LIBBY

***

I've decided Steph was the wrong choice in what I thought was a good friend.

A good friend would never have agreed to go to the beach in the first place, unless with the group. A good friend would have seen how uncomfortable I was in the car when one of those idiots kept playing with my hair. A good friend would have spent time with me at the beach, just like she'd promised. And lastly, a good friend would realise when you weren't with the group for more than two hours.

When Jasper had said to me that she hadn't even noticed, a rod of white hot anger had run through me. Yes, it was anger at Steph, but it was also disappointment at myself for letting myself get into this situation in the first place.

But I would never have expected it to be Jasper to be the one who had been worried about me, let alone the person who would come after me.

He'd surprised me earlier. His apologetic look and then him defending me in the car, and now him physically coming to search for me. And it made me feel bad about doubting him when he said he was sorry earlier. He'd wrapped me tight into to his chest and told me he was sorry. And what did I do? I ran away.

I'd waited a minute when he followed me, and then when he was checking his phone, looking away for a split second, I ducked behind a large sand dune. I watched him pass me, and I saw him looking for someone or something, but it never occurred to me that he was actually looking for me. I thought he'd be looking for where his friends were.

Now, though, in his truck, I felt completely comfortable with Jasper. It's the first time we'd actually had a proper moment alone since the kiss yesterday, and I think he could feel the tension crackling, same as me. He'd held me in his arms earlier, hugging me close to him, and for some reason I felt at home in his embrace.

"So I bet you Laura didn't show you Cookout?" He chuckles, putting an arm around me, resting his hand on the headrest behind me.

I lean my head round to him and smile, shaking my head. "Nope. Just every building on campus and the library."

"I knew it," he tuts and shakes his head. "That's 'cause she's boring as fuck. Not to mention annoying," he chuckles. "She didn't show you the best place on campus. Some fucking tour guide."

I giggle and he turns his head to smile at me. He seems surprised he can make me laugh. It wasn't necessarily funny. I mean, it was. But I'm just finding it refreshing that he's trying to be himself. Although now that I'm thinking about it, I'm pretty sure he's been nothing but himself since he'd picked us up yesterday. And I'm starting to like it.

"Are you always this well spoken?" I giggle and he turns.

"Maybe." I see a grin turn up the other side of his mouth.

"So what is Cookout?" I ask, turning my head. In the corner of my eye I notice he has a tattoo running down his bicep. I don't have time to read what it says though, because he moves his arm.

"It's a takeaway place that's the best around for miles. It's just on the corner of campus as well, so you technically won't need a car to get there."

"What kind of food is it?" I ask, turning back to the road just as Jasper turns back onto campus.

"Barbecue. Burgers, hot dogs, milkshakes. Even if they don't do it they'll probably make it. The guys in there are pretty cool."

"You go there a lot then?" I chuckle, poking him in the arm.

"More than I should. Although I haven't been for ages. Not all summer."

"You have a car?" I shrug.

"Yeah, but my parents barely let me out this summer because I'd got into..." He trails off, and I notice he grips the steering wheel tighter.

"It's okay," I assure him. "You don't have to tell me." I got it. We barely knew each other, so he didn't have to tell me his whole life story on day two.

He smiles and I can see the gratitude in his eyes.

"I wasn't allowed out. Let's just leave it at that. But anyway yeah... Cookout's fucking amazing." He grins.

As I look out the down the road we're driving on, I can see the glow of the apartments. The sun is nearly down now, and it's past eleven, but I strangely don't feel any of the tiredness I felt this morning. I'm wide awake and I think part of that is because of the boy sitting next to me.

He seems calmer than he did earlier, and more relaxed. He runs his hand through his hair as he comes to a stop, and I can see a small, almost imperceptible smile playing on his lips as he pushes the truck into park. He smiles wider when he looks out at our surroundings, so I join him.

When I see the building that is Cookout, I don't even have to smell the air. I know what all the fuss is about. There are hundreds of people here. There's a drive-through, which is backed up with about thirty cars, and all of the picnic tables and the wall outside are filled with people laughing, eating and even dancing, as the speakers used to announce food orders are blaring out Elvis Presley's Hound Dog.

"You coming?" I hear Jasper call, and when I look for him I realise he's about five metres ahead of me.

"Yeah. Sorry."

