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His hair was styled in a mess. He was wearing a blue button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Dark rinse straight fit jeans hugged his b**t nicely. To finish off the outfit, he wore black Nike trainers.
He kissed my forehead and said, “Hey Talis.”
I was surprised and looked at him straight in the eye. “What? No boring compliments like ‘you’re beautiful’ or anything like that?” I asked. To be honest, I was surprised. Kieran seemed like the type of guy who’d be flattering girls on the first date.
“I’ve got nothing to say. You left me lost for words. That’s how gorgeous you are,” he said, shrugging. He even winked at me.
“Wow, who taught you to be so sweet?” I felt a bit red.
He laughed and kissed my blushing cheeks, which made me blush some more. Luckily, my mum had left the room, wishing us a good time, not hovering like a normal parent. “After you, my queen,” he joked, waving his hand towards the door.
“You better believe I’m your queen,” I joked, laughing afterwards.
Just to let you know, I’ve got a few more things to add.
“Oh my gosh,” I said, my eyes lighting up as I saw where we were going. I was so excited I literally jumped up and down. “You’re the best boyfriend ever,” I said, giving him a kiss on the cheek as he parked.
He rolled his eyes. “You’re so easy to please. It’s just Le Jardin’s.”
“It’s not just Le Jardin’s, you know. You know how much I love this place,” I gasped, already getting out of his car.
I grabbed his arm and pulled him inside as fast as I could. I took a big sniff of the delicious smell of food inside, and my heart felt full and content. I closed my eyes and felt like I was in heaven. “You know, you look like an idiot,” Kieran whispered in my ear, tangling his fingers with mine.
I opened my eyes and glared at him. “Give me peace, will you? You don’t have to get jealous just because I like this place more than I like you.”
“You don’t like me because you love me,” he teased, pulling me into the line.
I could feel the heat creeping up my neck and the blood starting to colour my cheeks. To be honest, I did love him; I just hadn’t admitted it yet. He did too. I was worried that if I said it, he’d take off, and Kieran was someone I didn’t want to lose. “Whatever,” I said, slapping his shoulder when he started laughing. “Just get me my usual.”
“I’ll have the W Cheeseburger with fries and a Wild Berry tea, please,” he confirmed, nodding.
“You know it,” I said, slapping his b**t and searching for a table to sit on.
Ten minutes later, we started eating and I wolfed down all my food. Kieran and I started throwing fries at each other’s faces, laughing at the janitor’s irritated expression. I know it was a bit harsh, but I swear they’re just sitting around doing nothing. They needed to earn what they got, just like the rest of us.
The W Cheeseburger was more or less my and Kieran’s thing. Every time we come to Le Jardin’s, we’d eat it and Kieran would joke that we were the type of couple who had corny traditions. I’ll be honest with you, Kieran and I did have a lot of things that only the two of us knew about. I guess it was a boyfriend-girlfriend thing.
After we’d eaten, Kieran pulled me to his car, his eyes lighting up with excitement. “What?” I said that it was obvious to me that there was some confusion. “You really that excited to bring me home?”
He gasped, acting like he was in pain. He was holding his hand to his chest.”I can’t believe you think this is it. You really think I’m that cheap?”
“Sort of,” I said, shrugging and laughing as his eyes opened wide. I gave him a hug and pinched his cheek. “I’m only joking.”
I sat in the passenger seat while Kieran closed my door and came to the other side. “So where are you taking me?” I asked.
“It’s a surprise.”
An hour later, Kieran pulled up into a car park. My eyes opened wide as it came into view, with just a dirt trail leading to something beyond the trees. There was just one street light on. “Is this where you kill me?” I joke, unbuckling my seatbelt and getting out before Kieran could open the door.
“Look, just because I open my own door doesn’t mean I’m a gentleman. I’ve got a reputation to keep up, you know?” He gave me a stern look as he lectured. Then he picked me up bridal-style, which made me squeal and giggle. “And to answer your question – I can’t kill you. I need your help to get ready for the history test. Otherwise, I’d fail.”
I gasped and started laughing as I slapped his shoulder. “You’re such a dork.”
He strolled along the dirt trail and I wrapped my arms around his neck, feeling a bit scared. I’ve never been here before, so naturally, I’m a bit nervous. “Chill out,” Kieran whispered, trying to calm me down. I was confused by the sound of leaves moving quickly in the distance, and then I thought for a moment it might have been the sound of waves crashing.
As we got out into an open space, my jaw hit the floor for the millionth time tonight. We were on the beach. It wasn’t littered with rubbish or anything like that. It was clean with pure white sand. There were a few dunes in different spots. The ocean was there, stretching out before me, with the waves lapping against the shore, and the moonlight glinting on the water, which was all just so amazing to see. Lined across the far end of the beech were posts, light at the top so you could see at night. There was nobody here but the two of us. I’m not sure what it did, but I felt at peace for once in a long time. I’ll always remember spending time on the beach – it was a one-time thing for me. I only came here a few times a year because it was just too far to travel.
“It’s the pack’s own,” Kieran said, reading my mind. “It’s a private beach, just to get away from all the stress and hard work that’s been put on us lately.”
“It’s stunning,” I whispered, still taking in the beach.
“Not as beautiful as you,” Kieran whispered, mainly to himself. He was so sincere when he spoke, it made my heart melt. Before I could say anything, he took off his shoes with his feet. I did the same, kicking off my wedges, happy that it came off easily. He legged it towards the water, still carrying me bridal-style.
“Kieran Redford, better not do that!” I shouted a warning just before he threw me into the icy water, which closed over me.
My head hit the surface. I saw Kieran bent over, laughing. The bottoms of his jeans were the only ones getting wet from standing in the water just a couple of inches away from me. Then, I had a brainwave, and a smile spread across my face.
I faked a scream, going underwater and flapping my arms around so it looked like I was drowning. “Help!” I shouted. “Kieran-”
“Tali?” I heard him say, and you could tell he was pretty shocked. I heard the splash, which was a sign that he’d gone in to save me.
I stood up straight, a smirk spreading across my face. I crossed my arms in front of my chest as Kieran’s head popped up and he looked at me, eyes narrowed. His hair was soaked and so was his thin shirt, showing off his muscles. “Why you little liar,” he said.
I let out a squeal and a laugh as he caught me off guard, grabbing my legs from under the water and pulling me under. We stayed like that, playing like little kids at the beach. Splashing, laughing, screaming and just having fun. It was something I needed, and I was glad he took me here.
I was sure my lips were already purple, judging from how they were quivering and my shaking body. I got cold really quickly and when I was cold, I was absolutely freezing. I tried to rub my arms up and down, but it didn’t work because I was still in the freezing cold water.
Kieran tugged my arm until we reached the shore. “Gosh, you’re such a kill joy,” he joked, as I gave him a punch and clicked my tongue. “I’m only joking.”
He waved me over and I sat down on the sand. “Gosh, you made me ruin Tasha’s dress. How am I going to –” I bit my tongue and swallowed hard as Kieran stripped off the shirt that was stuck to his body and threw it to the floor. The water drops shone on his now exposed muscles. He had his back to me, and I just about managed to resist the urge to run my hands down his back when I saw the muscles rippling with every movement.
We locked eyes and he gave me a smug look when he noticed me checking him out. “What did you say?” He made a joke and sat down next to me. To be honest, I did forget what I was saying. He started to warm me up by running his hands up and down my arms. I rested my head on my shoulder and groaned as my teeth chattered.
“My lips feel cold and numb. Thank you so much,” I said, still a bit shaky.
“I’ve got a solution for that.”