NOT SO Beautiful: a bay falls high novel Read online

“Can’t get enough of her,” Hil added.

  “You’re not from around here,” Ash said. He stepped toward Sarah. “Just visiting? Or planning on staying?”

  “Can’t afford to stay,” Sarah said. “Just passing through. Belle is my best friend. I have to make sure she’s okay too.”

  “So she thinks she’s tough,” Hil said. “That’s cute as fuck.”

  “I wonder what makes her so tough,” Uly asked. “Growing up broke? Worried about food? Dealing with bad boys? Is that what it is, doll? Because I’m sure anything you’ve seen is nothing compared to us…”

  “Save the speeches for later,” I said. “You see that I’m alive and well. I’m going to go enjoy the rest of my time with-”

  “Hey, Belle, where are you?” Grace’s voice called out.

  I cringed on the inside.

  All of Them looked in the same direction.

  Grace appeared a second later.

  “There’s more than one,” Uly said.

  He pushed by Hil and walked up to Grace.

  She stepped back and let out a whoa sound.

  “Who are you?” she asked Uly.

  “I can be anything you want me to be,” Uly whispered.

  “I think we should stay,” Ash said. “Just to be safe.”

  He walked by Grace, looking down at her for a split second.

  “Shit,” I whispered.

  I hurried away from Sarah and caught up with Them.

  “What is this?” I asked Ash. “A joke? I’m with my friends.”

  “And we’re with you,” Ash said. “Remember?”

  “Not here. Nothing is going to happen here.”

  “You don’t know that, beauty,” Hil said.

  “We’ll be on our best behavior,” Uly said.

  “That’s what worries me,” I said.

  Their best behavior was the worst of others.

  I stopped walking and let Them go ahead.

  Sarah and Grace caught up to me, one on each side of me.

  “I’m so flustered right now,” Sarah said.

  “Tell me those are the guys you’re fooling around with,” Grace said.

  I didn’t respond.

  I wasn’t sure they could actually handle the truth of Uly, Hil, and Ash.

  two

  I couldn’t help myself as I pictured the three of Them shirtless and in the pool. Tattoos and muscles. The water dripping off their skin. The way Uly’s hair probably looked all soaking wet. Or Hil’s eyes as he dipped down into the water like an animal about to attack. The tone of Ash’s body… or better yet… where his tattoos on his arms actually began. Did they stop at his shoulders? Did they go to his chest? Did they…

  “Put your tongue in your mouth,” Sarah whispered to me.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Who the fuck are they?” she asked me.

  “And which one can I have?” Grace asked.

  “Oh, so now you’re not worried about touching anything here?” I asked.

  “That house is fucking huge and scary to be in, Belle,” Grace said. “But these guys… they’re meant for touching… and licking…”

  “Holy shit, girl,” Sarah said. “I guess someone’s been skipping out on their self-care lately.”

  “I don’t care,” Grace said. “Give me, give me, give me, give me…”

  “Stop it,” I said.

  Both Sarah and Grace looked at me.

  They were judging me. Searching for answers.

  I didn’t have answers other than the truth and I wasn’t about to give them that.

  “I could fucking sleep in that place in there!” a voice cried out.

  “Oh, no,” I whispered.

  I had forgot about Taylor.

  She swam out into the pool, a big smile on her face.

  “Belle, I am so jealous of-”

  “Holy shit,” Uly called out. “They’re multiplying.”

  “Another one?” Hil asked.

  Ash looked at me and lifted an eyebrow.

  Before I could say a word, Hil shocked me by taking off his leather jacket. He tossed it to a table and then grabbed the bottom of his shirt and ripped it off in one motion.

  I wasn’t into math, but I started to count… the toned skin pulling against his ribs and then perfectly cut squares of stomach muscles…

  Hil was fucking ripped.

  Not just cut and toned like some beach guy who was sexy as he surfed.

  Hil was built for war.

  He only had one tattoo on his right forearm, but my eyes didn’t give a fuck about tattoos in that moment.

