Chapter 13

<Gavin Forrester>

It's around noon and we have the Jeep packed up much to the dismay of Blaze and Slick. They are both seated in the back, squished by a cooler, some towels and a few bags of other beach supplies. Jeffrey decided he'd stay home to make sure nobody broke into the house. In all honesty, he probably thinks we're going to get caught and he doesn't want to be around to watch it.

 I slip into the driver's seat and Victoria follows close behind, taking her place in shotgun. She puts on a pair of sunglasses as I back away from the house. The sun beats down and the radio is blasting. We're all loosening up a bit and the day seems to be taking an unexpectedly happy turn.

"Aren't you glad we decided to get out for the day?" I give Blaze a smug look and continue driving.

"I'll be glad if the cops don't catch us." He crosses his arms exasperatedly and stares out at the passing scenery.

"They won't; just try to have some fun. Please?" Victoria smirks and turns back to face Blaze.

He shrugs and doesn't make eye contact with her.

"Y'all are idiots." Blaze rolls his eyes and continues to stare out the window.

We arrive at what is known as the "Soup Bowl" which is the largest surfing attraction in Barbados. I pull into a park a few meters from the beach and then hop out. Blaze and I unpack the car and grab the two surfboards we'd tied to the top of the car. Victoria and Slick grab one surfboard and Blaze and I take the other as we walk down to the beach. The sun beats down in bright rays and makes me feel even more alive.

Victoria drops her end of the surfboard halfway down the beach and then runs to the ocean. Slick gives her an annoyed glance as he drags it a bit farther down the beach and then helps us bring the rest of the stuff down. Once our beach blanket is anchored by our cooler and surfboards, Blaze grabs a few bottles of beer and we sit down to watch Victoria.

"Your girlfriend is crazy. If we get caught, I swear I will blame the whole thing on her and never look back." Blaze takes a long swig from his bottle and adjusts his sunglasses for maximum coverage.

"You won't have to blame her; Gavin would take all the blame anyway." Slick claps me on the back and grins.

"Is it really wrong of me to take all the blame if it keeps you guys out of trouble? You didn't have to do this for me and if we get caught, it's only right that I take the blame." I shrug and take a long swig of beer, a smirk playing on my lips.

"You have a more immediate problem than your impending governmental doom." Blaze points down at the beach where Victoria is standing.

She's wearing a blue bikini and holding her flip-flops in one of her hands. The only thing wrong with that is the guy standing next to her with his hand on her shoulder. She seems to be talking to him and twirling her hair around her finger flirtatiously. I narrow my eyes and stand up slowly. I slip my sunglasses on and set my drink next to the surfboard on the blanket. I take long strides towards Victoria and the prick standing next to her. I reach them just in time to see him try to grab her around the waist.

"Hey, babe." I drape my arm around Victoria's shoulder and pull her close to my side.

"Hey, Gavin." Victoria lets out a deep breath and her cheeks redden.

"Who's your new friend?" I say slowly, adding more tension to the environment.

"This is Tomas. We were talking about surfing. He's a professional, you know." Victoria states confidently and gives me a bright smile to show there's nothing wrong.

"Oh, he's a professional something." I give him a fake smile and grip Victoria just the slightest bit tighter.

"I was just telling Victoria that I'd be happy to teach her to surf." Tomas crosses his arms and smirks.

"Oh I'm sure you were but she's fine. She can learn perfectly well without any of your help." I mutter sarcastically.

"Gavin, there's no need to be rude. What's so wrong with me wanting to learn how to surf from a guy who knows how to surf?" Victoria lets go of me and raises her eyebrows.

"Think over that sentence and then see if you need me to answer that question." I snap and never let my eyes wander from hers.

"You don't control me. If I want to learn how to surf than I will from whomever I want. Don't you trust me?" Victoria glares at me and then grabs Tomas' arm.

"Whatever, don't let me be the one to hold you back from what you really want to do. I'll give you your space." I throw my hands up in defeat and walk confidently back towards Blaze and Slick.

