Fun In The Sun by repgreece (read people like a book TXT) 📕

he might find. He wasn’t disappointed. Her face was flushed, but it had nothing to do with sunburn because the heat had spread down her neck too. Her eyes were dreamy; she wasn’t even focusing on anything, let alone the stars. Her lips were parted slightly, her breathing shallow. Sal was aroused. Sal was aroused by him and the realization made him want to ravish her right at that moment, there and then.

Sal could feel that Nick’s eyes had been on her now for some time and it was unnatural for her to keep staring upwards at the sky, not even saying anything. She had no choice; her head was moving of its own accord, moving downwards and turning, as if in slow motion, to Nick’s face so close to hers. Her eyes rose, gradually, gradually until they met his.

She held her breath. His face was as close as it had been just before they had kissed on the beach. She could see the small details again of Nick, Nick up close, Nick who was just a friend but who she’d never realized before was actually so damn good looking: his baby blue eyes and the slight smile on his face, it was sexy; it made her heart thud. His eyes were searching hers, hers were searching his. Something was going to happen, she could feel them on the verge of it. She wanted it; they were so close, but… if they kissed now, this time there could be no excuses. They would be taking a massive step into…what, she wasn’t sure, but she wasn’t prepared to find out, not then. And suddenly clarity hit her.

“Nick,” she said, “When is Jen coming back?”

The smile immediately fell from his face and he turned his head from her to stare out at the sea, but at the same time, he pulled her back to him and linked both arms around her middle, holding her firmly there.

“Let’s just sit here for a bit Sal, finish our drinks and enjoy the view,” he said, avoiding her question.
Chapter 28

Sal finished her glass of wine, placed it on the table in front of them and rested her head back on Nick's shoulder. She felt warm and drowsy, contented to simply sit there with Nick without having to make conversation. She didn’t really have the energy for conversation at that point anyway. The bike ride, the sun, the beach party and the emotional roller coaster had all taken their toll.

Nick looked down at Sal's head, which was just below his. Her shiny auburn hair fell along her jawline. He lifted a hand and gently swept her hair back away from her face, letting the silken strands fall through his fingers. He'd never felt her hair before. It was cool and smooth to the touch, dark mahogany with hints of cinnamon. Unusual. Was it her real colour, he wondered? He hoped so because it suited Sal, it enhanced her uniqueness. He continued to run his fingers through her hair in rhythmic movements, and she didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she hadn’t so much as moved a muscle for a while now. Nick strained his head forward to enable a proper view of her face.

He smiled. Just as he’d expected, her eyes were closed. He felt a little guilty then for keeping her out so late, but somehow, he'd wanted to make that perfect day last just a little longer. He couldn’t remember a more perfect day, and for more than a few moments of it, he'd been truly happy. As he made the decision to leave, lifting Sal into his arms and standing up, then began the feeling of foreboding. There was no particular reason for it, but Nick couldn’t help but feel that a day like that would never come again with Sal. He felt almost a sudden panic, but scolded himself for it. He had to get her back to the hotel to that bed, she was exhausted; she had barely even stirred when he'd lifted her up off the chair. Carefully reaching down with one hand, whilst taking some of Sal's weight on his knee, he grabbed the backpack they had taken with them, containing towels, a change of clothes, and now the remains of beer and cocktail ingredients, and slung it over his shoulder before rising again and securing his hold on Sal.

Passing the owners of the restaurant on the way out, he waved and whispered,

"She's shattered. Thank you for the drinks."

They all grinned. "Ine se agapi," the older man had said wistfully, watching as Nick carried Sal out of the door.

Luckily, the hotel was not far at all from the restaurant, although carrying Sal safely down the stone steps of the cliff on which the restaurant was perched had been a bit of a challenge. She was surprisingly light to carry though. Sal was curvaceous but petite and almost doll like when she was asleep, curled up in his arms. So sweet. At one point, just as he'd reached the coastal pavement again, she'd opened her eyes for a few moments. Dazed and sleepy, she'd realized that she was being carried and said something about being able to walk, but he'd hushed her and said they were nearly back. Soon after that her eyes had closed again.

