Eternal (Seaside 4.5)

“Girl’s gotta point.” Saylor laughed.

“Hush! Both of you!” Demetri held up his hands. “And yes, this may be better than sex, though I’m loath to admit it, and— Hey, do me a favor, Lyss. If it is, don’t say anything just nod your head and lie, cool?”

“What?” I burst out laughing. “What in the world are you talking about?”

“Oh you’ll see.” He held out his hand. “Now, the party awaits.”

“Good luck,” Kiersten called behind her while Saylor winked in my direction. When they left the room, I turned my full attention to Demetri.

“Are you planning something?”

“Nope. In fact...” He twirled me in front of him. “Damn… why don’t we just stay here tonight? I’ll light some candles… order some pizza… put on a romance movie… I’ll even read a book to you. Ah, I saw that blush. Is that what my girl wants? I’ll read something dirty, swear.”

I smacked him in the chest. “Be mature, and no… I want to hang out with everyone. We’ll be alone tomorrow night.”

“And for the rest of our lives, until you pop out little Demetris.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Too soon.” He nodded with a wince. “It’s okay… just fair warning, though. Those Daniels’ sperm are strong swimmers, so don’t hate me for being athletic.”

“I have more athleticism in my pinky finger than you do in your entire body, Dem.”

“Not true. I ran the other day.”

“You thought a seagull was chasing you.”

He sniffed and looked away, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Whatever. Still ran.”

“You sprinted, screamed like a girl, then hid behind a trashcan.”

“Because I dropped my sunglasses.”

“Dem…” I grabbed his hand and pulled him into my body. “…be honest. Did you really drop the sunglasses?”

“Maybe…” He licked his lips. “…on purpose… to avoid getting pecked to death by the seagull.”

“They’re not known to attack people.”

“They like my blood. They’re attracted to sexy.”

“Hmm.” I cupped his face with my hands. Man, the guy was gorgeous. His dimples peeked out from his sexy smile. “Maybe don’t go around telling people seagulls find you sexy, yeah?”

“Hey, the truth hurts.”

“You do realize this is why people still think you’re on drugs, right?”

He kissed me hard against the lips. “You sure you don’t want to stay in tonight?”

“Yup.”

His hands cupped my butt as he pulled me roughly against his hips. “You’re sure sure? Like one hundred percent?”

“One hundred and ten.”

“Fine.” He released me and held out his hand. “Then your clambake awaits.”

“So romantic. Use your sexy voice.”

He mimicked Jaymeson’s British accent just as we rounded the corner and slammed into the devil himself.

“Mocking me again?” Jaymeson’s eyebrows shot up. “Or is it the only way you can turn her on now? Pretend to be foreign?”

“Ass.” Demetri pushed against him.

“You love me,” Jaymeson said in a singsong voice. “Oh, and everything’s ready for—”

Demetri punched him in the face.

Jaymeson crumpled to the ground. “What the hell?”

“Sorry!” Demetri helped him up. “I thought you were going to spill.”

“I was going to say everything’s ready for you… not… the other thing.” His eyes darted away from mine. “Thanks for the black eye before pictures, asshole.”

“Is that how you make friends, man? You just punch people? Sandbox rule number one: don’t throw sand and don’t throw the shovel. Just say hi. It’s as easy as that,” Gabe said from the hallway. “We doing this or no?”

“Yes.” Demetri seethed then kissed my hand. “Follow Jaymeson out. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“And if I want to stay with you?”

“Then...” Jaymeson lifted me into his arms. I started squealing. “…I’ve been instructed to take you by force.”

“Touch any part of her that hasn’t been cleared by me, “Demetri yelled. “And I’ll get the other eye.”

Jaymeson snorted and kept walking.

I fought him a bit more then finally relented as I leaned my elbows on his back. “So, where we going, Jay?”

“Oh, you know.” He hefted me up higher and smacked my leg. “Places.”

“Vague, Brit. Vague.”

“It’s part of my charm, next to my sexy accent and ability to make women’s clothes literally fall off in my presence. Seriously, last night, snapped my fingers and Pris’s shirt went—”

Pris walked around the corner and rolled her eyes. “The straps snapped, Jaymeson. For the last time, you aren’t magic.”

“Ha.” I smacked him in the back. “Now put me down.”

“No can do, love.” He laughed as Pris fell into step beside us.

The boardwalk came into view and then the beach, though my view was more of Jaymeson’s ass and a retreating Demetri and Gabe. What the heck were they doing? And why was Demetri running around in circles? I looked up, you know, for the seagulls, but saw nothing. Huh.