"How would you know? You haven't even seen them yet." Teasing Chase came naturally. I'd never teased a guy. They were usually teasing me.
"That's a really good point." He reached around me and unclasped my bra before tossing it onto the sand.
For a brief second, I thought about the intelligence of what I was doing. Fooling around with a guy right out in the open was pretty crazy-but that's what made it so much hotter. Any doubts disappeared as he covered my breasts with his hand and mouth.
I moaned, leaning my head back in pleasure. The cold only made me more sensitive, and I couldn't get enough of his touch. He bit down lightly on my nipple before laying his head back to look at me. "Fuck, you're gorgeous." His free hand captured the breast his mouth had just released.
"You're not so bad looking yourself." I leaned down, tracing lines across his chest. He was muscular and toned in just the right way.
"I thought I was hot." He squeezed my breasts, as if to get my attention.
"You are. If you weren't, would I be lying here topless with you?"
"I don't know. Maybe you're not that concerned with looks."
"You think your sparkling personality is enough?" I worked on his belt and unbuttoned his jeans.
He grinned. "You think I'm letting you take that out in the cold?"
"Would you really say no to me right now?"
"I'd probably get in that water if it meant keeping you happy." He undid my button and zipper, brushing his hand gently across my cotton panties.
"Only probably?" I ran a hand through my hair, watching to see if that motion did its usual trick.
He moved from under me long enough to discard his pants. I took care of his boxer briefs myself. Before I could take care of my own remaining clothing, he had me pinned down on the sand as he slid them off me.
He kissed me hard on the mouth before moving his lips down to leave kisses all over my body. At the same time, his hand moved between my legs. A light breeze stung, but it was nothing compared to the sensation of his mouth and hand. I reached up and grabbed him.
"Don't read into the fact that I have a condom in my wallet." He fished one out and unwrapped it, all while keeping most of his body hovering above me to block the wind.
"We're about to have sex on the beach. I kind of assumed you had one."
His laugh died out as he kissed me again, this time with more hunger. "Here's to ending my blonde virginity." He thrust into me, and I gasped.
His lips moved to my neck as he continued to thrust. The sand was hard and uncomfortable beneath me, but I didn't care. All I cared about was the guy on top of me-and inside me.
"Chase." I tested out saying his name again now that I knew how it felt to have our bodies connected.
He grunted and continued to move faster and harder. I wrapped my legs around him, wanting him closer. I held onto his back with one hand while I buried the other in his dark brown hair. My body responded so well to his, everything felt hot and right, and then I felt out of control. I held on tighter. I'd never felt so aroused and euphoric in my life.
"Cara." He groaned my name before his entire body shuddered. He stayed on top of me for a second before rolling off.
"Wow." I quickly got dressed, unable to get the grin off my face. After a year and a half with Aaron, I'd never had sex that good. Chase was still lying on the sand watching me.
I bent down and kissed him on the lips. "Thanks, Chase. Great meeting you." I wasn't going to ruin a good thing by making him awkwardly attempt to let me down easy. I took matters into my own hands.
"Wait." He struggled into his clothes. "Aren't you going to give me your number?"
"Why?"
He buttoned his pants. "Because we just had sex. Hot sex might I add."
"Which is why we'll leave it that way. I'll always be your first blonde." I blew him a kiss before running back toward the party. I checked my phone. No missed call from Gabriella. Maybe she hadn't even noticed I was missing.
I walked back inside the house, hopping into line for the restroom. I was positive I looked like a complete mess.
"There you are!" Gabriella grabbed my arm and jumped into line next to me. "I've been looking for you everywhere."
I tried to compose myself. "Where's your friend?"
"Oh. He left. With someone else."
"That sucks."
"Yeah, but it's fine. I wouldn't want to ditch you anyway."
I looked away and smiled.
"What?" She pulled up her long dark hair into a bun.
"Nothing."
"Well, you seem better. Did the party work the way I thought it would? Did it show you there's life outside all that Greek crap you're into at school?"
"It's not crap. I love my sorority." Delta Mu and my sisters were the only things I had left at school.
"Fine. At least admit your fixation with frat guys is dumb. Especially that jerk you were with. There are so many better guys out there."
I tuned her out as we waited and thought about my hook up with Chase. Had I really just had sex on the beach?
Chapter Two
I put off returning to school after winter break for as long as possible. I also put off returning the phone calls from my two best college friends. They also happened to be my roommates, so avoiding them was going to be impossible once I got back to campus. I knew they'd be there for me, but the thought of facing them made my stomach turn. They were both dating my ex's frat brothers and that meant the next four months were going to be incredibly awkward. Thankfully Aaron, the ex, was graduating that May. Maybe I'd at least be able to enjoy my junior and senior years. I'd had the brief thought of trying to take a semester away and avoid him completely, but I'd missed the deadline to make that possible. Besides, I wasn't letting him scare me away from my friends and my life.
I waited until the last moment to pack up my stuff. Knowing my bags were still empty made school feel further away. I also quit checking my cell phone. I was done listening to Aaron's messages. The calls were still coming over two weeks after telling him to hit the road. It had also been two weeks since I'd had my impossible to forget experience with Chase.
"Honey, the reason you join a sorority is to help you through situations like this." My mother smoothed out my hair. She'd been a member of the same sorority I was in-Delta Mu. One of the reasons I'd gone to Harrison University was because I spent my childhood hearing about how amazing her sorority experience was there.
"I know, but how am I supposed to face him?" A few weeks before when I'd asked the same question, I'd cried. This time, I didn't. That was progress. Truthfully, I'd been in much better shape since my trip to the beach. The only problem was that I found myself thinking about Chase more than I wanted to.
"You hold your head up. You're a beautiful, smart, talented girl. You don't need someone like him. You deserve better, and you'll find it." From the expression on her face, she was thinking about herself more than me. She'd suffered a similar breakup in college just to meet my dad months later. She was definitely a firm believer in fate.
"It's only a few months." I said the words more for my own benefit than my mom's.
"Don't rush the time away. You're only a college sophomore once. Spend time with your friends, date other guys. Live it up."
"I know." I kissed her on the cheek. "I'll call you when I get in."
"Drive safe." She gave me another hug. I held onto her as long as I could.
"I will." I grabbed the last of my stuff and got in my eight-year-old CRV. It was time to face reality.
***
"Are you okay?" Juliet picked up her phone on the first ring.
"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm only about twenty minutes from campus." I turned off at the now familiar exit for Charleston, South Carolina.
"I've been calling you for weeks. I'm so sorry. Aaron is such a jerk ass."
"Jerk ass? That's a new one."
"It's good though, right?" Juliet always knew how to make me laugh. She had this sarcastic side to her personality that with most people I usually couldn't stand, but it completely worked for her.
"I think it's the perfect description for what he is." Or jackass, or biggest idiot in the world. I could go on and on forever.
"I've been so worried. When Reed told me … "
"I don't want to mess up anything with you guys. Please don't worry about it." Juliet and Reed were probably the cutest, most balanced couple I knew. She was so happy with him that I refused to get in the way.
"Mess anything up? Reed agrees Aaron screwed up big time, but he also said maybe it was for the best because you deserve better."
"Reed said that?" Juliet's boyfriend was a great guy, but he was also Aaron's best friend.
"Yes. He knows how amazing you are."
"I left some stuff in Aaron's room. Could you get it for me? I don't want to go over there or see his bed ever again."