Page 42 of Memories By the Shore
Easton playfully hooks an arm around me. “Well, this looks romantic. Where was our invite?”
“You didn’t get one,” Jasper snaps.
Riley smiles down at me, which tells me that their playfulnature is not something new between them. If I continue to spend time with Jasper, I have to accept that he’s a package deal. Despite them being a little annoying at times, I like them. I didn’t grow up with siblings. Being included in their tight friend circle is nice.
“We’re headed over to the cove for a beach party. You guys in?” Easton says.
Jasper opens his mouth to answer, but I interject. Slipping my hand into his, I answer, “Yeah.” Jasper’s head whips around. His brow arched with surprise. “I don’t mind going.”
“Are you sure? We don’t have to let them pressure us,” Jasper reassures me, throwing the guys a side-eye.
“We’re not pressuring her to have a good time, man,” Bodhi rebuttals.
I smile at Jasper, fluttering my eyelashes a few times. “It’ll be fun.”
“Are you sure?” He dips his head low, not believing that I’d want to hang out with them.
“She said yes, dude. Let’s go!” Easton playfully rests a hand on Jasper’s shoulder.
The five of us take the ten-minute walk down the beach. No one even mentioned driving our cars, which is interesting because that’s the first thought that crossed my mind. People walk everywhere around here. The weather is wonderful, and unlike Phoenix, where everyone hibernates in the summer, in Coconut Grove, much of the town’s life is spent outdoors.
It doesn’t take long before the music drowns out the sounds of the waves, and a bonfire lights up the clear night sky.
While walking closely and with my hand comfortably insideJasper’s, he leans in and whispers, “We can stay for as long or short as you’d like.”
The warmth from his breath on my temple causes goose bumps to span the skin of my neck. I tilt my head, meeting his soft lips with mine. He kisses me.
“Thank you, I’ll let you know,” I mutter into his mouth. We both released as our group approached a larger group of people chatting, drinking, and listening to music.
A few people say hello to us as we get closer to the group.
“Are you all drinking?” a blonde guy asks. Dressed identically to the rest of the guys on the beach in board shorts and lacking a shirt, he stands in front of two light blue coolers. A few more were stacked behind him.
“Clark, this is my girlfriend, Avery.” Jasper wraps an arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer.Marking his territory, I guess?
“Hi,” I say. That’s the first time I’ve heard Jasper refer to me as his girlfriend.Is that what I am now? Oh my god.I’m his girlfriend. He’s my boyfriend—this tall, dark-haired, toned, tanned, incredibly hot guy. I curl close, letting myself fall victim to his possessive move.
“Nice to meet you, doll. What would you like?” Clark’s voice is smooth and friendly.
“What do you have?” I ask, a little nervous. I only went to a few parties in high school. Most of the time, the “friends” I thought I had were only the more popular kids wanting to use my parents’ boat on the lake. I fell for it until the second semester of my junior year.
“Clark is going to own a bar in town one day. He can makeany drink you can think of and never comes to a shore party unprepared,” Jasper says.
Clark smiles and holds his arm out, presenting the inside contents of the coolers. My palms sweat. I have no idea what type of alcohol any of this is—let alone what is needed to make certain drinks.
Jasper picks up on my confusion, speaking before I have the chance. “We’ll take an old-fashioned.”
Biting my lip, I glance up at him.
He winks. “You’ll like it.”
“Okay, you got it!” Clark says. Giving us his back, he grabs a plastic cup from a reusable grocery bag and plucks an orange from one of the coolers behind him. While Clark works on whatever type of version of this drink he can make with the limited resources he has with him, I turn to Jasper.
“That was embarrassing,” I whisper.
He flashes his pearly white teeth. “No worries, Arizona. I’ve got your back.”
I know that now.
