now…”
“I just find this entire situation to be stupid! Why can’t everybody see for what this was?”
“Kadra…” Marcus warned, his eyes darkening slightly, a state in which he hasn’t entered often.
“Seriously, this is bloody ridiculous! You were in the hospital fighting for your life just a few days ago and you want to wave it off as if it’s an everyday thing?”
“That’s because it is!” Marcus shouted, turning to look at her, his jaw tightening. “This is the life I chose so either you accept it or you don’t! Now either you shut the fuck up or I’ll be forced to lock you in our room for the rest of the day and if you think I won’t do it, watch me!”
Narrowing her eyes, Kadra pressed her lips together so tight I thought they would crumble, “I hate you.” She seethed, venom dripping from every word she spoke.
Marcus scoffed, “Don’t be such a fucking drama queen.”
Staring at him for a long time, waiting to see if he’d apologize, Kadra looked down at her hands once she realized he wasn’t. Standing, she brushed herself off, “I’ll just be seeing myself out you guys enjoy your day.”
“Kadra,” I reached for her but she only pulled away before I could latch onto her wrist.
“No” She said before disappearing out back and into the house.
“You did it now bro,” Kellan shook his head, leaning back into his chair as he took another swing of his beer.
“I don’t care,” Marcus sighed, running his hands up and down his face, “I love her but she’s driving me crazy.”
“Eh, love is for chumps,” Ricky tucked his hands behind his head as he kicked his feet out in front of him, the girl attached to him before now sprawled out on top of him as she began kissing his chest.
“Jesus Ricky, we didn’t let you guys stay to watch a fucking porno.” I scolded, twisting my face in disgust.
“Now you know how I feel every time I walk in on you and Kelsey!” Marco pointed out as he clicked bottles with Marcus.
“Oh God,” Kelsey hid her face in my neck as she turned away from them in embarrassment.
“It’s not my fault you walk into our room uninvited all the damn time, so in all honesty, it’s your fault.” I shrugged.
Ricky laughed, “You heard ‘em babe, they don’t want a porno. I guess we’ll finish this later,” Sloppily kissing her, he winked before grabbing himself another beer.
“I’ll be right back,” Kelsey whispered in my ear.
“Mm, okay, be careful,” Kissing her cheek, I watched as she retrieved Kadra’s steps back to the house.
Kelsey’s Point of View:
Opening the door that led into Kadra’s room, I felt a piece of my heart break when I found her huddled into a fetal position on the bed, tears staining her cheeks.
She was always known as the stronger one out of all five of us, never showing her true emotions when it came to situations like these and it killed me seeing her as fragile as ever.
“Hey,” I whispered, not wanting to frighten her.
She didn’t flinch, move nor say anything as she simply sniffled, wiping her cheeks dry with the backs of her hands.
I closed the door behind me gently before walking over to her as I crawled on top of the bed, wrapping my arms around her in a friendly embrace. “It’s going to be okay.” I murmured gently, knowing she was hurting inside.
“He hates me,” Kadra said hoarsely, her voice scratchy from the crying she had done.
“No he doesn’t Kad—”
“Yes he does. I upset him in front of everybody and you know how he is and I just—I wasn’t thinking… I’m just so… ugh!” Kadra trusted the blankets off her body as she sat up, “I’m angry and I’m upset. I’m mad at him, at everybody for brushing this off like it’s nothing!”
“You know that’s not true Kadra, they love him like a brother and when he was hurt… nobody was the same after that. Everyone handles things differently and Marcus chose to forget about it and not dwell on it any longer. That’s the healthy thing to do Kadra.” I grabbed her hand, “As much as you hate it, if he thinks make to that moment, there’s no telling what it’ll do to him.”
“He makes it seem like it’s okay like him getting stabbed is… normal!” Kadra stubbornly shook her head.
“It’s their kind of normal…” I murmured gently, “You’re still just getting used to it.”
