Take Me Back

Chapter 9

Mark

Present Day

“Ashley and Ewan are really cute together,” Gemma folded her jeans and placed them in the dresser while Mark busied himself with his iPhone on his side of the bed.

“I guess,” he mumbled. “He’s very…British,” he lamely added.

“Ha,” Gemma hopped on the bed and kissed his shoulder, “that he is.”

He tensed as she ran her hands over his shoulders and gently massaged his muscles in an effort to relax him. “What’s going on, Mark?”

He shook himself from her grip and stood. “Nothing, I’m just wired from the trip, the beer…I think I’m going to take a walk for a little bit.” He went in search for his sneakers but Gemma stopped him by stripping from her nightgown, perching on her knees in the center of the bed.

“Don’t take a walk, stay with me.” She threw her silk nightgown at him. “You did promise vacation sex,” she added with a smirk.

With a growl, Mark dropped his shoes and tackled her to the mattress. “This is much better than a walk.”

“Should we be quiet?” Gemma asked as Mark kissed across her chest and down her stomach.

“Just wait ‘til Miles gets going. Let’s make it a competition,” he winked.

////

Mark forgot how much running helped to clear his mind. Gemma is always late to rise, but with Mark’s common early mornings he is conditioned to wake as the sun comes up. His life became too busy to bother with running but seeing the wooded paths and the trail down to the beach, he felt inspired to take advantage of his vacation and run as much as possible.

His muscles felt loose after the first mile and he loved the crisp air seeping into his lungs. The colors on the trees were so beautiful to him that in that moment he felt renewed and energized to run another couple miles more. After mile two he directed his efforts towards the beach and ran back and forth around the private cove they’re staying on. Treading a path through the sand burned his calves so he decided to take a break and laid down for a while. Enjoying the rhythmic sounds of the water, he mentally relaxed his muscles from head-to-toe and let the warm sun cover his skin.

He didn’t know what to do or how to feel about Ashley. He wanted to hate Ewan but the damn guy was really cool. Mark wouldn’t go as far to admit they made a cute couple as Gemma insisted but she seemed happy with him. At the table during dinner last night he could sense the awkwardness between the two of them but she refused to look at him. All he wanted was to give her a smile or convey to her telepathically that he was happy for her, even if it were a lie.

As if he conjured her simply with his thoughts, Ashley appeared on the beach followed by Sabrina. The pair wore their bikinis and toted beach chairs and towels. They laughed rambunctiously and had yet to notice his presence nearby.

The last thing he wanted was to look like a creep so he jumped up and strode back to the house with a brisk pace. Sabrina caught his retreat and hollered to him with a whistle and a ‘hey sexy!’

“Ladies,” he called back to the women, giving them a quick salute.

“My, my, my, aren’t you looking delicious this morning,” Sabrina teased as Ashley turned back to her chair. “Come talk to us!”

Reluctantly, he jogged over to the women and was very aware of Ashley’s attempts to ignore his presence. “The weather seems perfect today, you guys have fun.”

Ashley pulled a paperback out of her little bag and opened it to her dog-eared page.

“I was just telling Ashley how great it is to have both of you around again.”

“Sabrina,” Ashley scolded.

“I think I’ll go,” Mark started to leave, fight or flight definitely kicking in.

“What am I going to do with you two,” Sabrina muttered. “Sooner or later you’re going to have to talk to each other.”

“We have spoken to each other, Sabrina. We are adults and therefore do not need you to referee,” Ashley threw her book back into her bag and stormed off to walk along the water.

Mark watched her walk away, grinding his teeth to keep from yelling out to her.

“Whew, the tension boiling between the two of you is making me horny,” Sabrina licked her finger and used it to thumb to the next page of her magazine.

“Shut up Sabrina! There is no tension, just unresolved…tension,” he bit out, rolling his eyes.

“See?” Sabrina smirked. “I told you! I wish you guys would just work out whatever it is that happened between the two of you.” Mark groaned with annoyance and began walking away. Sabrina dropped her magazine and got up from her chair to follow him. “Listen, Mark,” he tone growing stormy. “I know you’re with other people but I also know that you two never fell out of love with each other. I don’t know what that means now but you can’t ignore it.”

“Enough,” Mark yelled as he turned on Sabrina. “Just. Butt. Out!”

Shrinking away, Sabrina nodded nervously and allowed him retreat back to the house.

Stomping the sand from his shoes, Mark opened the sliding glass door leading into the kitchen and was greeted by Andy and Ewan, drinking coffee and chatting over breakfast.

“Mark! Clean up, we’re going to the marina in a little bit to check out some boat rentals to use for the week, come with us,” Andy insisted.

“Give me five minutes,” Mark replied, absolutely grateful for any excuse to get far away from Ashley.