looks better than great. I don’t know that I want to share just how good she looks.”
“We’re not sharing,” Ian told him firmly. “She can wear whatever she wants and the rest of the world can look, but they don’t get to touch.”
“Hmm.” Jake didn’t sound like he disagreed as he pressed a kiss to my throat. “You guys head on down, we’ll join you later.”
“Uh uh,” I scolded, despite how interested I was. “I wanna see the beach.” Spring break. The five of us away together. The sun. The sand. The ocean.
“Fine,” Jake grunted as he walked us forward. “Can you see it from here?”
Laughter rippled through all of us, and I elbowed him. His exaggerated ‘oof’ just made me smile though. “C’mon,” I said, catching his hand as I pulled away. “I’ve been dying to see this since Archie announced we were going to run away like normal teens for the holiday.” The beach and spring break went hand in hand, right?
I hadn’t bothered with shoes. The swimming pool was beautiful, but didn’t hold the allure of the water or the sand. While the beach wasn’t empty, it wasn’t crowded either. Another perk to a semi-private beach, I guessed. Either way, I didn’t pay attention to the other groups as I reached the gate. Archie made it a half-step ahead of me and popped it open. He snagged my fingers, interlocking them before we stepped over the warm sidewalk and then onto the sand itself.
As soon as I hit it, I curled my toes against the coarseness. It wasn’t super soft, but it wasn’t hard either. It was definitely warm after being in the sun. The guys trailed along with us and we dropped our towels and a bag down about ten feet from the water.
Head tilted back, I let the sun hit my face, and I couldn’t stop smiling. Not when Archie lifted my hand to kiss, or when a pair of arms wrapped around me from behind. All the tension of the last few weeks kind of melted away.
“Stay just like that,” Coop said, and then there was a telltale shutter sound from his phone. When I opened my eyes, I found him grinning at me as he snapped photos of us.
“You done?” Ian asked.
“Yep. I’ll upload it to the cloud later.”
“Fantastic.” Suddenly, Ian scooped me up, one arm beneath my knees and the other wrapped around my back. I gripped his shoulders and stared up at his wild grin. “Ready, Angel?”
“Ready for…?” The answer to my question hit me, even as he started moving. Oh shit. He didn’t slow until we plowed into the surf rolling in, and I landed in the salty water. It was bracing and a little chilly, but I couldn’t stop laughing. We hadn’t gone that deep, but the water foamed where it hit us, and I wrapped my arms around his neck.
“Perfect,” he murmured and then dipped his head. I arched to meet his kiss, the soft caress of his lips on mine a delight. He’d brushed his teeth, the minty freshness sweet as he swept his tongue in to stroke mine. Hot palms cupped my ass as the water buffeted us. “Hold your breath,” he warned against my lips a split second before someone hit us lightly and we went a little deeper and then under the water.
I was laughing and spluttering as I emerged. Jake and Ian were wrestling in the water, and I laughed as I climbed to my feet. It was still chilly, but I didn’t care. We were at the beach, and I threw my head back and whooped before I leapt on Jake’s back. It didn’t take long for Archie and Coop to join us, and then it was a five-way tussle for dominance. Or maybe a four-way tussle for who had me on their back while they wrestled with the others.
My sides hurt from laughing by the time I stumbled back onto the warm sand. The breeze was a little chilly on my damp skin, but I didn’t care. I staggered over to the towels and sank down to sprawl against the oversized one they’d pinned down. Eyes half-closed, I soaked up the last few rays of the sun.
“Hey, gorgeous,” an unfamiliar voice greeted me, and I glanced up to find a stranger with a smile grinning down at me.
“Taken,” I informed him, and then pointed to the ocean without looking. “And my boyfriends aren’t fans of strangers.”
He raised his hands. “Damn, just