"I just... I just really think it'll happen." Spencer nods with a thoughtful expression, bringing the bottle of jack back to her lips, pausing before it makes contact so that she can carry on speaking. "I think Brad and Jen will get back together. But I think it'll be like... a publicity stunt. Maybe. I dunno."

The hot night breeze of Miami Florida picks up, doing little too cool the temperature, but it does offer a windblown effect to Spencer's wild curls. If she wasn't so plastered it'd be a cover-worthy image.

It's eleven at night and the beach is anything but quiet and peaceful. Shouting and excited squealing add to the thumping music and crashing waves. The moonlight illuminates the party-goers, providing enough glow so that the masses can see properly while they continue to ensure that they in fact, can't see a thing - due to the alcohol consumption.

Spencer and I are parked up on a large log, our feet buried in the warm sand while my dear friend dwells on the scandals and theories of celebrity lives. I'm not sure how we got on to the topic of publicity stunts but she is convinced that they happen more often than we realise. She has a concerning amount of written down facts stored up so that she has the documentation to prove her theories.

"Hey girls!" a deep voice slurs from above us. Spencer and I snap our attention to the Baywatch looking boy who smiles before crouching down beside us. "I'm Connor."

"Spencer"- she points to herself before jabbing her finger in my direction - "this is Dallas."

"You girls having a good spring break?"

"Yeah, so far. We only arrived this afternoon," Spencer explains flippantly as she downs the rest of her drink, shaking the empty bottle with a frown when it's all gone.

"Oh nice, nice." Connor nods with wide eyes, smacking his lips together while he chews on nothing. "So I've got some Molly for sale, if either of you is keen?"

"You're selling a girl?!" Spencer grips his forearm with a dropped jaw, clearly not able to believe what she's hearing. Connor chuckles, not judging, but taking amusement in Spencer's oblivion.

"No, I've got some E. Ecstasy. I'll do you a spring breakers deal." He wiggles his brows and pulls a little plastic bag of pills out of his board short pockets. Spencer recoils and slaps a hand over her mouth.

I've been watching in amusement at the exchange. It's not uncommon for a small-town girl to have a limited knowledge on drug lingo but I can't help but stifle a giggle at her reaction.

"What the fûck," Grayson barks, the three of us whip our heads in his direction, watching his feet kick up sand as he strides towards us with a sour glare.

Connor hides the pills fast, straightening up and adopting confidence, almost as though he's calculated in how to react to possible law enforcement.

"Stop trying to sell them drugs. What the fuck man." Grayson pushes Connor's chest, causing him to stumble backwards, a surprised expression flittering across his sunkissed face.

"Woah, chill out bro. It's just a bit of E." Connor raises his hands in defence, not looking for a fight apparently.

I decide to intervene. I'm more sober than anyone else so it seems that someone's going to need to deflect the tension. Grayson's reaction surprises me a little. I know that he and Dray share in the odd joint occasionally and I think it went without saying that drugs would circulate wherever we went. It is spring break after all.

"Thanks for the offer Connor." I get up and step between the two boys. Grayson's staring him down with tensed shoulders. He's had too much to drink and I'd rather he didn't do something he'll end up regretting. "I think we're going to pass on the pills."

"That's cool." He smiles, the soft breeze picks up and ruffles his curly blonde locks. "Sorry, didn't mean to offend anyone. Just trying to do a job, ya know?"

I don't know. I've never considered selling drugs to fund my life, but who am I to judge? I give him a tight smile and peek over my shoulder to find that Spencer has curled into Grayson's side, whispering in his ear as they sway and attempt to hold each other up. It looks a total mess.

I bring my attention back to Connor, but as my head swivels, I notice Drayton walking in from the direction of the shore, two girls trailing along beside him, staring up and giving him big doe eyes while he laughs at whatever insolence is coming out of their mouths.

