Just for the Summer (Chasing Carolina #0.5) (4 page)

“You’re all set. You can climb into the boat now,” Chase tells me, letting out another laugh. I can hear the amusement in his voice; he knows what he’s doing.

I turn, glance down at him, and glare. “Really? I think we just skipped first base, jumped straight to second, and I am pretty sure you were pretty close to third just now.” I bite back a smile as I turn back around and climb out, taking extra care to shake my ass in his face as I get back into the boat.

He jumps over the edge and flops down onto the leather wraparound seats, watching me as I remove my life vest. He removes his and tosses it onto the floor of the boat and then sits back, resting his right ankle on his left knee.

“If you’re that upset about skipping first, I can rectify that right now.” He slowly licks his lips and my eyes instantly fall to his full, very kissable lips.

Crap, this man has me all over the place. I get butterflies just thinking about kissing him.
I can still feel his hands on my ass. I think he may have branded my butt as his within the few seconds he had his hands on it.

Everyone’s laughing at us, finding our bantering entertaining. I grab a bottle of water out of the cooler and grab Chase another beer, and then join him on the seats in the back of the boat. “The only thing that’ll be touching your lips is this beer can,” I tell him matter-of-factly as I hand it to him and get comfortable beside him.

“We’ll just see about that,” is all he says as his eyes smile at me as he pops open his beer.

As soon as Vance parked the boat at Chase’s dock, we said goodbye to the guys and headed up to our beach house to shower and change for dinner. We had a blast spending the afternoon with the boys, but a girl can only snack on beef jerky and chips for so long.

We needed real food.

I was craving seafood, and Tamara, Becca, and Nikki all agreed, so we went out to eat at Bubba’s Fish Shack. The food was amazing, and I loved the cute nautical theme the place had. Now, we’re heading to the boardwalk, because I want to get some salt water taffy. I had just bought a bag of the candy our first night here, but I already ate it all. That stuff is so addicting. I will be hitting the gym hard when I get back from vacation, or I won’t be fitting into my cheer uniform at the end of next month.

“So you and Chase were flirting up a storm today,” Tamara says, poking me with her elbow and grinning at me. With her boyfriend thousands of miles away in Mexico, she has nothing else to do but focus on my love life…or lack thereof.

“He’s cute and fun to be around.” I push open the door to the small gift shop and head straight for the salt water taffy display.

“If I was single, I would be all over that man; plus, he races cars for a living. His hot factor went way up after he told you that today,” Nikki says as she fingers a display of key chains.

“What about little Miss Becca over there? Why don’t you grill her about Parker? They were getting pretty flirty too.” My attempt to divert the conversation works, thank God. Tamara and Nikki start gushing over how sexy and funny Parker is, and how Becca should definitely not pass up the chance to spend a night with him.

These girls are going to be driving us crazy by the time we head back to Georgia. They’ve only been separated from their boyfriends a few days, and already they’re trying to live vicariously through us. I’m sorry, but my vagina is not open for business for every good looking guy in Myrtle Beach.

I will not be spending my summer banging random men.

No, thank you.

There’s only one guy I’d even consider breaking my dry spell with. The idea of hooking up with Chase has my girly parts tingling with excitement and screaming to finally get some real action. Becca, on the other hand, I don’t doubt will have a handful of numbers by the time we leave South Carolina.

I begin filling a plastic bag with all of my favorite flavors, while the girls look at the souvenirs around the store. I spot a cute Myrtle Beach boyfriend-style tank that will be adorable over my bikini, so I decide to get that too. After we check out our items, we head back out to the boardwalk.

We’re making our way down towards the I Love Sugar Oceanfront Stage, where a band is playing country music. One thing I love about summer is there are always fun outdoor concerts going on around here.

“Let’s sit and listen to the concert for a little bit before we head back to the beach house,” I tell them as I find us a spot to sit.

Spending the day out on the boat has tired us all out, so we’re skipping our earlier plan to go out dancing tonight and opting for our second choice: sitting on our deck, drinking our own mixed drinks, and relaxing. We’ll go out dancing tomorrow night. It’s the fourth of July, so there will be parties everywhere.

Almost an hour later, the band is finishing up their last song, so we decide to head back to the beach house. As we’re making our way through the crowded boardwalk, I spot what looks like Chase, Vance, and Parker up ahead coming out of a restaurant. As we get closer, I see it
is
them, and it looks like they’re with a group of girls.

Yup, they’re definitely not alone.
I hate that I have a pang of jealousy hit me like a ton of bricks as I watch Chase rest his hand at the small of a girl’s back and whisper something into the brunette’s ear. I rub at the pain in my chest as my eyes take in the three gorgeous girls walking alongside them.

“Hey! Isn’t that Chase and—?” Becca asks, pointing straight ahead at them; she doesn’t continue as she spots the girls they’re with.

I let out a sigh and grab Becca’s arm, pushing it down. “Yes, it is…and as we can see, they have their hands full at the moment, so why don’t we just hurry up and find where I parked my car?”

“Well, you sound just a tad bit jealous for someone claiming that her flirting earlier meant
nothing,
” Nikki says sarcastically as she continues to walk in their direction.

