My eyes go to the water. ‘What do you mean, in?’
One of her friends gestures to the rocks at the far end of the beach. ‘I saw them walk that way.’
Tamsin turns back to us, momentarily taking Sammy’s arm for balance. ‘I’ll go find her.’
‘That’s not a good idea,’ Sammy says.
I draw a slow breath. ‘I’ll go find her.’
Tamsin gives me an adoring look. ‘Aww. You’re such a sweetheart.’
I glance once at Sammy, then head off in the direction of the rocks.
There’s no one at that end of the beach, and no one in the water that I can see, so I climb up for a better view. When I still don’t find her, I scale the rocks to the beach on the other side, dropping down onto the sand and looking around.
The sound of voices has me turning. I follow the rock line around, stilling when I spot Annie and Andy standing at the water’s edge. I watch them a moment, like a stalker, tensing up when she begins unbuttoning her jeans.
What the… If she thinks she’s skinny-dipping with Andy fucking Collins, then she’s about to be sorely disappointed. I wouldn’t have picked Andy as a pervert, but what do I know?
I head off across the wet sand, intending to tell Annie to do her pants up before calmly removing her. But that’s not what happens. Andy tugs his T-shirt off and stands there watching Annie undress. My eyes never leave him. He knows he’s in trouble the second he looks up, the moment his eyes meet mine. He opens his mouth to speak right before my fist connects with his face, then drops to the sand beside his surfboard, hands going over his face as he emits a long groan.
‘Hunter!’ Annie says on an inhale, stepping between us. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Start walking,’ I say, eyes still on Andy. ‘I’m taking you home.’
She shakes her head. ‘What? No.’
I look at her. ‘Start. Walking.’
Her eyes narrow into a glare. ‘I’m not going anywhere with you.’
I gesture to her unbuttoned jeans. ‘And do your pants up.’
Ignoring me, she turns to Andy. ‘Are you okay?’
‘He’s fine,’ I say, pulling her to the other side of me. ‘Let’s go.’
Andy sits up and spits blood onto the sand. ‘What the hell was that for?’
‘You made him bleed,’ Annie says behind me.
I roll my eyes. ‘I didn’t break anything.’
She releases this helpless, exasperated laugh. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she tells Andy. Then she turns and walks away.
‘Salt water will do wonders for that,’ I add before following her.
Annie doesn’t wait for me. She starts to climb, flying over the rocks, her bare feet slipping and shins crashing against stone.
‘Slow down,’ I call to her.
She ignores me entirely.
I’m sure she’ll appreciate what I did once she’s had a chance to calm down. ‘The ute’s on the road.’
Again I’m ignored, but she does head in the right direction. I guess it falls on me to let the others know that I now have her and I’m taking her home.
‘She all right?’ Tamsin asks when I tell her. ‘She didn’t hurt herself surfing, did she?’