Dawn clicked her tongue. “Huh, I was definitely wrong,” she mused, turning back to the bread.

I burst into giggles, and Nate just looked at me like I had lost the plot. I shook my head and kissed him lightly before turning back to my chopping board.

Two hours later and we were waiting for people to start arriving. His sister had showed up, and I felt a little sorry for both her and her boyfriend when Nate started sending them dirty looks.

We were currently both lying on a plastic sun lounger on the beach, soaking up some sun before the party got into full swing. I’d changed into my swimsuit, but I had my denim short shorts and a tank top over the top because I was a little self-conscious about taking it off. Nate, on the other hand, was wearing nothing more than a pair of sky blue shorts. As we lay there, his warm skin was pressed against my side, his chest and abs on show to the world. The way the sun touched his skin, and the breeze ruffled his hair that he hadn’t bothered to gel this morning, the way his smell mixed in with the coconut of the sun cream – all of it was intoxicating.

I rolled to my side, facing him, snuggling in closer and kissing the base of his throat. He smelled and looked so good that I was itching to run my fingers, and mouth, across his abs to see if he tasted as good as he looked.

I sighed wistfully. “They should make clothes illegal,” I flirted, tracing one finger across his chest, circling it around his nipple. “You should just walk around exposed like this all the time.”

“And if I’m wearing this all the time, what are you going to wear?” His hand trailed down my side, across my hip to the bottom of my shorts, pushing his hand up the back of the material, one finger tracing across the bottom of my butt cheek. I didn’t need to look at his face to know that he’d be shooting me that cocky grin of his.

I chuckled sheepishly. “Well, if I had you looking like this all the time, then I’d definitely be wearing a smile.”

He laughed and shifted so that he was half hovering over me as he dipped his head and kissed the side of my neck softly. A breathy moan escaped my lips; it was involuntary; his kisses just seemed to bring out reactions in me that I had no control over.

How I was managing to stop myself from flipping him onto his back and taking him right here and now, I had no idea. With his body pressed against mine so tightly, I could already feel that he would be pretty up for the idea of it. He was extremely excited downstairs, the feel of it pressing against me was driving me crazy, and I was going to try my hardest to change his mind about not wanting to have sex with me this weekend. It had been a long time since I’d been with a guy, and I just felt like I needed him. There was a horrible sinking sensation in my stomach, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that he would break up with me before I got to have the full Nate Peters experience.

His lips found mine, and about two seconds later, cold water splashed on my arms and legs, which were wrapped around Nate’s torso. He jerked and made a yelping noise as he jumped up onto all fours, looking over his shoulder accusingly.

“Lisa, I swear you’d better have learnt how to run faster since the last time I came here, because you are in deep shit!” he growled, rubbing a hand through the back of his hair, sending droplets flicking everywhere. I chuckled and looked over at Lisa, who was standing there with an empty glass in her hand.

“I was just trying to cool you off, you two looked a little hot and bothered,” she offered.

He raised one eyebrow at her. “You are so in for it now, little sister.”

She shook her head. “Maybe, but not right now, you see, you can’t get off your girlfriend without calming down your little… friend. So, if I were to,” she picked up another glass, smiling sweetly at him, “throw this at you, there would be nothing you could do about it.”

“Don’t even think about it, or I swear, black crap in your hair or not, I’m flushing your head down the toilet,” he warned.

She laughed mercilessly and jerked her hand towards us. I had barely enough time to cover my face before it hit us – but I needn’t have worried because Nate folded his body around mine and took the hit for me, hissing through his teeth as a couple of ice cubes slid down his back and plopped onto the sun lounger. Lisa ran off in the general direction of the house.

Nate sighed and shook his head, pulling back to look at me. “I hate my sisters.”

Smiling seductively at him, I picked up the two ice cubes that had slid off his back. I ran them across my tongue before trailing them down his chest, watching them melt and leave a little wet trail against his skin. His eyes were locked on mine as I traced them further down, following the lines muscle on his stomach.