"How'd it go, tiger?" Blaze chuckles and hands me my beer.

"I don't feel like talking about it." I snap and push my beer away. "I'm gonna go get something strong."

I walk towards the beach bar that smells strongly of cigar smoke and coconut. A waitress is rushing around behind the counter, cleaning glasses and checking her alcohol inventory. I pull out a stool and sink into it dejectedly.

"Somebody's looking low. What can I get you?" The woman, who's wearing a tacky island costume says with a small smile.

"Spiced Captain Morgan straight. Please." I set down some money on the table and wait for my drink.

"Comin' right up." The lady walks away leaving the scent of coconut in her wake.

I can't believe I left Victoria with that jerk. I'm going to regret this later but for now I just need my drink. Somehow I feel like Victoria is using him to get back at me for hanging out with Ainsley and if she is, it's kind of working. The bartender comes back and hands me my drink. I mumble my thanks and take a swig.

~~~~~

I've had a few more drinks and am feeling slightly less tense than I did before. I stride back towards the beach and spot Victoria and Tomas 'surfing'. The guy is such a tool; all he's doing is touching her and 'adjusting' her form. I feel Blaze and Slick sneak up next to me.

"He's got his hand dangerously close to her ass." Blaze states tensely and gauges my reaction.

My jaw twitches angrily and I cross my arms, my eyes never leaving Victoria. She's lying on the surfboard, attempting to paddle out to meet a wave. Tomas is standing next to her with his hands on her back inappropriately close to her butt. My eyes narrow as she continues to paddle, completely oblivious to Tomas' touching. My fists clench and I stride towards the both of them. I hear Blaze and Slick walk with me, most likely to make sure I don't strangle the living daylights out of Tomas.

"Get your hands off of her." I mutter, fighting to control the anger in my voice.

"I'm just teaching her to surf. This is kind of in the job description." Tomas smirks and turns towards me to make sure I absorbed every word he just said.

"I'm going to ask you nicely one more time. Get your hands off of her." My voice is controlled but my eyes are narrowed dangerously.

"That wasn't very nice, Gavin." Tomas chuckles causing me to finally snap.

"Don't you ever put your hands anywhere near my girlfriend again or I'll teach you how a professional of my field deals with pricks like you." I growl and tighten my grip on his arm.

"You're so possessive; give Victoria some space." Tomas writhes in pain as my grip tightens more.

"Don't you ever cross me again. You don't want to see what happens when you do." I release his arm and give him one final glare before walking away.

"Gavin, why didn't you beat up the little son of a gun? He deserved it." Slick sits down and hands me a beer when we get back to our beach blanket.

"He's not worth it. There are people who I should be getting rid of and he's not one of them." I set the beer down and stare out at the ocean.

I try to spot Victoria but I don't see her or the surfboard. As a matter of fact, I only see Tomas and something splashing in the distance. My reflexes act before my brain can catch up and I begin running towards the ocean. I start swimming once I'm deep enough and my limbs don't stop moving until the splashing is right in front of me. Victoria is the source of the splashing as I had suspected. Her arms are flailing and her head is barely bobbing above the bright blue water.

"Stop moving, sweetheart. I won't let anything happen to you; I've got you." I mumble as I go under the water and wrap my arm around Victoria's waist.

I hold her close to me as I come back up. She lies her head on my shoulder and wraps her arms around my neck.

"What happened?" I whisper and brush the hair out of her face.

"I was paddling and the surfboard got swept up in some waves and floated away. After that I didn't realize how deep I was and I'm not the best swimmer so I resorted to splashing and trying to get someone's attention. Thank you for saving me, Gavin; I don't know what I'd do if you weren't around to save me." She chuckles and leans in closer to me.

"Just promise me you'll never try to surf again." I smile and kiss her forehead as I begin to swim back towards the shore.

"I think that can be arranged." Victoria sighs in an easy-going tone.

We get back to shore and I lay her down gently on the sand. Blaze comes towards us holding a towel and a bottle of water. Victoria gratefully accepts and sits up to wrap the towel around her body. Her body looks irritated from the salt water and her hair is matted. She gulps down the bottle of water and take in a few deep breaths, gathering her brain from the recent events.

"Hey, you okay?" Tomas looks distressed as he sits down next to Victoria.

"She's fine; not that it concerns you since you didn't even swim out to help her, Mr. Professional-Surfer." I cross my arms and sit down on Victoria's other side.

"She can answer for herself and I would've helped but you were already swimming out and I was told to not touch her anymore so..." Tomas glares and then turns his head towards Victoria.

"I'm fine but I think I'm done with surfing for now." She smiles politely and stands up, the towel still wrapped tightly around her body.

"I understand; would you all  like to come to lunch with me. I know this great place that has an island view and I'll even pay." Tomas narrows his eyes at me and waits for Victoria's answer.

"Sounds awesome." Victoria grins and looks at me for my approval.

"Yeah, positively amazing." I fake smile with as much sarcasm as I can muster.

The only way this day could get any better is being forced to sit through lunch with this tool.

Tomas leads Blaze, Slick, Victoria and I down the beach. He and Victoria walk ahead leaving me and my friends to ourselves. I cross my arms and glare at the back of her head.

"Please tell me again why we're going to lunch with the guy who couldn't keep his hands off of Victoria?" Slick gestures towards Tomas with disgust.

"I can't let Victoria go alone." I grunt with indifference.

We all arrive at the restaurant and are seated immediately. Ironically, Tomas is seated next to Victoria on one side and I'm on her other side. Blaze and Slick are seated across the table with distress written in their features. The environment is tense and uncomfortable. I let out a deep breath and tap my fingers on the table as the waitress comes to take our order.

