Hard to Resist (19 page)

As I step into the shack, a cool breeze of air conditioning blows down on me. It feels amazing, considering how hot it is outside.

I make my way towards the counter where a girl with braces and a high bun steps up to the register. She smiles as she watches me approach. “Hi, what can I get you?” she asks.

“Um, I’ll take a Coke and a Sprite please.”

“Okay,” she says as she touches a few buttons on the screen of her register. “That’ll be three dollars and twenty-nine cents.”

I nod as I reach to pull my wallet from the pit of my arm. “Natalie Carmichael?”

I jolt and tense at the same time as I turn slowly to the sound of the familiar voice. My curls flop onto my back as I face a bright white smile, bright brown eyes, and cropped, slightly curly blonde hair. He has on a white tank top with a pair of sky-blue swimming trunks and I swear he still looks the same.

“Mark?” I say, almost as if I’m being pranked. My eyes narrow as I look him over. Mark is still tall with broad shoulders and a very lean chest that I can make out clearly beneath his tank. Taking a step toward me, he scoops me into his arms. I giggle as I wrap my arms around his neck and he spins around in a small circle.

“Good, God I haven’t seen you since grad night! Is this where you’ve been hiding out?” he asks after he has placed my feet on the floor. He pulls away with a large smile glued to his lips.

“Yeah. I moved down here three weeks ago actually.”

“Wow,” he says through a breathy chuckle. “I can’t believe it. You seem completely okay. Everyone thinks you ran away just to get away from—” Mark’s sentence comes to a complete halt as I prepare myself to cringe at the sound of
his
name. “Um, so how have you been?” he asks, changing the subject swiftly.

“Never better,” I mumble as I pull four dollars out of my wallet. I turn to hand it to the cashier who seems a bit irritated from my lack of manners. “Sorry,” I murmur with a forced smile.

“It’s no biggie,” she says quickly. I know she’s aggravated. She hands me my change back, places the bottles of soda on the counter, and then forces a smile. “Enjoy.” She spins around to make her way into the kitchen.

“Nat, I can’t believe this right now. You look amazing,” Mark says as he watches me spin around. I press my lips to smile lightly. Mark has never been the one to hide his affection towards someone. Mark has had a crush on me since elementary school. I’ve never considered him anything other than a close friend. After I started dating Bryson, he began to ease up on his flirting but when we were alone, he would still try to sneak it in. “Come here. Let’s catch up,” he says as he hooks an arm around my shoulder. The right side of my body crashes into his as he pulls me in and makes his way to a two-top table.

“So, what brings you here?” I ask as I sit across from him.

“A few of the teammates planned to spend a week at the beach. Bryson thought of the idea and I think I know why he wanted to come to Miami so damn bad.”

My eyebrows stitch. “What do you mean?”

“You’re down here, Nat. That means that he’s trying to purposely run into you.”

A tightness sinks from my throat to my stomach. I reach to twist the cap of my soda quickly before gulping a few sips down. “This better be a joke, Mark,” I growl.

“Far from it,” he says as he looks me over. “He’s down here—on the beach actually.”

My heart sinks. “Did he bring Sara?” I whisper.

“Yup,” Mark sighs.

I cringe, just from the thought of them two holding hands while walking along the shore of the beach. My fingers tremble around my bottle of Coke as I think back on how Bryson and I used to walk the shores at sunset. “Okay well I think I’m just gonna head out now,” I mutter as I grab for both sodas. “It was great seeing you, Mark, but please do me a favor and don’t tell Bryson that you ran into me. I don’t want anything to do with him.”

As I step around the table to get to the door, Mark catches me by the arm. I look over my shoulder at him with a scowl but he smiles casually as he steps out into the heat with me. He drags me towards a tunnel that is around the corner of the shack and as we meet in the center of it, almost surrounded by darkness, he pushes me against the wall while leaning his head down.

“Mark, what in the hell are you doing?” I hiss.

“Natalie, all of this time I’ve been thinking.” He presses his body in, making sure that his groin is against me the most. “And I’ve been wondering why you chose Bryson over me. You know I could have done you
so much
better.”

