Bad Habits (A Rafe Cameron/OBX story)

Chapter 9

The next morning after Rafe and I snuck out, I woke up to someone jumping on my bed. The movement scares the shit out of me so I jump up and scream. When I open my eyes, I see Sarah standing on the foot of my bed. "SARAH! WHAT THE FUCK, DUDE?!"

She falls over in laughter, "Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!"

"Well what the fuck are you doing then?!" I ask, still a little upset.

"I came to wake you up! It's almost noon!"

Next thing I know, Rafe is running into the room. "Who screamed? Are you guys okay?"

Sarah rolls her eyes, "Yes we are fine. And it was Haley that screamed."

"Only because you JUMPED ON MY BED!" I exclaim.

He lets out a breath, "It sounded like you were being stabbed or some shit. I was concerned."

"No stab wounds here. I'm all good." I smile at him as he walks out of the room. Before he is out of sight, he turns around a winks at me. Luckily, Sarah had her back turned towards him so she didn't see the exchange.

"Okay, I'm sorry for scaring you so bad. There, are you happy now?" She asks sarcastically.

I roll my eyes at her, "Yeah, sure."

"I can't believe you slept that late! I had to make sure you were still alive in here."

The truth is that, after Rafe and I got back, I didn't go to sleep until about 4:30 this morning. My heart was racing and I had butterflies which were keeping me awake. Most of that time was spent staring at the picture of the two of us. It is one of the best pictures ever captured of Rafe. And I would know since I'm a family friend, I have seen a ton of family photos. He really doesn't smile that much, but when he does, it is one of my favorite things in the world.

Fingers snap in my face, "Hello? Earth to Haley!"

I snap out of it, "What? Sorry... I'm still sleepy."

That was a good save.

"So my dad and I are planning to go on a parasailing trip, just the two of us. I knew you wouldn't want to do that so I told him I would go with him. Maybe Wheezie will go to the beach with you or something if you want to do that? I'm sure you wouldn't want to hang out with Rafe, and I'm almost positive he will just sit here and hang out by the pool. Whatever you want to do though." Sarah rambles on.

Oh, but I would love to hang out with Rafe... she just can't know that.

I smile, "Okay. Yeah go have fun with your dad. I will find something to do with someone. If that person happens to be Rafe, then I guess he will have to do for the day."

"Alright well we are about to leave. We won't be back for a while because the place is across the island so I will see you later?"

I nod my head, "Yep! Have a good time!"

She waltzes out of my room and down the stairs. I hear her and Ward leave, then some footsteps coming up the stairs. I grab my phone and when I look back up, Rafe is standing in my doorway. "Damn it! What's up with you and your sister this morning?! Y'all have both scared the shit out of me already."

He laughs and comes to sit on the edge of my bed beside me, "Hey."

"Hi." I say as he leans in for a kiss.

I stop him, "Wait, Rose or Wheezie could walk by at any moment."

"No they won't. They aren't here either."

"Where are they?" I ask.

He smiles, "They went into town for the day. You know, to go shopping and shit like that. But that means that we have the whole house to ourselves for the entire day. So we can do whatever we want."

Whatever we want? Oh man this sounds great.

"And what would that entail, sir?" I smirk.

His eyes widen and his eyebrows raise, "Sir? Oh I like the sound of that."

He leans in for the kiss that I declined just seconds ago. We both pull away and smile at each other. "Actually, there is something that I have been wanting to do. Sarah wouldn't go with me but maybe you will?"

Rafe questions me, "What would that be?"

"So, last summer when we were all here, I wanted to go ATV riding because I saw all of these people doing it and it looked fun. Sarah turned it down immediately but I wanted to do it so bad." I say to him.

He thinks for a moment but it doesn't take long for him to answer, "Sure."

I smile and kiss him on the cheek, "Yay!"

He has made me smile more in the past few days than I have all year, and I'm not complaining one bit.

"What I don't understand is that, Sarah will go parasailing with dad but she won't ride ATVs... on the ground." He says.

I laugh at the irony, "I thought the same thing but whatever. You and I will have fun today!"

Rafe leaves the room to get changed while I get ready myself. My hair, once again today, gets pulled into a ponytail. I pick out something comfortable, some athletic shorts and a tank top. I pair that with some tennis shoes. While I'm changing, I hear Rafe walk into the room, "Haley, do you think we need- oh."

Luckily my back was facing the door that my dumb ass forgot to shut. I quickly throw my sports bra on, forgetting about being in my thong, and turn around, "Oh, uh- sorry. I meant to close the door. What did you need?"

"It's nothing. Sorry. I will-um... I'll wait for you downstairs." He says quickly.

He turns around and walks down the stairs. I'm not sure why he acted like that. It's not like he hasn't seen a girl naked before... trust me. The island is small, everyone knows everyone and everything about each other. I've heard stories, but they don't turn me away.

I finish getting ready and walk downstairs like nothing happened. Rafe is sitting on the couch waiting for me. I stand in front of him and say, "I'm ready."

He smiles up at me, though his smile is not meeting his eyes. I try not to think about it as he gets up from the couch and grabs my hand. The ride to the ATV excursion is comfortably quiet. He turns on the radio to which I hear him humming along. As many times as I've been with him and around him, I've never seen him like this. So carefree and... happy? It's a whole other side of him that I'm dying to keep around for as long as humanly possible.

We pull into the parking lot and get out of the car. Rafe signs us both in while the guy that does the tours gets everything ready. He reaches in his pocket to grab his wallet. I stop him, "I can pay for mine. It's not a problem."

"No. I'm paying for you, don't try to fight me on it either." He gives a small smile.

I try to hide my smile, "Oh okay. Thank you."

The tour guide tells us about their rules and regulations. He lets us know where we are going and how long the trip will be, which will be about an hour and a half. The guy walks away to grab our helmets. Rafe looks down at me, "Are you excited?"

"Yes! Of course I have ridden on an ATV before, but never like this." I smile at him. I'm so happy that he agreed to come with me.

"Who'd you go riding with?"

I answer him, "The guys and Kiara. I didn't get to drive it though. Kie and I flipped a coin to see who would drive since we only had three ATVs and she won. So I only got to ride but it was still fun. It was extremely muddy though."

"You? Getting muddy? Wow, I didn't think you would like that at all." He jokes.

"Trust me, Rafe. There is a lot you don't know about me." I say with a smirk.