~~~~~

"Gavin, what was that?" Victoria shouts as we cart our stuff back to the Jeep.

"I was perfectly pleasant to that asshole." I shout back and drop the cooler on the ground.

"No, you weren't." Victoria glares at me and angrily refolds the blanket.

"What did you expect me to do? He couldn't keep his hands off of you and then you force me to sit through lunch with him." I let out a frustrated breath and get in the front seat.

"I'm trying to make friends." Victoria narrows her eyes and gets into shotgun.

"Wow, who knew you could lie so well?" I roll my eyes and motion for Slick and Blaze to get into the backseat.

"How am I lying?" She gives me a look of disbelief before locking her seatbelt.

"Are you trying to get back at me for hanging out with Ainsley?" I put the key in the ignition and wait for her to answer me.

"No, not everything is about that!" Victoria huffs and looks out her window.

"Yeah but this is." I back out of the park and begin to drive towards Jeffrey's house.

"Why is it so bad that I'm trying to make friends?" Victoria asks in a much calmer tone.

"It's not bad that you're trying to make friends; what's bad is who you're trying to make friends with." I put my sunglasses on to mask my emotions.

"What's wrong with Tomas?" Victoria takes off my sunglasses and looks me straight in the eye.

"The question is what's not wrong with him." I mutter through tight lips.

"I'm serious."

"So am I." I give her an intense glare before focusing on the road again.

"So you're allowed to hang out with other girls but I'm not allowed to hang out with other guys?" Victoria huffs and crosses her arms indignantly.

"I knew this was still about Ainsley. How many times do I have to tell you nothing happened and nothing was going to?" I stop abruptly at a red light and wait impatiently for it to change.

"It's not about that. It's about double standards. You're allowed to hang out with Ainsley but the minute I hang out with another guy I'm cheating."

"I seem to remember you accusing me of cheating when you found out I'd been with Ainsley." I raise my eyebrow at her and pull up in front of the house.

Victoria huffs, finally being silent.

