Sheets | ✓

TWENTY-THREE

I gulped as Sofia began to pull off her outer clothes, revealing the baby pink one piece they hid underneath. Her swim suit was by no means revealing, the bodice covering more of her skin than Jamie's bikini even pretended to do, but the way it pulled Sofia's curves in made it more provocative than she probably intended it to. Her fuller chest was pushed inwards, cleavage peeking out from behind the ruffles of the chest area. Thick straps wrapped around her shoulders to cross at the back, the swimsuit cutting up her hips and exposing her shapely thighs. I noticed a few people glancing at her as she tied her hair up in a loose braid, exposing the smooth skin of her neck.

"Hey Wes, help me with sunscreen? I can't get my back," Sofia said, her cheeks pink as she held out the bottle of lotion towards me. Benny and Jamie looked at each other before Benny grabbed Parker's arm, the boy stumbling as he stared longingly after Jamie, who begun running towards the water. As Benny and Parker followed after her, Benny turned back towards me to give me a thumbs up and a brow wiggle, making me swallow thickly.

"Uh, yeah, no problem," I said, making sure I didn't brush her hand as I took the bottle from her. Sofia smiled as she turned around, pulling her plait over her shoulder to reveal the back of her neck to me. 

"Make sure you get it everywhere, I don't want to burn," Sofia said, her voice quiet as I took a tentative step towards her. Squirting some of the white liquid onto my hands, the squelch sounding a little obscene, I felt my cheeks heat up. I could tell that Sofia was also nervous, the back of her ears growing red and her hands fiddling with themselves in front of her. 

Relax, Wes. It's just sunscreen. Totally innocent.

"Right," I whispered to myself, loosing a tight breath. I then began to rub the sunscreen onto Sofia's back. Sofia didn't move as I covered her neck and shoulder blades quickly, not wanting to linger on her skin for longer than necessary. Everything was going fine, until I reached her mid-back. I carefully slathered the sunscreen onto the little circle of exposed skin there, and flinched when Sofia visibly shivered at my touch. Shivered.

Nico makes you shiver.

My hands flung backwards as the thought flew into my mind, the hairs on the back of my neck standing erect. 

Feeling that my fingers were no longer touching her, Sofia turned around coyly, a small smile on her face as she looked up at me through thick lashes. Her cheeks were red and her lower lip a little wet, as if she had been nibbling on it. 

"Thanks, Wes," Sofia said, her voice low as she stepped towards me. I felt uncomfortable when her brown eyes drifted up to my lips, eyes glassing over. 

"No problem!" I choked out, stepping backwards to shove the sunscreen back into Sofia's bag, which was lying atop the beach towel Benny had laid down. Sofia's face dropped in disappointment, but regained its usual relaxed expression when she grabbed my hand.

"Let's swim!" I let Sofia drag me into the water, the girl giggling as she saw Parker awkwardly tumble forwards towards Jamie, who casually side stepped out of the way, leaving Parker to drop into the ocean like a rock. Benny was beside himself laughing, throwing a large wad of seaweed into Parker's face when he re-emerged from the water. 

I waded through the water until it reached my hips, sinking my toes into the sad. Sofia was standing beside me, the water up to her belly button. I stiffened as Sofia's hands wrapped around my forearm, her breasts pressing against my bicep. 

"Let's go swim over there," Sofia said, a sly smile on her face as she nodded her head towards some secluded rocks on the far side of the short. I glanced at Benny, Jamie and Parker, who were all preoccupied with trying to pile as much seaweed onto the latter as possible and weren't paying any attention to the two of us. Seeming to hear my thoughts, Sofia pressed herself a bit closed, her hair tickling my skin. "They won't notice if we slip away?"