I jog to catch him up and he takes my hand in his without question. I look down at our hands, but I don't remove mine or say anything. I like this feeling and find myself blushing at the thought. I think he's still reeling from 'losing' me for a few hours, which I admit was partly my fault. But he's found me now, and I'm not losing him again if I can help it...

We stand in the queue patiently, him with his arm around my shoulders, asking me questions about similar places to Cookout back home. I tell him about all the various vegan shops and cafes there are around where I live, but even though I've never had Cookout before, I can already tell it'll be hard to beat. He seems to enjoy listening to me talk, and I still can't believe how comfortable I am around him already. With Jack and Sam we were awkward for weeks before we got to even handholding.

As we stand in the queue he's recognised by a few people and speaks to quite a few people around him. They talk about summer vacation - although I note he asks most of the questions - but no one seems to ask who I am. No one seems remotely bothered that he's standing here with a girl, and my heart drops. It must be a normal occurrence for him on a night out.

We've been queuing patiently for nearly half an hour by the time we get to the front. We get called forward, and Jasper brings me around in front of him, encasing me with his arms, resting his chin on top of my head for a second before moving it.

"Hey Jasper!" The kind-smiled boy at the ordering window greets him. He's covered in acne on his lower chin and it makes me cringe slightly.

"Hey Kirk! What's up?"

"Fucking busy mate. That's what's up," he chuckles, sticking his head slightly out the window. "All good otherwise. Who's this?" He nods towards me with a glint in his eye while he primes up his computer to take our order.

"This is Libby."

It's all he says but Kirk nods and smiles at me as I try to wave sheepishly with both mine and Jasper's hands locked together. Kirk laughs but waves back.

"Okay you ready? It's big." Jasper jokes, awkwardly getting his phone out of his pocket without letting me go.

"Do you want to just pass me the phone? Might be easier?"

Jasper chuckles. "Sure. Here." He slides his phone across the tiles and Kirk takes it, starting to input the order impressively fast on his machine.

"Did you want anything?" Jasper asks me, his breath tickling my ear and sending a shiver down my spine.

"Can I just have a milkshake?" I turn back slightly and he seems to nod.

"What flavour?" Kirk asks, not looking up.

"Erm, what flavours are there?"

Jasper chuckles. "I think the easier question is what flavours aren't there?"

"Yup," Kirk agrees with a laugh and points behind him at a board. They weren't kidding. There must have been about forty different flavours.

"Bloody hell," I say under my breath. "Erm. Ah god. Erm. Peanut butter? Is that a flavour?" I scan the board for ingredients starting with P and I find it and smile. "Yep, peanut butter please."

I go to reach for my purse to get some dollars out, but Jasper stops me by taking my other hand in his. I turn my head again slightly and he shakes his head. "I'll get yours," he insists.

"You sure?" He nods in response. "Okay," I say in a small voice. "Thank you."

He smirks and touches his lips to the side of my head in the cutest and most surprising gesture.

"So all together," Kirks says in front of us, sliding Jasper's phone back, "that is ninety bucks, seventy-five."

"Is that it?" Jasper and I ask together, surprised it's that little given how much was on there.

"Well, I'm guessing you knew we don't serve beers here," Kirk chuckles as he takes Jasper's card.

Jasper tips his head, so I'm guessing we'd be making another stop on the way back.

"Please let me pay something, Jasper. That's loads."

He shakes his head again. "Nah, they gave me cash. Don't worry about it," he shrugs and takes the slip back from Kirk which had our order number.

"Should be like fifteen minutes," Kirk says to us before he moves on the line, greeting the next person the same way he greeted us.

Jasper finds us a spot on the end of a picnic table and we sit opposite each other. He's let my hands go now, but he's staring at me. It's not glaring, but it's definitely an intense stare.

"What?" I ask after a few minutes of silence. It's not awkward silence, far from it, but given his eyes haven't moved away from me, I must have something on it, and it's making me self-conscious.

He shakes his head and we sit in silence for another minute or so before he speaks.

"So what made you choose Wilmington?" He asks, leaning forward slightly, clasping his hands together, twiddling his thumbs.

I sigh, thinking about whether I should tell him the truth, or whether I should make up a cooler reason.

"Erm... well. Films really."

"Films? Oh god, you're not an Uber film nerd are you?" He leans back and rolls his eyes dramatically.

I giggle and swat his arm without thinking. "No, not an Uber one. A medium sized one."

"Oh well, that's alright then," he laughs, his voice dripping sarcasm.