“What if I can’t?” Kadra whispered painfully, “What if this is it for us?”
“Don’t say that… you love him and he loves you.” Squeezing her hand, I sighed, “When they come home from a job, sometimes they’re clean, not a scratch on them but then other times, they’re covered in sweat, blood and a whole lot of bruises and cuts. It happens and I know you’re scared that the next time something like this happens, he won’t make it.”
“I know the feeling Kadra, I’ve been there plenty of times before. When Justin was shot… it was like my whole world stopped and I couldn’t breathe. One second he was there, he was fine… and then all of a sudden it’s like everything was just ripped apart from underneath me and I didn’t know where to step to next.”
“I thought he was dead… I thought that he wouldn’t wake up and when the doctors were going to give up on him, I knew that in my heart, he was going to come back to me that he had to. He’s strong, he’s one hell of a fighter and he wouldn’t leave me…”
Kadra blinked back tears as she listened intently to what I was saying.
“But there was that second in my life where I thought “this was it, this is the end” but the truth is, there is no end unless he’s there with me. Our story, your story doesn’t have to end here… love conquers all. You just have to be willing enough to accept the bad that comes with the good.”
“There had been so many times in my life where I thought I was going to combust from everything that was going on around me. Our life is like a whirlwind of events and it never stops moving but I pushed forwards and despite everything that’s happened, I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time.”
“You just have to be able to hold on long enough to see the rainbow that arrives after the storm,” Smiling, I urged her simply with another gentle squeeze of her hand.
“Have you ever thought about becoming a therapist?” Kadra questioned after a moments silence earning a full on roll of laughter to come tumbling from inside, “No but I’m serious,” She grinned, “You’re way too good at this.”
“Thanks, I try, I try,” I playfully brushed off my shoulders, smiling. “You’re not alone in this you know, you have me, Carly and the girls… you don’t have to ever keep any of this bottled up inside of you. If you feel like you’re going to explode, don’t do it on Marcus, come to one of us and we’ll talk it out…” Trailing off, I bit my lip, trying to suppress a smile, “No pun intended of course.”
“Kelsey!” Kadra, shocked, widened her eyes at me despite laughing to herself, “What have these boys done to you?”
“They’ve corrupted my mind.” I teased.
“You need more girls in your life, remind me to come over more often when the guys are out of the house or something, we’ll have a girls night just us two.”
“Okay, I’d love that,” Leaning over, I pulled her into a hug.
Pulling away, Kadra sighed, looking around the room. “I’m a mess.” She playfully pouted, “And I probably look it too.”
“No you’re not,” I shook my head, “And no you don’t. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up and we can start on that girl’s night tonight. What do you say we watch a movie?”
“And I’ll make popcorn?” Kadra raised her eyebrows in question.
“Duh, unless you want them burnt then I’ll do it instead.”
“How can you burn popcorn?” Kadra stood from the bed, stretching her limbs as she picked up the blanket off the floor before folding it and tossing it on the bed.
“You’d be surprised,” I muttered.
Justin’s Point of View:
“I thought I’d find you out here,” I said, watching as Kelsey jumped in surprise, turning to see me as she laid a hand to her chest.
“You’re going to end up killing me tonight if you keep scaring me like that,” She spoke breathlessly, “What are you doing out here anyways? I thought you were staying with the guys tonight.”
“I could ask you the same thing about Kadra.”
She shrugged, smiling, “She fell asleep during the movie. She’s exhausted with everything that’s been going on…”
I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my shorts. “Yeah… Marcus decided to head on back too. He couldn’t stop thinking about how he ended their argument.”
“Kinda reminds me of someone I know,” Kelsey caught my gaze as she softly smiled, rocking on the heels of her bare feet.
“Yeah?” I walked over to her, wrapping my arms around her neck as I turned her around, keeping her safe against my chest while resting my chin on her shoulder.
