July 5

Port Carling, Muskoka

Trying to remember exactly how I found myself here, I think back over the past few hours. I swore I wouldn't come back into town for any more shopping, but here I am, sitting in a chair outside the change room while Elle tries on clothes.

I also wonder how Theo escaped this part of the afternoon. He'd gone up to the hardware store over an hour ago, making a whipping gesture towards me as Elle dragged me down to the shops. Asshole.

I haven't heard from or seen him since.

Elle's come out to show off half a dozen outfits already, and we haven't even made it through half the pile she picked out. I'd rather be outside, swimming or wakeboarding. But nope, I was bribed to come along directly after our shift, and the thought of her sweet, grateful kisses later make me grit my teeth and bear it.

The curtain flicks to the side, and Elle walks out. I choose my words carefully. She bit my head off last time when I told her she looked beautiful for the tenth time in a row. Apparently that was not what she wanted to hear.

I shake my head. "Not this one, too long." The dress she's come out in is nearly ankle-length, and there is something distinctly mom-ish about this one.

"Really? I was sure this one was cute." She sighs and goes back into the change room, not even bothering to look for herself. I groan, hoping we can be done soon, but knowing better than to rush her.

A few moments later, she wanders out in a skimpy bikini. Now she certainly has my attention. "Wow." I circle my hand in the air, indicating with a finger for her to spin. "Slowly," I say, intending to enjoy the show.

She tosses a knowing smile at me as she turns. The ties and straps make my mouth go dry, so do the high cut cheeky bottoms that leave a good deal of her curves on display.

I stand and walk towards her, sliding my hands over her hips and bending to kiss her neck. "This is a yes. You can wear it every day for the rest of the summer." She shivers as I whisper against her neck. Her perfume is intoxicating, roses and vanilla, and just a trace of perspiration from the airless change rooms.

Her laugh makes me smile against her soft skin. "Just wait till you see the other bathing suits I picked to try."

Her taunting laugh trails behind her as she walks into the change room and closes the curtain with a saucy snap. I groan, feeling my shorts tighten as I imagine all the possibilities.

I return to my seat and flip through my phone mindlessly, distracting myself. The next bathing suit is nearly indecent, and I all but choke on my own tongue. "Elle, no way. I love it, but you aren't ever wearing that in public." The siren red, strappy bikini barely leaves anything to the imagination. Small triangles barely cover her breasts, the bottoms ride so high on her hips and cheeks that she might as well be naked.

She blushes the prettiest shade of pink but retreats back to the change room quickly. Even as she stood there, I knew she wasn't comfortable in the skimpy two-piece porn star inspired suit.

Hangers flick in the change room, and I listen as Elle mutters under her breath about the twisted straps. I'm about to poke my head in to see if she needs help when I hear a high, shrill voice. "Grey, what on earth are you doing here?"

I groan. "Elle, come out for a sec, please. Now." I do not want her to walk out and find me here with Chiara, without advance warning.

"Chiara," I grind my teeth together, aiming for casual politeness, nothing more. "I'm here with Elle, doing some shopping."

"I missed you at the Canada Day party this year, I was hoping you'd come... I was so looking forward to the fireworks," her pout is exaggerated, her fingers tap a path along my chest, and I push her hand away gently, not missing the innuendo behind her comments.

Elle steps out in another scandalous bikini, and I curse under my breath. This midnight blue one looks exquisite against her pale ivory skin. It's not as revealing as the other one, but is so much sexier, in a subtle way.

The strapless top hugs her curves, with an open strappy back with some kind of magic, gravity defying clasp to hold it all together. The bottoms are low, tied together with a small bow at each hip.

Chiara eyes her up and down, raising an eyebrow at me as Elle moves over to me, close enough that I can wrap my arm around her shoulder to pull her against my side before turning back to Chiara. "You remember Elle, right, Chiara?"

Her eyes widen when she sees my hand stroke up and down Elle's arm before settling it on her hip and squeezing gently.

"How could I forget? Although last time I saw her, she was with another boy, of course."