Finally, at the door of the hotel room, he found himself struggling to slot the key into the lock, whilst still holding onto Sal and trying his hardest not to wake her again. Unable to actually see the keyhole, he felt around the metal slot with the forefinger of his right hand, which held onto the key. After several more attempts, at last, it fitted into the slot, he turned the key and let them into the room, gently closing the door behind them.

The room seemed extremely silent and still, as though it had been waiting for them to fill it. He could quite clearly see the double bed in front of them from the street lights that must have been situated just outside their window. Deciding against flooding the room with the ceiling lights, he headed straight for the bed, throwing back the light bedcover and sheet but pausing for a moment before lowering her onto the mattress. He turned his head to look at her and indulged himself.
She was nothing less than beautiful and he felt so honoured to have been able to carry her home. Her head was resting against his collarbone, her hair was a little ruffled, her cheeks still a little flushed from either the wine or the sun, and her eyelashes rested on her cheekbones, almost like a child's; only the curves of her body reminded him that she was no child. He thought to himself then though, that she had the innocence of a child sometimes, and the purity.

He wanted so desperately to slip into the bed beside her and feel the magic of being able to hold her in his arms all night, to feel her soft beauty against him, to stroke her hair and soothe her into the morning, to pretend for one night that she were his. He couldn’t do that though, because he’d be letting her down again, taking advantage when they were only supposed to be friends, because even if he instigated nothing sexual towards her, his body would betray both him and her, he knew it without a doubt. And even if he didn’t act on that, there was always his mind, making up scenarios which placed them together in never ending erotic situations. It was wrong… like Sandra had said. But that night in the restaurant, he had wanted so much for it to be right, as if Sal were to reciprocate then it wouldn’t be wrong anymore, but he’d simply coerced her again. It was the worst thing he could have done really because he was taking advantage of both her innocence and her passionate nature to encourage her to do something that was wrong. She was so innocent that in over a year she hadn’t even conceived of him making a play for her, even when he'd invited her away for the weekend.

He was corrupting her, he was vile. He would never have someone as wonderful as her, he didn’t deserve it. And even though Jen didn’t want him, and both of them were lying to each other, he didn’t deserve her either. After a never-ending string of the most casual relationships with girls who had heard on the grapevine that he was good in bed, he’d finally come to realize that he wasn’t flattered anymore, he hadn’t wanted casual, he’d been hoping that one of them would want to stay longer and bring some sort of affection and stability to his life. So he had been determined at the beginning of last summer to find someone and make a relationship work, to do everything within his power to make it work, and if it didn’t, well okay he would search again, but at least he’d have known that he’d done everything he could. But he’d betrayed them both, the girl he’d promised to himself that he’d build a relationship with, and the girl that had exploded into his life and turned it upside down… the girl he’d wanted more than anything he’d ever wanted in his entire life. The girl in his arms.

Very gently, with reluctance, he leant forward and placed her onto the bed, sliding his arms out from under her and feeling suddenly bereft.

He wished with every fiber of his being that it could work between them, he ached for her in his heart. It was a physical pain he’d never felt before. He wanted all her loveliness because he could be a better person with her, she would make him better just by being with him. And not only that, he’d never known the kind of happiness he’d felt in just the few days every now and then that he’d spent with her over the last year. He was always happy when he was with her. But all of that was selfish on his part. She deserved better. She deserved her mind shattering guy to whisk her away on his yacht and make all her dreams come true. What had he got to offer her? Only the ugliness and reality of his upbringing that was waiting back for him in the UK... that was never going away. And then came the pain and fear again, a choking feeling of loss and hopelessness. His throat constricted and his eyes stung. He reached out a shaking hand and tenderly brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers.

"Goodnight my sweetest of friends," he whispered.

Sal was not entirely unaware of her surroundings, although sleep had kept pulling her into its grips. But when Nick had placed her onto the bed, she'd registered his presence still there, and a strange quietness. Then he'd whispered to her and his voice had sounded odd. There was something not right. Her eyes opened.

"Nick, what's wrong?" she asked with concern, catching a quick glimpse of pain on his face, his emotion threatening to overflow before it was replaced with pure panic. She struggled to sit up then, her