Page 12 of Fool Me Twice

But apart from the sex, which she couldn’t deny was amazing, he annoyed the hell out of her.

They had nothing in common – the things he liked drove her up the wall. He played his music too loud; his room was littered with discarded clothes and empty cans of sports drinks; she didn’t get half of what he said and couldn’t understand his obsession with social media. He was always posing for selfies or making short fitness videos for his Instagram or TikTok accounts.

It was like having a teenager about the place again.

A ripped, hot, horny teenager.

She slipped the straps of her dress over her shoulders, stepping out when it pooled at her feet. She walked towards him. “Let’s fuck,” she commanded.

Chapter five

Peter followed Jaxon and his friends along the path towards some steps leading down to a wide ledge and a door that seemed to be built into the hillside. He stared as Cy fumbled beneath some rocks for a key and unlocked the door.

“Do you think it’s wise?” Peter asked, stepping inside what appeared to be some kind of cave. It was far bigger than it looked from the outside and filled with boxes, a couch, and lots of water sports equipment. “Leaving the key where anyone could find it? Aren’t you worried someone might break in?”

Jaxon shook his head dismissively. “Nah.”

“They wouldn’t dare.” Gaz pulled his shoulders back and clenched his fist. “Evie’d kill them.” They all burst out laughing.

“So, this is the lock-up you mentioned earlier?” Peter tried to make conversation as the others rifled around in bags and boxes for their equipment. He looked away as Jaxon discarded his clothes and stepped into his wetsuit.

“Yeah.” Jaxon sucked in his stomach as he pulled up the zip. “It used to be our den when we were kids.”

“And our lurve palace.” Joey, another of Jaxon’s friends, grinned. “Although God knows how we got girls to agree to come back here.”

“Wasn’t it some shit about being the only place where they were guaranteed to see shooting stars?”

“That’s right.” Cy chuckled. “And Gaz saw plenty of stars that night Morwenna punched him for trying to kiss her.” They laughed raucously.

Although he joined in their laughter, Peter felt a sadness creep over him as he remembered some things he and Mac had done when they were teenagers, stupid adolescent stuff like sneaking out a bottle of vodka from his parents’ drinks cabinet and drinking it behind the church hall before going inside for the under-sixteen’s disco.

They’d thought they were so cool compared to the other kids sipping on their lemonade and orange squash. But all that jumping about in time to the music made him throw up all over Stacey Roberts, the poor girl he’d been dancing with. After they had been dragged into the kitchen and cleaned up, the youth club leader had called their parents, demanding they come and pick up their drunken offspring immediately. Peter’s parents had been furious when they’d arrived and grounded him for a month. No one could get a hold of Mac’s mum.

“What about you, Mr C?” Joey asked

Mr C? Peter smiled to himself; no one had ever called him that before. It had either been Peter or Cookie. But he liked it. It made him feel part of Jaxon’s gang somehow.

“What about me what?”

Joey nodded toward the waves crashing over the golden sands. “Are you joining us?”

“Me? No way,” Peter replied, a little taken aback by the suggestion. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Dangerous?” Cy asked, laughing off his comment.

He eyed them, envying their zest and vitality, the fearlessness that only the young seemed to possess.

“Go on,” Joey encouraged him. “Riding a wave is, like, the best feeling ever.” He stared off into the distance.

Peter shook his head. “No. I don’t think so.”

“Go on, Dad.” Jaxon held out a wetsuit to him.

Peter scrunched up his face. “I’m not sure. I’ve never tried it before.”

“You’ll be great,” Joey said, struggling to make both sides of his wetsuit meet in the middle. “I’ll teach you.”

“No, you won’t,” Jaxon said. “Remember what happened when you tried to teach that blonde girl you fancied?”

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