"I'm regretting answering truthfully now," I giggle and his eyes soften slightly. "No, I wanted to do more film out here because I'm doing history at uni in England. I wanted a bit of variety."

He shrugs, "To be fair the film courses here are quite good."

"Have you taken any?"

"One or two." He's not too great at this conversation thing, but he is good at giving me a look that sends delicious shivers up and down my spine.

"Like?" I offer, poking at his hand.

He captures my finger in his hand and pulls me hand forward so he can hold it.

"Well... loads. Erm, literature in film, cult classics, animation, war films. Literally loads. What are you taking?"

"Well I'm doing a literature class this term. Semester," I correct myself. "It's erm..." I pause and click my fingers as I try to remember what the class was actually called. "Ah, I can't remember the class name but I know the professor is Dr Abrams?"

His eyes light up. "Essay writing? Creative story writing?" I nod. "I'm taking that one."

"You are?" He nods. "Oh my god, well, that's a coincidence."

He shrugs again. "I'm an English major... not much of a coincidence for me."

My jaw drops in surprise and his eyebrows furrow. "What?"

"Nothing," I chuckle. "You're just surprising me left, right and centre that's all!"

"Well, you shouldn't have judged me," he says quietly as he shrugs again, scratching the back of his neck.

I narrow my eyes jokingly. "Well, you should have been nicer when you picked us up." Two can play at that game.

"Definitely regretting raising my hand when you didn't have a group," he jokes, chuckling. "Should've left you at the airport."

"Oh really!" I raise my eyebrows.

"Yeah, would've saved me a lot of grief." His eyes are still bright, but they soften again and look different for a second. But after a beat they're back to being bright again.

"I'm sorry."

"Nah, don't be. I was getting bored with them anyway. After being away from them all summer I can see myself getting tired of them pretty soon anyway." He picks at something on the table. "Steph and I can change places," he jokes.

I grit my teeth and I feel his hand softly tighten on mine as he senses my mood change. "I don't know how to read her. She seems okay but then... if what you said was true back there... well then that's not amazing friend etiquette."

"I dunno. I'm pretty good at reading people and I sensed she wasn't as genuine as you would think. Where's she from?"

"Aberdeen. But she reached out first at the airport... so I think I'll give her the benefit of the doubt."

He shakes his head irritably. "Why?" He squeezes my hand slightly but it's not unbearable before he lets it go completely.

"She may be cuddling up for today just to get beer and stuff and then she'll be back to normal?"

"You're too quick to trust people here."

I raise my eyebrows, surprised at the hostility in his voice.

"Yourself included?" I ask. I'm taunting him for his shitty behaviour but I regret saying it immediately. He frowns, and for a minute I think he's going to get up and walk off.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that," I say quickly, putting my hand on his.

His face remains like stone for a few more seconds, but then it lifts into a small, almost believable smile. My words had hurt him a little, but he's obviously trying not to revert back to his norm.

It's weird that he's already changing, given I've only known him for a day. But then it's also weird that I've known him for a day and yet I feel like I've known him my whole life.

"I know. But it's true. You were the only one to call me out on it though," he tips an imaginary hat to me. "And it was quite refreshing actually." He laughs and covers my hand again with his other one. I sink lower on the bench in relief, a smile pulling at my lips.

"ORDER NUMBER 78!" The tannoy yells and Jasper looks towards the building.

"That's us. Don't wander off," he points at me and laughs before clambering out from the table.

As he stands and turns, I immediately move, standing behind the building. I'm giggling beyond belief, and I'm genuinely surprised he doesn't hear me when he turns around with the box, holding my milkshake separately so he can give it straight to me. When he turns around and sees me gone, I see a flutter of annoyance on his face. But then as he looks around, he starts laughing.

"Very funny!" He shouts, and people look at him. "I'll be in the truck!" He shouts again, louder, and wanders off down to the truck.

Or so I thought.

He obviously had seen me because the next thing I know is that he's come up behind me and grabs me around my waist. I yelp and flail my arms and in my surprise, managing to connect with something solid. When Jasper almost doubles over, I realise I'd elbowed him quite hard in the stomach.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" I crouch down and put my hands on his arm and shoulder as he tips back up again. But as he stands upright, he's laughing, so I can't have hit him that hard. I swat him slightly on the arm before he wanders to the left to grab our food. He finds me again as I walk forward towards the truck and he puts an arm over my shoulder.