  “I’ll save you!” Hil yelled as he stepped out of his black boots and took off his black socks.

  He ran toward the pool and dove in head first.

  “Oh. My. God.”

  Those were the only words Grace could mutter.

  I was thinking the same thing.

  Taylor looked at Hil under the water and then at me.

  Then back to Hil.

  He popped up from the water, shook his head, throwing his soaked and messy hair all around.

  His arms wrapped around Taylor as he picked her up.

  He threw her over his shoulder, her ass near his face.

  My blood started to boil.

  Red hot.

  Ready to hurt someone.

  Ready to hurt Taylor.

  Hil carried her up the steps as she cried out with a nervous laugh.

  From the corner of my eye I felt Ash staring at me. Devouring me. Gauging my reaction to Hil’s crazy antics.

  When Hil got out of the pool with Taylor still over his shoulder, he quickly moved, bringing her down and across his arms.

  Taylor’s pink painted toenails suddenly began to curl.

  She stared at Hil with fuck me eyes that mixed with puppy dog instant love eyes.

  My hands curled up into fists.

  Water dripped from Hil’s hair, face, and chin onto Taylor’s body.

  More specifically… her oversized chest.

  “Okay, that’s enough,” I said. “You can put her down now, Hil.”

  “What?” Hil asked. “I was just going to give her mouth to mouth. Just to make sure her heart’s still beating.”

  “Oh, it’s fucking racing right now,” Taylor said. “How long was I in there for?”

  “Better question is… how long can I go in there for?” Hil asked.

  I felt my cheeks burning.

  “I’ll go drown myself right now,” Grace announced.

  She stepped toward the pool and I sank my nails into her arm. “That’s enough!”

  “Ouch!” Grace cried out. She pulled her arm away. “What the hell is wrong with you, Belle?”

  “I can answer that,” Ash said.

  “Hey,” Sarah said to me, touching my back. “Hey, are you good here?”

  I looked at Sarah and felt my lip curling.

  She took her hand away from my back.

  I moved my eyes to Hil and Taylor again.

  Hil tilted Taylor forward and put her back on her feet.

  She stumbled forward, boobs jiggling, and my jealousy raged on.

  I didn’t know where to look or how long to look or how to fake what I felt.

  “I wasn’t actually drowning,” Taylor said to Hil.

  “No shit,” Hil said with a wink.

  He backed away, water still running along the built curves of muscle that made up his chest. Down to his stomach. Some of the water soaking into the top of his jeans and some going right into his jeans.

  I folded my arms and stormed away toward the beach.

  Which was probably a dumb move. Leaving Sarah, Taylor, and Grace alone with Them.

  Whatever.

  I sank my feet into the warm sand and caught my breath.

  I knew I had acted like a jealous, spoiled kid.

  Which wasn’t the way I always acted.

  I stared at the ocean, hoping it would calm me.

  It didn’t.

  Fuck t
hose people who did yoga and meditated to the ocean.

  Fuck them all.

  I needed a cigarette to calm down.

  “Here, have a smoke with me, beauty.”

  I turned my head and laughed.

  A shirtless Hil had cigarettes and a lighter.

  Mygod… his body…

  He lit his cigarette and put his head back to take a drag.

  Was there anything sexier than a bad guy like Hil smoking like that? From his Adam’s apple all the way down to his jeans… where the water hugged tight to something else bulging…

  I took a cigarette from Hil and he held the lighter out for me.

  “Those your old friends back there?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “They wanted to see me. I didn’t realize it was going to turn into that.”

  “What’s that? A little fun?”

  Hil winked at me.

  “That wasn’t fun for me.”

  “That was all jealousy for you,” Hil said. “Your heart and body are all torn up right now, huh?”

  “Fuck off, Hil.”

  “Careful with that, beauty,” he said.

  “Why? What are you going to do? Go back to Taylor?”