“She’s right about one thing, your body does feel a little… hot,” I purred, chewing on my lip.

Wordlessly, he brought his mouth back to mine, kissing me forcefully. Just as he nibbled on my lip, I shoved the two half-melted ice cubes down the front of his shorts. He squealed like a girl and jumped off me, doing a comical dance, hopping from one foot to the other as he shoved his hand down the front of his shorts and hissed through his teeth. I burst out laughing watching it. Priceless.

He sighed with relief as he dropped them to the floor. “After I get back from punishing her, you’re next,” he warned.

I smiled. “What you gonna do? Spank me?” Actually, that sounds pretty good.

He laughed and leant over me again, not touching me, our mouths inches apart. “I bet you’d like that, huh?” he whispered. My head bobbed involuntarily, confirming his suspicions. His boyish smile returned. “You’re a dirty, dirty girl, Rosie York,” he whispered. His lips touched mine but I barely had time to react and kiss him back before he pulled away, running off towards the house. “I’ll be right back!” he shouted over his shoulder as he sprinted in the direction that his sister headed.

I sighed dreamily as I flopped back onto the sun lounger and closed my eyes. The sun was beating down on me and there was a warm breeze coming off the ocean. It was like paradise. DJ would love it here. I smiled when I heard playful screaming coming from the house behind me. I could easily get used to this life.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Nate came back after a few minutes, laughing to himself. I scrunched up my nose. “Tell me you didn’t really flush her head in the toilet.”

He grinned devilishly. “No, but there’s no longer any key lime pie for dessert.”

“Seriously?”

He shrugged. “She’ll get me back for it later but don’t worry, I’ll put a chair under the handle of the door tonight so she can’t sneak in my room.”

He winked at me, and I giggled and closed my eyes. This was going to be a long weekend. He climbed back on top of me, hovering above me on all fours. “I’ll punish you later,” he warned, running his nose up the side of mine.

I smiled and slipped my arms around his neck. “If you’re rubbing dessert on me, don’t go for anything with strawberries on it, they’ll stain the sheets if you don’t lick them off quick enough,” I teased, smiling as the muscles in his back tensed up under my fingertips.

“I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again, but you are one dirty little girl, Stripes,” he mused.

I smiled and nodded in agreement. I’d never been ashamed of it before, and he didn’t look like he was too scared by the idea. Hopefully Nate would be a little adventurous and like to try new things too, I had always enjoyed a little naughtiness.

A few people started to arrive, so Evan sparked up the grill and pretty soon the smell of steak and burgers filled the air. Hannah plugged in her iPod and put the music on low for background noise. I motioned towards Nate’s mom who was busy running around getting drinks for everyone.

“Let’s go help your mom out,” I suggested.

He agreed, taking my hand and leading me across the beach towards the house. By the time we’d sorted everything in the house, setting up the drinks table and helping get all of the food out ready to be grilled, the party was in full swing.

Nate had his arms wrapped around my waist, his chest pressing into my back as we walked out of the house. Suddenly he stopped walking and his arms tightened round me, clamping me against him. I looked over my shoulder, wondering what was wrong.

“What’s up?” I asked worriedly.

He sighed and closed his eyes. “Rose, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know they were coming.”

“Who?”

He groaned, looking at me guiltily. “I’ve slept with a couple of people here at this party,” he mumbled.

I laughed and breathed a sigh of relief. That was all that face was for? I’d assumed it was something bad because of his horrified look. “How many?”

He frowned, his arms tightening on my waist, as if he was trying to stop me from running away. “Two,” he answered, his eyes scanning the crowd. “No wait, three,” he amended. “And that three includes the girl I lost my virginity to.”

His first time? I was a little curious actually. “Oh really? Which girl?” I asked, looking around. There were a lot of pretty girls in tiny bikinis all standing around smiling and laughing. The party was a lot bigger than the forty people Dawn had suggested. The crowd pretty much dominated the beach.