“Yeah,” Kelsey murmured as she leaned her head back against my shoulder, her eyes shining against the moonlight.
The waves crashed peacefully against the shore, wetting our feet.
“I also thought I made it clear that I don’t want you going anywhere by yourself at night.” I voiced out loud, my eyes caught in the far distance as hers pierced through me.
Holding onto my arms, Kelsey sighed, keeping quiet for a while as she chewed the inside of her lip. “It’ll always be like this.”
I felt my arms tighten slightly, my breath caught in my throat. It wasn’t a question but a statement because she knew… she knew that even if it was okay today and maybe even tomorrow, it won’t last.
I swallowed hard. “This nightmare will be over soon enough baby… I promise.” Kissing her on the side of the head, I nuzzled her neck, “I won’t let anyone hurt you, okay? Nobody will ever take you away from me again." I spoke in a hushed whisper, my lips brushing ever so slightly across her ear.
“What if we’re all in over our heads? What if those guys from the club come back and try to finish the job? What if Lyndon’s planning something back home while we’re standing here letting it happen? What if this is the end?”
“Hey, hey, hey now…” I urged her around, my brows pulled into a frown, “They’re not going to come back, okay? I already handled them and as for Lyndon, he’s done for when we go back home.”
Kelsey’s eyes widened slightly, her lips parted in the shape of a semi-circle, “Justin, please don’t…”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t…” She trailed off, licking her lips, “Don’t do something you can’t take back.”
“Baby…”
“No,” She pulled away, taking a step back, her hands shaking by her sides, “If you leave me again…” Kelsey shook her head, “I don’t think I’ll be able to forgive you. Not again. One time was enough… a second?” Looking up into my eyes, I held my breath as I caught the pain behind the swirls of brown I had become so accustomed to looking into, “I can’t.”
Cupping her face into my hands, I pressed my lips softly to hers, transferring every ounce of my love for her in that one single embrace, wanting her to taste it, to feel it… “I was young, naïve and hard-headed. I thought that I was able to handle something far more different than I’ve ever experienced. When I killed before it was out of anger. With Luke… it was out of love. Love can make you do crazy things, you know that? I never knew what it was like to love someone so much until you came along and I let it get in the way. I let it control my thoughts and it screwed me up but I’m here now and I’m not going anywhere.”
“You don’t have to worry about me leaving you because I’m not going anywhere. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you but I’ll remind you every second of the day if I have to. Without you, it’s like a piece of me is missing… and it sucks. No matter what I try to convince myself or do, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m not with you.”
“He makes you angry…” Kelsey whispered, looking down at her hands as she toyed around with her engagement ring, “I just don’t want you getting sidetracked with the things he says… I don’t want him getting inside your head to the point where you black out. I know you Justin and I know that the second he does, you turn everything off like a switch. You turn into this entirely different person and before you know it, everything’s destroyed and you don’t even realize how it happened.”
“I won’t,” I said. “I won’t let it happen. Not this time. I have way too much riding on this to screw up. I know that when I go in, I have to go in with my head screwed on tight. Life doesn’t have re-dos especially with this lifestyle. I worked too damn hard to get things back together in my life and I don’t want to throw it all away.”
Sliding her hands up my chest and to the base of my neck, Kelsey leaned her head against my frame, fitting perfectly under my chin as I wrapped my arms securely around her body.
“I got you baby girl.”
“I want it to stay this way forever… just you and me.”
“No matter what happens, it’ll always be just me and you.” Looking out into the water, I bit the inside of my cheek. “What do you think about going for a bit of a swim with me?”
Looking up at me, Kelsey let out a breathless laugh, “Now? In the middle of the night?”
“Yeah,” I shrugged, pulling away enough to pull off my shirt, “Why not? It’ll be fun. Besides, we haven’t spent much time together and I think it’s time we put the bullshit aside and do something different.” Sliding off my shorts so that I’m left in my boxers, I flashed her a cheeky grin. “What do you say Jones, you up for it or are you too chicken?”