He's been trailing around all night, being social and making friends, he's a people person, he does well at making conversation. I'd followed him around to begin with and he'd never failed to introduce me with affectionate regards but it got tiresome after a while so Spencer and I had decided to take a seat for a few minutes while we have a drink, hence where we are now.

I know it's stupid to feel so threatened and jealous by the sight in front of me, but it's infuriating. I mean, I can hardly blame the girls that have been throwing themselves at him all night. His brooding jawline, sexy stubble, defined shoulders and chiselled torso make him one hundred percent irresistible, but he's mine and I really don't feel like tolerating anymore thirst from these girls. Who by the way, are model like material.

His eyes meet mine from about five meters away, his glance flickers towards Connor and I don't miss the flinch in his expression. It would seem it's alright for him to traipse up and down the beach with a couple of girls on either side of him but god forbid I chat with a boy. Granted, he is a drug dealer who, if I were single, may physically appeal to me. But I haven't appreciated another male since I met Drayton.

He says something to the girls, gesturing for them to hang back, which seems to disappoint them, their scowls directed towards me. His speed picks up as he strides towards, Connor and I, who notices the charging bull and decides to spare himself.

"Nice to meet you," he briefly nods, "I'll see you around."

He disappears as Drayton takes the place he'd been standing, watching his retreating figure with furrowed brows before he turns his attention on me.

"Who was that?"

"Who are they?"

I nod my head towards things one and two who are still lingering nearby, attempting to look busy but clearly hoping that Drayton will return and grace them with his attention. He doesn't look at them, his stare remaining on me as his expression softens from suspicion to realisation.

"I have no idea who they are. They started walking up beside me while I came looking for you. I'd barely spoken to them for two seconds before I saw you."

He picks up my hand, caressing it with his fingers while I stay quiet and gage his sincerity. There isn't a hint of betrayal behind his eyes and I'm glad that I have the sense to rationalise my thoughts before I begin overreacting.

I don't want to spend the entire vacation fighting because one of us feels jealous over the other. It's petty and time-consuming and to be quite honest, it's a waste of time. Drayton has done nothing but prove how much I mean to him.

"Well then," I take a deep breath and smile, making the choice not to dwell on the little hiccup, "Let's show them how totally unavailable you are!"

I throw my arms around his neck, stepping up on to my tiptoes, getting a glimpse of his wide smile before our mouths meet. He doesn't hesitate to embrace me, his hands fan out on either side of my waist, his fingers digging into the bare skin as he pulls my front hard against his own.

Our mouths collide and a desperate kind of kiss ignites, one where we can't seem to get close enough. His hands slide around my waist and on to my back, holding me so tightly that it's hard to breathe, but I love it. I love the way his taut neck muscles feel under my arms, the way his stubble scratches my chin as he roughly kisses me. I love the way his hair slides through my fingers and how he moans when I press my boobs against his chest.

"Cheer," he mumbles, his eyes still closed and his forehead against mine as he disconnects our frantic kiss. "I can't even look at you without wanting to kiss you. Please don't ever doubt that."

"I don't." I laugh, feeling wound up on dopamine.

"Mmm," he moans, feathering my lips with a series of quick kisses. "Fucking love kissing your smile."

I bite down on lip-biting grin and lean into his embrace, resting my head on his chest. On its own accord, a yawn escapes from between my lips and Drayton arches over a little, so that he can get a good look at me while he rubs my bare arm.

"Tired beautiful?"

"I guess," I shrug, "I've stuck it out as long as I can. I'm just a bit over it I guess."

"Wanna go back to the room," he suggests as I keep my arms encircled around his firm waist. "We can get some room service, I'll play with your hair and we can watch something cheesy."

I feel an overwhelming sense of happiness wave over me. He's so damn sweet. Those are all of the things that he's come to realise that I love and his attention to detail is unreal.

"As long as we order mayo cheeseburgers and chicken fries," I suggest his favourite guilty pleasure and giggle when he throws his head back in awe.

"A girl after my own heart."

