Carter's beach trip was intriguing and after some time of thinking I decided to tell them that we should go. They were all excited but they had one condition only, that I should plan it.
"And after we eat we can head home. Does that sound good?" I look up from my phone and see Sarah nodding, but my cousin doesn't look too happy. I've told them my little plan from start to bottom, but I'm still working out the details. They're all practically going because of me, so I don't want them to feel bored.
"I don't like the fact that I won't be able to shower. Or what if I'm too tired and I don't feel like driving back?" Hailey says, her voice full of concern.
"You have showers on the beach and the tiredness, well -"
"Someone else could drive?" Luke raises an eyebrow as if that's the obvious solution.
"I doubt any of them would want to drive two hours." Hailey points to us girls and we sheepishly smile. She is the best driver and probably the only one who actually likes to drive, amongst us girls of course, boys are going in their own car.
"You could sleep on the beach?" Luke suggests, but his girlfriend sends him a look.
"I want to have fun on the beach, not think about whether I'm tired or not." Hailey says.
"Maybe we could, sleep the night?"
My cousin's eyes lit up at my suggestion. It's the first thing that I could think of and now that I see her reaction, I am glad I thought of that.
"Yes! At that small hotel we stayed in last summer. Remember, babe?" She looks at the blonde boy beside her and he nods.
"Yeah, that'd be smart. It's not expensive and it's nice enough for one night." He says.
"Are you okay with that?" I look at Sarah and Jessica, who are still eating crackers that I bought. They both nod ecstatically and I smile proudly.
"Okay, what's the name?" I ask and Luke and Hailey tell me. I search it up on the internet and check if there are any rooms available.
"Two rooms for two, two for one, two for three and one for four people." I scan the small words underneath the picture of the hotel. It seems decent, but it doesn't even matter since we are staying only one night.
"Dylan and Dave are going, too." Luke points out.
"I almost forgot about them, good thing you mentioned." I say.
"So Luke and I, Mel and Jess take the doubles, you and Sarah get each one for yourselves and the boys get the one for four." Hailey exclaims. I catch Sarah's eyes and I know she's thinking of Carter and how to be closer to him so my mind races with options.
"How about you couples take those for two, Sarah and I stay with Carter in the one for three and the other three boys take one as well so neither of us is seperated in their own room." I suggest and I see the small smile Sarah sends me before covering her mouth subtly.
"Sure. C won't mind." Luke shrugs and I try not to look to happy with the decision. With one click I book the rooms and set my phone down.
"Hold on." Luke says and takes out his own phone. I hear him dialing a number before he sets it on the table and presses the speaker. I read the screen that says C, which must be Carter. It rings a couple times before he picks up the phone.
"'Sup?" His voice echoes through the room as he answers.
"Are you with the guys?" Luke asks, leaning back in his chair with his hand behind Hailey's back.
"Yeah." He says and pauses for a second. "I don't know where Blue is, though."
I try not to cringe at the mention of that boy and keep my eyes focused on the phone's screen.
"About that beach trip, you good with sleeping there?" Luke continues to hold the conversation.
"Sure." Carter says. "Do you know where and all that?"
"Yeah, Kat just booked us rooms in that hotel Hails and I went to last summer, if you remember."
"Alright. We don't mind. When are we leaving?" After Carter's question Luke looks up at me, since I'm the one who planned it mostly.
"Is ten okay?" I wonder, since I assume they all must be heavy sleepers, just like me.
"Sounds good. I gotta go now, we're playing FIFA." He says and Luke instantly stands up.
"You're at the lobby? I'll be down in a second." He swiftly moves around the table and starts to walk away while hanging up the call. He then turns back to us and gives Hailey a peck on the cheek.
"Now that he's gone." My cousin exclaims once her boyfriend closes the door behind him. She crosses her legs under her and leans back in her chair. "Jess, sweetheart, do you have something to tell us?"
I see the faint blush that creeps over Jessica's cheeks as she awkwardly moves in her spot.
"Well, um." She looks at the three of us who are expectantly waiting on her to say something. "Mel asked me to be his -" She shifts her position. "Girlfriend."
The looks on our face are the exact same mirrored picture of our thoughts, knowing and proud. I could've assumed the two would end up together.
"I should've bet someone on this." Hailey huffs, placing her newly manicured hands on her hips. Jessica rolls her eyes but the smile on her face is still evident.
"Just try not to tease us about it, please." She looks over to Hailey, who attempts a weak nod. "He's still so awkward about it and it feels like I'm teaching a little kid about something he realised for the first time."
"I can't imagine Mel being awkward." Sarah exclaims.
""He is, though. And it's really weird to see him be so careful with me."
"That's so cute." I tilt my head. "And disgusting."
"Excuse me, miss no boyfriend." Jessica laughs at my expression.
"You really have no feelings at all." My cousin giggles at me.
