Page 73 of Palm South University: Season 2

MY FAVORITE TIME TO BE ON THE BEACHis after midnight, when the water is calmer, the sand cooler, and the conversation deeper. Leaning back on my palms, the heels of my feet just barely touching the sand at the edge of my blanket, I listen to the waves roll in.

The last night of Spring Break is coming to an end.

I thought it would be weird, coming with Skyler, her sisters, and Omega Chi Beta without a single other brother of my own. Somehow, though, I managed to have the best time of my life. It was never weird, it was a constant high. Funny enough, I’m one of the last ones standing tonight. It has to be at least three in the morning and the only other people on the beach that I recognize are Cassie, Ashlei, and Bo. They’re all gathered around the last beer pong table set up on Smathers Beach, playing against three Omega Chis I don’t recognize.

We started our night on Duval Street but moved the population from half the bars to the beach around midnight, wanting to take over the Key West sand one last time. Skyler and Jess turned in pretty early, both exhausted from the week, and Clinton dragged Shawna off not too long after. But I’m still buzzed, not ready to give up vacation just yet.

“Hey.” Cassie’s voice catches me off guard, I didn’t realize she’d stopped playing. Lifting my eyes up her long, lean legs, I note the way the beach fire makes the edges of her silhouetted hair glow a fierce orange. She points back at Bo and Ashlei. “I think we’re about to head out.”

I frown, nodding. “Okay. I have a key.”

“You’re not coming with us?”

I shrug, rolling my neck a little and turning back toward the water. “I don’t know, I’m not really tired.”

“Me either,” she says.

“Hang out with me?”

Even with the fire light behind her and her face hidden by the dark night sky, I see the faintest smile. “Okay. One sec.” She jogs back over to the girls, saying something I can’t quite hear before hugging them both and watching them leave. The last straggling Omega Chi brothers follow suit and then it’s just me and Cassie. As she makes her way back across the sand, a familiar ache settles in my chest. It’s the same one I’ve been dealing with every night sleeping next to her — like heartburn, but worse.

I slide over, making more room on my blanket for her to sit. She plops down, pulling her knees up to her chest and threading her arms under her thighs. “I can’t believe it’s over.”

“It’s not,” I correct. “Not yet.”

She grins, laying her cheek on her knees, her green eyes curious as she watches me. She’s quiet for a while before she bursts out in a fit of laughter. “I still can’t believe you danced on stage at the Red Garter.”

“Hey, I got a few dollar bills in the waistband of my boxers that night,” I tease, throwing her a wink.

“Yeah. Until the security guards threw you out.” She laughs harder, her lightly-tanned cheeks flushing.

“I love how I’m getting picked on by the girl who took fifty-seven seconds to do a beer bong.”

“It was my first one!” She smacks my arm and I grin, pulling her head under my arm and ruffling her wild red hair. She pokes me hard in my chest until I release her, both of us still chuckling.

“It really was an amazing trip,” she breathes, stretching her legs out on the blanket, her eyes on the waves, mine glued on her. I’ve never seen her look so free before. Even with her pink lips chapped from the sun and fresh freckles on her cheeks, she’s absolutely beautiful in the low glow from the half-moon. Crossing her arms over her chest, she shivers slightly.

“Are you cold?”

“A little.”

I smile, opening my arm. “Come here.” Her green eyes assess me, as if she’s afraid of my touch. “I radiate heat like a werewolf. Seriously, come here.”

Cassie hesitates, but slides over, letting me wrap my arms around her. She settles into my grasp and sighs. “Wow. You really are warm.”

“Told you.”

A small curve meets her lips and she rests her head against my chest. The moment she does, I feel the energy change. I can’t explain it. It’s like the ocean blanketed us in an electric mist the minute her skin met mine. My throat constricts as I battle with what I should do and what I want to. I don’t know if it’s the moonlight or the sand or the energy from the night, but I give up trying to fight my urge when it comes to her. I don’t want to fight it tonight. I want it to consume me.

Attempting to swallow the lump in my throat, I lift my hand from where it was holding tight to her middle and trail it up her arm, rendering chills in my wake. She stiffens when my fingers graze the bottom of her chin and I lift it, just slightly, tilting my own down toward her. My thumb grazes her jaw and her emerald eyes flick to mine, pupils large and dark. She holds my gaze, her breaths as hard as mine when she lets her eyes fall to my lips.

“What are you doing?” she breathes, so quiet against the sound of the waves that I almost don’t hear her.

“Kissing you.”

I feel her heart stop and start again with a kick beneath my forearm as I lean in closer, my hand sliding into her hair.

“Adam,” she starts. “You’re drunk.”