Jesus Christ.

“Where are you going?” I shout out to my three friends, who are now walking ahead of me. I can’t hide the slight sound of panic in my voice. I quicken my pace and catch up to them just as they’re saying hello to the guys.

Just wonderful.

The three girls they’re with are already glaring at us, acting as if we’re overstepping by saying hello. It’s ridiculous. If anyone should be glaring, it’s
me
, seeing how I was the one with Chase all afternoon! But since we’re just neighbors and have maybe moved into the ‘
friends
’ category, I have no right to be jealous or territorial.

Feelings suck. I liked it better when I was just fun Ashlynn—the Ashlynn I’ve been the last four months, not this jealous chick I’ve turned into in the last ten seconds.

“What are you girls up to tonight? Stayin’ out of trouble?” Parker asks, eyeing the four of us. I can’t bear to look at Chase. It hurts too much seeing him flirting and all over this girl after he was the same way with me a few short hours ago.

Becca overly sweetly answers him, all the while glaring at the girl standing next to him, “Nothing much. Heading to a club to find some guys to party with and buy us drinks. If all goes well, we’ll get into lots of trouble,” which is the total opposite of what we’re doing, but I love her and her lying ways, because the guys’ faces are priceless. She’s giving them a taste of their own medicine.

I have to hold my breath and look down towards the beach to keep my composure and not burst out laughing.

Chase clears his throat. “Ashlynn, you’re quiet tonight.”

Folding my arms over my chest, hugging my gift bag to my breasts, I glance up at him, which is so not the right thing to do, because as soon as my eyes lock with his, I feel my knees go slightly weak. He looks downright delicious in a tight white t-shirt, dark stonewashed jeans, and flip-flops. His dirty blonde hair is slightly styled, and his crystal blue eyes are sparkling at me in the streetlights lining the boardwalk.

Why does he have to be so damn gorgeous?

“Oh, am I? Sorry, I’m just tired from the long day out on your boat, but it’s nothing a vodka and Red Bull can’t fix.” I force a fake smile while mentally slapping the glare off of Permanent Bitch Face beside him.

“Well, we best be on our way. You guys have fun…and don’t do anything we wouldn’t do,” Tamara shouts over her shoulder as she spins on her heels and starts heading towards where my car is parked.

I snicker at the look of anger that flashes across Chase’s face. He deserves to feel just as hurt and pissed off as I felt the second I spotted him with another girl only a few hours after spending the day with me. I’ll let him stew over the idea of me grinding on strange men while I go home and have a pity party by myself and enjoy a nice, tall glass of pink lemonade and Malibu Rum.

I just need to drink until my thoughts shut the hell up, because right now, all I’m doing is torturing myself with thoughts of Chase and that girl.

One thing I’ve learned over the last four months is that guys are all pigs, even the gorgeous ones who drive fast racecars and have the cutest dimpled smiles.

WAKING UP WITH THE WRONG
girl in your bed is a surefire way to start the day in a pissed off mood. Sure, this girl is easy on the eyes and a pretty decent lay, but she’s not Ashlynn.

She’s the same girl I was hanging out with two nights ago. Her name is Sophie and she’s a hot Latina spitfire, but all I could think about was Ashlynn the entire time I was out with her last night. I feel like an asshole, because while I was fucking Sophie, I was fantasizing about Ashlynn the entire time.

To make matters worse, we ran into Ashlynn and her friends at the boardwalk last night. The pained look in her eyes as she saw me and Sophie together made me feel like someone had my heart in their fist and was squeezing it.

I don’t understand what’s going on with me at all. I’ve known Ashlynn only three days now, and no matter what I do, she’s everywhere…imbedded in my head. Now, I’m pretty sure she thinks I’m the biggest asshole to walk the earth.

I fucked up big time.

I don’t even know why I called Sophie and her friends. When Ashlynn said her friends were going out to dinner, I should’ve asked if they wanted to get together afterwards, but I assumed since she spent the day with us out on the boat, they’d think we were being too desperate trying to spend every moment with them. I let my pride get in the way, and now look where I’m at—lying in bed buck-ass naked next to a girl I wish I’d never screwed.

Slipping out of bed, I quietly get dressed and head downstairs, trying my best not to wake her. I need to piss so damn bad, but don’t want to risk flushing the toilet and waking her up. I need some time to clear my head before I deal with her.

Everyone’s still asleep from the looks of things, which is good, because I don’t feel like talking to anyone right now. After drinking a cup of coffee and eating a bagel, I slip on my Nikes and strap my iPod to my bicep.

Since Sophie is still asleep, I’ll use my free time to go for a run. Running always helps me relieve stress…that, or driving over two hundred miles per hour around a racetrack, but since I can’t do that right now, running it is.

The beach is already filling up with people. It’s just a little after ten, so it’s mainly a few parents with their kids sitting by the water. I pop my earbuds in and turn up the music as loud as it will go. Glancing around, I don’t see Ashlynn or her friends anywhere, which makes me feel disappointed and relieved, all at the same time.