University Park Series Box Set: Books 1-3 (52 page)

“Do you want to go check out the beach
first or head out to get some dinner?” Josh asked.

I looked at Raven. “I’m really hungry,
so I’m okay with grabbing some food.”

“Thank God.” Shelby shot me a look of
pity. “I didn’t want to be rude, since you hadn’t seen the ocean, but I wanted
to stop on the way in. I’m dying of starvation.”

“Shelby, if you were that hungry, you
should’ve said something. The beach will always be here. It’s not going
anywhere,” I assured her.

“Believe me, next time, I will.” She
winked.

We unloaded the truck so we’d have room
for the groceries and then headed to a local restaurant that Josh claimed had
the best fish tacos. I was eager to try them, since I had discovered my newest
food fetish — fish.

Josh pulled into the small parking lot
and we filed out of the vehicle. “This looks like an old Taco Bell.”

“Yeah, it might have been, but trust me,
the food is delicious.”

“I was just reading some of the
reviews.” Raven glanced at his phone. “Says that Captain Roy was ranked top
three for shrimp four years in a row.”

“I believe it.” Josh opened the door to
the small restaurant. “He makes the best bacon-wrapped, jalapeño-stuffed
shrimp. Ever.”

And Josh was right. The food was
incredible and the tacos were equally as tasty. “If we ate here every night,
I’d be perfectly fine with that,” I said, licking the barbecue sauce from my
fingers.

“Hey, save some for me.” Raven grabbed
my hand and tried to lick my fingers.

“Babe, stop.” I struggled to reclaim my
arm, laughing the entire time.

Josh shook his head and Shelby smiled.
“If you want, we can buy you guys some sauce at the grocery store for later.”

Raven kissed the top of my hand and then
let it go. “Not a bad idea.” He reached over and pinched me on the butt and I
yelped. I quickly covered my mouth, but it was too late. The entire restaurant
heard and all eyes were on me  once again.

“Will you stop?” I eyed him with a huge
smile that I couldn’t seem to control.

A devilish grin played on the edge of
his lips. “I can’t help it.” He waved his hand around his head. “Must be
something in the air, because I just can’t wait to see you in a bikini.”

My smile vanished. “Oh, well, we’re
going to have stop at one of those t-shirt shops because I don’t own one.”

“What?” Shelby whipped her head in my
direction. “What do you swim in?”

“A one-piece.”

She gave me a quirky expression.
“Seriously?”

I wiped my fingers on a napkin so that I
wouldn’t further entice Raven until we got back to the house. “Yeah. I’ve never
had a bikini.” For a second, the memories of the old Lexi Thompson filtered
through my head, reminding me that I was living in a dream. A dream that would
soon burst and be over with when Mom found out I was engaged.

“Lexi grew up in a really strict house,”
Raven informed Shelby.

“And my parents tried to control my life
up until a few months ago,” I openly admitted.

Shelby’s eyes softened and she tilted
her head to the side. “That must have been terrible, growing up like that. I
had no idea.”

I glanced away, trying not to allow the
memories to ruin my Spring Break or anyone else’s. “Yeah, but it’s in the
past.”

“That means one thing.” Shelby
straightened and smiled brightly, her blue eyes sparkling like the waters of
the Gulf.

“What’s that?” I asked, even though I
knew what she had in mind.

“We’re going shopping.” She held out her
hand in Josh’s direction and moved her fingers for him to hand her something.

“Aw, shit.” Josh shook his head as he
pulled out his wallet and removed a credit card.

“No, that’s okay.” I motioned for Josh
to take it back. “I have my own money.”

“Relax.” Shelby laughed. “The credit
card belongs to his dad. He won’t notice a couple hundred bucks.”