We begin walking up the beach and offer Spencer and Grayson a brief wave goodbye. It doesn't appear as though either of them will be done anytime soon.

• • •

"Alright, where the fûck are those two?" Drayton and I gather in Spencer and Grayson's main living area after we've finished searching the hotel room. We'd woken up in relatively good spirits considering neither of us went too overboard with the alcohol last night.

We wanted to get Spence and Gray so that we could have breakfast, but upon arriving at their room, no one answered the door for a solid twenty minutes. Eventually we'd asked a maid to let us in because we were worried and found their absence was even more alarming.

"We probably shouldn't worry too much," I murmur with a worried tone, totally contradicting my statement.

"Fucking hell," Drayton runs a hand through his hair, turning to head back towards the door, "I feel like I'm fathering those two children half the time."

It's obvious that he's worried from how worked up he is. I follow him out of the room and lace our fingers together as we step onto the elevator.

"I suppose we should go check the beach first," he grunts, moving me so that I'm in front of him. He wraps his arms around my waist, clasping his hands in front of my stomach as he leans against the elevator wall.

"Don't stress. We'll find them."

"They were pretty smashed last night." He sighs, absentmindedly twirling the ends of my hair around his fingers. "I hope they didn't go swimming or something stupid like that."

I attempt to calm the nervous nausea that's causing havoc in my stomach. I don't want to think that something bad could have happened to them. I have to stay hopeful that they fell asleep in the sand or got arrested for public indecency. Anything that I can make fun of them for would be preferable at this point.

We step off the elevator and do a quick sweep of the lobby, just in case they hadn't made it all the way up to their room. Drayton asks the receptionist if she'd seen them at all but it was no use. The amount of people that pass through in a matter of twelve hours would make it impossible to keep track of all the faces.

There are a few convenience stores and eateries before we hit the sand across the road so we pop into each one, trying not to appear frantic but the further we get, the more worried we both become.

It's surprising to see that the beach isn't a total tip this morning. Considering the strewn beer bottles, cups, food packets and General rubbish that had laid around last night, I'd expected it to look like a scene straight out of project-X when we arrived. But there must be a decent cleaning crew in place because it's relatively tidy.

"If those two aren't dead, they will be when I find them." Drayton seethes as we shuffle through the hot sand. Our flip flops keep the heat off but the warm specks trickle over our feet every time they sink in the sand.

A beach ball rolls towards us and Drayton barely stops, simply kicking it in a huff towards the direction it came from. I have a little bit of a hard time keeping up with his pace but his hand stays tightly wrapped around mine, pulling me along so that I have no choice but to practically jog behind him.

My eyes do their best to scan over the crowd while I stumble, looking entirely uncoordinated. I'm not surprised to see that drinking has already begun. Coolers have been refilled and bottles of beer are passed about groups of college kids. A game of beach volleyball is taking place, sandcastles are being erected, it all looks exciting and lively but it's hard to appreciate when our best friends have vanished.

"Dray!" I pull on his arm, bringing him to a stop. He turns around, his furious eyes boring into me with question. I gesture my head to where I'd spotted the culprits of our stress. They're laying on a beach chair, Spencer's head rests on Grayson's shoulder while his arm wraps around her and holds her close. They look fresh as though they'd showered and changed, sunscreen creates a sheen on their bodies and sunglasses hide their eyes.

Drayton's brows are furrowed in confusion for a moment until his eyes land on the two of them, clearly oblivious to the stress they'd caused us this morning. Without another word, he begins marching towards them with balled fists. I trail behind him, apologising to the few victims that get a shoulder barge as he keeps his sights set on our friends.

When he stops next to the beach seat, he doesn't hesitate for a second, leaning down, gripping it with two hands and effortlessly flipping it over so the both of them land with a thud in the sand.

A flail of arms and a series of curse words sound out as they splutter and attempt to untangle themselves. I can't help but laugh loudly when Spencer attempts to use Grayson's chest to lift herself, but her palm slides straight over his oily chest and she lands in a heap on the sand again.

