oceans || {s.g.}

ch. 4

The next morning when I woke I fixed up a breakfast and as I ate, Stone crossed my mind. I smiled to myself as his tall, handsome self captured my memories again. It had only been less than twenty-four hours since I'd seen him and he'd managed to strike my thoughts.

After finishing my breakfast, I headed upstairs to my room. Grabbing the piece of paper with Stone's number on it, I headed for the phone and punched it in.

The dial tone rung for a few before someone picked up on the other end.

"Hello?" A voice said. I automatically realized that it wasn't Stone's.

"Is Stone there?" I asked, resting my weight on the desk.

"Hold on,"

He called for Stone, handing the phone to him.

"Hello?" Stone's voice rung through the receiver. My pulse quickened.

"Hey Stone. It's Kayla," I chuckled sheepishly.

"Hey Kayla. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to hang out today."

"Sure thing. The guys and I were planning on having a small cookout. Would you be interested?"

A huge grin spread across my lips, "Of course I would."

"See you then."

✴

I hopped out of my car at the address Stone gave me. There were already a lot of people in the lot and I spotted some of the guys in the front yard. I could pick up the smell of grilling meat and loud conversation as I slowly approached.

I picked out Jeff and Mike, hesitantly making my way over to them. Relief swept over me as I realized they remembered me.

"You're Kayla, right?" Mike pointed his beer towards me.

"Yes, that would be me."

"Nice to see you again," Jeff added politely.

He searched around the small crowd of people, pointing behind him, "Stone's right over there,"

I waved them off and headed over to Stone. He was surrounded by a group of men that dressed similarly to him. His face lit up when he saw me.

"Hey Kayla." He grinned, pulling me into him. I greeted him quietly.

One of the men eyed me, mid-length wavy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes.

"Introduce us to the pretty girl, Stone." He said and I smiled sheepishly at his comment.

"Kayla this is Layne," Stone said pointing at the man. "Jerry," He gestured at the one with long blonde hair. "Mike," He smiled, "And Sean."

"It's nice to meet you all."

Stone rested his arm at my hip as if to put a claim on me. This small gesture made me smile. He handed me his beer, allowing me to drink from it while he carried on in conversation with them. My eyes flickered to his beautiful features and gorgeous smile and my stomach flipped in somersaults. I squeezed his hand gently in a plea to abandon the scene and head some place else. He picked up on my hint.

"Well guys, Kayla and I are gonna head in for another beer."

They nodded. He tugged my hand, leading me inside to his empty home.