Chapter 39

Biting my lip to suppress a lovesick grin, I sprawl out on the towels that were laid out and pop in my earphones.

“Are you going to call him? He was hot! And those tattoos, damn!” Andy admires him from afar. I look over to see he’s looking back at us and I can’t help but smile to myself. He waves at us and we wave back.

“We’ll see, I’m just chillin’ for the time being.” His friends pat him on the back and I turn my attention back to Andy, who’s still admiring him.

“Andy, if you keep staring at him, Kyle will be over there in a flash!” She gives me a teasing look that I know all too well.

“Oh no! Don’t do that to him! He will be so pissed!” I laugh, warning her not to push his buttons. I know all too well what he’s like when you do that.

“What? I like the jealous Kyle. It’s sexy as hell.”

“Not when it’s at the expense of a really hot guy who will get his face bashed in by him. And let me tell you, that’s a nice-looking face. So don’t do that to poor Matt!”

I slap her stomach, bringing her attention back to me.

“It is a very good-looking face!”

“Use Noah! He’s been a great decoy so far!”

“Has he, though?” She retorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“You should’ve seen the look on his face when you walked into the living room after New Year’s, holding Noah’s hand instead of his. It was the highlight of my night.”

“Really?”

“Really.” She paused, mulling over my words. A mischievous grin spread across her face as she stood up and called out, “Noah! Come here, my handsome boyfriend!”

I chuckled as she sauntered away, leaving me alone. I plugged my earphones back in and lay on my stomach, baring my back to the sun. I swept my hair up into a messy bun, slipped on my aviators, and settled in.

Glancing over at Matt, I noticed a gaggle of girls fluttering around him and his friends. They were laying it on thick, flirting shamelessly while he responded with polite nods. I caught him stealing glances at me a few times, and I couldn’t help but grin. A guy like him thought I was attractive. I closed my eyes, letting my Spotify playlist wash over me.

After a while, I felt an arm brush against mine. She must be back. I wondered how her mission to make Kyle jealous had gone. The arm inched closer until a hand slipped into mine. My eyes snapped open in surprise.

Knox.

I pulled out my earphones but didn’t pull away from his touch. “What are you doing?” I asked, bewildered by his sudden intimacy.

“I’m holding your hand,” he replied nonchalantly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Why?”

“Because I want to.”

“Why?”

“Because I missed you.”

“You’re so weird.” I withdrew my hand, only for him to place his on my butt, causing me to gasp softly. I didn’t want to draw attention to us.

“Knox! What are you doing? Get your hand off me! Go bother some other girl—there are plenty around,” I hissed at him. He turned his head to face me, grinning widely.

“It’s either I hold your hand or I grab your ass. The choice is yours!”

“You’re doing neither. Now get your hand off me, Knox!”

“No can do, baby doll. Pick one or it’s staying like this. You can get sunburned with my hand on your ass or you can let me hold your hand.”

“Ugh, Knox, you’re so annoying! Go bother someone else.”

“Alright, hand on butt it is. I’m not complaining.”

“Ugh, fine! Give me your stupid hand.” We intertwined our fingers once again. I glanced back at him. He was lying on his back, looking at me with a triumphant smile. It was starting to get on my nerves. I tried to ignore the warmth of his skin and the tingling sensation his touch sent through me.

“Stop smirking, you’re so annoying.” He ignored me and continued to smirk. Turning his head to face the sky, he asked, “So are you going to tell me why you cried and never called me back?”

I groaned loudly and ignored him. I wasn’t about to discuss this with anyone.

He squeezed my hand and continued, “Hey, you can tell me. I won’t say anything—”

“It was nothing, Knox. I was on my period and stressed from college, that’s all.”

“Lie. Andy told me you finished yours three days before the Super Bowl. Don’t lie, baby doll. You know I don’t like liars. Tell me.”

“Whatever, there’s nothing to tell. The fact that you asked her is a little worrying.”

“Alright, if you won’t tell me, I’m going to guess and judge how right or wrong I am based on your reaction. I know you too well, baby doll. I will find out.”

“Knox, I’m not asking you, I’m telling you—leave it alone.”

“Was it because you weren’t there and Andy was?”

I stayed silent, not moving a muscle. Shit, he’s going to figure it out.

“Was it because I called you?”

Staying still was proving to be more difficult than I thought.

“Was it because I was talking to the cheerleaders?”

What? He was talkin— I felt myself tense slightly. I hadn’t even noticed until my eyes widened. Crap, I hope he didn’t notice.

“Ahhhh, so I’m close! Was it because I went out that night?”

Why was I sitting here, letting him interrogate me?

“Getting warmer... hmm, let’s see... Was it because you saw me with Lauren?”

I tensed up again, and he must have felt it because he whipped his head back to look at me in disbelief.

“That’s it, isn’t it? You saw me with Lauren! You’re jealous!” His grin widened with each word. He was hitting the nail on the head, but I wasn’t about to let him know that.

I wasn’t jealous, per se. It just didn’t feel good watching that scene unfold.

