Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

MAX

I was going crazy. I stood in the late afternoon setting sun in my drenched wetsuit and stared at the ocean.

Yep, totally crazy.

I'd spent the majority of the time trying to balance on the board but ended up falling into the water more than I could stand on it. Sitting was okay, I mastered sitting. Ivy laughed and dropped onto her own board floating in the shallow water.

"It's easy," she told me as she unzipped her wetsuit. Her baby blue bikini cupped her breasts perfectly and I couldn't take my eyes off her. I loved her in workout clothes, but the wetsuit was a whole different category. There was nothing left to my imagination. I could see every curve and every dip of her body.

"You are doing well." She laughed, making me roll my eyes.

My hair was sticky and wet as it stuck to my face and I'd swallowed too much water already. My muscles ached, and I wrecked my knee at least four times both on the board and into some rock in the ocean.

It was safe to say I wasn't a water guy.

"This is horrible," I complained, laying on the sand after I dragged my board to shore and watching the sunset. The ghost of the waves still made my body feel like it was rocking on the water as Ivy laid next to me, her head nestled into my shoulder.

"For the first time, you did wonderful."

"No need to fluff me."

Ander and Daisy were having drinks in the beach bar, and I felt their eyes constantly on us.

I covered her body with mine, laying on top of her. I nudged her legs open with my knee and I didn't care about the sand and water dripping from me as I rubbed myself against her. Ivy sucked in a surprised breath and her eyes widened. She could probably feel my erection, but with all the wet clothing between us, she couldn't fully guess what it was. Or she wouldn't dare consider what it might be.

"Are they looking?" she asked, and I nodded. I had no clue if they really were or not, but it was easier to do what I wanted if she thought we had audience. "Maybe you should kiss me."

I was dying to taste her on my tongue. And kiss her like I wanted to all this time. Like she deserved to be kissed.

"I had the same idea." I flashed her a satisfied smirk, and brushing my nose over hers, I watched as her eyes fluttered close and she took a sharp inhale. Our breath mixed as I leaned over her and caught her lips with mine. She tasted like chocolate and coffee. Ivy moaned as she opened up for me, my tongue seeking entrance to explore every inch of her. I was met by her tongue, and they collided in a sensual dance as my hand moved to her hips, digging my fingers into her flesh as my hips rocked into her center.

Another soft gasp escaped her as she wrapped her legs around me and pulled me closer. If there were no clothes between us, I could easily slide inside her and fuck her.

That thought made me want her more. Her scent intoxicated me as our tongues collided and danced a dangerous tango.

I ran my tongue over her swollen lips, before capturing her lower lip between my teeth and sucking on it.

I would have done anything to coax those sweet sounds from her once again. I wanted to remember them forever.

I would have been dry humping her, if we weren't already drenched from the ocean. Yet I was sure if somehow I managed to get my hand into her wetsuit, I would find her bikini bottoms soaked for a different reason.

She blinked at me as her breathing quickened and her breasts rose and fell. I kept my hand on her hips because otherwise, I would undo her bikini and suck on her perky nipples that kept straining against her bikini top.

"Are they still watching?" she asked, her voice raspy as her fingers played with my wet hair.

I almost asked ‘who?' when I remembered why I was there in the first place and why we were kissing. I snuck a glance at their table, but it was empty.

For a second, I considered telling her they were still staring and enjoying our show, but my brain recovered enough from my horniness to remind me it was a bad idea to allow myself to get way too involved with her.

"No, they are gone," I replied, rolling off her.

"Guess they enjoyed the show," she said. "You kiss well."

"Oh, are we having a feedback session?" I teased her with an easy grin and folded my arms behind my head. "Hit me."

"No feedback, you are the perfect fake boyfriend actually," she said shyly. "You are caring, nice and sweet. Your attention to details is scary. You are a true gentleman. Yet you kiss like..."

"Don't leave me hanging now. My ego needs the stroking. I've been spending time with Sanchez, listening to all his digs. I need to recover."

Ivy brushed a wet strand of my hair back. "You kiss like you never wanted it to end. It felt like a second and a lifetime all at the same time. It was all-consuming and so good."

It was because I meant it, but of course I couldn't say it out loud.

Instead, I just grinned. "Thank you for the feedback. I'm glad to know you can confirm my tongue skills are superb."

"Oh my gosh." Ivy's cheeks turned pink and she laughed, her voice echoing in the almost empty beach. "I had to say something."

"Maybe one day... you will know for certain I'm better," I said quietly, not even sure if she heard me. "Especially with my tongue between your legs."

When I glanced over, she was catching the last bit of the sunset. The wind was returning and seawater filled my nose.

I couldn't tell if the redness on her face was from the sun playing tricks or embarrassment from my words.

"Did you get your dose of the water?" I asked, nodding toward the ocean, instead of teasing her about her pervious comments.

Ivy looked at me, her profile illuminating the little remaining light and painting her red. "You do remember everything, don't you?" I shrugged in response. "I'm ready to go, if you want. Ander never tried surfing with me... I mean you're not a natural, but it means a lot you at least pretended to want to try."

"I wanted to try it," I said. "I finally found something I suck at. Very humbling."

Her laughter did something to me since the first time I heard it, and every single time, it was the same.

"That's why I like you... you are so real."

"Unless when I'm pretending to fake date you," I reminded her.

A sour expression took over her face. It felt like she was almost dreading the whole fake part of our arrangement as much as I did. "Yeah, true."

"But it was easy to not fake how much fun I was having this afternoon. You would be a great teacher, but I just suck at it. So let's agree to never surf again."

"You could do paddle surfing," she pointed out. "You are great at sitting on the board."

"I'll be in the water with you all summer as long as I don't have to do all the crazy stuff and break my neck."

"Live a little." She nudged me with her shoulder, and I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her between my legs to hug her.

We sat like that, intertwined in each other. The only noise around us was the soothing music from the bar and the waves crashing into the beach.

"You don't have to do that," Ivy muttered as she leaned against my chest, her head resting on my shoulder and her fingers tracing the nape of my neck. "No one is watching."

"I know," I said into her hair, not caring about the cold shiver that ran through my body from all the wet clothes. "I want to do it."