"What the fuck!" Grayson barks, finally standing up, sand stuck to almost all of his bare skin. He helps Spencer to her feet and starts brushing at her back while he keeps a harsh scowl directed at Drayton. "What the hell was that for?"

"You two assholes wanna explain why you didn't tell us what you were doing this morning?" Drayton throws his arms wide, his loose singlet shifts with the movement, exposing his defined pecs. Spencer claws at her bikini-clad front, trying to scrape the sand from her stomach and chest while her eyes dart between the three of us.

"Shît DAD," Grayson chortles. "Didn't realise we needed to report back every time we leave the hotel."

"We were worried about you!" I step into place beside Drayton and curl into his side. His arms, while stiff and rigid with annoyance, relax as they wrap around and hold me tight.

I know that Drayton won't say it out loud. But what happened with his sister will always be the reason he doesn't cope so well with these sorts of situations. He can't stand the thought of anything happening to the people he loves and while that goes for most people, it stirs him a little bit harder than the rest of us. At least I understand that more, now. It's easier to give him the support he needs.

"We told you what we'd be doing last night?" Spencer shrugs, her hands coming to rest on her defined hips. I'll never understand why she pouts and gets so jealous over my body. She's a fucking model in her little pale blue bikini.

"Ah, no you didn't?" Drayton snaps. I give him a gentle squeeze, hoping that he'll get the message. They're okay, he doesn't need to worry anymore. I suppose he's just pissed off at this point. It is a little frustrating.

"Yes!" Spencer argues while Grayson picks the beach seat back up, dusts it off and plonks down as if he hasn't a care in the world. "Last night, I said we should have a girls night tonight and the boys can do their own thing, so today should be like, a couple's day."

"That conversation literally never happened?" I watch her expectantly while she appears to think over the legitimacy of her statement. Her brows furrow together, her long black locks fall over her shoulder while she stares at the ground.

A loud snore sounds from behind Spencer and we all glance over to where Grayson is laying on his back, his hands behind his head and mouth slightly agape as his chest rises and falls with slow, sleepy breaths.

"Unbelievable," Drayton mutters but I can hear the amusement in his voice.

"That's so weird, I could have sworn we talked about that last night." Spencer huffs and throws her hands up, letting them slap back down to her sides as she stares at me in disbelief.

"You're cooked." Drayton chuckles, his hand running up and down my back. I'm relieved to hear that he's calmed a little and something tells me, that I may have that effect on him, which could be a self-absorbed conclusion but the evidence in his behaviour confirms my theories.

"Okay, well um, tonight we have girls and guys night?" She smiles sheepishly, confirming plans she'd thought we were already aware of. "We can meet back at the hotel at like seven?"

"Why do we need to split up tonight?" Dray questions. He's not objecting but he does sound a little bit hesitant and when I glance up and meet his green eyes, he tightens his hold a little.

"Because, I wanna spend some time with my best friend on vacation. It's just one night and you know we'll all end up together at the end of it anyway," she explains, taking a step back when a couple of kids come screaming through the middle of us.

"We can do that," I confirm with a wide smile.

Drayton doesn't answer at first, looking conflicted as he watches me with a pained expression. It warms me all over to know that he wants to spend all of his time with me, but I can't neglect my best friend for my boyfriend, if she wants to spend some one on one time together, then I want that too.

"Fine," Drayton murmurs, tucking his hand at the back of my neck, creating circles with the pad of his thumb on my skin. "I want her back at the end of the night though."

I giggle when Spencer stretches out her arm and offers her hand. "Deal!" The two of them shake and before I know it, I'm being pulled in the opposite direction from where we'd come.

"See ya later!" I call out to Spencer, the last of my sentence being muffled by some big meathead hollering at his boys to pass him the frisbee.

I smile at my boyfriend, who I can keep up with now that he isn't in terminator mode. "So what should we do today?"

