everything about you •• jj maybank

twenty nine

The walk back to my house was mostly silent, every now and then one of us speaking up to make light conversation. Neither of us wanted to address the elephant in the room.

We almost kissed. Sober.

To me, that was terrifying. I could make all the excuses I wanted before. We had been high, drinking beers and acting fools with our friends. We needed to blow off some steam. But almost kissing each other, in broad daylight, in the ocean, completely sober, was an entirely different ballpark.

We agreed to no sex when we decided on being friends; that meant no kissing as well. I didn't think I had to spell that out for either of us.

I decided when JJ was in the shower that it was just a spur of the moment thing. We were both excited I had finally, successfully, surfed on my own. Our adrenaline was on a high and in the excitement of the moment, we leaned in and almost kissed.

Just like when Kiara and John B kissed. It didn't mean anything and they both moved on. If they could do it, JJ and I could too.

Tonight was the night we were all going to the Crain house and -hopefully- get the gold. I didn't want to get my hopes up and assume tonight would be the night they would all become filthy rich. And I definitely didn't want to be distracted, over analyzing every single word and movement that happened between JJ and I tonight. We needed to focus. For John B.

The six of us were all crammed into John B's van, all matching in all black clothes- that was JJ's idea. My curls were held back by a hair tie on the back of my neck, sitting in a low bun. My flyaways were always crazy after a day out in the ocean. JJ told me it looked pretty right before we left my bedroom, awkwardly giving me a thumbs up before skipping down my steps. That meant a lot to me.

My cheeks were red the entire way back to John B's. I just blamed it on the sun.

"Let's get rich," JJ grinned, rubbing his hands together manically as John B walked around the van.

"Pope?" I questioned quietly, tapping his knee with my hand. We had sat next to each other in the back of the van, per my request. "What are the odds of us getting caught tonight?"

He laughed softly at me, putting his free hand on top of mine and squeezing gently, "For once, Josie, I am not even worried about that."

My eyes widened at his statement and I giggled beside him, "Wow, okay! So, I have to be the realistic one tonight?"

He shrugged softly, "Someone has to."

We shared a moment of laugher before the door swung open, John B appearing and giving us all a tight lipped grin.

"Here comes the speech," I muttered, sitting up in my seat.

His mouth hung open, an offended look sitting on his face, "How'd you know I was going to do a speech?"

"You're predictable as hell, JB. Get on with it, babe."

I ushered him on with a flip of my hand and the girls laughed around me, John B taking that as an opportunity to flip me off.

"I want to say thank you, guys. Seriously. It means a lot to be that you're here tonight," he gushed, taking his time to look at all of us.

My heart swelled at his words and I grinned ear-to-ear, my head tilting in awe as I stared at him.

"Always," Kiara nodded.

"Of course, man," Pope added, followed by the two boys signature handshake.

I sighed happily and lunged forward, throwing my arms around John B. His footing faltered for a moment and he stumbled backward, but sunk into my hug after a moment.