We Fall Like Ashes | Wildfire Series

Fifty-Two: Waves

BEAU'S LIPS HAD TRAILED from my mouth to my neck, and even though I was getting more air to my lungs now than I had been a minute ago, I felt like I couldn't breathe.

I was way too practical for this. I wasn't the kind of person who let the things a guy could do with his hands and, ugh, his mouth dictate me like this, but Beau had me melting. He was too convincing, especially when he jutted his hips against mine, unashamedly letting me feel how hard he was.

I wasn't dressed to impress today. I was dressed to wallow in a cup of coffee and waste time. He wasn't supposed to be that turned on. And he wasn't supposed to make me this turned on. He wasn't supposed to be here at all.

"Oh, fuck," he groaned, dragging his lips back up to my mouth. "Collins."

Goddamnit.

He wasn't supposed to be here, but I wanted him too badly to care.

Our mouths crashed together, and I was about ready to suggest that we head back over to my hotel room when a knock sounded at the door.

And that knock was like a kick back into a reality.

—

The next few days were filled with sunshine, immaculate Beau-created cocktails, and Grayson-cooked meals.

I had no idea Grayson was so into cooking, but Nessa confessed to me that he started learning earlier this year when she struggled with her appetite. There were only certain foods she felt like she could stomach, so Grayson decided he needed to know how to make them. He enjoyed being a chef so much that he began making dinner every Sunday night for his roommates. And now, he was here cooking for us.

It was scorching the day that Grayson made fish tacos and margaritas, and after we devoured the meal, we headed back down to the beach with drinks in hand. Most of spring break had been spent on these sands, and I had no plans to complain about it.

"How are they already running around?" Madie asked, relaxing back onto her towel next to me. "I feel like I'm going to explode with how much I just ate."

My eyes scanned Beau, Grayson, and Bren. All shirtless, all running in the sand with a soccer ball, trying to keep it out of the waves. I focused on Beau, watching his abdominal muscles twist as he ran after Bren, who had just out-maneuvered Grayson and was taunting him about it.

"Let's switch this out for a football, and then see what you have to say!" I heard Grayson shout back.

"I don't know how they're doing it," I muttered, "but I'm not complaining."

Nessa, who was sunbathing on my other side, laughed. But when I glanced over at her, she was just as eager to soak in the sight before us.

"I like this side of you, Collins," she said.