Left or Right

Chapter 47

.Riley.

"You girls go ahead, I'll be right there," I say to them all as they begun to make their way to the mall. 

As a way to celebrate, Kate thought it would be a good idea if we all came out to spend some time along the streets of Miami by the coast for the evening as a team.

We had all already planned to have a beach campfire later on tonight but as of right this minute it consisted of the girls going away for a while in search of new clothes while the boys hung around by the sea-front, doing whatever it was they normally tended to get up to in their free time. 

James was sat on a patch of sand by himself, shirtless with his abs out which would have been enough to fain any girls' attention if it wasn't for the fact he was looking directly away from them and was far more focused on his phone instead.
Just for this once, I was pretty glad his device could be a good distraction for him. If it meant it turned girls' eyes away then so be it. 

The other guys were further up the beach, playing a game of volleyball which I dared not to interfere with. They were highly competitive when it came to such sports and I certainly didn't want to be the one to get in the way. 

Making my way towards James, I eventually sat myself down beside him and covered his eyes with each of my hands, moving my head so that my chin rested above his shoulder.
"Guess who," I whisper, my breath tingly against his ear which makes him chuckle before I slither myself around to sit between his legs instead, my head leaning back against his chest while his arms wrapped around the front of my waist, his hands clasping together. 

"I could have guessed it was you, babe," he whispers gently back to me, kissing each one of the two french braids I had spent time plaiting this afternoon. "I thought you were with the girls?" he asks, burrowing his head against my neck as I shake my head in response. 

"No," I mumble before a soft smile occupies my face. "I wanted to spend some time with you." 

As I remained sat in my black bikini, I turned around ever so slightly to see him looking at me as if he was in need of something.
Letting out a soft chuckle, I cup one of his cheeks with the palm of my hand and I press my lips against his own. 

"Well, if that's the case," he mumbles against my lips, making me gasp when he suddenly rolls the two of us over, pinning me down onto the white blanket below us which we had just been sat on together.
I laugh, pulling him down by the shoulders, joining our lips together once again as his own hands settled on my waist, our legs tangled together. 

"What happened to bros before girls?" I tease him, stroking his cheek as we break apart just about enough for me to look him in the eyes so I could be given his honest-most thoughts and opinions back - which he does so as his nose brushes mine, our skin rubbing against each other's. 

"I can think of a couple times you put guys before girls, Ri," he says back. "Take now for example."
There was a slight tease in his tone but all I do is simply roll my eyes before pulling him in for yet another celebratory kiss for winning Internationals. It all came down to us and we won the team that trophy together. 

"I love you," I mumble, stroking the stubble on his skin which reached the shaven areas of his chin. His own hand finds its way to my hair as he curls my plait around his fingers.
"I love you," he says back as we continue to kiss in front of the scenery of the white horse waves.

"Oi, Jiley!" West calls out from nowhere after a couple of minutes of cuddling.
I look up, pulling slightly away from laying on top of James's body and my eyes come across all the guys and the girls huddled in a group by the volleyball net. 

"We're playing couples volleyball in case you two want to get involved," Eldon says, making me look back down at my boyfriend who smiles, helping me get off of him to stand up properly as he does the same.
"Oh, it's on," he chuckles, already helping to sit me on top of his shoulders while I laugh, my legs draping down past his neck and hanging by his upper torso. 

We split ourselves up into two teams so it was James and I, Amanda and Harry with Michelle and Eldon, against Steph and Max, Cierra and Noah and Giselle and West.
All the girls were perched on top of the guys shoulders and Thalia umpired the game from where she was sat on the sand with her crutches beside her. She was still injured, meaning she couldn't do much but we were still going to include her regardless. 

 "Everyone ready?" she asks, holding the ball in her hands before we all nod our heads.
James adjusts my weight on his shoulders so he didn't have to hold me by the legs as securely and once I've settled, Thalia blows the whistle, throwing the ball into the middle just in time for my wrists to reach it.

The ball bounces off of me and over the net to the other side so Steph could hit it next.
 Had this been a week ago, she would have no doubt aimed the ball at me with the intentions of having me get hurt but I guess with all that's happened with Nate, that was an idea which had fallen from her mind and instead she laughs as she hits it back for it to land against Eldon's palms. 

When he hits it, it goes straight over the net but everyone on the other team misses it, earning us a point to which Thalia then draws a tally into the sand with a stick she had found under our team name. 

"Winning already," James grins, high-fiving his best friend as I do the same with Michelle before we all burst out laughing.

This had to be the perfect way to spend the last day of Internationals.