Raven looked at me and gave a slight
shrug. Was she serious? A couple hundred dollars was my monthly allowance, not
my one-trip shopping spree for the day. Immediately, I knew that Shelby loved
to blow money. It was obvious in the clothes she wore, the hand bag she carried,
and the tons of shoes she packed. One bag carried her shoe collection for the
week. I didn’t even want to know what her closet looked like. No wonder she got
along with Mrs. Marshall so well.

“Are y’all done?” A waitress appeared
with the bill.

I nodded and Raven relaxed against his
chair. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Sweetie?” Shelby looked at Josh and he
rolled his eyes before burying his face in his hands. “Put it on this.” Shelby
handed her Mr. Marshall’s credit card.

***

We hit a few stores and Shelby helped me
pick two bikinis — one, turquoise with white polka dots, and the other one,
solid black. She was just as bad as Delaney, wanting me to buy more, but I
refused to allow Josh’s parents to buy me clothes, especially when they didn’t
know. Part of me felt sad that Delaney didn’t come with us, claiming she didn’t
want to be the third wheel. Or fifth wheel, in this case. I was kind of peeved
at Luke for not taking her with him to Breckenridge. I just hoped she didn’t do
anything stupid.

After we stocked up on food for the
week, we headed back to the house. The strip was buzzing with excitement,
people cruising up and down in convertibles, on bikes, or on their Segways. It
was like the town never slept; it didn’t matter that it was a Monday night. We
were a little tired from the drive and getting up at the crack of dawn, so we
decided to head down to the beach for the night.

Shelby and I spread out a few blankets
while Josh and Raven made a fire. The night air was a little chilly. Though I didn’t
care, I wondered whether the water would be warm enough for us to swim. I was
willing to dive in just to see what the salt water felt like against my skin.
And if Raven was willing to go in with me, I would definitely do it.

“I didn’t think it would be this cool.”
I pulled a sweatshirt over my tank top

“I know.” Shelby put on a hoodie.
“Normally it’s a little warmer than this.”

“I’m sure it’s too cold for a night
swim.” I stared at the water, wanting to see what it felt like.

“Yeah, baby.” Raven placed another log
on the fire pit. “We should probably wait until the middle of the day
tomorrow.”

“Hey, it’s perfect for the hot tub.”
Shelby nudged Josh.

Josh raised a brow. “You want to get
in?”

Shelby nodded and tossed her hair over
her shoulder. After they ogled each other for a few seconds, she turned to us
and asked, “Hey, you guys want to join?”

Raven looked at me. “Go ahead. Maybe
we’ll join you after a while. I want to relax here by the fire and water,” I
answered, settling against Raven.

“Okay.” Shelby pulled off her hoodie and
threw it at Josh. “Last one in has to get the towels.” Giggling, she took off
running toward the house.

“Shel, wait!” Josh chased after her.

Raven held me closely as we listened to
the soft roll of the tide. The fire crackled softly, creating a nice lull, and
I rocked gently in his arms. It was like the ocean water had brought him back
to me after it had carried him out, threatening to never return him. But it
did, and I would be forever grateful.

“Are you happy?” He picked up my left
hand and stared at my fingers.

“More than you’ll ever know.” I wiggled
my fingers, allowing the golden light of the fire to catch the facets of my
ring, cascading a shimmer against us.

“What about you?” I turned my head
slightly and glanced at him.

He smiled. “You have no idea.”

“Were you planning to ask me in the
cafeteria?” I was dying to know.

“No, not at all.” He ducked his head and
I felt a surge of warmth on the back of my neck. “I had just picked up your
ring and talked to your dad.”

“You talked to my dad?” I shifted my
body and looked directly at him.

“Well, yeah. I had to do the respectable
thing and ask him for your hand.”

Raven never ceased to surprise me. “I
can’t believe you asked him.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No.” I smiled. “You did good.” I
couldn’t wait to give Dad a call and tell him I was engaged. I had no idea that
he knew, but I was dying to know if my mother knew. I’d have to ask Luke later.
We had told Raven’s mom, stopping by there for dinner after he proposed to me.
She was ecstatic and couldn’t wait for us to get married. It was a great
feeling.