"You've got a great punch by the way," he says, opening the door for me before putting the food on my lap. The box is warm on my cold legs so I sigh involuntarily at how good it feels.

"You cold?" He asks before shutting the door.

I shake my head, "Not overly."

"Sooo..."

I nod. "I'm cold."

He snorts. "Why didn't you say?"

I shrug, "I didn't want to be needy?"

"You are ridiculous. Are you always like this?" He asks, laughing slightly.

"Like what?"

"Putting others before yourself? Don't get me wrong, it's a good trait but not when your well-being is in the balance."

"My well-being?" I chuckle. Who is this new Jasper?

He nods and blushes slightly.

"Jasper, I'm fine. This warm food on my lap is working perfectly," I joke with a wink. He laughs, but I don't think he looks convinced.

"Fine." He shuts my door and clambers in the other side, starting the engine and pulling off into the road without another word.

***

He doesn't say anything else until we get to Walmart, where he stops to pick up beer.

"You can stay here. Unless you want to come?" He asks. I shake my head this time, wanting to stay with the relative warmth of everyone's burgers.

He nods and leaves me the keys so I can listen to the radio. Although it's such a high tech truck I can't even work out how to do it. By the time I give up, he's back.

"What you doing?" He asks, chuckling as he leans over me to put the beer on the back seat.

"Trying to work your radio," I respond matter of factly, pressing at buttons. He laughs, but then does the sweetest thing.

He pulls my hand down from the radio and, keeping my hand in his, laces our fingers and brings our hands to his knee. As I look up at him, his eyes are bright and he's smiling, and if I'm being honest I have a pretty big smile on my face too.

I don't think either of us know how we want this to go. Of course, I have literally known him a day, but who can say whether this one day wasn't the start of a lifetime? I shake my head inwardly at my own words, realising how ridiculous that sounds, but when Jasper brings the heel of my hand to his lips and kisses it, I feel very differently in the space of two seconds.

I feel like the temperature has gone up massively as the sexual tension has heightens suddenly in the truck, and I think we can both sense it. Jasper's thumb is running patterns up and down mine, and I can feel my stomach doing continuous somersaults, shivers running up and down my spine.

He drives down to the very end of the beach this time, where there are barely any cars, and parks in the corner, practically on the sand. And by the time we come to a stop, I'm no longer cold. I'm boiling hot. And Jasper only has to turn off the engine for me to suddenly lunge across the seats and straddle him on the driver's seat after tossing the food into the back seat with the beers.

"Wait," he says after I've kissed him twice, two long kisses that are doing nothing to satisfy me in any way.

He places a large hand on each of my hips, and pinches the skin lightly, digging in his fingers as he flexes his hips upwards. I can feel how hard he is underneath me already, and it's clear this tension is not just one-sided. But then why is he wanting to wait?

I kiss him again, slower, and this time he responds. Man, he responds. He wraps my plaits gently around his hand and tickles the bottom of my neck with his warm fingers. This action makes me sigh and grind forward, creating friction against his crotch. I feel his breath catch in his throat as a run my fingers through his hair, tugging lightly on his hair, pushing him on harder so he kisses me beyond how he kissed me before.

The car is steaming up, but neither of us care. Our kisses are fast and frenzied as we continue to move and soon I feel that familiar knot building in my stomach as the hard bulge in Jasper's shorts continues to rub against me. And as he kisses my neck, I let go, sighing contentedly as he seems do the same. He stills and I can feel wet in his boxers underneath me. I feel my cheeks pink at the thought of making him come without touching him, but when he looks at me, his eyes are wild with amazement.

He's breathing heavily, we both are, as I lean back to look at him properly. I stroke a hand down the side of his handsome face and I see his eyes brighten before he leans his forehead onto my chest. He kisses me twice on my collar bone, soft tender kisses, and then looks up at me.

"What are you doing to me?" I don't even know if he meant to say that out loud but I answer him anyway. I tip his head up and leaning forward, kissing him fully on his lips. When I pull away he's smiling, and it's my favourite smile yet. It's wide, and it's practically splitting his face in two, showing off two adorable dimples on his cheeks.

"I like this smile," I whisper, stroking his bottom lip.

He kisses the pad of my thumb as it skims his lip, and as he moves I realise I'm still straddling his lap, so I move away.

"Do you want to stay here while I give them their food?" He asks softly, tucking a stray lock of hair back behind my ear.