•

The sound of a camera shutter causes me to snap my head up, I pause chewing and stare at Drayton with a mouthful of muffin that's effectively keeping my jaw from being able to properly close.

"Beautiful." He laughs from across the table, admiring what is probably the worst photo that he has of me to date. I should be used to it by now. He's constantly snapping unexpected shots of me in compromising positions.

Most of the candid snaps are of me from behind or on my hands and knees. After Grayson had accidentally stumbled upon a couple of indecent pictures while he scoured Drayton's phone for a screenshot he'd sent him, I'd ordered Dray to either delete them or download a locked photo app. He'd of course gone with the latter and refers to it as his wank bank. Delightful.

"Don't take pictures of me while I'm eating!" My words are muffled by the chocolate chip muffin. I scowl at him while I finish chewing but he continues to chuckle at the image on his screen.

We'd spent the morning partaking in various activities along the broad walk. We'd spent some time on the Ferris wheel, faced off at a few carnival games and spent hours swimming in a secluded portion of the beach that we'd found after an almost hour-long walk. The romance had been overwhelming, in the best way. The simple gesture of holding hands while we strolled in the sand, laughing, talking and teasing each other with witty quips. It's something special when the simplest of activities can erupt so much genuine elation.

I often remember how Drayton had appeared when we first met. Stoic, unable to fully open up, his smiles rare and his mysterious air a near constant. So much has changed between us, he smiles more and an unmissable happy vibe lifts his spirits which ultimately elevates everyone's else's mood. He's still the same Drayton, the dirty jokes never slow, the brooding is still sexy as hell but the other side that I seem to have unlocked is icing on the cake. God he makes me happier than I've ever been.

The waitress who had served us our dessert comes slinking back over to the table and it's almost cliche how obvious she's being. Her feline shaped eyes are glued to Drayton's large biceps. I can understand the staring, they're so big, firm and just the sight of them instills sinful thoughts. But the flirting is what irks me to no end.

"Can I get you guys anything else?" she purrs, arching her hips so that they brush against my boyfriend's shoulder. He gives me an apologetic smile but explained before that he won't embarrass anyone by telling her to back off unless she makes a direct pass.

"Nothing for us? But maybe I can get you some chill?" I smile sarcastically and enjoy the heated blush that warms up her guilty expression. "Get your fucking ass away from my boyfriend's arm. He's not gonna touch you."

Admittedly, I've surprised even myself with the harsh comment. Drayton's mouth hangs open, a hint of amusement lighting up his eyes as he stares at me. I don't know what it is about girls in Miami, but they don't know what modesty is, not in the slightest. At least shame is something she's acquainted with because she visibly swallows, mutters an apology and stalks away, her hips swaying a little less than they had earlier.

"Damn baby." Drayton leans back in his seat, smirking at me with a lazy grin. "You're a little bit sexy when you're feisty."

"A little?" I challenge with a raised brow.

"A lot."

He stands up and offers me his hand, pulling me to my feet and metaphorically sweeping me away with his show-stopping smile. We leave the little diner and notice that the sun is setting, casting a blood orange horizon across the entire beach.

"So, what does girls night involve?" Drayton slips his sunnies on and laces our fingers together as we make our way back to the hotel.

"Knowing Spencer, it'll involve bar hopping, dancing and bathroom deep and meaningful. Nothing too outrageous," I explain.

"How do you plan on bar hopping, miss 'not even eighteen yet?'" Drayton drawls with a cocky smirk.

"All ages bars." I shrug. "It's Miami. They'll be around. I dunno. We'll just go with the flow."

"You'll be safe right?" he murmurs with a more sullen tone. His worrying is so heartwarming that I can't help but move closer to him, curling my hand around the arm that holds my hand. "Call me if you need me and all that."

"Of course!" I assure him with a genuine smile. "But you don't need to worry. It'll be fine."

• • •

Much love. Until next time. x