Page 75 of On The Beach

a bottomless chance

BELLE

Aweek ago, Mick and I had sex in my childhood bedroom. SEX!

We'd said we loved each other in the throes of orgasm, which I considered to cancel out the words, though Mick disagreed.

"You're saying you don't love me?" he asked me after we left my parents' place. Yes, they'd heard us and whistled and hooted. Embarrassed was one way to feel, but I also felt a teeny-tiny bit proud. Anna wanted Dan to get tips from Mick…again. Laura was miffed because of her crush on Mick. I was mortified. Mick was not.

"I'm saying that we can't rely on things said when we're having sex."

"What if I said today is Sunday when we're having sex?" Mick mused.

"You know that's not what I mean."

"No, I actually don't. Explain it to me."

I had no explanation, so I sulked instead, and he kept on talking. "I love you, Babycakes. You know that. Youknow, but for feeling something so fucking enormous, I wouldn't willingly walk into a lab."

"But you're so good at it." He was amazing at it. My whole team was incredibly impressed with Dr. Augustus.

"I'm also very good at fucking you."

"True."

"And I love you."

I flipped him a finger and ignored him for the rest of the ride back to my place.

Since then, he'd all but tried to take over my life. He showed up at my apartment in Cambridge unannounced, claiming he'd justhappened to be in the neighborhood. Which was hard to believe, considering my building was tucked away on a quiet side street in Kendall Square, a five-minute walk from my lab and he was staying in Boston, apparently, where he had a place in Back Bay.

He'd taken me there once.

Dr. Augustus was a wealthy SOB.

I'd chosen my place carefully. It wasn't one of those flashy new high-rises with floor-to-ceiling windows and concierge services like Mick's, but a sleek, renovated loft in an old brick building that used to be a textile factory. The exposed beams and iron railings made it feel industrial and modern, and the high ceilings meant I could stack books and lab journals wherever I wanted without making the space feel cramped. It was the kind of place that looked effortlessly cool, and I'd splurged to make it feel like me—until he decided to sprawl over my couch while watching football, insisting I sit next to him, his hands wandering over my body.

It was easy not to get involved with Dr. Augustus personally; Mick Bottom was an entirely different matter.

I was conflicted.Seriouslyconflicted.

"So, you're complaining that your boyfriend makes sure you're fed and that you get enough sleep by bringing food tothe lab and dragging you home to bed, where he proceeds to give you a couple of orgasms?" Anna asked as all our friends looked at me with a smattering of disbeliefanddisgust for complaining when I was solucky.

"I'mnotsleeping with him. We haven't in weeks." All lies. I couldn't resist the man.

"And then there was the time when you almost broke your bed in the parents' place.” Anna grinned and added, "It's considered unclassy to make so much noise during sex."

"All I'm saying is that he's trying to take over my life, and I don't like it." It sounded lame even to me. The thing was that I kept expecting Mick to leave and go back to Reef Harbor. Now, he'd been in Cambridge for over three months. Whenever I asked him when he was going back, he told me unabashedly when I'd come with him.

He was also worried about my work habits. Apparently, all work and no play made Belle a snotty little bitch. This was why when Anna managed to get me out for girl's night, Mick was thrilled.

"Good! Otherwise, you're going to die in this lab of yours."

"We have a clinical trial running, Mick, you know how it goes."

"You have a body that needs to keep running, and it can't without rest and fuel. You know how that goes?"

"Get out of my life."

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