Page 62 of When love and Hate Collide

“Bloody hell,” I utter irritably when I see Dean standing a couple of feet behind me looking every bit as delectable as he always does in nothing but a pair of shorts. That muscular chest and those sexy veiny arms on full display.

I can’t catch a damn break. I’m convinced this boy is stalking me just to screw with my head.

A shiver passes through me when the late-night breeze blows over my sweat-dampened skin. When I say nothing, Dean takes a step toward me, and I watch him warily as he nears me. My heart rate spiking with every step.Please just walk by me, please. I don’t think I have the strength to fight or resist you right now.

“What are you doing out here? I thought you would be in bed fast asleep.” Dean says, pushing his hands into the pockets of his shorts and narrowing his eyes at me in scrutiny.

“Well, you thought wrong,” I reply despairingly and let my hair out from the messy bun I have it in. “I couldn’t sleep so I came out here to clear my head.”

“Yeah, me too,” Dean sighs and looks over at the ocean thoughtfully. “I always go running or hit the gym when I need to clear my head, but when I looked out from my balcony and saw how calm the water is I thought I’d come out for a swim instead.”

My eyes lift to his and I nod, “Well, by all means, knock yourself out. I’m sure the ocean is big enough for the both of us. Just go and clear your head and do whatever it is you need to do far away from me.” Dean watches me push my shorts down my legs and walk off into the water. I hear him whistle behind me and without looking I give him the finger and hear him laugh.

Idiot.

The water is cold when it first hits my bare skin until I’m completely immersed in it. I lay back, floating on the surface of the water, rocking with each wave while staring up at the star filled sky.

The entire purpose of me coming down here is to sort through my feelings and thoughts, but I can’t focus for shit knowing he’s close by. I’m on edge and my eyes keep scanning the area in search of him. Maybe for once he did the decent thing and let me be.

That thought is short lived when I feel something brush against my leg and my heart leaps out of my mouth. I’m not deep enough for a shark… am I? Panic fills me when I feel something brush my other leg. Oh God, something under there is circling me. I look around for Dean, but I don’t see him and my panic triples. Oh hell, I didn’t come out here to be shark food on the first night.

“Dean?! Fuck thi—” I yelp when I’m suddenly pulled under. I flail and kick my legs back up to the surface in a panic, coughing to clear the salty water out of my airways. Dean suddenly emerges in front of me and shakes the water out of his face, a stoic look on his face.

“You,”cough, cough,“bastard.” I wheeze, glaring at him menacingly. “What the fuck are you doing? You scared the shit out of me!”

“Good. Have you lost your mind? You should never swim at night, let alone on your own, JJ. It’s dangerous, especially when you’re inexperienced and in tropical waters. You can’t see what nocturnal wildlife is lurking below you. Let this be a lesson to you, now get back to the shore.”

“You came out to swim, what the fuck?”

Dean glowers at me hard and brushes the wet hair out of his face, “I’m an experienced swimmer; I have to be doing the job that I do. Water survival is a key requirement, so I’ve been trained to swim in most conditions, day and night in case my plane ever gets shot down.”

“If you were so concerned you should have stopped me before I got in, not try and drown me and scare me half to death.”

“Would you have listened?”

“No.”

Dean nods and follows me out of the water when I swim back to shore. “Exactly, there you go then, some people unfortunately need to be taught a lesson in order to understand the consequences of their actions, you’re one of those people because you don’t listen the first time and always go with what you believe is right.”

“Why do you care whether I drown or become shark bait, huh?” I spin to look at him furiously once we’re back at shore. “You can’t stand me, remember? So why are you going out of your way to teach me a life lesson, Dean? What the hell do you want from me?”

“I want you to stop and think before you put yourself in dangerous situations, JJ. First with Pollard, now this, if you just used your brain occasionally, I wouldn’t need to jump in and save you, would I?” Dean expresses grimly, his dark brows fused tightly, and his jaw clenched tight.

I place my hands on his chest and shove him back when he steps closer to me, “Did I look like I needed saving? There was no danger and I’m not yours to save, Dean!” I exclaim furiously and go to step back and gasp when both my feet suddenly sink into the sand, and I lose my balance and topple backwards. Dean reaches out, grabs my arm and pulls me toward him forcefully and my body crashes into his hard, knocking him backward. Dean lands on his back and I fall on top of him, our heads colliding on impact

“Fuck,” Dean groans, wincing while I rub my throbbing forehead. “You were saying?”

“What the hell just happened?” I hiss, and Dean stares up at me.

“Quicksand.”

I blink down at him, too stunned to speak. Maybe he does have a point about me constantly, but inadvertently attracting trouble.

“Oh, sorry, would you have preferred I left you to get swallowed up by the sand because you’re too proud and notmineto save?”

I hold his gaze, and while I do something dawns on me. “You didn’t come out here to clear your head, did you?” I ask him and he remains silent, but I don’t need his words, I can see the truth staring back at me. “You followed me out here.” I search his eyes for any sign of animosity but see nothing.Come on, Dean, don’t do this to me. “Why?”

The frustration inside me is mounting bit by bit with every second he stays silent and doesn’t answer me. I need to make sense of his actions.

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