It doesn't take long for the party guests to start arriving after Ed's driven his yacht out of the docks again and texted pretty much everyone he knows.

"You okay?" He asks me, as we unpack red plastic cups and stack them on a table.

"Yeah, fine." I smile back at him, "I'm actually looking forward to it, this time."

"How come?" He asks, as we finish stacking at the same time.

I step over to him, linking my arms around his neck, "Maybe because this time I'm not stressing over whether or not Sophie is your girlfriend?"

"Oh, man." He chuckles, "Yeah, that was embarrassing."

Shaking my head slightly at him, I purse my lips, "But now, I've got you..."

Ed leans down to my ear, and whispers, "Oh yeah? And what are you going to do with me?"

In response, I reach up on my tiptoes and kiss his neck, before moving up to his lips—my hands tracing down his chest...

He kisses me back, his tongue dancing with my own as he runs his hands over my breasts. Then he slams me against a wall, and his kisses become stronger and faster and it's a good thing there's a wall behind me, because I don't think I'd still be standing if there wasn't—it's insane how weak at the knees he makes me feel.

"It's not too late to cancel the party..." He mutters against my lips.

Placing my hands on his chest, I slightly push him back from me, "No, I think this'll be good for you, to let go."

"I can let go with you," He insists, "In bed..."

The sudden sound of RHIB makes the two of us jump out of our skin—Cole, Jessica and some others are arriving.

"Too late now." I shrug.

"But, Skye!" Ed complains, "You're wearing that insanely sexy dress—how do you not expect me to do anything until later?!"

It's true; my dress is gorgeous.

It's the dress I wore to my prom—it's short, tight, and metallic gold. If I wore it at Christmas, I could look like a Christmas cracker, but it's not Christmas, so it's all good. Considering I bought this dress just over four years ago, it mostly fits me, although it's a little tight on my chest area—not that Ed will complain though...

"Skye!" Jessica lets out a squeal when she sees me, and totters over to me in her high heels, "You look incredible!"

"Thanks." I grin widely. After surveying her purple mini-dress that beautifully compliments her raven hair, I reply, "So do you."

I don't really believe in reciprocating compliments just because someone else complimented you first; in my opinion, you've got to earn, and deserve a compliment. I also don't believe in compliment fishing, hence why I don't always reciprocate compliments.

Shaking me out of my thoughts, Jessica giggles and winks, "Our guys are gonna have a hard time keeping their hands off us tonight, aren't they?"

"I'm already struggling." Ed comes up behind me, pressing his crotch against my butt—oh yeah, he's struggling alright.

I press my lips together, supressing the moan that I want to emit at the feeling of him being so turned on by me in this dress.

"Hey, you two." Cole saunters onto the yacht, after anchoring his RHIB—a handful more people got out of it as well, "Have fun last night?"

I don't say anything just glance up at Ed, who winks at me, and replies to Cole, "You could say that."

"Yes, dude!" Cole high-fives Ed, "So, how was it?"

After pressing a kiss to Ed's jawline, I leave him with Cole, as Jessica and I go to get drinks.

"So..." Jessica begins, "How was it?"

"God, I thought I'd just gotten away from that question." I roll my eyes and hand her a cup.

"Come on, Skye." She presses, "We're, like, best friends now—so by Best Friend Law you legally have to tell me!"

"Best friends?" I raise an eyebrow and take a sip of my beer, "I like the sound of that."

She sets a hand on her hip, "Oh yeah? Well, if you want to keep hearing it, you better tell me how last night was."

"Fine!" I laugh lightly at her, "It was...really, really good."

Jessica eyes me, "Is that all? Come on, Skye; I need some details."

"Well, he was really sweet the entire time, and gentle and loving and—"

"Barf." I hear someone vocalising a vomiting sound behind me.

I turn around to see that it's Madison.

"What are you even doing here, Maddy?" Jessica sighs at her twin, sending me a look that says just ignore her.

"Ed invited me..." She smiles back a sickly-sweet smile, flicking her long, glossy hair over her shoulder, "And plus, Eddy and I had some good times on this yacht..."

You did not, I think but say nothing.

"Just get lost, Madison." Jessica rolls her eyes.

"I'm going, God! You never knew how to take a joke, Jessica." She grabs a drink and then leaves, though not before sending an evil wink back at me, "Have fun with Eddy...but just remember that he's not gonna want you forever."

"Ugh." I take another sip of my drink, "I know she's your twin and all, but she can be a total bitch."

"I know, don't worry." Jessica laughs, and we move away from the drinks table in order to avoid any other unwanted encounters.

Remembering that last time I was at a party like this, I got absolutely wasted, I grab a few salted potato chips to eat—I'd rather remember most of tonight, thank you very much!

"So, you're continuing to stay in California?" Jessica asks, and I nod, so she tells me, "That's good, I'm happy you're staying. Ed's a really close friend to me, especially after all that crap with Cole and Maddy, and I'm glad that you make him happy."

"You think?" I question absentmindedly, because Ed is looking over at us, and I'm smiling right back at him.

"Hell yeah." She affirms, "He's crazy about you."

"We love each other." I tell her, causing her to squeal.

"Aww! I'm so happy for you both!" She jumps up and down, "Cole haven't reached that stage again yet—we're kinda taking things slow."

"So, you've not...you know?" My question is half-cautious—because even though I've already spoken to her about me and Ed in that way, but I'm not sure if she's ready to speak to me about her and Cole in that way.

"I tell you, Skye." Jessica says seriously, hand on my arm, "Make-up sex is so much better than I ever thought it would be."

I supress a laugh, "Really?"

"Yeah, it's like almost as good as first-time sex with him..." She drifts off into her thoughts about her and Cole.

