So when the chance to escape was presented, I took it. I’d suffer the consequences later. I deserved this time away. It was a trip that would forever change my life.
I knew when I returned home, things wouldn’t be easy. My parents would surely be pissed, but it wouldn’t be the first time.
I would have to deal with that when the time came. It was a vicious cycle, and I vowed one day I would break free from the both of them.
I just wanted to be someone else for a short time. Be a kid and make my own mistakes, because at home I was always fixing my parents’ mistakes. I was tired of being the person I was; I wanted to feel free.
I needed to be free.
Then I would return and go back to the life my parents insisted I live, until I graduated and was able to break free from their hold.
“Let’s go down to the beach. I heard there are a group of good-looking guys staying three houses down.” Taylor wagged her eyebrows, a huge smile creeping up and spreading across her lips. “Let’s go check it out.”
Taylor had been my best friend since kindergarten. She was amazing, and so caring. She came from money, yet that money had not changed her or her family; they were so humble. She never once judged me based on the clothes I wore or the things I didn’t have. That was rare, because kids can be so cruel to those less fortunate.
Instead, she loved me for the girl I was, the girl she knew hid within me. Taylor always had a way of making my life better, even though it was anything but.
She linked her arm with mine and we walked down the path toward the rippling waves. You could hear laughter and people talking the closer we got.
The first group to come into view was led by a girl neither Taylor, nor I, cared much for. Haven Rhoades, Miss Perfect, or so she thought. She did anything and everything she could to outdo me. She didn’t feel I belonged in her high-class world. She was older by almost two years, yet she always ran around with girls my age. I was sure it was because all the girls her own age knew how big of a bitch she was.
Her father was a surgeon and she lived in some big fancy house on a hill. She had the nicest clothes, the most expensive car, and her attitude was awful.
At least to me it was.
She disliked me because of her ex, Corbin Richards. I didn’t even like him, but he showed interest in me one day. Since then I had been enemy number one. The thing was, she didn’t take the time to learn who I was, so she never truly knew me.
She was so catty.
So when the guy she currently had her claws in noticed me, imagine the daggers she shot my way.
He wasn’t with our group, but of course he gained the attention of all the girls. His looks were unlike the high school guys I was used to. He was masculine, cocky, and oh, that smile of his—he knew the effects it had, considering the way he was flashing it around.
Taylor placed her finger under my jaw and pressed upward, giggling when I turned to face her. “I think I heard you panting, and a tiny drop of drool was about to escape,” she teased, even though she attempted to hold a straight face.
I swatted her hand away and she broke out in laughter.
“Stop it,” I whispered.
Hooking her arm through mine, she pulled me along toward the beach. A handsome stranger’s gaze was locked with mine as we passed. I took a chance and flashed my own smile, trying to ignore the shy feeling I had. When he winked at me, I stumbled a little and tucked my chin to hide my embarrassment.
Taylor witnessed my inability to walk straight, and I could have tackled her to the ground when she broke out in laughter. I could just imagine the attention her outburst caused.
For the next three hours, the handsome stranger and I eyed one another from across the beach. We silently flirted with looks alone, and for once I felt pretty and attractive. He gave me that.
Haven moved on to flirting with another guy, apparently feeling offended by the stranger’s reaction to me.
Her high-pitched cackle echoed along the beach; it seemed to get louder as she continued to drink. In my opinion, she resembled a hyena. It was truly horrifying.
The afternoon sun heated my cheeks as I lounged back against the chair. I closed my eyes behind my sunglasses to further block out the light, relaxing with the cool breeze from the ocean. I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt so relaxed.
A shadow cast over me, and I peeked through squinted eyes beneath my shades. I hated to imagine the look of shock on my face when his came into view.
Taylor and I had asked around and found the stranger’s name was Zack. He was a twenty-one-year-old Navy SEAL, here on leave with three fellow SEALs. They were renting the house just three down from us.
He had no idea he was surrounded by a group of high school girls, but with the thrill of older guys enjoying our company, we’d decided to keep that small detail tucked away tightly. Haven was so occupied with her own drunk behavior, she was off doing god knows what with god knows who. She wasn’t here to spoil our fun.