  “I’ll take her into that cove and see how her voice sounds echoing in it,” he said. He leaned toward me. “I’ll spell my full name with the tip of my tongue against her… well… you can guess where…”

  I stared forward. I tried to fight off how pissed it was making me to hear him talk about someone else. Especially Taylor.

  Hil gently pressed his nose to my cheek.

  I shut my eyes and swallowed hard.

  I tilted my head to the left.

  “Oh, fuck, Belle,” he whispered.

  The tip of his tongue slid against my neck.

  I let out a whimpering moan.

  A mix of jealousy, desperation, and being pathetic.

  I felt his tongue make a H…

  I turned and looked at Hil. “You said you don’t share.”

  “Nope.”

  “Well neither do I,” I said. “You want to go play with Taylor’s chest, then have fun.”

  “You could make the decision easier.”

  “Oh yeah? How?”

  Hil brushed his lips against mine. “You’re wearing too many clothes, beauty. I need to see what I’m comparing before I decide.”

  “Oh, fuck you, Hil,” I said.

  I wanted to slap him.

  But I didn’t.

  Instead, I kissed him.

  * * *

  It went from a kiss to something else.

  I tried to get up on my toes but couldn’t. I kept stumbling and sliding in the sand.

  My left hand was sticking out because I was holding my cigarette.

  And Hil was in the same position with his left hand too.

  Except he was a giant towering over me.

  Bending his knees, he lowered down to keep kissing me.

  Each time I slid or stepped, it became a sloppy kiss.

  Our lips and tongues smacking together so loud.

  He finally threw his right arm around me and picked me up.

  His hand grabbed right for my ass, taking a giant handful, which made me wonder what did that say about my ass…

  I threw my head back and groaned.

  For a few seconds I completely forgot I was on the beach.

  Where anyone could see or hear…

  “Holy shit.”

  Hil turned his head and I looked to see Grace standing right where the sand met Jo’s property.

  She put a hand over her mouth, her cheeks red.

  My lips were tingling and trembling from the kissing.

  My body pressed against Hil’s bare chest.

  “Don’t be shy,” Hil called out. “I bet I can kiss you both at the same time.”

  I slammed my right forearm to Hil’s chest.

  He laughed and let me go.

  My feet hit the sand and I hurried to take a drag of my cigarette.

  “I’ll leave you two to talk,” Hil said. “She doesn’t get you the way I do now, Belle. Enjoy your visit.” Hil walked toward Grace and looked down at her and grinned. “For the record, I wouldn’t mind seeing you topless either. So I can get the full effect of all three…”

  “What the fuck?” Grace asked.

  Hil walked away laughing.

  Grace’s nostrils flared when she looked at me again.

  She hurried toward me. “You let him talk like that? Did you… not that it’s my business… but… the way he was holding Taylor… you were…”

  “Put your tongue back in your mouth, Grace,” I said. “And don’t play that card right now. You were ready to drown yourself in the pool for him.”

  “That was based on looks. He’s not a good person.”

  “No shit,” I said. “I don’t think any of Them are.”

  “And yet they’re here.”

  “And yet you were just as wet as Taylor,” I said.

  Grace touched her forehead. “I don’t know what to say right now. I’m not sure I’ve ever been that turned on and grossed out at the same time. Sorry I broke up your kiss there.”

  My face burned hot. “You saw that?”

  “Saw it?” Grace asked. “Mygod, Belle… you two were like…”

  “Fuck,” I said.

  “Why’s that bad… oh.”

  I looked at her. “Don’t say it.”

  “Say what?” Sarah asked as she moved along the sand.

  Right behind her was Taylor. Wearing her shirt over her bikini top, which was totally pointless. Her shirt was wet and clung to her body.

  “Belle and Hil were kissing like I had never seen two people kiss before,” Grace said.

  “Oh yeah?” Sarah asked, grinning.

  “Really?” Taylor asked, disappointed.

  “It’s nothing,” I said. “It was a mistake.”

  “That did not look like a mistake,” Grace said.

  “It’s complicated,” I said.