I squeeze Elle's hip again to keep her silent. "Well, she's with me now, Chiara, and you'd do well to remember that if you find yourself at any other parties together."

"So, what, you two are like dating or something?" Chiara's voice is tainted with bitterness and jealousy.

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

"What's so special about her? When we were together, you refused to date, you only wanted me for-"

Elle stiffens beside me, a small gasp escaping her lips, but I don't let her pull away. "Enough Chiara. I told you I wasn't interested in more than friendship with you, you pursued me. I was clear with my intentions."

"Seems like you haven't told your new little fling over here. Bambi looks distressed. How about I tell her all about us, Grey?"

Elle finds her voice again. "Chiara, I'm sorry if you're hurt by our being together, but there's nothing you can say that will affect how I feel, so just save your hateful gossip."

I look over at Elle, surprised by the firm, careless tone in her voice. My girl's got some claws.

Chiara looks over at Elle, focusing entirely on her for the first time. "Well, you'll see; eventually, he'll toss you away when he's tired of you. Just like he's done to all the rest of us."

I grit my teeth, knowing there's nothing I can say that won't make me look like an ass. But it bothers me that she's made it sound like I've done this to so many women. I've had a few causal relationships in the past year. Hardly qualifies the statement 'the rest of us'.

"How unfortunate for you and them. I find being clear about expectations upfront, on both sides, reduces the risk of disappointment, Chiara. Perhaps you should try that next time, communicating instead of lashing out after the fact. Saves the embarrassment of situations like these."

I nearly choke on my tongue, fighting back a laugh: Jeeze, Elle's merciless. Elle is still rigid under my arm, so rigid I can feel the small shakes coursing through her, so I know we'll be having a tough chat as soon as Chiara is gone.

Chiara, never at a loss for catty comebacks, simply stares at Elle. My little Bambi, as she'd said earlier, certainly got the best of her. Just as I think Chiara will walk away, she smiles meanly and turns her attention back to Elle.

"Oh, so you and Grey have talked about expectations? So you know he's only into casual flings and are fine with it? Isn't that interesting? Something for us girls to talk about. I'm sure the Landon and Regan boys will be happy to know they can talk their way into your pants simply by making their expectations clear."

Elle's shocked gasp makes me grit my teeth and step in, hopefully, to end the discussion once and for all. "You have no idea what my expectations are, Chiara, or what Elle's are. Stay the fuck out of it, and if you spread gossip about Elle, or us together, and I find out about it, we're going to have a big problem."

A look of alarm flashes through her eyes momentarily, but she just smiles slyly at us before turning on her heel and walking away. "Call me when you're done with, well with this, Grey, when you get bored with Bambi."

I turn Elle towards me, but she doesn't look at me. She pushes away and steps behind the curtains. She doesn't come out for several minutes.

"Elle?" I'm not sure if I should approach or look inside to see if she's ok. I know she'll be angry, I don't blame her. Chiara is a spiteful bitch, and Elle doesn't deserve the bad attention from her. For the millionth time this summer, I regret the time I spent with Chiara, even though it was brief. It's having such a negative fallout now.

Giving up, I flip one curtain aside. Elle is standing in the middle of the change room, one arm wrapped around herself tightly, her other hand is pressing firmly over her mouth, and tears are shining in her eyes, streaming down her cheeks. I step into the change room and close the curtain.

"I'm so sorry, Elle. Chiara was beyond out of line."

She refuses to let her eyes meet mine, and when I raise my hand to touch her shoulder, she shifts away from me quickly, pressing herself closer towards the corner of the change room.

"Talk to me, Elle." My voice is just a little desperate, I don't want her to cry, not over this, but I don't really know what I can say about it. It happened, Chiara and I have history, that's long over, and she's simply a jealous, vicious bitch.

When Elle says nothing, I take matters into my own hands. I grab her, pulling her towards me, wrapping my arms around her, and pressing her against my chest. I squeeze her tighter to me when she tries to squirm away.