Raising an eyebrow, Kelsey pursed her lips, “No,” She spat playfully, “I’m not afraid, quite the opposite actually.” Grabbing the bottom of her shirt, she rolled it upwards, off her body and to the floor. “But I think you’ll be.” Taking off her shorts as well, I held my breath as she stood before me with nothing but her undergarments off. “Eyes up here, Bieber,” Kelsey pointed towards her face, cheesing up at me.
“Nah you’re mine therefore, I can look at every…” I looked down at her toes, “Single…” I trailed up her stomach, “Part…” Scanning her chest, I met her eyes once more, “Of you.” Hooking an arm around her waist, I gave her a firm kiss to her lips, biting her bottom before tossing her over my shoulder and running into the water.
“Justin!” Kelsey shrieked, laughing as she kicked and pounded against my back.
“Save it for the bedroom baby, we’re at the beach!” I teased, chuckling as she gasped, slapping me against my ass, “Ou,” I smirked, “Kinky,” I tapped her butt.
“You’re revolting!” She laughed.
“You love it,” I called out while walking further into the water before dropping her inside in which she let out a loud cry, spluttering down below before rising upwards, coughing with her arms swatting against the water as she fought to keep herself in balance.
“I hate you!” She spit, her hair now sprawled against her face in thick streaks due to the water.
“Now, now baby, isn’t lying a sin?” I gave her a bantering look, holding back laughter as I rolled my lips into my mouth. “You mustn’t lie to yourself cause you know you la-la-la-la-la-la-la-love me.” He winked.
“Did you just quote part of a song?”
“Maybe.” I shrugged, “Not the point though.”
“I thought you didn’t like music,” She put her hands on her hips, cocking her head to the side.
“I don’t but it’s kind of hard to ignore it when it’s everywhere.” I pointed out easily, looking out into the sky covered in stars as I absentmindedly looked at her chest, smiling softly when I saw the star pendant shining against her skin.
“Why don’t you?” She asked and when she met my confused gaze, she quickly corrected herself, “Like music, I mean.”
I shrugged, looking away from her again. “I just wasn’t ever into it.”
“I think it’s more than being into it.” Pushing the hair from her face back, Kelsey walked over to me, wrapping her arms around my waist as she laid her chin against me. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“No, it’s not that…” Sighing, I laid my hands against her hips, drawing circles against her skin, “When I would go driving, you know, taking Jazzy to and from school, uhm she would always listen to music. I mean, that girl couldn’t stop singing for the life of her. She loved it, she wanted to be a singer she told me and you know, she had the voice for it too. She would always put on the radio and just jam out to any song that was playing.”
A sad smile played on Kelsey’s lips as she gave my chest a gentle kiss, “So you just stopped?”
“After she died.” I confirmed, kissing her on the forehead. “It just didn’t feel right without her being there with me.”
Reaching up, Kelsey scratched her fingers against the side of my head, raking them through my buzzed cut, her thumb caressing behind my ear as she cupped the side of my face into her hand, “Say no more.” She quietly murmured.
Pecking her nose, I chuckled as Kelsey scrunched her face up, giggling. “Okay, no more sad stories, let’s have fun!” Taking her by surprise around the waist, I threw us both into the water.
“You’re insane you know that?” Kelsey shook her head as she walked up the beach alongside me, our bodies soaking from the swim we took.
“Come on babe, you can’t deny the fact that you had fun with me.” Wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I pulled her into my side.
“I always have fun with you but that’s not the point,” She swatted at my chest, “I swallowed about a freaking gallon of salt water because you threw me in about a hundred times!”
“Oh don’t be so dramatic, it was more like a pint of salt water.” I dodged her hands as she went to hit me again, her eyes narrowed in a glare.
