The Carousel

Quatre

After hanging out for a few more hours on the boardwalk, Emily Jane and Aiden were walking with each other's arms around each other's waists. They walked slowly, talking quietly between themselves, the picture of a couple who were so comfortably in love with each other. Behind them walked Ondine and Jared, Ondine with her arms crossed over her chest, Jared with his hands in his pockets, with a wide gap in between them. Neither one of them talked, just walked in silence behind their respective siblings. A big gust of wind blew past them, whipping Ondine's hair about, causing Jared to glance at her and held his attention as if in a trance. Ondine looked for a elastic band in her purse but came up with nothing. She found a pen in her purse and used that to secure her make shift bun, exposing her neck, Jared's favorite body part of hers.

"Stop staring," she all of a sudden hissed at him.

"What?"

"I said, stop staring."

"Please. Get off your high horse, I wasn't staring at you."

"Look, cut the bull. We both know you were staring, okay?" she scoffed at him and continued walking.

"Ames," Jared called out.

"I'm sorry, only close friends and family are allowed to call me that," she turned back to him with a death glare. "We're not close."

"Oh, it's like that?" Jared said gruffly as quietly as he can so that his sister and her brother didn't hear them arguing. "I remember being so close to you a week ago I didn't know where I ended and you began."

Ondine stopped walking and stomped back to him. "Shhh. Shut up," she whispered and looked in the direction of Emily Jane and Aiden.

"Why? You sure weren't quiet. 'Oh, Jared! Right there, Jared! More! Harder! Faster!'" he mimicked how he remembered her moaning.

"Seriously! Shut. Up."

She walked away from him, but he grabbed her arm, yanking her back to him, yanked her so hard she fell back against his chest, her face inches from his face. "What's the matter? Worried about what others might say about the prim and proper princess?"

"That was a mistake. A drunken mistake. That shouldn't have happened between us at all."

"The first time, maybe," he shrugged. "What about the fourth time?"

"Honestly, I don't even remember that night at all. It was a pretty insignificant time in my life," she tried to hurt him with her words.

"Ouch. Going for the jugular, huh? I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to bruise my ego. It's okay, just admit it; it was the best night of your life. I'll admit it, too if you want; you were so sensitive, so responsive. I'd say you were in the top five," he smiled mischievously at her.

"You pig!" she glared at him and pushed him away from her.

He chuckled and scratched his chin as he watched her walk away appreciatively, each stomp of her foot making her hips and butt sway oh so seductively. Ondine caught up with Emily Jane and looped an arm through his sister's. They got to the parking lot where Emily Jane told them of the evening plans.

"Jare, you up for dinner?"

"Where at?"

"MNL."

"I don't know, I'm kinda tired," he made up an excuse as he watched for Ondine's reaction. She was stone faced, not caring about anything that came out of his mouth at all.

"Okay, well then I'll tell Lizzie to take one person off the list."

"Lizzie?" Jared's ears perked up at the name of Ben's sister.