Page 42 of Stranded

Alph nods with grim triumph. “Or they’re getting someone else to redo it.”

They always said they could do anything twice, better than I could do it once. The words suddenly ring hollow in my mind. I feel so much better about myself.

“Yes,” I laugh, unable to explain the intoxicating relief. “Yeah. You’re right!”

Alph is furious enough for both of us. “Fuckers,” he growls. “I knew I should have punched them. Thank god they can’t spy on you anymore!”

I shudder. My skin crawls, I feel so violated. “They must have been in my room all the time! Urgh.”

“You gotta turn them in.” Alph’s eyes are glinting with fury. “It’s wrong. Your teachers will want to know.”

He’s not going to like my answer.

I bite my lip and look out over the water, then back at Alph. Maybe,” I tell him. I don’t want my first day of class to be overshadowed by something that’s so hard to prove now. “I don’t have real evidence.”

Alph fidgets with the stones between us, a pained look on his face. “But it’s wrong.”

“I know.” I fold up my legs, turning to sit cross-legged facing Alph. Then I lean over him and grab the wine bottle and gulp down another mouthful. “You wanna know the good news?” I grin smugly. “They’ve screwed themselves. They’ll never see my portfolio again. Only what I do in class… and the showcase, when I kick their asses.”

The storm cloud hanging over Alph’s head steadily brightens, until he finally nods. “Here’s to kicking their asses,” he says and gently fistbumps the wine bottle.

I crack up. “Is that a toast?”

“Sure is. Quick, you go first,” Alph urges me. As I take a swig, he raises his fist. “To kicking their asses.” Once I’ve swallowed, he grabs the bottle and takes a gulp, looking up at me pointedly. “Mmph-fff—” he waves his hand in ahurry up!gesture.

I can’t stop giggling at how ridiculous this is. “To kicking their asses!” I wheeze.

Alph swallows and groans with relief. “Sorry I didn’t bring glasses.”

“Did you actually forget something?You?” I tease him, scooting closer and grabbing his shoulders to hoist myself up on his lap.

Alph wraps one big, strong arm around my back, keeping me in place as I tingle with anticipation. “No,” he answers. “It was deliberate. I was worried they’d break, and the glass would hurt someone on the beach.”

That makes my heart flutter strangely. I beam down at him and shake my head. “That’s a very Alph thing to say.”

“Hey,” he snorts. “I’m nothing if not predictable. At least you know what you’re getting.” His voice is light, but his words sound like they’re carefully, deliberately chosen.

Even more so than usual.

Yeah. I do know what I’m getting.

Alph just makes sense. I can trust what he says because I can trust what he does—and I trust that he’s made sure it’s the right thing to do.

Even if I take him by surprise sometimes.

“What’s wrong with this, anyway?” I murmur, catching Alph’s gaze before I lean in over the mouth of the bottle he’s holding midair.

His eyes snap wide open. His Adam’s apple bobs, and the bottle twitches midair. He takes a deep breath, steadying it again as his arm tightens around my back. And I still don’t look away—not until the last possible moment.

Then, I wrap my lips around the mouth of the bottle, keeping my teeth well out of the way as I suck the neck into my mouth, an inch at a time. When I’m almost kissing the spot where the bottle widens, I slowly straighten up again and suck my cheeks in.

Pop!

With a wet noise, my mouth slides free.

I shoot Alph a sultry gaze and flick my tongue across my lower lip, provoking him… waiting to see what he’ll do.

The tension rolls between us like the unending surf before us. Blue, stretching out for miles and miles, so vast that it could swallow us whole and never let go.

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