Sunkissed Serendipity

Chapter 36

Isla

I've never stayed over at a guy's house.

I had spent a lot of time at parties and small gatherings, but I had never stayed the full night at someone's house. So as Julian says goodbye to his cousins, wishing them a good night, I'm quiet. With everything regarding the capacity of everyone being here, his parents had ruled out every factor. And with nowhere for me to go, I will have to stay the night in Julian's room.

"So," Harry says with a smirk as I tune back into the conversation. He gives Julian a slap on the back, making the guy groan, and says, "Huh. You might be the luckiest man in the world."

"How's that?" Julian says with already a groan because he knows that the smirk on his cousin's face wasn't for nothing. It couldn't be good. Harry grins wider. "You're the first teenage guy who has ever been given permission to have a girl sleep in their room. I think you're pretty lucky."

"They only said that because Isla and I are just friends, and you guys are strangers to her, so having you guys sleep in the same room was off the table," Julian responds back defensively. He breathes out of his nose softly and says, "That's why."

Harry only himself knowingly, and Julian sighs, punching him on the arm. He moves back and turns to me. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," I say, drawing my arms over my chest because I was suddenly aware that I wasn't fully clothed. The bikini too wasn't doing anything, and before we were watching the movie, the lights were off and no one was paying attention to me. Julian nods at my response and turns around to his cousins. "I'll see you guys later."

"Yeah," Leo says while Harry gives Julian another look. "Let me know if you guys are still just "friends" in the morning," he shouts back teasingly.

Julian shakes his head but doesn't make any commentary on his cousin's teasing and instead starts to walk. I follow beside him, walking along the hallway and towards the staircase. I already know the way to his room because I had been here earlier, so the both of us will make it there in no time. Julian walks further into the room and heads over to turn the lights on. After he turns the lights on, he says, "Okay, do you want to wash off all the saltwater from your body?"

I place a hand in my hair, knowing that the water had made my hair extremely curly, and say, "And I have to condition my hair. You wouldn't mind if I took a full shower?"

Julian gives me a shrug, placing his hand in his pocket and pulling out his phone. "I don't mind," he says as he takes a seat in his chair. Glancing at me, he says, "But let me know if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay," I say, and as I head over to his bathroom, which was luckily placed in his bedroom, I feel awkward. Right as I open the door, Julian shouts back, "I have extra towels in the last drawer under the sink. You can use those."

"Oh, okay," I reply back, pulling the door fully open and entering the room. I lock the door behind me and put my bag on the sink. I rummage through to find the conditioner and head toward his shower. He had a nice shower, I realize, with a full shower head and space to move around. I hop into the shower and discard my clothes before turning on the water.

After my shower, making sure I use my conditioner well and using Julian's (surprisingly, not a 5-in-1 body wash), I get out. I wring the water out of my hair before looking for the clean towels. I find it, so I use the smaller one for my hair before wrapping my body around the larger one. I stand in the mirror for a second, looking at my face, which has burned a slight bit, and at my tan skin. I had definitely gotten a bit of a tan line, so that was nice.