  Sarah pointed at me. “You’re with all three… or fooling around with all three behind their backs…”

  “No,” I said. “Not even close.”

  “Wait a second,” Taylor said. “They know about each other, don’t they? You fucking wild thing you…”

  “Shut up,” I said. “That’s not true at all. Have I kissed them all? Sure. But that’s been it. I didn’t… I mean I don’t know…”

  I had nothing.

  I was stammering.

  I needed to be saved.

  When I saw Hil again, I felt relieved. And feeling relieved near Hil meant you were totally fucked to begin with.

  He walked across the sand with his shirt over his shoulder and his boots in his hand.

  Still smoking his cigarette.

  He cut right through Sarah, Grace, and Taylor like they weren’t even there.

  His eyes were on mine.

  “I’m going for a ride, beauty,” he said. “I’ll catch up with you later. We can finish what we started the right way.”

  My lips quivered and Hil walked away without me saying a word to him.

  Right behind him was Uly.

  Sunglasses on his face.

  The sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt half rolled up.

  I reminded myself that Uly was smart. Probably a genius. But that didn’t make sense. Nothing…

  “Where did Hil kiss your neck at, doll?” Uly asked.

  “Right side…”

  “Okay,” Uly said.

  He dipped his head down to the left side of my neck for a quick kiss.

  I gasped and looked at Sarah.

  Her eyes were as wide as mine.

  Uly gently pushed by me and followed Hil.

  I waited without breathing for Ash.

  But he never showed.

  I finally had no choice but to exhale.

  I dropped my cigarette in the sand, no longer interested in smoking ever again.

  “This is out of control,” Taylo
r said.

  “Wait until Gray hears about this,” Grace said. “He’s going to get jealous.”

  “Fuck Gray,” I said. “I need to go find Ash. Stay here.”

  I hurried back to the pool and Ash stood in the same spot as before.

  He looked like an assassin or something. But mygod he was sexy.

  Those amber eyes flickered like the flames of two candles, burning bright for me.

  “Aren’t you going to join Them?” I asked.

  “Thinking,” he said.

  “About what? Something to draw? Something to tattoo on someone?”

  “Do you have any tattoos, angel?” he asked.

  “No.”

  “That’s a shame,” he said.

  He moved toward me. We stood a foot apart near the edge of the pool at the main ladder.

  “I can smell Them on you,” Ash said.

  “Does it make you jealous?”

  “You didn’t like Hil touching your friend.”

  “So?”

  “I bet she’s the one in the group that just gives it up for nothing.”

  “Why? Want to find out?”

  “Are you pushing at me, Belle? That’s never a good idea.”

  “What if I push you into this pool?”

  Ash took away that foot separating us.

  His body brushed up against mine. He smelled as good as he looked.

  I was intoxicated.

  “You push, I pull,” he whispered. “Meaning if I go into that water, you come with me. And that goes for anything else too.”

  “You don’t like that Hil and Uly have kissed me,” I said. “But you won’t admit it.”

  “Doesn’t matter what I admit or not,” Ash said. “You’re a writer, angel, you know the story is just the fluff to get to the end.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t write novels, Ash. Not even stories, really. I just throw what I want on paper. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense. And that makes it all the better.”

  “Agreed,” Ash said.

  “So what now?” I asked. “Are you going to take your turn?”

  Ash grinned. He brought his right thumb to my bottom lip. He moved super slow across my lip. Warm pulses started in my bottom lip and raced down. You know where.

  I was shivering again.

  Ash took his thumb from my bottom lip and stared at it.

  He brought it to his nose.

  “When you want your turn, angel, come see me,” he said.

  He started to walk away.

  “That’s weak,” I said. “The others took what they wanted.”

  Ash looked back. “No, Belle. They took what you gave them. When I come for the entire thing, I’ll get it.” Ash looked at his right arm. “Sometimes it takes more than one sitting to tattoo someone. It takes patience. Time. Care. And then when it finally comes together… it’s worth everything that happened to get there.”