I shrug, but in truth I want to be wherever he is.

Reading my thoughts, he continues. "Or we can drop it off and come straight back. They can find a way back to their cars easy enough if we leave."

I give him a small smile and he leans forward and kisses my nose before opening the door and hopping out. I see he changes back into his jeans before he moves, and the thought makes my cheeks pink again. I'd literally never done anything more exciting than just normal plain sex, so the fact we'd just done that has completely shocked me.

After taking my milkshake out, leaving it in the truck, I drag the box of food out while he carries the two cases of beer with one arm. I meet him at the boardwalk and we start to wander slowly hand in hand.

We can start to see the fire that the others are all gathered around. The beach has emptied out of people completely, and I feel a ball of nerves growing in my stomach as we approach.

"Just don't say anything okay. I'll say my parents need me home and that you're tired." He kisses my hand quickly before dropping it and gives me a reassuring smile.

"Okay," I nod, dropping behind him slightly as a couple of them notice us coming over. And coming over together.

"Fucking finally!" "Jesus fucking christ you took your time, J!" "Thank god, beer's run out!" Charming, I thought to myself.

"Hey, you found Lizzie." I hear Ziggy across the circle and I scowl as I hear Steph laugh at him.

"Libby," I correct him automatically, my voice cold, and I hear a few sniggers.

I don't say anything else as Jasper dumps the crate of beer in the middle and takes the food from me, disseminating it. He gives me a pointed look as he takes it, and it's a look I know I shouldn't ignore. The more I say, the more they'll pick on me, and I don't want to be here any longer than I need to.

Once he's handed out the last burger, leaving his one behind, he sighs and wipes his hands on his jeans.

"I have to go guys. Dad wants me back. Libby's cold as well, so I'm going to take her home."

All he gets is a chorus of laughs. One person says 'lightweight' whilst another mentions him banging me. I raise my eyebrows, very much aware none of them can see me behind Jasper's broad frame, and I can't believe someone actually said that. His friends really are charming, but at least they let us go without too much bother. Ziggy has another choice word or two before we manage to get away, but I follow Jasper quickly as he heads back to the truck.

He's walking really quickly and I can barely keep up, finding it difficult to keep my footing on the sand.

"Jasper!" I shout after him when I know we're out of earshot. He stops briefly, allowing me to catch up, but then starts walking again. I stay a few steps behind, as I can see the tension in his shoulders from here. But when he huffs a loud sigh and stops, I start walking carefully towards him.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, referring to me saying something when he warned against it.

He huffs a sigh again, but when I wrap my arms around his waist from behind and put my cheek on his shoulder blade, he places his hands on mine. I breathe my own sigh of relief as I gently kiss his shoulder.

He turns and encases me in his arms, kissing my forehead, holding his lips there before pulling back slightly to look down at me.

"No, I'm sorry," he whispers back. "Ugh they're just... they..." he can't seem to find the words so I put a soft hand on his lips, telling him I knew what he meant.

"Can you stay..." He starts to say, looking over my head, and towards the fire.

"Stay here? Jasper I want to go h-"

"No. Can you stay with... with me?" He asks it quietly but I can see his eyes searching mine for the smallest hint of an answer. His cheeks have gone slightly pink, as if he's embarrassed.

"Jas... Jasper we barely know each other." I whisper it but my insides are screaming to stay with him. I said to myself earlier that I didn't want to lose him, and I still meant it.

"I feel like we've known each other for ages," he whispers, holding me in his arms.

I place my forehead on his chest whilst he patiently waits, stroking my hair and my back soothingly. He's waiting for an answer either way, but it doesn't take long for me to make up my mind.

"Okay," I agree, smiling.

"Okay?" He grins back, his eyes brighten and his cheeks redden further.

I nod. "But, Jasper, I cannot miss class tomorrow." I place both my hands on his chest and look up at him.

He shakes his head. "I promise. You won't." He grins, and I suppose it was helpful we had the same class at 9am tomorrow.

So just like that, he kisses me once more, then takes my hand in his as we begin our slow walk back to the truck.

***

I was about to spend a night with a boy who I met just over twenty four hours ago. A boy who'd been hot and cold with me... but he was a boy I felt a spiritual connection with all the same. And I didn't regret the decision I'd just made.

It's the craziest thing I've ever done, for sure. But as we drive along in companionable silence, his hand holding mine over my shoulder, I've never been more sure of anything in my life.