Wednesday, 14 September 2016
Victoria's POV
"You know what we should do?" Rocky asked the next morning after we had finished cleaning up the living room. I raised an eyebrow at him. "We should all go and get some breakfast. Then we should go to the beach," he suggested and we all agreed.
"We need to go to the doctors first. Tori's cast may be coming off," Ross said and I crossed my left hand's fingers.
"What time is the appointment?" Riker asked.
"Eight thirty."
"Alright, how about we all go and get our stuff ready? We meet each other back here at about 10?" Rocky asked and I nodded.
"We should be done by then."
"Well, we better get going. We'll see you guys later," Ross said and grabbed my hand. We greeted everyone and Ross drove us home. When we got there, I went straight to the closet.
"I was thinking about wearing jeans and a shirt to the doctor and just changing at the beach," Ross said and I frowned.
"Are you sure you want to come along? I can always meet you guys there or something. I don't want to keep you away from your family," I said and felt his arms wrap around me.
"Babe, you're not keeping me away from my family. Don't be silly," Ross said and I sighed. "Plus, you need me to drive you to the doctor. We'll probably go to Huntington Beach and it's a forty minute drive. Your argument is full of holes so don't even try," he chuckled and placed a kiss on my lips.
***
"Can you tie my top for me?" I asked Ross after he had stepped out of the shower. He hummed and stood behind me. After tying the top, he turned me around and looked me up and down. A low whistle escaped his lips.
"I never knew you had such an amazing bikini body, babe. You look gorgeous," Ross grinned and I blushed. His smile suddenly broke off and he flinched slightly. His eyes turned hesitant.
"What's wrong?" I asked, but he only shook his head. "Ross," I coaxed and wrapped my arms around his waist.
"I'm just . . . I'm going to knock Ryland's teeth out if he looks at you again like he did last night," Ross seethed and I sighed.
"You saw that, huh?"
"Look, I don't want to come off as jealous or controlling-"
"I think a little bit of jealousy can be good to keep the spark alive-"
"Fine, yes, obviously I'm jealous, but my own brother shouldn't be looking at my girl like that. I wouldn't be this angry if it was just some random guy. And by the looks of it, you'll be getting plenty of looks like that today so he better not test me," Ross said and I sighed slightly.
"I can't tell you that you're overreacting because I don't get the relationship between two brothers. It's different to that of a brother and sister. However, I can tell you that you have absolutely nothing to worry about. And that I only have eyes for you," I said, but I could still see a bit of hesitance swimming in his eyes. "I'm not interested in anybody else and I never will be," I added and Ross nodded slowly.
I knew that Ross felt hurt by Ryland's actions, but I honestly didn't think it was that bad. I felt uncomfortable when he looked, yes, but it's not like he had made a move. I just hope he keeps his eyes to himself today.
***
"Well, well, well, would you like at that. Tori finally has two arms again," Rocky said when we walked into the Lynch house and I rolled my eyes.
I finally got my cast off today. I was so relieved because I felt immobile since I couldn't use my right arm. It still felt strange though.
"Yes and nobody is more relieved than I am. It still feels boneless though," I said and waved my arm around. I heard Riker chuckle softly.
"Alright, so where do you guys want to go?" Rocky asked and Ross spoke up.
"How about we go to Huntington Beach? The water is always nice and the waves are usually great."
Everyone agreed to his suggestion and soon we were all on our way to Huntington Beach. Ross and I were in his car along with Savannah and Riker. We talked and sang along to the radio on our way there. We ate at a diner near the beach before moving to choose a good spot. We set up all of our stuff.
"I'm going to go put on my shorts," Ross told me before he ran off to the bathrooms with Riker.
As I looked at Ross running off, I was suddenly reminded of the scar on my hip. I hadn't thought of this when I put on the bikini and now I'm thinking it would've been better to bring a one piece. I felt very self conscious.
"What's with the frown, Tor?" Rydel asked and I turned to the girls.
"Can I be honest with you?" I asked and they nodded. "When I was attacked, the guy cut me on my hip. It left an ugly scar and I didn't even think about it when I packed the bikini. And now I feel really self conscious," I confessed and Rydel nodded.
"I understand, but you really don't need to be. Everyone has scars. I have some stretch marks on my hips, and I don't think much of them."
"Yeah, and nobody will make a big deal out of it. These boys may be idiots, but they're not that dumb," Sav added and I laughed.
Following their lead, I took off my cover up and suddenly felt arms wrap around me.
"I just want to take you home," Ross purred into my ear and I laughed. "Don't laugh at me; you're causing a serious problem in my shorts right now."
"Keep it at bay, Ross!" Rydel yelled and I laughed while Ross pouted and mumbled on. Suddenly Rocky let out a gasp and pointed at my side. I felt my heart lodge in my throat as I waited for some type of comment about the cut.
"You have a tattoo," was all he said and I calmed down immediately.