"Hey! Yes, I do." I stand my ground. So what if I'm not the type to develop any real feelings? It doesn't mean I can't like someone. I have actually liked plenty of people, but it just seems to fade away quickly.
"You are something else. Actually, no." My cousins straightens up as if she's figured something out. "You are just like me two years ago."
"Hailey, you were reckless." Sarah tells her.
"Exactly, that is the only difference. I didn't care about the guys I would hook up with for a night, and I would literally break their hearts. Kat isn't like that. She's calm and collected about those things." My cousin says.
"Or as I would call it, boring." Jessica sings and I swat her with my hand.
"I'm kidding." She giggles, looking at me sideways.
"She's having fun, but being serious about it." Hailey looks at me with what looks like a proud gaze.
"Can we stop talking about me?" I say just as the doors burst open and Carter enters the apartment. His expression is almost panicked and the moment others spill in the room, I figure out why.
"Hello, ladies." That awfully deep voice slurs through the room, shifting the atmosphere.
I roll my eyes while my cousin shakes her head. It doesn't take long before everyone starts sitting around in the room and I start getting uncomfortable when Damon sits right next to me, his hand casually resting behind my chair. Luke walks out of the kitchen carrying two bottles of wine and a couple glasses with Carter following behind him with more glasses.
"Don't you have scotch or something?" Damon asks as the boys set the bottles on the table. They place the glass in front of each person and I look around to see that there are some of Damon's friends here as well. They are standing up since there are not enough chairs.
"Don't criticise or you'll be out of here." Carter tells him and Damon raises his hands in surrender. I still don't understand why he keeps coming around if Carter isn't fond of him.
"Red or white, darling?" Damon looks over to me, taking my glass between his fingers.
"White."
He smirks and takes the bottle, the beautiful liquid pouring inside my glass. He fills his own as well and then hands me mine, waiting for me to click my glass against his. I just look at him sideways and bring my glass to my lips, ignoring him.
"So you're going to Miami tomorrow, huh?" One of Damon's friends asks, looking around the table.
"We could join?" Damon suggests after leaning back in his chair. My eyes flicker to Carter, who shakes his head immediately.
"No offense, brother, but you better not." He tells the boy beside me. I see Damon's smirk and I hope it's not to spite Carter.
"Alright." He says, making me sigh in relief. "We've been there too many times, anyway."
"Man." His friends laughs. "Those were the times."
"Yeah, we're getting old." Damon says, taking another sip of his drink.
"The first time you got arrested." Luke looks up at the boy standing above him. The boy shakes his head with a smile.
"I was in so much trouble after that." He admits.
"Your mom banned you from coming here, right?" Jess asks him and he confirms her question by nodding.
"The most boring summer of my life. My parents forced me to go on a vacation with them." He says and Carter starts laughing at that.
"Can you imagine Aaron with his little sisters, just like running around with them." He laughs and pushes his sunglasses further up his nose.
"It's not that funny, C." Mel says blatantly making the poor boy straighten his face and pout. I giggle at that and some of them look at me. Since the first day I met Carter I always found him incredibly amusing. He's like a little child trying to accommodate to the adult life. It's funny and he reminds me of my brother sometimes.
"Only one person would find that funny." Wes mutters and smirks in my way. I try not to roll my eyes so I only glare at him and take my glass.
"He's just high, that's all." Damon comments on his step brother.
"Carter, you better not get high and drive or you'll end up like me." The guy I now know is Aaron says with a warning tone.
"Yeah, you better not make any problems." Wes agrees and looks at his friend.
"You're not the one to talk, Wessy boy." Aaron chuckles and extends his hand to ruffle Wes's hair. Wes growls and tries to fix it but fails. "Out there getting into fights and talks about not making problems. What even happened down there?"
"He talks too much, that's what happened." Wes answers, not really bothering to explain any further. I still don't know what was the cause of that fight but I doubt he'd tell me.
"It's the one that always plays tennis when we arrive." Damon explains to Aaron, probably referring to the guy Wes fought.
"Oh, yeah." Aaron says, seeming to remember and figure out who that person is. "He has a bad temper. Always yells and throws his tennis racket."
"Too bad he punches like a girl." Wes comments.
"Find some other word." Luke tells him and smirks, preparing his next line. "Kat probably hit you way harder than he did."
I raise my head to meet Luke's face. I can't help but smile proudly as they all laugh at what he said. Wes stares at him emotionless and flips him the finger.
"Isn't he older than you?" Aaron continues to ask about the fight.
"So you're aggressive as well." Damon's voice comes from beside me, low enough so only I can hear it.
"When someone gets on my nerves, yes." I reply.
"Stop pretending." He says. Honestly if he wasn't so annoying, I would maybe pay attention to him. But so far he's been pushing the limits and I'm trying too hard to keep my cool. "You're supposed to have fun, not avoid it."
"And what am I avoiding exactly? Because you don't seem like much fun to me." I huff. I'm staring at the table in front of me and when I lift my head up I meet Mel's eyes.