“Good.” He nodded and I relaxed against
him. “I was actually planning on proposing here.”

“Here?”

“Yeah, right here on the beach for your
birthday. But I couldn’t wait.” He shrugged. “So I figured, ‘what the hell? I’m
going to do this right now.’ And so I did.”

My eyes watered and I covered my face.
Every part of my body tingled with excitement. Just hearing what he had planned
made my heart swell and my body rise to a new height. Raven had to be the most
thoughtful guy I’d ever met. I sighed, letting a tiny whimper escape.

“Are you crying?” He pulled my hands
away from my face. “Why are you crying?”

“I…I’m just so happy.” Tiny sobs escaped
my lips. “And I’m…”

“You’re what?” He used his thumb to wipe
the tears from my yes. “Tell me. What’s wrong?”

I shook my head. “It’s nothing.”

“No. I can tell something is up.” A look
of concern formed in the crevices of his eyes as they searched mine for the
truth.

Hesitating, I glanced away. He deserved
to know what I was thinking, feeling, but I was afraid to tell him. What if it
scared him and he decided that he didn’t want to marry me? What if all of this
was a mistake? The destructible thoughts continued to plague my mind.

“Lexi. Please.” He lifted my chin.
“Please don’t shut me out.”

Funny you should say that.

I sighed and pulled at the fear looming
inside, gathering it, determined to take control. If I was going to marry him,
I had to be honest with him. I didn’t want to enter into a marriage with any
reservations. “It’s just that sometimes I feel like you shut me out.”

His head jutted back and a look of
surprise hit him. “Really?”

“Yeah,” I quietly admitted.

“Can you give me an example?”

I pressed my lips together, garnering
the courage to say it. “Every time you’ve told me that you don’t want to be
with me.”

“Oh, Lexi.” He pulled me close, wrapping
me tightly in his arms. “I never meant to shut you out. It had nothing to do
with you. It was all the shit — all my baggage — I’ve been learning to deal
with.”

Wiping my nose on my sleeve, I sniffed.
“I understand. I’m just really scared it will happen again.”

He pulled away, looking me directly in
the eye. “I promise I’ll never shut you out again.”

I wanted to believe him; to let go of
all the fear telling me he would hurt me again. Even though I had said yes to
his proposal, and was willing to give us a shot, because all I wanted was to be
with him, I still worried. “How can I be sure?”

“Lexi.” His chest rose and fell in long
strides. “Because things are different now.”

“Different how?”

“It’s hard to explain.” His eyes
narrowed and his lips parted. I waited for him to speak, but he remained
silent.

I closed my eyes, knowing he wasn’t
ready to let me in completely. Why wouldn’t he open his heart fully to me? Why
didn’t he trust me?

“Lexi. Please, just believe me.” He
tucked a few stray stands of my hair behind my ear.

I connected my gaze to his. “Raven, if
we’re going to get married, we have to trust each other. Even with our deepest
secrets. That’s the only way we’re going to get through the tough times. I
promise to be here for you, no matter what. That’s what a relationship is all
about. It’s the foundation a marriage is built on. Don’t you want that for us?”

 “I do.”

“Then just tell me.”

He stalled for a moment, shifting to the
right. I eased out of his hands even though he didn’t want to let me go. I
knelt in front of him and took his hands in mine. “With me, Raven, you don’t
have to be afraid.”

“I’m not afraid, Lexi.”

“Then what is it?”

“I…” he looked behind me, staring into
the ocean. It seemed as if he was lost in the movement of the waves, allowing
them to lure him away. Further away from me. After a long minute, he
reconnected his gaze with mine. “I just don’t want you to reject me.”

“Oh, God. Raven, why would you think
that?”

“Because my entire life I’ve been
nothing but a big
reject
. I don’t need you rejecting me, too.” He jerked
his hands from my grip.