"She has four, Rocky, control yourself," Ross rolled his eyes and I laughed.
"You do? Tell me everything! I wanna know!" Rocky said excitedly and sat down on my towel.
"There's not much to show they're all out in the open. Except for this one," I said and pointed to the sound wave next to my breast.
"I have roman numerals on my neck and a small cancer ribbon on my ankle. I also have one of the inside of my wrist," I said and he grabbed my foot. After examining each tattoo, he felt satisfied and showed me his tattoo.
"Well, now that I got that out of my system, I'm going surfing," he announced and grabbed his surfboard. Ross let out a sigh and shook his head.
***
I was tanning on my stomach, peacefully listening to music, when something heavy and wet suddenly fell on top of my back.
"Hey," Ross said as he took out one of my earphones. He placed his face in my neck and gave it a kiss.
"Hi."
"Come swim with me?" he asked and I let out a long groan. The sun felt amazing on my back and I haven't felt this at peace in a while.
"But I'm so comfortable," I whined and Ross chuckled.
"Did you put on sunscreen?" Ross asked and I nodded. He moved off of me and lied down on his towel besides me. He intertwined his wet fingers with mine and I opened my eyes to look at him. Small droplets of water were still visible on his body and his hair was messy on his head, but he looked absolutely hot.
He brought his hand up to my back and lightly trailed his fingertips up and down my back. "I love you," I said softly and he grinned at me.
"I love you too," he said before leaning over and giving me a soft kiss.
***
The day at the beach had been absolutely amazing. It was nearing nine pm and the crowd had thinned out considerably. We had started a bonfire. Ross sat next to me, on my left side. He and Rocky were both strumming their guitars and softly singing some songs.
"Let's all tell some horror stories," Rocky said and I looked at him strangely.
"What is it with you and horror stuff?"
"Sigh. I just don't know, Tori. Maybe I'm just mentally ill," he said dramatically and I snickered.
"Don't worry they have pills for that," I joked and he chuckled.
"Like you would know anything about that," Ryland suddenly mumbled from across the fire. The whole group fell silent. I raised an eyebrow at him.
"And you would?"
"I know that you couldn't possibly know anything about hardship. You're a billionaire's daughter and you have your own business. You've probably had everything you've ever wanted. You don't know anything about any sort of struggle. It's unfair for you to try and make jokes about it," he said. I was completely gobsmacked. It took seconds for rage to settle comfortably into my veins.
"Ryland, what the hell is your-"
"Who the hell do you think you are?" I cut Ross off and everyone turned to look at me. My voice was eerily calm as I spoke. The more I talked, the more regret settled onto Ryland's features. "You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. You've read one or two articles about me, now you think you know everything there is to know? You want to talk about unfair? For you to judge me when you will never truly know who I am, now that's unfair. You can't just decide what my life was like or how I grew up. Yes, I have a billionaire for a father, but I never had a real dad. I would give all the money up to have an actual relationship with my father.
"You think I want money and to travel the world, when I would rather have my sister still alive? You want to talk about unfair? You still have all of your siblings and both your parents. I've lost a sister and had to watch my own mother die right before my eyes – I literally held her as she died. All the while, my father showed absolutely no support for me or her.
"You think that money and wealth matter to me, when truly you're the one who has an issue with it. Otherwise, why would you even point it out? And the saddest part is that you have an amazing family who would give anything for you. Yet you're so focused on earthly things that you're forgetting that. Whereas, if I was you, I would rather focus on the people. You can always buy a new pair of shoes; you can't get another Riker if something were to happen to him. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. The things you take for granted, your family, I grew up praying for," I told Ryland. He took in a deep breath and nodded slowly.
"You're right, I apologise. I'm sorry, Victoria, that was unnecessary of me," Ryland said and I nodded.
"Now that Victoria has put Ryland in his place, which he truly needed, can we make s'mores?" Riker asked and everyone, except Ryland laughed.
***
"Thanks for today guys. I had a lot of fun," I said as we dropped everyone off at the Lynch's house where everyone's cars were.
"You're welcome, Tori. Are you guys going to come in?" Rydel asked and I looked at Ross.
"I think we're going to head home. It's already late," Ross said and we gave everyone hugs. After saying goodbye to everyone, we climbed in the car and started heading home. I nervously looked at Ross.
"Are you mad at me?" I asked and Ross looked at me weirdly.
"Baby, why would I be mad at you?"
"Because of the whole story with Ryland. Maybe I went too far..." I trailed off, but Ross shook his head.
"No, you didn't. You stood up for yourself and I'm glad you did. What he said was completely unnecessary. I think he was just an ass because he's jealous. You handled the situation very well, I was on the verge of kicking his ass," Ross said seriously and I chuckled. "I'm not mad at all – I could never be mad at you for defending yourself," Ross said and I nodded.
"Thank you for understanding," I said and he smirked at me.
"Alway, babe," he said and lifted my hand to his lips to kiss my knuckles. "Always."