NORMAL (46 page)

I hear a long, dramatic sigh. "I can't tell her, Cap," his words now barely audible through the wall.

"Why the hell not?" Now Sam is the one exasperated.

"Well, I don't know," Tuck murmurs sarcastically, "why can't you tell Pine you're totally into her and this whole 'just friends' thing is a fucking joke?"

"Dude, what's between me and Rory is between me and Rory. Mind your own damn business."

"You're asking about me and Carl!"

"Hey. You came here practically beating down my door for advice about Carl, not the other way around," Sam reminds him, and Tuck practically growls in frustration.

"Whatever we'll talk about it later at boys' dinner. Everyone's gonna be down by the pool by now, I gotta go before Carl accuses me of being late because I was picking up some bitch in the lobby or something," he grumbles.  

Sam laughs. "Maybe she wouldn't feel so insecure if you referred to her as more than your 'favorite hookup'," he offers.

"Whatever, Cap, I'm fucked. I just left her fifteen minutes ago and I already fucking miss her."

Well those just might be the sweetest words I've ever heard come out of Tuck.

"That might be the kind of thing she'd like to hear," Sam suggests.
Way to go, Sam.

"Yeah, cause chicks are always into pussies."

Sam chuckles and I idly regret that I can't tell Carl about this conversation since I'm only listening to it illicitly and repeating it would be a betrayal to Sam. At least Sam is pushing Tuck to come clean about his feelings, which is the same thing I've been doing with Carl from my end. I also try not to feel giddy about the fact that Tuck said Sam is
totally into
me and Sam didn't deny it. Idly I wonder if he knows I can hear them or not.

"And speaking of pussies, Kendall and I have a bet going for break. She says you're finally gonna grow a pair and get with Pine, and I say you're still just a pussy, you fucking pussy, so keep bitching out, I've got a hundred bucks riding on it and-"

"
Christ
will you shut the fuck up about that already, Tuck?" Sam replies, aggravated, and now Tuck laughs.  

I never could quite understand how men relate to one another. They're best friends, and Tuck's way of encouraging Sam to pursue me is to call him a
fucking pussy
. Or not to pursue me, perhaps, since he has money wagered that he won't, apparently. Who knew Kendall would be an ally for me?

"Right, I got it, she's just your
friend
that you talk about every five minutes.
Rory said this today, Rory did that yesterday... Sorry I can't go out with those hot slutty college bitches, Tucker, but I have to tutor Rory for math
-"

"
God
, shut the hell up already! Stop projecting your Carl problems onto me!"

Tuck laughs again and I jump when I hear his footsteps before I remember that I'm hidden in my own room. "Whatever, you coming?" he asks.

"I'll be down in a bit," he replies.

"Yo, speaking of Pine, Carl's all worried because she isn't answering her phone and she was pretty smashed last night, have you-"

"She's fine."             

Silence.

"I checked on her this morning," Sam explains, and I know that if I can detect the hesitancy in his voice, certainly his best friend can as well.

"I'll bet you did," Tuck teases and I hear the door open and close, then his footsteps pass my door on his way to the elevator.

I jump as the door I'm leaning against is knocked on. "Ror?"

Damn
, I don't want Sam to know I've been standing here listening. I tiptoe into the bathroom, turn on the faucet and start to brush my teeth. Sam knocks again, so I walk back and open the door, mouth full of my toothbrush, hoping it will appear that I've been in the bathroom washing up the whole time.

"You okay?" he asks, eyeing me suspiciously.

I nod and turn to go back to the bathroom to spit and rinse. Sam leans on bathroom door frame.

"So you've just been... brushing your teeth?" he asks, eyes narrowed and full of mirth. He's totally on to me.

I nod anyway, grateful that the rinsing cup hides my lip biting - my insuppressible tell. I am a terrible liar, always have been.

Sam laughs and shakes his head and I'm relieved that he finds my fib endearing and not offensive. "Everyone's down at the pool. They're waiting for us."

"Um, okay. I just need to shower and change. I guess I'll meet you down there," I offer.

"Why do you need to shower to go to the beach?" he asks, bemused. I pass him as I walk back out of the bathroom and start sifting through my clothing for my beach wear.

"In case you forgot, I threw up a little last night. I think I could use a shower."

Sam smiles. "I didn't forget anything about last night," he says intently. His gaze has magical powers over me and my blood heats in its wake.

I shake my head. "You need to go. You're too distracting," I say, pushing at his chest to move him toward the door to his suite. I'm not strong enough to actually move him if he didn't want to let me, but he grudgingly does, walking slowly backward with a half smirk.

Sam's arm suddenly slings around my waist and pulls me to him. I gasp in surprise as he reaches up and brushes just under my bottom lip with his thumb. He pulls it away and licks it.

Damn, that's hot.
Why is that so hot?

"Toothpaste," he mouths. I just stare at him and swallow anxiously.

He can see how he's affecting me, and I can see that it pleases him. He does that self-satisfied smirky thing he's been doing lately any time I act like a foolish lovesick puppy and then plants a simple, chaste kiss on my lips.

"I'll wait for you," he says simply and then turns me around and gives me a small nudge toward the bathroom for my shower

Present Day

I
take my time in the shower and process the events of the morning. I can't believe that Sam and I are happening. Of course, I don't yet know what that even means. I can't know if he just wants to be friends who hook up, or if he wants a go at a relationship, and truly, I'm not sure if I'm even capable of one. And of course there's his whole
no girlfriends in high school
rule to contend with.