"I'm fine if you wanna make friends but some guy who does nothing but touch you is not a friend, he's a problem. I'm your boyfriend and I don't appreciate you hanging around guys like him." I take the keys out and begin to grab stuff from the backseat.

"So, I can only make friends with people you approve of?" Victoria grabs the blanket and angrily shoves it under her arm.

"We're going inside. You two figure out your problems." Blaze looks between the both of us and then he and Slick hastily leave.

"If you're serious about this relationship then you wouldn't want to hang out with other guys who touch you like that." I give her a hurt look and then go back to unpacking the car.

"Gavin, I have never been more serious about anything in my life." Victoria's eyes widen in shock as if it surprises her that Tomas touching her that way angered me.

"Weren't so serious when you were letting him touch your ass now were you?" I mutter, indifference entering my tone.

"I'm sorry, Gavin. I didn't like it and I wanted him to stop but he wouldn't." She pleads as we begin to walk up the stairs towards the front door.

"Yeah, you looked like you were proactively trying to get him away." I push open the front door and drop the stuff in the entryway.

"Gavin, don't you trust me?" Victoria reaches out and grabs my shoulder as I storm down the hallway.

I turn my head over my shoulder and glare at her. I'm tired of her questioning my trust. I shake her off and continue my trek down the hallway.

~~~~~

It's almost midnight and I'm lying on a makeshift bed on the couch. I rub my eyes and turn over for the fifteenth time tonight. Victoria and I haven't talked since our fight after the beach. Blaze and Slick have stayed away from both of us too so the night has been extremely quiet. I push the blanket off of me and sit up straight. I rub my face and check the time. It hasn't really changed significantly since the last time I checked.

After our fight earlier, I decided that I needed some space from Victoria so I've been sleeping on the couch. It's lonely and silent out here which bothers me but I refuse to cave and apologize. It may seem stubborn to most people but I'm so tired of always caving. I love Victoria, more than I've ever loved any girl but she drives me crazy. She's the only person I'd do what I've done for and she's the only person who's ever had this much power over me. I want her but I just can't feel powerless in this relationship anymore.

I lay back and stare at the ceiling. My lungs expand as I breathe deeply and then sink as I exhale. I close my eyes and try to focus on sleeping. I hear some light footsteps but I refuse to find out who it is. I feel somebody sit down on the back of the couch and let out a small breath. I crack one eye and find Victoria on the back of the couch in her silk robe. Her hair is thrown up in a bun that's only held together by a pen and her eyes are dark from lack of sleep. I close my eye before she notices and then I feel her shift around a bit before speaking.

"Gavin, please look at me." She sighs and sets her hand down on my head.

I open my eyes slowly and stare blankly at her.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking earlier about Tomas. I guess maybe I liked making you jealous because it brought out this protective side of you but I know now that I took it too far. I really do love you and I'd rather be with you than some asshole surfer any day." Victoria looks down at me and brushes some hair from my eyes. "I don't want to give up on us."

"You drive me crazy but I can't imagine anyone I'd rather be driven crazy by than you." I sigh and cup her cheek in my hand.

My hand moves from her cheek to her waist and I pull her down onto the couch with me. My arms wrap her tightly and pull her close. She leans her head on my shoulder.

"I never want to go to bed mad at you ever again." Victoria whispers and places her lips on my cheek.

"Fighting is exhausting." I agree and rub her shoulder comfortingly.

"Gavin, you know I'm serious about us, right?" Victoria looks up at me and waits for my answer.

"I was mad. I know you are. I've just lost so many people in my life and I don't want you to be next. Sometimes people are here one day and gone the next; I don't want you to be that person." I give her a serious look and hold her even closer.

"I don't want to leave you." She whispers and turns my face so I'm looking directly at her.

I lean in and gently press my lips to hers. My arm rests on her waist and I pull her on top of me as we continue to kiss. Her fingers tangle in my hair and for a few minutes I feel like we're the only two people in the world. The house grows quieter and soon enough our heavy breathing is the only noise to be heard.