“We’re friends, Mark.” I grunt as I try to shove him away but it’s impossible. He’s huge. “Nothing is going to change about that.”

“Well how about I change the status of our friendship right now?” My eyes widen with horror and in only and instant, his lips are crushing mine. I drop the sodas out of my hand to try and push him away but his grip is too strong. His hands trail from my face, to my neck, to the curve of my breasts.

“Mark, get off of me!” His lips continue to trail down and even though Mark is attractive, I hate that he’s doing this. He’s supposed to be my best
friend
. The only explanation is that he’s drunk. There is no other way around it. As my friend, Mark would never do this.

“I think I’ve been delusional since I couldn’t have you. Kissing you feels too fucking good to stop.” Of course I was right. Now I can smell the alcohol on his breath.

“Mark.” My voice goes hoarse as I struggle to crane my arms between us. “Are you drunk?”

“It’s my vacation, Nat. What do you think?”

“I think you need to get the hell off of her,” says a deep voice from the light of the tunnel. Mark pulls away quickly and I gasp out of relief as I spot the familiar silhouette.

“Who the fuck—”

Nolan marches down the tunnel to shove Mark away. Mark lands flat on his back while Nolan grabs for my hand to storm towards the light. As he continues to drag me out, it isn’t too long before Mark comes charging towards us with hardened features.

“You think you can just push me and get away with it?” Mark’s eyebrows stitch together furiously but before he can reach up to yank Nolan around by the shoulder, Nolan releases my hand to spin and punch him in his jaw.

“Nolan!” I wail as his grip releases from around me. I rush to help Mark up but Mark is too out of it. On top of being drunk, his composure is completely worthless. “Stop. He’s drunk. It was an accident,” I say but just as I turn to look at Nolan whose grey eyes are glaring down at us, Mark hops to his feet. Mark swings his arms while aiming to reach his fist towards Nolan but the alcohol in his system isn’t allowing his actions to happen quickly enough. Nolan ducks out of the way then punches Mark in the mouth again.

Blood spills as Mark stumbles back. Nolan pounces forward but before he can hop on top of Mark to beat the living shit out of him, a large man from the shack barges through the doors to pull him off. “That’s enough. Stop it!” the man says as he holds Nolan by his firm upper arms. Nolan jerks away while breathing through his nose like an angry bull. He’s been tempted by the red sheet. There’s probably no stopping him now.

He looks at me and for a moment his eyes are apologetic but that sincerity turns into a look of pure disgust as he whirls around and hits the hot sand. His hunched shoulders are all I can see as he continues to drift and right now, I’m stuck on who to go for. Mark is my friend. I can’t just leave him lying on the ground drunk and out cold. But then again, he did deserve to be stopped.

I stare off at Nolan’s creased back for a few moments before looking at the large man that is staring down at Mark. “His face’s gunna be sore in the morning, huh?” he says. I ignore his comment as I reach down to grip Mark by the wrists.

“Help me carry him inside?”

The man grabs Mark by the ankles. “Sure thing. Count of three. One. Two. Three,” he counts then lifts. I lift as well and even though Mark is the weight of twenty bowling balls, we manage to carry his body inside and lie him down in a booth. “Don’t worry,” the man says, his thick Italian accent a bit too gleeful. “He deserved it. Coming onto a pretty lady like you has its consequences. I’ll stick around and wait for him to wake up and when he does, I’ll let him know what he did to you.”

I nod quickly as I fold my arms. “Thanks.”

“What’s ya name, sweetheart?”

“Natalie.”

“Well, Natalie, this young man right here will feel like shit later on. Go back out and find the other guy before he starts even more turmoil.”

“Great idea,” I breathe as I unfold my arms and spin for the door.

“Oh, hold on!” I roll my eyes before turning around. Damn it. Will he ever shut up? “Free sodas. I see you don’t have yours anymore. He marches behind the counter to open the mini fridge and take a few out.

My attitude disappears rapidly as I step up to the counter to take them from him. “Wow, thank you.”