Nate discreetly pointed out a group of about ten girls who were all standing around laughing about twenty feet away. My eyes immediately latched onto the leggy blonde at the front. She was wearing the smallest bikini I had ever seen. It had to be her; she was stunning and would be the type of girl I could picture on Nate’s arm.

“Wow, even I would,” I joked, nodding appreciatively.

“You don’t even know which one,” he teased, biting my earlobe gently

“My guess would be Miss Beauty Pageant over there. The one wearing four inch stiletto heels in the sand.”

He laughed. “Coraline? Stripes, you’re more her type than I am, if you get what I mean.”

I looked her back over at her. She was a lesbian? “Hmm, well then maybe I really should…” I joked, winking at him over my shoulder.

His fingers dug into my waist as he made a little moan in the back of his throat. “Now that I would pay to see,” he stated, giving me a little encouraging nod towards her.

I laughed and turned to face him, shaking my head in mock disapproval. “I’m a mother; you shouldn’t be suggesting that I go have a lesbian romp just so you can watch!” I scolded, pretending to be offended.

He smiled sheepishly. “Whatever. If you ever change your mind you let me know. That’s the only type of affair I’ll allow; but only if I’m present,” he replied, kissing me softly.

I pulled back and rolled my eyes. “So, which one then?” I asked, nodding back at the girls, remembering that he still hadn’t told me which girl it was that took his innocence.

He smiled and turned me back around. “The one with the black hair and glasses,” he whispered.

I frowned as I looked her over; she had short black hair, spiked out with little red streaks in it. She was pretty, but not really what I was expecting, not really the type of stunning girl that I thought a young Nate would be chasing around.

“You have a thing for glasses I see,” I joked, because he seemed to like my reading glasses.

He smiled and shook his head. “Only yours. She didn’t have those when we hooked up.”

“And when did you hook up with her?” I asked, turning to face him again and wrapping my arms around his waist.

He shrugged. “When I was fourteen.”

My eyes widened in shock. “You lost it at fourteen? Wow, you really are a man-whore,” I stated.

He smiled and bent his head, tracing his nose up the side of mine. “Correction, I was a man-whore. Now I’m Rosie’s bitch,” he whispered.

I slipped my hands down to his ass, gripping it tightly as I smiled at him. “That was a great answer,” I congratulated.

He grinned. “Yeah, I’ve been trying my best lately to stop with the embarrassing jacking off comments. I think my efforts are paying off, I haven’t mentioned it once recently.”

“Apart from in the car on the way here.”

He laughed and slapped his forehead with his palm. “Damn it, I just can’t stop going on about it, can I?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but I was cut off by a squeal of delight from behind me. “Naaaaaaaaaate!”

I pulled away from him as he smiled politely over my shoulder.

“Hey, Coraline, how are you? Still pretty shy about exposing your skin I see,” he joked, as he slipped his arm around my shoulder.

Miss Beauty Pageant was running over to us, well, running wasn’t quite what it was; it was more like stumbling gracefully in her heels as they sank into the sand. She stopped and grinned at him happily, before her expression turned hard and she punched him in the arm, scowling. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a girlfriend? Your sister told me last week, and I was so pissed that you didn’t tell me yourself!”

He laughed and rubbed his arm. “I haven’t seen you in months, Coraline, not much chance of me telling you, was there?”

She huffed and flicked her blonde locks over her shoulder. She turned to me and smiled, holding out her hand. “Well hi there! Since he’s too rude to introduce us, I’ll just introduce myself. I’m Coraline; I live right next door, and I’m Paige’s BFF,” she said, actually saying BFF instead of the words themselves.

I smiled in response, a little bemused by this girl. “Hey, I’m Rosie.”

Her eyes travelled down my body, appraising me the way a man would in my shorts and tank top. “It’s very nice to meet you, Rosie.”