“No, why would I be jealous?”

“You’re jealous, baby doll! I’m guessing you saw her kiss me? I remember you mentioning something about me being with a girl and then you mentioned Lauren when I called you.”

“I didn’t see anything. Don’t flatter yourself, Carter. I’m not jealous, nor will I ever be. I don’t do jealousy. I couldn’t care less if you two kissed—”

“Correction, she kissed me, for the cameras. I stopped it immediately. But let me guess, you turned the TV off?”

“Damn right I turned the TV off. I’m not about to watch you play tonsil tennis with Miss USA.”

“So you did see her kiss me. I knew it.”

“Yes, fine, I saw you kiss. But that’s not the reason—”

“It is. I know when you’re lying, baby doll. You can’t lie to me. Just admit you were jealous. You wanted my lips on yours.” His statement caught me off guard, and I sat up slightly, hovering above him but not close enough to touch.

“Goodbye, Knox.”

“I’m not going anywhere until you admit it.”

“Well, I guess you’ll be sitting here for the rest of your life then.” I tried to pull my hand out of his, but he tightened his grip and leaned in until his lips were lightly brushing against my ear.

“Admit that you were jealous, baby doll. I wouldn’t blame you.” He kissed my ear and smacked my ass. “Damn, I love your butt.” He lay back down and waited for me to say it.

I was stubborn, and he knew that I wasn’t going to admit it. Not by a long shot. Then it clicked, remembering what Andy said during our girl talk.

He must’ve been jealous of Caleb then. I smirked to myself and leaned into his ear, causing him to tense slightly.

“If you touch me like that again, I’ll have to bring you to the hospital to get my foot removed from your ass... I’ll admit it when you admit you were jealous of Caleb on New Year’s.”

I sealed the statement with a kiss on the lower part of his ear, making him groan. Andy taught me well. I can tease when I want to tease. My powers are being put to good use to find out if he was jealous of Caleb.

“I wasn’t jealous of that dimwit. Why would I be?” I just smiled down at him and settled myself back onto the sand-covered towel. We continued to stare at each other, riling each other up to see who would cave first.

I took off his glasses when he took mine off. The intensity of his stare was making me hot. I could feel the heat rise up between my legs and I subtly closed them over to stop it from being noticeable.

My other hand played with the sand above my head. I felt him lean closer to me, our lips were millimeters apart. Feeling his hot breath on my lips sent tingles everywhere around my body.

“I don’t get jealous, baby doll.”

I smirked up at him, causing my lips to brush his. I saw his jaw clench. “Good, I wouldn’t want you to be upset if I went out with that guy over there.” He closed his eyes and let out a grunt.

“Stop trying to piss me off, baby doll. It’ll backfire. He’s not good enough for you.”

“Is someone jealous?” I teased and backed away from him, although all I wanted to do was to press my lips to his and pull him on top of me. But I couldn’t, for so many reasons.

~But you don’t like him, Alex.~

“Like I said, I don’t get jealous.” He turned to face the sky once more with a squeeze of my hand. I could see his jaw was tense. Then I saw him look over at Matt, the guy who gave me his number.

He stared hard at him. Not jealous my ass. He doesn’t like you, Alex, this is him being protective again. The more logical side of my brain was being a little more active today.

I closed my eyes back over and felt him stir after a while of just lying there. His face was away from me every time I opened my eyes to look at him.

I felt his breath once more and I was about to open my eyes when I felt his lips on mine. It was light and a peck, but I froze. He just kissed me, on the beach, in public, where people could see us. I pulled away from him.

“Are you crazy? What if the media were here?” I hissed quietly at him.

He had a wicked smile on his face like he was plotting something. “I don’t care. Let them see.”

“Knox, you’ve lost your damn mind! I’m going back into the water.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“No, you’re not!”

“Yes, I am.”

“Knox—”

“I can do what I want, baby doll!”

I walked away from him, rubbing the sand off my legs in the process, and got to the water, standing in it up to my knees.

“Are you Knox Carter?” A pretty brunette came over to him, stroking his shoulder. I smirked over at him and continued to play with my feet in the water.

I spotted Adam and picked him up. He still had my hat on him, although it was soaking wet. He nodded at the brunette and she thrust a pen in his face.

“Can you sign my swimsuit? I got the one with your name on the back.”

“Sure.” He took the pen and looked at her, unsure as to where exactly he was expected to sign her bikini. This made me laugh, and I turned to face Adam who was playing with my hat. “Uh, where exactly—”

“My butt, across your name if you don’t mind.” She bit onto the end of her finger in a seductive manner. She twirled herself around and plumped her butt up while he squatted down to get his face as close as possible.

“I like seeing you from this angle,” she seduced.

Adam did not need to see this. I did not need to see this.

“Okay, kids, let’s go play over here.” I brought them over to another section of the water, away from the slutty admirer. I played with Adam who was sitting on my hip and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

I started to walk further into the water, letting it go up to my waist. Playing with him in my arms and squeezing him tighter to my body.

“Alex?” Adam asked.

“Yes, baby?”

