Where Love Resides

Chapter 3

"Come on Hope, it's time to get out of the water." Anthony called out after he had to paddle out to come and get me. There were a few more guys out here with me but all the girls had taken off about three hours ago, claiming that it had gotten too cold for them.

"Just one more wave?" I begged and after a heavy sigh, Anthony gestured for me to go ahead.

That's what I did. The new set that rolled in was actually pretty small but perfect for my finishing ride. I ripped through the wave like a knife, cutting it at every point. When I finally got out of the water, my brother was chuckling at me.

"You do realize you just showed up about half the guys still out there?"

"Yes, but that wasn't the point."

Anthony didn't answer me, instead he just threw a towel at me and after drying myself off the best I could, I wrapped the clammy towel around my hips and made my way over to the large bonfire. Most of the adults were gone now, the principle probably having a drunken trip in the school bus that someone organized for the weekend. I stumbled through the sand with my dress in one hand and my flip-flops in the other. It wasn't difficult to notice Suzanne sitting dead centre with a large crowd surrounding her while she gestured wildly. She was always the one telling some lively story even though everything always came from books.

"I swear, that girl reminded me so much of my friend Hope and how gorgeous she is now." She gushed just as I reached the circle and frowned.

Seriously, she was really taking my London trip up a little too seriously but even Eric was gathered in the midst of the crowd.

"Suzanne, you're making me sound like some kind of teenage drama actress." I stated calmly from the back of the crowd and everyone gave way to allow me to walk towards my friend. She looked nervous as hell and I couldn't help but chuckle at her. "Come on, you said we'd have some fun so let's do something fun." I broke the tension and made her grin.

"What do you have in mind?"

We were freezing when we finally reached the bonfire again. Okay, so maybe it wasn't the best idea for her and I to go skinny dipping in the ocean water and finishing it off with a cold shower but running butt naked around on the beach, knowing how populated it was, was thrilling. Suzanne was still giggling insanely when Lucas and Will plopped down next to us with alcohol clearly on their breath. I could see Will had run his hand through his hair more than once and what I also noticed was the fact that he was now walking round in shorts and no shirt. I had to concentrate hard to keep myself from openly staring at his amazing body. He had a full eight pack of abs and I could see the hairline running from his belly button and disappearing in the top of his shorts. He even had that V-line I always read about in books. I felt an elbow nudge into my side and looked over at Suzanne who was wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Ugh, stupid hormones." I muttered to myself while turning my focus back to the bonfire. I could see both my brothers sitting just a few feet away from me, keeping their eyes on my every move. I smiled at them in reassurance before moving my gaze to the ground. How was I going to figure out what to do about these opportunities?

When the sound of an acoustic guitar reached my ears, my eyes instantly lifted to the guy sitting on the other side of me. I could remember him from a few classes I had with him when I was younger. I think his name was Bill or something like that. A small smile reached my lips when he started playing a soft but familiar melody. It continued for a half an hour with no one really paying attention. Everyone was speaking to someone; Suzanne was intently discussing their future plans with Lucas and Will while my brothers had started flirting with a couple of girls.