And we really, really did. This whole not taking care of herself thing was going to stop. Pronto. She spun away from me, but I kept close on her heels. The smell of the sea mixed with her naturally sweet scent had me intoxicated without even picking up a drink. Sea-salt buttercream.
It made me want to spread her out and lick her up. I groaned and subtly adjusted myself as she led us further into the crowd until we were surrounded by nothing but oblivious kids trying to have a good time. I kept right on her ass, not giving her a chance to lose me. But when I placed a hand on her hip, she flinched. I let go as if I’d been burned, then took two massive steps, putting me in front of her again.
“What was that?” I asked, something sick growing in my gut.
She refused to meet my gaze, but kept her glare on like a defensive shield. “You need to go, Ezra, I—”
“Oh girl,hecan stay,” one of her sisters interrupted and wobbled into us on unsteady legs. The liquid in her cup spilled over the edge, but she didn’t seem to mind. “Boyfriends are allowed to crash Greek events. Is he your boyfriend?”
“He’s not,” Rani replied, at the same time I said, “I am.”
We scowled at one another, and the sorority girl giggled. She tilted her head back and tried to peer at me under hooded eyes. It wasn’t attractive, but points for trying, I guess.
“Does she know that?” she whispered to me, side-eyeing Rani with another conspiratory titter.
Rani rolled her eyes in disgust, and I waited to be sure she had my full attention before I answered.
“She’s about to.”
CHAPTER 3
Rani
He didnotjust say that. Ezra’s smirk sent the butterflies in my stomach spinning like a tornado. The feeling lifted into my chest andpulleduntil I thought it would break my heart free of its cage and run off with it.Who the hell does he think he is?His smirk deepened at my stunned silence, and I did the first thing I could think of to knock it off his face.
I flipped him off.
Alicia drunkenly frowned at my reaction, but Ezra only laughed. Fuck it, she could have him. Turning to face my normally docile sister, I gave her my sweetest smile.
“Go for it, sweetie. Just make sure he wraps it, okay? This beach isn’t the only thing infested with crabs, if you know what I mean.”
With a pointed look at his crotch, Alicia’s nose scrunched, but I was already gone.
“Hey, hold on a fucking second—”
Ignoring Ezra’s outraged curses, I slipped away, ducking under waving arms and weaving until a whole mass of dancingbodies was between us. The only downside to this plan was where it put me. Smack dab in front of the ocean. Like a sucker punch to the gut, all the air left me in a giantwhoosh.
How could something incite such longing in me, yet be terrifying at the same time? The sun shone down on white capped waves like an array of diamonds. Surfers broke through the sparkling show, and seagulls cawed over the techno music blaring behind me.
No one noticed me here, trapped on the edge. The next surge crashed against the shoreline and pushed over the sand, stopping just inches from my toes before being sucked back out again. My head throbbed, and my skin felt shrink-wrapped around my bones.
I wanted nothing more than to throw myself out there until the water covered all of me. I needed to swim, to sink, to dive through the currents and let them carry me away. Even as my heart cried out for it, my body shook with terror at the thought of going in there. I trembled so hard I could barely stand straight, and my knees kept buckling no matter how hard I locked them.
I didn’t used to be like this; terrified and weak. Something had to give. My anger grew just enough, and in a last-ditch effort to save my sanity, I overrode my fear long enough to dip my toes into the next receding wave. It was a lightning bolt to the system, my body jolting at just that one, cool touch. Like a crisp apple to the starved or the relief of ice on a burn, I soaked in all the sea had to offer and then some.
Oh my God, I missed this. The squishy sand under my feet as shells raced over my toes. The suction of the ocean as it pulled, pulled, pulled, and then crested with another glorious rush of water. My headache all but vanished, and I took my first deep breath in weeks. There was still a nagging at the back of my mind that warned me I wasn’t ready to go out too far, but something told me the sea missed me as much as I missed her.
“Ohmygod,Rani,your hair is so beautiful!”
The squeal tore me from the spell I was under, and I turned to face Kinsley. She’d never talked to me before, but now she couldn’t stop gushing about my hair. She reached out as if to touch it, and I jerked back, causing my feet to sink even deeper into the sand. The water was now up to my ankles.
“Sorry,” she let out an adorable laugh. “It’s just so pretty. What products do you use?”
Before I could answer her, another sister approached us. Her eyes were hyper-focused on my face, like she’d never seen me before.
“Holy shit, your lips are like puffy clouds of pink. Don’t you think, Kinsley? Like, the pinkest, puffiest clouds there ever was in the sky!”
What in the fucking fuck was happening right now? The girls cooed and complimented me in high-pitched excitement as I just stood there, at a complete loss for what to do. Did I thank them for the overly weird and completely unnecessary comments about how my eyebrows were liketooperfect and would I like them brushed?
