Flirting With Fire

Chapter Three: A silly catch up

The two old friends piled Whitney's shopping into the back of Robbie's squad car, Whitney hadn't bothered driving although she realized her mistake when she needed Robbie's help just carrying them to the car.

'Geez Rob, can't say I've been in a cop car since...' She paused with a grin and he interrupted her.

'Since we got caught skinny dipping!' He laughed. 'The boys still give me shit for that, refuse to wipe it off my personnel record.'

Whitney blushed slightly, she definitely remembered alright.

~

'Come on, I thought you were cool?' Seventeen year-old Robbie teased his friend lightly.  'You've never once backed down on a bet, and this is the one that got you in the end?'

Whitney sighed heavily and looked around the empty public swimming pool. There was definitely no one around, and she really did pride herself on always completing her dares. Knowing Robbie, he would brag to the entire school she had flaked out on him, she thought annoyed.

Robbie perched on the edge of the pool dangling his feet in the pristine water. It was so calm with no one around. He could see Whitney's reserve slipping away and grinned to himself. He knew she wouldn't back down, he just liked to tease her a bit.

'I hate you, you know that right?' She huffed still contemplating what she actually had to do. She'd think twice before making a stupid bet with Robbie on a dumb football game.

'You love me actually,' he replied winking at her from his seating point.

'No, I really don't,' she sighed and removed her t-shirt quickly, shoving her shorts down and leaving herself in her pink bikini.

Robbie cleared his throat and sat up straight, he knew she'd do it, but how far would she actually go? The bet was to get naked and jump into the pool... it was a silly joke at first but she seemed so determined his team wouldn't win he laid out the stakes. She accepted like he knew she would, and here he was. About to see probably a bit too much of his best friend.

She glanced down at him and rolled her eyes, 'nice view from there?'

He nodded and smirked, 'Gorgeous.'

She felt a little tug in her chest and turned away from him removing her bikini top, dropping it by her feet. Making sure her back was to him she removed the rest jumping quickly into the pool and swimming into the darkened end feeling a massive rush.

'Coming in?' She called out her laughter echoing around the pool area.

'That wasn't the deal,' he shook his head grinning in amazement at his friend.

'You're such a baby,' she pouted, as best she could while treading water.

He laughed and stood up pulling off his shorts and diving in after her. Whitney squealed loudly as he sped towards her she tried to swim away but he grabbed her sides dunking her mercilessly. They laughed and swam to the edge catching their breath.

'Oi, you two! Get out of there!'

~

'So is that why you became a cop?' She teased him as he pulled into her driveway. 'To catch unsuspecting teens doing things they shouldn't be?'

He laughed as he parked the car, 'You always did understand me well Whit.'

Once the two friends brought all the shopping into the kitchen Whitney held up the newly purchased vodka and raised an eyebrow, 'Drink?'

He nodded, 'Good thing my shift finished up an hour ago, let's get drunk and talk about why you ditched me three years ago and I never heard from you again.'

Whitney paused as she was pouring the mixers into the glasses and looked up at Robbie, was he being serious? They retired out onto the porch where Whitney gave the old chairs a thorough wipe down and settled into them overlooking the familiar beach.

'You know I wrote to you, ten letters I sent and you never once responded,' She answered him some time later. 'It was hard for me too, leaving so suddenly. I didn't know why we left, or why it had to be in the middle of the night. Or even why my dad chucked my mobile in the bin!' Whitney was still mad about how it all happened. 'I mean I had one of the best nights of my life with you before we left Rob, you know that right?' She chanced a glance at him and he was watching her intensely.

'What? So your parents packed you up that night with no explanation?' He seemed doubtful. 'I mean I know your dad wasn't happy we hooked up but that's a little far fetched don't you think?'

Whitney shook her head quickly, 'No, no it wasn't because...' She trailed off when she realized he was grinning, joking. 'Oh ha, ha, you're still so funny.'

'To tell you the truth I heard something weird went down with your dad and a dodgy business deal, I just thought you'd still keep in touch. I never got any of your letters you know.' Robbie sighed and took a long sip.

'Really? That's so weird,' Whitney mused knocking back the rest of her drink.

'So what are you doing back in town for?'

'The parents are selling this dump,' She responded fondly. 'I've been commissioned to make sure it is realtor safe. Paint a few rough edges, make sure there's no issues and hand over the keys.'

Robbie frowned, 'Oh right, and what happened to your car by the way? There's a huge dent in it! It looks recent too,' he said slyly. 'Have you had another crash Miss Huntingdale? Only one day back, your curse really is alive and kicking.' He laughed referring to the fact Whitney had her license only a few days before her first crash, with many more there after.

Whitney blushed bright red and his teasing words, 'Shut up! This time it wasn't my fault anyway. Some loser in a truck knocked me off the road!'

'Oh you're so cute when you blush Hunt.'

There it was again, the pet name. He'd shortened her last name to Hunt one day as a joke and it had stuck between them. Robbie froze and bit his lip, 'Sorry, it just came out so easily,' he explained.

'It's fine,' she smiled back at him. She couldn't believe how easy it was to be around him again. 'So back to my earlier question, a cop?'

He rolled his eyes, 'Oh you know, had this urge to fight crime and what not.'

She burst out laughing, 'Your main aim was to break the law in everything you did, you have to understand my surprise here!'

He kicked her foot lightly, 'Shut up yourself, I don't know. There's not much else I could do here really. Don't want to teach surfing, don't want to run a surf shop, don't want to be a check out chick,' he laughed.

'You know there are options outside of Willow,' she teased.

'I like it here missy, and so did you, remember?'

She nodded looking out over the beach as the sun began to set. The colours in the sky were amazing and she felt a small longing for Willow beach. Her life back in the city was glamorous and exciting, but the small town definitely had its perks. She glanced across at Robbie, his sandy hair, cheeky grin, oh it definitely had its perks.