Thankfully, Ed comes over and saves from having to talk about other intimate stuff with Jessica.

"Hey, babe." He whispers in my ear, his arms wrapping around my waist from behind—his voice sending shivers down my spine.

"Hey." I breathe back, smiling round at him. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Hmm, I'm enjoying you in this dress..." He muses, breath tickling my skin.

I turn around quickly, facing him suddenly, and grin back teasingly, biting my lip, "You'll enjoy it even more when you've taken it off and I'm lying naked in your bed."

"Damn, Skye!" He rolls his eyes, but leans his forehead against mine, "Why d'you gotta be so goddamn sexy?"

I laugh at him, "But, seriously, are you enjoying your party? Are you enjoying, like, letting go of all the crap that happened today?"

"Yeah, I am, actually." He smiles at me, "I'm really glad you're here."

"Me too. I love you." I smile, and push my lips against his, kissing him lovingly.

"Love you too." He responds, kissing my lips one last time before taking me by the hand and leading me away from Jessica.

"Where are you taking me now?" I raise an eyebrow as he leads us through the crowd of semi-naked partying people.

"To dance with me, of course." He keeps tugging me by my hand, towards where he's got his phone set up with some huge speakers. "You choose."

After a quick search—of both my brain and of Spotify—I find the song I want: 'Easy Love', by Sigala. It's a dance/electronic song that's catchy, upbeat, and practically perfect for a party like this.

It's not long before everyone on the yacht is dancing to the music pumping out of the speakers—it's actually surprising that the yacht is still intact, but then again, it's probably not enough that Ed has parties like this all the time.

Ed's laughing at me dancing, and I can see all traces of worry that were there earlier today melt into nothing, fading into insignificance as he dances with me.

ABC is easy it's like counting up to three
Sing a simple melody, that's how easy love can be
ABC is easy it's like counting up to three
Sing a simple melody, that's how easy love can be

Simple melody, simple melody, sing a simple melody
That's how easy love can be
Simple melody, simple melody, sing a simple melody
That's how easy love can be
Simple melody, simple melody, sing a simple melody
That's how easy love can be
Simple melody, simple melody, sing a simple melody
That's how easy love can be

That's how easy love can be

What I have with Ed, I think whilst his arms around my waist and my arms are around his neck, it is easy, it is easy love—and it's so, so great.

"I love you." He smiles down at me, as if reading my thoughts.

"I love you too." I lean up to kiss him, temporarily ignoring all the other party people surrounding us.

*~*~*~*

We dance and drink and laugh until the early hours of the morning—by which time some people have left, but most are lying crashed out on the deck.

Ed lets Cole and Sophie into one of the locked guest rooms, before following me to his room, with me pulling on his hand and teasing him the whole way.

I push open his bedroom door to find a couple 'getting it on' in Ed's bed, and my mouth drops open into an 'O' shape.

"What the hell is this?" Ed growls, "This door was locked!"

The girl looks up at us, and it's Madison, who says breathily, "You should've changed the passcodes to your doors, Eddy."

The guy who was previously kissing Madison's neck and doing God-knows-what with the rest of her body under the covers stops, and looks up at us as well. It's Austin, that jerk who asked Ed if I rode him as well as I did the waves—total imbecile.

Austin rolls his eyes and asks if Ed and I can leave.

"How dare you?" Ed glares down at the two of them, and for a second, I see the furious man that is his father, "These doors were locked; how the hell did you get in here?"

"Oh, Eddy." Madison bites her lips and eyes him up, "You should've known that I would've remembered all the passcodes to this yacht's doors after all the long summer days I spent here with you, and all those long summer nights I spent with you in your bed..."

My eyebrows shoot up, as I direct at Ed, "You told me you never slept with anyone else here."

"One second, Skye." He holds up his hand at me and doesn't even look at me.

"No; you lied to me." I state bluntly, before turning on my heel and stalking off.

As I leave, I hear Madison say something along the lines of: "Eddy, you can either join us or leave, the choice is up to you."

But he wouldn't, would he?

But then again, I didn't think he'd lie to me about me being the first girl he'd slept with in his bed on this yacht.

So much for our easy love.

I find myself at the top deck, where it appears no one is crashed out—although some must've wanted to get up here, as the stairs are littered with drunk bodies.

"Skye..." I hear a voice behind me, and I don't have to turn around to know it's Ed.

I lean against the railings, looking out across the wide, wide ocean.

"Skye, I..." He comes and stands beside me, "I want to explain—"

I don't look at him, but interrupt, "It's okay, you don't have to. Madison paints a very explanatory picture of you and her together in bed."

"It's not like that..."

"Like hell it's not." My tone's harsh as I roll my eyes, before musing aloud, "Maybe you're meant to be with her, the same way that Cole's meant to be with Jessica, and maybe it's only a matter of time before you realise that and I no longer mean anything to you, maybe yo—"

"Skye, I'm trying to explain it to you." He tried; voice weak.

"No. Ed. Just no." I shut him down. "It's too late, and I'm not in the mood to hear you talk about your long summer days and nights with Madison, okay? Okay, good. Now unlock a guest room for me and I'll sleep in there, and you'll be free to join Madison and Austin."

He doesn't argue, which is a good thing, because I'm just about ready to try and throw him overboard, or jump into the cold ocean water myself.

Head hung, he leads the way to a guest room, unlocks the door, and bids me a heavy-hearted goodnight.

I swallow back tears as I collapse onto the bed that's nowhere near as comfortable as Ed's.

I don't know who to blame: Ed, Madison, or myself—and the thought spins round and round my head for at least two hours before I have to get up and throw up in the room's ensuite bathroom toilet.

I think: I should definitely go home after all that...I'll go tomorrow.

After all, it's not like anyone will miss me.