“You drive me crazy.” She muttered, grabbing my hand in hers as she swayed them back and forth, her fingers toying with mine as she twirled herself around before taking it in her other hand and swinging herself around, jumping on my back.
Catching her with ease, I held her by her thighs, her arms around my neck as we nearly stumbled to the ground.
Clutching onto me, Kelsey let out a girlish giggle as I began running with her head thrown back while the wind whisked through us both causing goosebumps to rise on our arms.
“Let me go,” She called out, jumping down from my back once I removed my hands. Turning to see Kelsey beginning to walk backwards, I raised my eyebrows at her. “I bet you can’t catch me.” She challenged.
I smirked, “I believe you’ve said that multiple times and each time, I’ve caught you.”
Pouting, Kelsey crossed her arms against her chest, “Yeah? Well, not this time.”
“You sure about that?”
“Yeah,”
“Okay,” Shrugging, I made a show to look elsewhere before advancing forwards, running in her direction and scooping my arms around her waist as I twirled her around, her feet in the air.
Kelsey held onto my hands as she laughed loudly, her head against my chest, “Justin!” She cried out, trying to get out of my hold on her, “You cheated!”
“Actually I just made things easier for the both of us.” Meeting her glare, I put my hands up in surrender, “Okay, fine. Go, I’ll let you get a head start.”
Biting her lip, Kelsey narrowed her eyes at me as she took a couple steps back to make sure I wouldn’t go after her before turning and running as fast as her legs would take her.
Chuckling at how hard she was trying, I gave her five seconds before dashing after her, chasing her all around the beach in a circle before I caught her around the waist, throwing her over my shoulder.
“Ahhhh!” Kelsey pounded against my back, “Let me down you big butt!”
“Who even says that anymore?” I chuckled, “But I appreciate the compliment.” I coiled us both around, her arms flying forwards as I did so. Losing my balance, the both of us fell against the sand, my body landing on top of hers. “Shit,” I held myself up, “are you okay?” I looked down at her with worry on my face.
“Okay?” Laughing hysterically, Kelsey covered her mouth with her hand as she doubled over, “That was so much fun!” She cried out with nothing but pure joy in her eyes making my stomach churn tastefully at the sight.
I kept my hands on either side of face, my thumbs caressing her cheeks gently as I leaned down, kissing her on the nose. “You’re so cute.”
Bursting into another round of laughter, I furrowed my eyebrows down at her, wondering what in the world was funny to her now.
“Badass Danger calls me cute, that should be a sight for the locals to see,” Kelsey laid motionless underneath me, tears in her eyes from how hard she had chortled.
“Really? That’s what you were laughing about?” I shook my head at her, “I worry about you sometimes.”
“But you la-la-la-la-la-la-love me,” She teased me from our earlier moments together, wrapping her arms around me as she rolled us around so that she was sprawled on top of me before sliding to the left, Kelsey intertwined her leg with mine, half of her body resting against mine. “And it’s actually funny if you think about it.”
“How is it funny?” I raked my fingers through her hair, ignoring the sand that was currently adorning the both of our bodies.
“You’re this big, bad tough guy but when it comes to just the two of us, you’re the biggest teddy bear ever.”
Groaning, I rolled my head back, “Don’t say that. I am no fucking teddy bear babe.”
“You are mine.” She pouted, looking up at me with innocent eyes, the ones I could never back down from.
Sighing, I closed my eyes, “Don’t look at me like that.” I muttered.
“Like what?” She batted her eyelashes at me, biting the corner of her lip, knowing fully well what I meant.
“Like… that,” I gestured towards her face, “all sweet and acquitted. It drives me crazy because I can never say no.”
“You love it.” She poked my side.
“I love everything about you and it’ll kill me one day.” I mumbled and before I realized what I said, the familiar pang of anger built up inside of me as Leo’s words rang endlessly in my ears.