All I know is that we're no longer "just friends". We're
something more
. And for the first time in the longest time, I allow myself to indulge in something I never thought I'd have again – something I’ve only had vague little inklings of in recent days.

Hope.

I smile as I dress in the one bikini I own, thanks to Carl. I pull on my cutoff shorts and a black tank top and knock on the door that connects my room to Sam's before I can back out and change into a one piece. I open the door on my side and find that Sam never even closed his.

He stands there, in grey board shorts and a black tank top and it's almost like we match, except he looks amazing. His just-a-little-too-long messy hair is pushed back by wire framed sunglasses and I sigh when I realize how much attention he's going to be getting with those defined arms just out there on display for all to see.

When I meet his eyes, his are heated, and I'm not expecting it.

"Those are some short shorts," he murmurs, almost disapprovingly.

I frown. He's right. I should go change.
God, what was I thinking? And I'm wearing a freaking bikini!

Sam approaches me and bends so that he's looking me in the eye. "You don't look like you're asking for anything, Ror, so stop freaking out. You just look hot. You always do. Covering up more isn't going to change that. So relax and let's go have a good time with our friends, okay?" he says cautiously.  

I'm not sure I agree, but I nod anyway and sling my beach bag over my shoulder as I let him take my hand and lead me out the door.

"Hey, do you mind?" he asks, reaching into his pocket to produce his cell phone and room key. "Since you have a bag? I know I'll forget and jump in the pool with it."

I laugh and open the bag for him to throw his things in. Sam drops my hand and slips his arm casually around my waist and I suppress my sigh. I wonder if this is how it will be now - if I get to be in his arms whenever I want.

Which is all the damn time.

****

We're alone in the elevator when he backs me into the corner. "You know what to say if you're ever uncomfortable, right?" he asks softly.  

I nod. I know our safeword. But my discomfort has nothing to do with fear and everything to do with my unquenched desire. Sam brushes my hair over my shoulder, bends, and starts kissing my neck.

Oh, my.

I turn my head to give him better access and he smiles against my skin. "You smell different," he observes, nuzzling my hair.

"Huh?"

"You usually smell like honey and vanilla," he murmurs as he plants small kisses along my jaw.

"You know what I
smell
like?" I ask, incredulous. Honey and vanilla is the scent of my conditioner at home. Though I don't know why I'm so surprised, God knows I know what he smells like. And he smells real good.

Sam nods and I feel rather than see it.

"I, uh, used the hotel's conditioner," I explain, and he doesn't respond he just starts nibbling on my ear.

Holy hell
, that's hot.

Ding.

The doors open and Sam steps away, but not far, and I'm once again left reeling as three men, presumably other spring breakers, enter the elevator and shamelessly check me out. I swallow nervously as Sam's arm pulls me possessively to his side and he glares at them. And I'm grateful.

"Just lookin' bro, no harm," one of them drawls, hands up, palm forward in a show of pacifism.

"Look somewhere else," Sam replies calmly.  

The stranger laughs. "No need to go all territorial, dude. If you don't want other guys checkin' out your girl, you should probably get a less hot girlfriend and you definitely shouldn't have brought her to Miami for spring break," he slurs.
How is he drunk already?
It's barely one in the afternoon.

Sam maneuvers subtly so that I'm pushed behind him back into the corner of the elevator. "And if you don't want to get your ass kicked, you should probably look. Somewhere. Else," he says softly and yet somehow completely menacingly.

The elevator dings once again to indicate we've reached the lobby, and Sam, without breaking his glare at the stranger, guides me out of the doors and starts pulling me through the lobby toward the entrance to the pool area. He's still completely tense.

"Sam, it's fine," I murmur, and he finally glances at me, his glare softening. His gait slows so he's beside me and not pulling me after him anymore. He releases my hand and slings his arm around my shoulders, kissing my hair sweetly.

"He was right, you know. It would be easier to get guys to stop looking at you if you weren't so fucking hot," he mutters.

I laugh. I love that he thinks of me that way when for so long I was sure he wasn't even attracted to me. "But then
you
might not want me," I reply, trying on his trademark smirk.

"Don't be ridiculous."

****

We join the others by the pool, and though it's not really that strange for Sam to have an arm around me in a friendly sort of way, Carl still notices and shoots me her own subtle smirk. I roll my eyes dismissively. Tuck is sitting behind her on a lounge chair, rubbing sunblock on her shoulders.

"Hmm, you two showing up together, how interesting," Dave drawls.

"Quiet, Dave," Sam mutters and gestures for me to take the lounge chair next to Carl before settling on the one next to mine.

Lily is apparently asleep next to Tuck and Carl's chair and Tina and Andrew are in the pool.

"Hey Rory," she calls from the water, and I give her a small wave.

"Damn it, Tuck, grow up!" Carl admonishes when Tuck's hands wander to the sides of her breasts.

"Hey, I don't want these babies to burn," he replies.

"What do you care? It's not like you'll be touching them anyway if you keep acting like such a jerk," Carl spits and Tuck falls back on the lounger dramatically in aggravation.

"Too much information, you two. Get your shit together," Sam murmurs.

"Like you two did?" Dave teases, gesturing to Sam and me. I blush bright red. "Interesting that the last time I saw either of you, you were stumbling into a cab together and now you show up here together. It makes me wonder-"

"Don't get too excited, Dave, Cap was alone in his hotel room this morning, so I'm pretty sure the only place he touched Pine was in his dreams," Tuck informs the group. I throw my arm over my face as if I can hide from the idiots that are Sam's friends.

"You two are fucking morons," Sam mutters, blowing them both off.