Page 71 of Delinquent (Academy of Misfits 1)

“So what do you want to do?” Kate asks, looking like a fish out of water. She is staring at all the people milling around. Even though it’s freezing and the sea is grey and squally, the seafront is still busy. At least it isn’t raining.

“I’m going to go over there,” I say, pointing to the pebbled beach.

“You’re going to sit on the beach? Are you mad? It’s so cold,” she responds, wrinkling her nose.

“Yeah, I am,” I shrug.

“Well, sounds like…fun?” Sonny says, grinning. He winks at me and I just know he’s thinking about the last time we sat on the beach together. And even though we’ve been to the Tower on several times since I kissed him, we’ve not done it again. I flick my gaze to Ford, who’s staring intently at me.

“I like the sea too,” he says, still scowling, but doesn’t elaborate more than that. The guy’s a mystery, just like the bloody sea he appears to like so much.

Kate pulls a what-the-fuck-you-guys-are-nuts face at me. “Fine, we’ll sit on the beach. I’ll grab some hot drinks. Who wants a cup of tea?”

“Me, please,” I say, digging in my pocket for some coins.

Kate holds her hands up. “Hey, I can shout us all a cuppa. Sonny? Ford? Want one?”

“Sure,” Sonny responds. Ford just grunts, drawing a laugh from Kate.

“I’ll meet you over there somewhere,” she states, waving her hand in the general direction of the beach just by the basketball courts on the promenade.

So that’s where we head to.

Sonny plonks himself down just behind the basketball courts, his back leaning against the concrete foundations. The beach slopes downwards here, so the spot is sheltered by the wind. I sit next to him, not too close, but close enough to feel a little awkward. Ford drops down on the other side of me. Shifting closer when he notices Sonny do the same, until I’m sandwiched between them both. The warmth of their arms making me feel slightly brain numb.

“Well, this is cosy,” I mutter. Awkward much? On one side is the guy I kissed, and on the other the guy who had his hands down my knickers. My skin prickles at the thought of them doing the same, right now…together. Oh, shit. I’m in deep trouble. I really should friendzone them, but my heart won’t let me. Actually, make that my clit… my clit won’t let me and right now with all the throbbing she’s doing I’m powerless to argue.

“Do you think Atlantis exists? I mean, imagine a whole city under the sea. I bet the mermaids are fucking hot. Also, how do they… you know,fuck?” Sonny asks suddenly, successfully distracting me from my clit.

“Does your brainalwaysgo straight to sex?” I respond, rolling my eyes but grinning nonetheless.

“Notalways… sometimes it’s preoccupied with other things. Actually, of late, one thing in particular.” He looks at me and there’s no joke to follow up the statement this time. My thighs press together in response and I swallow hard. Goddamn it.

Deciding my only option right now is to break up the tension with something jokey because, you know…tense. I make a statement of my own.

“I heard that if you strip completely naked, stand waist deep in the sea, and blow through a conch shell you could get lucky and attract a mermaid…”

“Oh yeah?” Sonny smirks.

“Yeah, then she’ll grab your cock and depending on how big it is, will decide whether you’re worth dragging back to Atlantis for hot underwater sex or drowning because it’s such a disappointment.”

“Reckon I need to find me a conch shell then, because my cock ismammoth.” Sonny grins, holding his hands up so that they’re at least a metre apart.

Ford barks out a laugh. It kind of bursts out of him and sounds more like he’s choking than actually laughing. Sonny and I are both so surprised by it that for second we don’t react. Then I let out a snort of laughter followed by a belly laugh and Sonny joins in. By the time Kate arrives with the tea, we’re all laughing hysterically. Even Ford. It feels good, great actually. But, of course, it was never going to last.

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