“She’s going to get you killed”
“Hey,” Kelsey gently touched the side of my face, “are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I shook my head, snapping out of it as I looked down at her, “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know… you just looked a bit lost there for a second.” She touched my chin, forcing me to look at her, “Anything you want to talk about?”
“No,” I automatically responded on instinct, “I’m fine. I just remembered something that I had to do but I’ll handle it later.”
“You sure? Because we can go if you want, I don’t mind.” Kelsey said as she began to sit up.
Feeling guilty, I frowned. “No,” I said, stopping her before she removed herself from her position on top me, “It can wait. I’m spending time with you right now and that’s all that matters, okay? Everything else can wait.”
“Justin…” Kelsey began quietly as if she knew she was getting in the way of something, “if it’s important—”
“Nothing is more important to me than you.” I cut her off, forcing her to stay put as I shifted a bit so that I was the one now slightly hovering over her. Catching her eyes in a smoldering gaze, I held onto it, wanting her to know I was all for her. “Don’t you ever think that my job is more important than you, okay?”
“I know you have a lot riding on you this week and…” She shrugged, “It’s crucial.”
“And so are you. You’re my fiancé.” I felt my heartbeat pick up a bit, “My job will always be there but no matter what, you’ll always be the main focus in my life.”
Pressing her lips together, I saw Kelsey’s eyes glaze over and I knew it wasn’t from laughter but from something else. Happiness. “You don’t know how much that means to me to hear you say that…” She whispered.
Curling my lip into a half smile, I leaned my head down, pressing my lips gently to hers. “You’ll always be my number one.” I kissed her again, “Always.”
“Where the hell have you guys been?” Marco asked as he plopped himself down next to Alec on the couch, his eyebrows raised as he took us in, “Did you go rolling in the sand or something?”
“No, you dipshit,” I spat, “We went for a swim and when we got out, we fell in the sand.” I licked my lips, noticing how everyone was all dressed up. “What have you guys been up to?”
“Nothing. Waiting for your asses to come so we can leave.” Marco threw his arm around Alec’s shoulders, his other hand holding his phone as he checked the time, “It’s almost midnight and I don’t know about you but I feel like we haven’t had fun all together in years. It’s time we hit the clubs.”
“The clubs?” I froze, my voice holding an edge to it as my hand tightening against Kelsey’s as she winced slightly, hovering her other hand over mine calming me slightly.
“Yeah, Kellan suggested this place out of town.” He caught my eye, “It’s safe. We checked, it’s not tied to anyone we know.” He referred to Leo and I instantly relaxed.
“You guys want to go now? What about Marcus?” I looked at him, “Are you sure you’re up for this?”
“Yeah,” He shrugged, “I just won’t drink and I’ll just stay out of trouble.”
“Plus, I’ll be right by his side if anything happens.” Kadra said and I felt a tiny smile tug on my lips.
“So you guys made up?”
Blushing, Kadra nodded, giving Marcus a kiss on the cheek.
“Alright,” I looked down at Kelsey, “What do you want babe, you wanna go?”
Biting her lip, she looked all around the room before looking up at me. “Sure,” She shrugged, “Why not? I’ve always wanted to dance with you anyways.”
Arching a brow, I smirked, “Oh really?” I dropped her hand, grabbing her by the hips as I pulled her over to me.
“Yeah,” She nodded confidently, “Really.” She smiled cheekily, her eyes shining with a hint of seductiveness and I knew in my gut tonight was gonna be fun.
Not removing my eyes from hers, I referred to everyone, “Give us half an hour and we’ll be ready.”
“Woo-hoo!” Marco threw pumped his fists in the air, “Let’s get ready to rumbleeeee!”
“That’s for wrestling you idiot.” Marcus laughed out loud, shaking his head.
“Who gives a shit? We’re going out tonight!” Marco smiled wide, nothing but excitement radiating off of him. It was simply contagious and before we knew it, we were all driving with adrenaline in our bodies ready for the night to take us away into oblivion.