Now here we were, all three of us dressed in one of Frankie’s bikinis, waiting while Beck packed a cooler.
"So, what bad decisions did you make exactly?" Allie shoved my shoulder, and Frankie laughed as she brought her coffee to her lips.
"Nothing juicy." I looked to where Beck stood next to the fridge to make sure he couldn’t hear us. "He turned me down."
"He did what?" Allie practically shrieked, and I smacked her arm just as Beck turned in our direction.
"This is why I don’t tell you things." I shook my head as Allie gave Beck a little wave.
"I have way more respect for him now." Allie leaned back in her chair.
"Because he wouldn’t give me any?" I looked at her like she was crazy.
"Sorry, Frankie." I knew this was probably the last thing she wanted to hear about.
"No worries." She grinned, and I knew that she was getting as much enjoyment from my awkwardness as Allie was.
"Because he turned you down when you had been drinking and weren’t thinking clearly." Allie nodded to where he was now carrying the cooler out the back door. "I had expected him to take full advantage of you coming to his bed last night."
"I was thinking plenty clearly, unfortunately."
"Oh. I know you were." She stood and grabbed the towel Frankie had loaned her. "But he didn’t know that, and I appreciate that he didn’t give in to your ho ways."
Coffee shot out of Frankie’s mouth and landed on the table. "I cannot believe you just said that." She coughed out every word.
"Are you all ready?" Beck had his hands on his hips, and he was looking back and forth between the three of us.
"Yep." I jumped up from the table before Allie could open her big mouth and repeat what she had just said. "Let’s do this."
I walked toward the door and pushed against his chest to get him to walk away.
"What are you all talking about?" He raised an eyebrow at me even though he walked backward as I pushed him in that direction.
"Nothing. I’m just ready for the beach."
"More like she’s ready for your…"
"Nope!" I yelled above Allie’s voice, but Beck was already grinning from ear to ear.
"Is she talking about my dick?" He cocked his head to the side, and if I didn’t hate him so much, that damn smile on his face would be enough to make me go weak in the knees.
"Absolutely not." I grabbed my towel and one of the bags he had packed and threw them over my arm.
"Uh-huh." His grin only deepened, but he picked up the cooler and led the way to the beach just as Allie and Frankie stepped out of the door.
"I’m going to kill you." I knocked my elbow into Allie’s side, but it didn’t faze her.
Nothing fazed that girl.
Allie and Frankie plopped down onto the towels as soon as we hit the sand, and I rolled my eyes at them.
"Are you not even going to get into the ocean?"
"Soon." Allie waved me off as she slid her sunglasses over her eyes. "I need a little relaxation first."
Frankie chuckled and laid down beside her. "Same."
Beck was watching all three of us but didn’t say a word. Instead, he reached his hand out in my direction and I allowed him to take my hand in his as he led me to water.
My chest felt so hesitant with my hand in his, but my steps were sure. I
followed him, never looking back, and I let the cool ocean waves lap against my shins.
"How much trouble are you going to get in for missing practice today?"
We stopped in the water as it hit our shoulders, and I let my hand fall from his.
"Ah. Coach will be pissed, but he’ll be fine. I’m one of his star players, you know."
"You don’t think you’re a little cocky there? Who says you’re the star player? Maybe they just make you think that."
He rolled his eyes and swam toward me as I backed away. "You just want to piss me off. Don’t you?"
"Maybe." I chuckled, and I could have sworn that something felt lighter in my chest than it had in a long time. "I just don’t think you get challenged nearly enough."
"I get challenged plenty."
"No. You don’t." I pushed some of his hair out of his forehead and stared at the way the sun glistened off his skin. He was so handsome. "That’s why you have this pretty boy complex."
He snatched my wrist in his and slowly pulled me toward him with a grin on his face. I tracked the movement like a hawk as he pressed his lips to the sensitive skin of my wrist. "Did you really just say that I had a pretty boy complex?"
He looked up at me as his tongue poked out and lapped at the ocean water against my skin.
I nodded as I watched him. "It’s not your fault, really. You can’t help it with a face like that."
He rolled his eyes and tugged me harder toward him, but I quickly swam away with a deep laugh rolling through my chest. It only took him a moment to catch me, and I was flying into his arms then through the air before I even knew what was happening.
He threw me.
He actually threw me.
I came out of the water sputtering and narrowed my eyes at him. "I cannot believe you threw me." I swam backward to get away from him.
"Believe it." He shrugged his shoulders, and every part of me wanted to fall right back into his arms and kiss that smirk off his face. "I’ll throw you again if you don’t give me a minute and let me apologize."
I looked up at him, and he was completely serious. Every part of playful Beck was gone. "We don’t have to do this." I shook my head. I didn’t think I was ready to do this.
"Yes. We do." He moved closer to me, and his hand brushed mine under the water. "I want to be with you, Josie, and I can’t do that unless I apologize for being a complete and total ass."
"You kind of already have."
"It wasn’t enough." He searched my face, and I knew he was trying to gauge my reaction. "I should be apologizing every day for what I did, and even then, it won’t be enough. I hurt you, I did so on purpose, and I wish I could take it back."
"Beck…"
"I should have never taken the video to start with, but I was so angry. And I couldn’t see past that anger. If I had never taken the video, if I hadn’t sent it to Lucas to fucking taunt him with the fact that you were mine, this would have never happened."
He gripped my chin in his hand and forced me to look up at him. "That’s all on me, Josie. I should have never done any of it, and I can’t blame Lucas for my fuck-up. I sent him the video, and that’s my fault. It’s my fault that anyone was able to see it."
"You hurt me." I said the only thing I could think of. "I don’t know if I can just forgive you."
He nodded his head. "I know." He stared down at me, and I knew that what he was saying was true. "I know that it will take work for you to forgive me and trust me again, but I’m willing to do that. If you’re willing to try, I’ll do whatever it takes."
"You don’t deserve another chance." But God, I wanted to give him one. I knew that probably made me weak, and I shouldn’t want anything to do with him, but I did. I wanted him more than I was willing to admit.
"I know that too." He played with my fingertips under the water. "But I really hope you give me one. I thought I couldn’t see past who you are. That was all I could see when I first found out you were Lucas’s stepsister, but I don’t care about that anymore. I was so angry by what he did to Frankie."
Beck shook his head and looked off into the distance.
"I’m sorry for what he did."
His gaze slammed back into me, and I could feel the weight of the world under his stare. "Don’t apologize for him."
"I'm not apologizing for him." I shook my head because I wasn't. I knew that I couldn't answer for what Lucas had done. No apology from me could ever change it, but I still needed to say it. I still needed him to know that I hated what Lucas had done to Frankie. I hated that he ever had the power to do what he did to her. "But I am sorry for what he did. I hate him for it."