Suddenly I jerk awake. I hadn’t realized I was fully asleep until the car stopped. “We’re here,” Adam says.
I look outside the car and—holy shit. “Adam, how rich is your family?”
“Richer than we let on,” he says.
He helps me out of the car and grabs our bags before paying the driver. In front of us is a house. He called it a house. It’s not a house, it’s a fucking mansion is what it is. And not only that, it’s on the beach. I can see the water stretching to infinity behind the house and I’m pretty sure that I still haven’t picked up my jaw from where it’s fallen to the ground.
“Why isn’t your family here all the time?”
Adam laughs. “Neither of my parents actually likes the beach that much. They mostly came out for the parties that their friends were having, but all their friends prefer the city now too. It’s empty most of the time.”
“Wow.”
There’s a keypad that looks like part of a security system that’s no joke, and Adam enters the code to let us inside. It’s like walking into a house that’s been a movie set. It’s gorgeous and modern, but it also looks like it’s never been used. Like it was set up just for us.
The foyer reaches straight through the house to where there are sets of French doors opening onto a gorgeous patio and then the beach. Stairs wind up and out of sight, and I can see glimpses of the kitchen through the living room to the right. “This is amazing.”
“What do you want to do first?”
I open my mouth to say something and close it. More than once. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“How about a swim?” Adam asks.
Glancing through the house toward the ocean, it does look really inviting. “That sounds nice.”
We go upstairs, Adam carrying the bags, and we go into a bedroom that’s bigger than my entire apartment, and I don’t even think that’s an exaggeration. “This is the master,” Adam says, giving me a look. “It has the biggest bed.”
“Obviously the most important part,” I say, grabbing my suitcase and pulling out one of the bikinis I packed. It’s black and purple and I’ve never worn it because it’s just a tad too small. I’ve never been in a situation that I’ve been comfortable enough to wear it in. But I think today is the day. “Is the beach public?”
Adam shakes his head. “Occupants only. We might see some neighbors, but I doubt it.” He puts on a pair of swim trunks, and I’m distracted by the way the lines on his hips slip down into his trunks and he catches me staring. “Of course,” he says, “we don’t have to go for a swim.”
“Let’s go,” I say too quickly.
Adam grabs towels for us, and the minute I step out the back door I realize just how much I’ve missed the beach. I can’t remember the last time I’ve actually been. New York will do that to you. You always talk about the things that you want to do, but you get so busy that you never actually do them. The air is breezy and has that salt smell that I would love to bottle and inhale every day. Every second. I close my eyes to breathe it in, and when I open them I find Adam staring at me. “What?”
“You look different,” he says softly.
“I love the beach,” I say. “It’s the closest I have to a happy place.”
“Why?”
I think, but nothing comes to mind. “I don’t know, really. I just…we—my family—we’d always go on vacation to the beach. And it was just happy. Whenever I think about the beach I feel happy. It stuck.”
“I’m glad.” Adam drops the towels on the sand. “Does that happiness include what’s about to happen?”
“What’s about to happen.”
“I’m going to dunk you in the ocean.” He scoops me off my feet and over his shoulder.
I scream, startled and happy, “Adam!” He jogs with me towards the water, and then he’s in it and my feet get splashed. “It’s cold!”
“Yes, it is.” And then he’s up to his waist and we go down together. I’m plunged into freezing cold and it hurts and it feels amazing and I don’t remember when I’ve felt this alive. I come up gasping for air and soaking, Adam right next to me. The sun is reflecting off his now wet body and oh my god he’s breathtaking. Just looking at him gives me a twinge in my chest, and I didn’t realize it before, but holy shit I am in trouble.
I knew I liked him. I knew I was having fun. I didn’t know that it might be more. That I might be falling head over heels for him in a way that could be amazing or disastrous. But that moment is gone, because Adam has a wolfish grin on his face, and he tackles me into the water. I manage to shriek only a second before we go under again.
Time seems to pass in a blur, and it’s a passing thought that we’re once again a cliché—playing in the waves on the beach. But it’s nice, and after an hour I’m exhausted. I stumble up the sand and spread my towel before collapsing onto it. “You’ve worn me out,” I say to Adam as he sits next to me.
“I hope not,” he says. “I have plans for later.”
“Yeah? What plans?”
He stretches out, arms behind his head. “We could have a fire on the beach, watch another movie, go out to dinner. Oh, and all the sex.”
I laugh. “You’re insatiable.”
“For you I am.”
We sit for a while, catching our breath and resting. I keep turning over so that I don’t burn. You would have thought that knowing we were coming to the beach that I would remember sunscreen, but I didn’t.
When we go inside, I’m starving. We haven’t eaten since breakfast, and it’s well into the afternoon now. Adam calls out for some delivery while I take a quick shower and change into the comfy clothes I brought: sweats and an oversized sweater that has a bad habit of slipping off my shoulders. I’d never admit to Adam that that’s why I brought it, to tease him, but that’s why.
And then we curl up together on the couch, and soon my head is in his lap, and I’m dozing off while we watch a movie. An action film this time that’s fast and colorful and it doesn’t really matter what the plot is as long as there are lots of explosions.
I can’t remember the last time I was this relaxed. Everything is perfect, and even though I feel like I’ve been falling asleep all day, I’m so close to slipping under. Adam is stroking my hair, his other hand settled on my hip, and I think as I’m fading, that this is perfect happiness.
* * *
When I wake up the sun is setting and Adam isn’t on the couch with me. I sit up and I see him in the kitchen, the beeps of the microwave faint. “Hi,” I say.
“I didn’t want to wake you,” he says. “There’s pizza.”
My stomach growls at the mention of food. I was already hungry earlier and I fell asleep before it even got here. “Yes, please.”
He sets a plate of food in front of me as I make my way to the breakfast bar. My sweater slips off my shoulder and I don’t fix it. I notice the way Adam glances at my suddenly bare skin and stifle a grin. I guess I was right on when bringing this sweater. “Did you finish the movie?” I’m wolfing down the pizza in a way that’s probably really unsexy, but I don’t care because it’s really good. And I immediately feel more awake, like I’ve given myself a shot of caffeine.
“I did. The good guys won.”
I lift my fist in the air. “Go good guys.”
He laughs. “I thought that maybe we’d do the fire tomorrow?”
“Fine with me. What now then?”
“Well…” There’s a wild and feral gleam in his eyes that I recognize. He comes around the counter and spins my stool so that he’s standing between my legs. “I had another idea, if you’re open to a little adventurous experimentation.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Do you remember our little video chat?”
Of course I do, and I immediately blush because somehow it’s still embarrassing. “Yes.”
Adam runs his hands down my sides, and they cup my ass, pulling me closer on the stool. “I told you that I loved your tits, and t
hat I wanted to fuck them till we both came.”
My stomach drops with desire, my pussy going instantly slick. I turn away from him, grabbing the rest of my pizza and finishing in several huge bites. “Yes,” I say. “Yes.”