“Could you be my first kiss?” His question sent me into a fit of laughter. I looked back into his adorable doe eyes.

“You’re quite the charmer, aren’t you? You want me to be your first kiss?” As he bobbed his head up and down, I leaned in and placed a peck on his small lips. He grabbed each side of my face.

“There you go, sweetie. I’m officially your first kiss!”

“Yay! I had my first kiss! I had my first kiss!” He chanted, his voice filled with joy.

“I leave you alone for two minutes and you’re already kissing my nephew?” Knox teased, while Adam giggled, waving my hat around in the air.

“I got my first kiss from Alex! I like kissing you! Can I kiss you again?” Adam asked, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Woah, hold your horses, little man. I think you’ve had too much sun today. Your mom is calling you over, buddy.”

I gently put Adam down in the water. He swam over to the shallow end with his floaters attached to his arms and ran out to his mom, who scooped him up in a towel, releasing a squeal of laughter.

I couldn’t help but smile at him. I wanted my kid to be just like him.

“He’s so in love with you,” Knox observed.

“I’m so in love with him. He’s such a great kid. If only he was older,” I replied, my eyes still on Adam.

“Take it from me, that means you’re so in love with me. You know, some people say he’s the younger version of me.”

“Not even close! Who said that? You telling yourself in the mirror doesn’t count. Did you know he uses you to get to me?”

“What? Who told you that?”

“Mila. She says that he uses you so he can come to see me because you’re always around.”

“My hero! I don’t blame him. If you treated me like that, I would want to see you all the time too. Maybe you should work on that.”

“Maybe I’m doing the opposite on purpose to keep you away. Ever think of that?”

“Haha! Who would want to be away from this?” He pointed to his body, his abs mainly. I raised my hand and he grabbed my arm, pulling it behind my back, causing me to stumble back a little.

His other arm snaked around my waist to hold me up. I began to fight back, so he grabbed my other arm and put it behind my back. We started laughing as I continued to struggle in his strong grasp.

“Let me go,” I managed to chuckle out.

“You two! That’s not how I pictured you tying her up, Knox! But we’re going to Sonny’s for food later, you two in?” Andy teased. I could feel my cheeks heat up. We both nodded our heads and Knox loosened his grip on me, freeing my hands.

I brought them up to his chest and pushed him as hard as I could. He didn’t move much.

“Stop pity flirting with me. Do it to someone else,” I said, starting to get out of the water. His arms wrapped around my waist and he pulled me up, dunking me under the water.

I resurfaced and immediately launched myself at him in retaliation. I wrapped my legs around his hips, but he grabbed my arms once more while my core held me up.

“It’s not pity flirting at all, baby doll. And what if I don’t want to flirt with anyone else? Nice core strength, by the way!” He sounded impressed.

“Fuck off, Knox.” I tried to climb back down, but his hands rested under my butt to hold me on him, so my legs stayed wrapped around him.

“Hey, I’m mad at you! You can’t be mad at me!”

“Why are you mad at me?”

“Because you didn’t come to my Super Bowl game! That’s why!”

“Hey! I sent you an encouraging message and picture! You can put me down now. You called me and I picked you up, count yourself lucky!”

“Your picture was more encouraging than anything else. I still have the picture. And now I like this position we’re in.” He grinned.

“Ew! I don’t want to know, Knox! Jesus, you’re weird.”

“You’ve said that already.”

“Well, I meant it. Put me down now.”

“Fine, but we’ll finish this later!”

“What? We’ll finish what later?”

He walked in front of me and winked, leaving me standing there in the water. The sun was beginning to set behind me and I was left there, staring at his flexing back muscles.

Those flexing back muscles. He was probably doing that for the girls here. Looking around, I saw loads of girls had swarmed around the water but weren’t getting in. Probably because it would ruin their makeup.

As soon as he left, they engulfed him, asking him to sign autographs and take selfies with them. He received a lot of kisses on his cheek.

I dipped lower down into the water, crouching so that the water line rested just under my eyes. I stared at the commotion he was causing.

He turned back around to see I was still in the water and smirked. Making his way back to the water, he splashed himself back in and lifted me up bridal style.

I gave him the put-me-down-or-you’re-going-to-pay look, but it didn’t faze him. He carried me through the crowd of desperate females and my cheeks began to heat up from embarrassment.

I looked over at him, pleading for him to put me down. “Please, Knox, put me down,” I whispered. He froze when he saw my face.

“I’m doing this for your safety right now, baby doll. Please don’t get upset.” I closed my eyes and covered my face. This was so embarrassing. He got me onto the house deck and took my hand once more.

I withdrew my hand and moved ahead, “Stop doing that, you’re confusing the shit out of me.” My words didn’t carry a harsh tone, but rather a genuine sense of bewilderment.

~Why is he doing this?~ I questioned myself. Holding my hand, flirting with me, even carrying me. He is flirting with me, isn’t he? I dashed past the pool and hot tub, heading straight for the showers to rinse off.

I just couldn’t comprehend it. I just couldn’t comprehend him.