Acid Rain

CHAPTER 9

Even though it had been close to 1 in the morning by the time Desi fell asleep, she decided to head to the beach early this morning for some quiet time, her mind and emotions had been all over the place since she came back home for the summer and the beach was just the place to soothe her emotional upheaval.

Desi sighed in happy contentment as she laid out her beach towel, applied a thin layer of sun screen and laid out on the towel with her face to the ocean and the pier to her left. Taking a deep breath, closing her eyes and tilting her face up she felt peace and contentment surround her...Huntington Beach truly was her home and she felt conflicted by the thought of returning to NYC in just a few short months. She didn't plan on staying out there but her parents had dropped a lot of money into her schooling and she didn't feel it was fair to them if she didn't finish her semesters.

While she sat and contemplated her life choices she smiled as she watched a couple of surfers sitting on their boards, waiting for the perfect wave to come through so they could hopefully ride it back to shore. She chuckled quietly to herself as the one surfer talked animatedly with his hands, indicating he was waiting for the biggest wave before he'd attempt to catch another wave. The other surfer seemed content with whatever rolled in and within a few minutes the surfer was up, heading into what promised to be a decent sized barrel.

Desi sat up a little straighter, watching the surfer intently as he plowed through the waves with such an ease that Desi felt a pang of jealousy...she had always wanted to surf but could never get the hang of controlling the board, much less getting up to stand on it. She smiled as the surfer slid into shore easily enough, popping the board up so he could grab it one handed and started walking in her direction. Desi figured he was just heading home and started to compliment him on a nicely done execution when her breath caught in her throat...the surfer was Brian!

Desi shifted uncomfortably on her towel, not sure if she wanted to alert him to her presence...he was part of her emotional turmoil thanks to the seemingly subtle flirting he had been using since she returned home. But no matter how much she wanted to think that he WAS flirting with her, she always thought back to her birthday party and frowned...that night was definitely NOT the actions of someone who wanted to flirt.

Desi decided to stay quiet and let Brian pass by, he had undone the top portion of his wet suit so he was naked from the waist up and she suddenly realized how much that visual was turning her on....nope, she definitely didn't want to get his attention now! As nonchalantly as she could, she reached in her bag for her bottle of water, slightly turning her body away from Brian as he got closer but it was no use...she heard him call her name and knew that she had been spotted.

Brian decided to head home after two hours of surfing, the guys decided they would take a break from practicing and he had the day all to himself. As much as he loved the ocean and surfing, he had other things he wanted to do. He started heading back towards his car, fighting with the zipper on his wet suit as he walked when he spotted a girl with an amazing figure, laid out on a towel...and right in the direction of where he was walking! Brian slapped on his most charming smile, ran his fingers through his hair quickly and approached the girl right as she was reaching for a bottle of water when it hit him.

"Desi? What are you doing here?"

Desi gave him a sheepish grin and took a sip of her water before replying. "Just enjoying the quietness of the morning and watching the surfers. Nice barrel by the way."

Brian tossed his board down in the sand next to her, plopping down on it and giving her a shit eating grin. "So you were watching me huh?" he teased, laughing to himself as she blushed and stammered.

"I didn't know it was you at first...I just saw a few of you out there...you were the first one to pick up a wave is all..."

Brian roared with laughter, tipping his head back as she stumbled all over her words. "Desi I'm just giving you shit" he teased, a geniune smile spreading across his face as they stared at each other silently.

"Oh..." she finally squeaked out, she was suddenly VERY self conscious about the fact that she was in a bikini in front of Brian and the fact that his eyes kept roaming all over her body had goosebumps forming on her arms. It wasn't a predatory look he was giving her...it was an aching look, a hungry look and she didn't know what to make of it. Why was she such a bundle of nerves around him? She had literally grown up around all the guys and she always thought that her heart secretly belonged to Matt but sitting here in the sand next to Brian she began to rethink her secret crush decisions.

"Desi? You ok?" Brian's voice snapped her out of it a moment later, she realized she had been staring off into space while Brian continued to examine every inch of exposed flesh she was showing.

Desi nodded silently and smiled at him before rummaging in her bag and producing two breakfast bars. "Want one?" she offered, handing one out to him cautiously, as if she expected him to turn up his nose at her offer. Brian took the package and smiled at her "Thanks...I'm fucking starving!" Their fingers grazed one anothers innocently enough but he saw Desi's sharp intake of breath, causing her breasts to rise considerably and his wet suit suddenly tighten in places it shouldn't.

"So...last night" he began as they chewed their food. "You really shocked the shit out of all of us you know that? I mean, I figured you were learning to play guitar while you were away but fuck, where did you learn to sing like that?"

Desi smiled shyly as she finished her bar, making sure she swallowed her last bite before she talked, the last thing she wanted to do was accidentally spit food while talking. "I've always liked singing silly...I just never did it around any of you assholes because you would have made fun of me." Desi laughed as she continued to tell him how her and Laney would practice when no one was around and how they took singing lessons from a music teacher in high school.

Brian waited till she was finished, balled up the wrapper in his hand and easily tossed it into her bag before speaking up. "Trust me...if we knew you sang like that, I wouldn't have been making fun of you Desi...not one fucking bit." Brian watched as she looked at him thoughtfully, tilting her head cutely and smiling in his direction.

"I don't know...I think you would have...you all teased both of us so much growing up. Hell, half the time we thought you couldn't stand having us around."

Brian frowned and shook his head, leaning forward a little so he was closer to her, he lowered the tone in his voice and confessed himself to Desi. "I only gave you a ration of shit because I had to put on an act in front of your brother. He's made it clear from day one that you're off limits to all of us...but especially to me."

Desi did it again...her sharp intake of breath made her breasts rise again and Brian couldn't help himself, he let out a little groan and rubbed his face briskly. He was losing control here and he didn't want to fuck things up. She seemed like she was ready to bail like a scared little fawn and he felt like he was FINALLY getting somewhere with her.

"But why Brian? Why you especially? Is that why you humiliated me at my birthday party? Because of my brother?"

Brian sighed heavily and hung his head, pinching the bridge of his nose as he thought of the words to say. Did he want to bare his soul, so to speak? Or should he continue to obey his best friends wishes...that he stay far, far away from his baby sister...or else?

Desi's small hand on his a moment later snapped his inner dialogue as he looked into her eyes, so innocent and so fucking blue...

"I did it because I had to...but if I could take it all back and do things differently, I certainly fucking would...in a heartbeat."

Brian watched silently as his words sunk into her mind, all the while he was wondering if he had just screwed things up between them.

"If I ask you a question...will you answer it honestly?" Desi's words shook as she spoke and he couldn't read her facial expressions for once but still, he nodded his head. "Of course."

"Do you like me Brian?"