“Not a problem, sweetheart. Go ahead. Catch your man.”

I nod and fight the urge to tell this guy that Nolan isn’t my man. “Thank you so much!” I call as I spin around before tumbling out of the door.

I begin to rush for the beach but my heart slows in progress as I watch Nolan stalking the sand while looking directly at me. His shoulders are still hunched and his eyes are still blazing with anger. His fists clench as he meets up to me, slinks his arms around my waist, and leads the way towards the dock. Instead of stepping onto the dock, he makes his way to his right to go beneath it. We pass by the large wooden columns until we are so far back that no one can see us.

“Nolan, I can explain,” I say, feeling the need to defend myself. By the look in his eyes, I know that he has something terrible in mind.

“There is no need to,” he grumbles as he takes the sodas and my wallet out of my hands to place them in the sand. He steps in closer and I take a few steps back until my back hits the curve of the smooth collections of stones behind me. “I seriously can’t believe that just happened, Natalie! Who was he?” he growls.

“He’s a friend of mine! I told you he didn’t mean it. He was drunk!”

One of his eyebrows shoots up. “Is he your ex?”

“No! Mark is one of my best friends—”

“Friends don’t come onto friends, Natalie. I’m sorry to tell you, but it’s nearly impossible to have a best friend of the opposite sex. There are always feelings. I know this.”

“Of course you know,” I mutter as I fold my arms. Suddenly, I’m not so glad to have wanted to chase after him.

“Look, I can sit here and complain all day and night, but I won’t. I can’t tell you what to do because you’re not mine yet. And that’s only because you don’t want to be.”

Sighing, he rakes a hand through his hair. I gaze down at his white and green swimming trunks and the bulge that sits between his legs. My eyes then drift up to his lean chest before I look into the clear pool of grey.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble. Nolan chuckles without humor and my eyebrows draw in as I watch his shoulders shake. “I’m not sure what else to say to you, Nolan. If you aren’t going to take me seriously then just leave me alone already.” I reach down to grab for my wallet and the sodas then storm around him but he catches me by the strap of my bikini top. I gasp as my top falls and I fall into his arms quickly.

“I believe one of those are mine,” he says before looking at the sodas that I’ve just dropped to try and cover my bare chest. He looks at me again as his lips inch closer. “And even though you don’t think so, I believe that you are still mine as well.”

Wrapping his lips around my nipple, he sucks it greedily. My legs quake as he pulls me up and wraps my legs around his waist. My back presses against the smooth stone wall behind me and he groans as I suck in a sharp breath. His lips finally meet mine and he attacks them as he grips onto my ass.

“Nolan, what are you doing?” I ask raggedly. Although this is enjoyable, I would never do it in public like this. We’re beneath the dock but anyone could walk by at any moment.

“I’m taking back what’s mine,” he growls against the crook of my neck before reaching his hands down to yank my bikini bottoms off. I gasp as moist heat slides its way down. He pushes a gentle finger inside of me and I groan before he pulls out. “I think you need to be punished for making me get crazy like that over you.” He spins me around so that my back can face his chest. My palms press against the stone wall as Nolan’s erection digs into me. I bite at my lower lip and finally give in. I want this so damn bad.

I try to turn around and take initiative by pulling his pants down but he stops me before I can turn completely. “No.” His voice is stern as he pushes against me and my stomach molds around the stones. “This is for me.” His breath caresses my ear and I swallow as I hear muffling and then a soft whooshing noise. I push my hips back, wanting to feel him inside of me already but he only presses himself against me. He’s teasing me, like always. Pushing my hair aside, he trails kisses from the lobe of my ear, to the crook of my neck, and then down to the crease between my shoulders. I tingle sensationally, feeling myself getting wetter and wetter. This buildup between us is truly becoming unbearable.

I want to grip onto something because the tension is hard to take. I can’t control myself when he gets me like this. All I want to do is be on top of him for hours, maybe forever. After a few moments of debating on whether I should look over my shoulder to see what the holdup is, I finally turn my head to look but Nolan shoves himself inside of me from behind.