"Darling, I can give you the best time of your life. You just have to say yes." Damon mutters and I roll my eyes slowly. That's when Mel turns to the side and gently hits Wes, who's sitting next to him. Wes faces him and furrows his eyebrows at the action. Mel nods his head across the table in my direction and when Wes looks my way, his eyes focus on Damon.
"Funny enough, I'll pass." I say with sarcasm in my voice and stand up from my chair. I see Carter's apologetic face expression, so I pat him on the shoulder as I'm passing him. I don't want him to think he's the one at fault. He can't do anything about the fact that he has Damon as his half brother.
I move around the table and walk into the kitchen, opening the freezer to see if we have any ice cream left. I take a chocolate one and close the freezer shut, starting to unwrap the ice cream.
A figure walks in and I keep my attention to the person heading towards me, while throwing the plastic wrapper away. Wes steps in front of me, keeping a distance between us. He looks me up and down before stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"You okay?" He asks and I raise an eyebrow.
"Yes, why?"
"What did he say?" He asks, looking as if he already knows the answer. I can't help but wonder why the hell he cares.
"None of your business." I reply with the same tone he used on me a couple days ago. He smirks, clearly understanding where I got that from.
"Well, is he trying something with you?" He continues to ask. I take a bite of the icy chocolate on top to reveal the white colour of what must be vanilla underneath.
"I don't know. Like I care." I shrug and lean back on the counter.
"You're so damn cold." He chuckles. I don't know if he's referring to my current mood or the usual way I act. I wouldn't be surprised if it was both. He knows me long enough to comment on both.
"Yeah, I think the ice cream stayed in the freezer for too long." I examine the sweet in my hand as I feel the ice in my mouth. I also don't ignore yet another soft chuckle that comes from Wes. Although I hate to admit it, it sounds incredibly nice to hear him that way.
I meet his gaze and his face straightens up slowly. He's leaning on the opposite counter, his eyes lazily focused on me. There's something about the way he looks at me that constantly makes me feel nervous, tense and on edge.
"Wes, man, can I have a word with my girl?"
I choke on the piece of ice cream that is currently in my mouth. I open the trash can using my foot and spit the small part inside. When I look up I see that Wes's eyebrows shot up at the tall boy that just entered the kitchen.
"Your girl?" He asks casually, still standing in the same spot. Damon looks over at me and smirks.
"Soon enough. Once she stops with the act." He says and I glare at him.
"I think you should stop feeding your ego so much." Wes says and if this wasn't about me I would laugh. The egoistic one commenting the ego of the one with an even bigger ego.
"Come on." Damon says surprisingly calm. "Just leave the two of us so I can talk to her."
"Does she want to?" Wes looks at me and smirks. I know he thinks I'll say no and Damon would feel defeated. But it's not Damon that I'm interested in aggravating.
"I do, kind of." I smile and just as I imagined, Wes's smirk disappears and transfers itself on Damon's face. I give myself a mental high five. I forgot how interesting and amusing it is to go against Wes.
"Katherine." Wes mutters, but Damon claps his hands and fully steps inside.
"Thanks, mate. I think you're third wheeling now." Damon says and Wes looks at him, almost fumming. Then he looks back at me just as I bite the wooden stick left of my ice cream. I don't hesitate to send him a small wink before he stomps out of the kitchen.
Then I quickly straighten up and throw the stick in the trash can.
"So -"
"Don't even try it. I was being sarcastic." I raise my hand just as I use the other one to grab a napkin.
"What? Why?" He looks confused so I shrug. "To annoy him?"
I do pull a smirk and nod partly.
"Are you trying to make him jealous?" This time I shake my head. If I hear one more person thinking something like that I'm going to scream.
"We don't even like each other." I say, but it feels odd to say something like that.
I'm not going to lie, the tension between Wes and I had increased in the past couple days. Even before we slept together there was undoubtedly something between us. There is no denying I am physically attracted to him, because his looks are what made me sleep with him in the first place and the same probably goes for him. But as for the liking part, that is a topic to be avoided because Wes and I are polar opposites, we can barely stand to be around each other. However, our small talk in my room made me realise we can have a civil conversation and that makes me wonder what the hell is actually going on between us.
"Well, that's good. He's not a competition to me then." Damon says, looking proud.
"You're not even competing." I roll my eyes.
"Why are you so set on not being with me?" He chuckles.
"Firstly, you don't even know me and you're talking about dating me?" I lift one of my fingers before lifting the other one. "Secondly, I don't like your attitude at all."
"Okay." He looks at me and starts to think. "We don't have to date but I like your way of being straightforward, it's attractive. And as for my attitude, it's a factor I cannot change."
"Well then, too bad." I fake a smile and move to walk past him but he grabs my forearm.
"Will you at least try and give me a chance?"
"No." I answer truthfully and step out of his grip.
-
I'll be giving dedications and shoutouts for the most creative comment ;)
Love, M.