Page 25 of Unfinished Summer

What a cliché—falling for your holiday fling and the boy you lose your virginity to—although, technically, we’ve not got to that part yet.

“Thank you.” I reach up on my tiptoes and plant a kiss on his cheek. “Sometimes I forget you’re not like other guys.”

“I’m not, and you talking about other guys around me won’t win you any favours.” His smile is back, and he breaks the seriousness of a moment ago. He tackles me around the waist and hoists me over his shoulder.

“Put me down!” I cry, but all he does is spin us around and head in the direction of the path up to the headland. “You win, you win.” I can’t stop giggling, even though all the blood is rushing to my head.

He finally relents and places me back on the sand.

“There was no need for that,” I joke as I let the blood return from my head.

“Well, perhaps. Come on.” He takes my hand, and we weave our way through the grasses and bracken to find the skinny path that will take us to the top of the headland on the far side of the beach.

It’s on the opposite side to the pub, and it joins a coastal path that you can walk along to the next beach.

Jayce keeps his hand in mine and leads the way until we reach the top. We come off the path, sit on a grass patch, and look out across the sea. The sun is still big and bright in the sky, but the colours have transformed into a kaleidoscope of orange and gold. They spill out across the ripples in the ocean and gleam and sparkle.

It’s spectacular and a little humbling.

This place is beautiful, and sometimes I forget just how lucky I am to live in this part of the world. The winters might be harsh, driving you to a misery you want to escape from, but surely this can make up for that?

“I never thought I’d like it here, Zee. I was doing this for my mum, and now, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” Jayce looks at me, and he takes my breath away. Emotion wells up inside my chest, and I hate that I’m already upset about saying goodbye.

So, I reach out and take his cap and secure it on my head instead. The breeze ruffles his surfer-wild hair, and I think I fall even harder.

“Come on.” I stand. This might be his idea of perfect, and it is pretty close, but I’ve waited long enough.

Our pace is quick as we head back down the path but then cut across to the road Jayce’s holiday cottage is on.

“Are you sure?” We’re speed walking along, but I can’t keep the grin from my face.

“Yes.”

“Really? Because, well, we’ve been patient, and I don’t want…”

“I want to sleep with you. No more stopping. No more waiting.”

He quickens the pace so we’re jogging along the road and see the house come into view.

“Thank you!” The relief in his voice makes me giggle. How can I not feel empowered by that?

We reach the house, and he slams the door shut behind us. All sense of waiting disappears as Jayce kisses me, backing me up against the door and holding me in place with his lips. There’s nothing soft or gentle now, and it sets every nerve alive through my body.

He deepens the kiss, and my arms twist around him as he moves down my body to my waist and hips. He picks me up, and I wrap my legs around him, and he leans into me, getting as close as he can while supporting me with his hands on my arse.

My hands tangle in his hair as I press my tongue deeper inside his mouth.

“God, I want you.” He pants and kisses my jaw and then my neck.

The nerves from earlier have morphed into a desire that pools in my stomach and makes me breathless.

It’s like my whole body has woken up, and I want Jayce to kiss every part of me. “Upstairs,” I whisper and kiss his ear.

He drops his hold of me and pulls me up the steep staircase. I pause as I look at the single bed in the room, the event now real, but Jayce shuts the door and then picks the hem of my t-shirt and pulls it over my head.

He’s back to kissing me, covering my shoulder and collarbone, before pulling his own t-shirt off and sitting down on the bed.

“I’m not really sure what I’m doing here,” I admit and straddle his lap, kneeling on the mattress. And kiss him before my nerves overtake me.

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