I run my hands up and down her back, whispering softly in her ear, "I'm so sorry, Elle. I promise I won't let any of the shit she spews stand. With me, Hud, Ry, and Theo, no one will believe anything she has to say."

"Don't let her have power over you, over us. I want to be with you, even when we go back to school." When Elle starts to cry harder, panic flares in my chest. I'm desperate to soothe her. "Elle, the rumors won't matter once the schools and students see us together, happy. I promise."

I don't know how long we stand here, but eventually, she relaxes in my arms, and I breathe a big sigh of relief. At least she isn't fighting me anymore or pushing me away.

"How many girls are there, Greyson?" Her soft whisper is barely audible. I close my eyes and answer her.

"I spent some time with two girls last year. Chiara and one other, her friend Meg. There were two more the year before that."

"Was it serious?" Elle continues to whisper against my chest, refusing to look up at me.

"No. Not at all." I want to be very clear that this time, with Elle, it's different.

"But you basically did the same thing to me last summer. Spent time with me, then walked away, like it meant nothing. Now, you've done it to two more girls. Maybe more."

My throat tightens. I've never thought about it like that. I walked away from Elle so I wouldn't hurt her worse, so I wouldn't consume her love, her light. I walked away from the others because I didn't like them, or who I was when I was with them.

"I know what it looks like, Elle. I'm sorry, I can't say anything to change what I did, but it's different now. You have to know this, I want you so badly, I need you. All I want is for us to be together. I'm really trying this time."

When she stays silent, panic grips my heart. "Please, don't give up on me, Elle."

"I want to go home, Greyson. Please leave so I can change and meet me outside. Maybe you can track Theo down and let him know we're ready to leave."

When Elle comes out a short while later, she's only carrying a small bag. I idly wonder what she's purchased and am a bit sad to know that Chiara ruined the fun she was having picking outfits.

I offer my hand, but Elle shifts her purse, so she no longer has a free hand. Sighing, I accept this and walk to the boat silently.

As we're waiting in the boat for Theo, Elle's curled up in the bow seat, arms wrapped around her knees. I need to make her forgive me for this whole, stupid day. I hate myself for the position I've put us in with Chiara.

I know Elle would never usually hold my past actions against me, hell, she's managed to forgive me for leaving her high and dry last summer, but it's been used against her specifically twice now, which I know makes it more personal to her. Now she's a target for Chiara and potentially her band of mean girls who spread gossip like wildfire in a dry forest.

I move to the front of the boat, sitting across from Elle. I grab her ankles and turn her to face me, a little more roughly than I intended. She wobbles a bit and frowns at me, closing her eyes to avoid my gaze. "Elle, I need you to talk to me." I'm desperate to get through to her. I almost wish she would yell at me, but that isn't her style.

I take her chin between my fingers and tip her head up. "Elle, look at me. Please."

"Greyson, I need some time to think. I don't want to say something I'll regret or something unfair." She finally opens her eyes to look at me.

The sadness and hurt I see there make me drop to my knees in front of her. I'm prepared to beg for her forgiveness, but she speaks again before I can say anything.

"I know this isn't entirely your fault, that this girl is probably hard-wired to be a bitch. But your carelessness with her and her feelings have put us in this position. And I'm having a hard time because you did the same thing with me, the only difference is I let you get away with it and forgave you. I need some time, so please stop pushing me."

I wrap my hands around her wrists. Looking up into her face from my kneeling position, I dread her answer when I ask, "How much time?"

"I don't know, Greyson. A day or two, I guess." Her sigh makes my heart sink, but I can't say anything because Theo's walking down the dock towards us, so all I can do is squeeze her wrist, then get behind the wheel and drive us home, giving her what she wants. 

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Please don't be a passive reader, let me know what you think of the chapter, or of the work so far! Your feedback means the world to me!

P.s. How about Chiara's attitude? Talk about a Queen B! Unfortunately, many of us have Chiara's in our lives... (not only in female form, either, of course!).

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Xx Toria