The Bet

6

Chapter 6: Splash

The sun shone brightly that afternoon once school let out, tons of the teens already making the plan to visit the beach begging to feel the warmth on their skin only for it to be singed away with the cool licking of water.

Aspen and Eli drove separately, him showing up five minutes after she did, a large picnic basket in his hands. He was wearing red swim trunks that hung low on his hips, a loose t-shirt covering his back. "You ready to fall in love with me? Because date number two will be even better than the first."

"Me falling in love on the second date?" Aspen humored him, making room on the towels for him. "Whatever you have in that basket must be spectacular."

"The basket?" He returned, that familiar smirk forming on his sharp face. "I don't need the basket to make you love me, it's all in my personality and good looks."

Her brows raised, mouth puckering into a delicate 'O' as she chuckled to herself. "You keep saying that but I have yet to see it."

"Ouch," A hand moved to rest over his heart, the picnic basket placed on the towel in between them. "You're so mean to me, I shouldn't have bought you those floaties. Should've just let you drown."

Peeking in the basket filled with food and drinks, Aspen couldn't help the loud laugh that escaped her when she did in fact see two floaties with flowers and butterflies on them. "You actually bought them? You didn't have to, I know how to swim."

Shaking his head at her, Elliot James took a seat beside her in the sand, the sun warmed grains beneath them sinking into the creases of his toes and the bright glow above warming his skin. "Don't lie to me now, beautiful. I already have the image of you drowning without these floaties, so you're going to wear them. No if, ands, or buts."

Standing from her spot on the ground, Aspen pulled her coverup from her body and let it flitter to the ground broadcasting a skimpy purple bikini and lots of skin. Only sending the boy a fleeting look the fair skinned brunette ran out across the hot sand, not stopping until the water soothed the slight burn at the soles of her feet.

Completely mesmerized by the female, Eli remained frozen in place watching her spin around in circles before going a little deeper and diving inside, she stayed under for a moment then came back up her hands quick to brush the water away from her face alone with her hair.

Her brown eyes locked with his own, a mischievous smile forming on her face, a change in the normal routine between the two. It took a few moments for Elliot to recover from his shock before he finally tugged his shirt from his body and ran into the water after her, their basket of food forgotten and saved for later.

The water around him separated at the harsh intrusion, Aspen laughing loudly when he made a loud noise at the cold water kissing his smooth skin. He was strong, his muscles straining against his tanned skin as he moved in the water, his hands raising to wipe his eyes but his smile never once faltered. "You're killing me, beautiful."

"I'm not even doing anything."

"You don't have to, you just do."

Aspen rolled her eyes, her hands wading the waters tide, her fingers tickling over the ripples and waves in the otherwise perfect water. "Is that how you swoon all the girls? Take them swimming so they can see you're ridiculously perfect body, then feed them all fat and take them home so you can have your way with them. You nearly had me there Eli, almost."

"You think my body's perfect?"

"No, I didn't say that."

A grin formed on the seniors face, his pretty lips spreading in the shape of his pretty smile, showing off the pearly white teeth he adorned. "Yes, you did. I heard you, you might have a say it a few more times for me to completely comprehend that you, Aspen, think that me, Eli has a perfect body."

"I wasn't actually saying it, I was just writing a scenario, it didn't actually mean that I meant the words I was saying."

Elliot made a nose in the back of his throat, one of disagreement. "Don't lie to me, it's alright to be attracted to me. I like it when you look at me like that."

"Like what."

He swam closer to her, one hand resting on her hip while the other held her hand and for that split second Aspen was forever grateful that they were already wet so he couldn't feel the way her hands got clammy at the way he made her nervous. "Like I'm yours."

Catching him completely off guard, she stepped closer the duo completely unaware of the other civilians around them. There were families here, mothers and fathers on the very same beach as them some of them watching with careful eyes to make sure the two teenagers didn't get too scandalous in front of their children, but Elliot and Aspen hadn't even noticed that anyone else was occupying the beach around them, not that they particularly cared.

Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, the pretty brunette leaned closer into him, his large hands resting respectively on her back by her tailbone leaving room for her comfort and enough to make him wish his fingers could stray just a couple inches lower. "You want to know what I think about when I'm looking at you?" The lowered voice she held made the hairs at the back of Eli's neck stand and his stomach clench in anticipation.

His warm brown eyes trailed from her own down past her nose and to her plump lips that were dotted with salty specks of ocean water. His mouth twitched, begging silently to rest upon her own.

"Do you? You've got to use your words."

Aspen's commanding tone made his fingers dig into her skin, but he listened either way. "Yes, I want to know what you're thinking."

She leaned forward towards his own lips and backed away before he could kiss her, his mouth following hers as she retracted and once she got him leaning over her, she whipped her body around until she sent him falling back first into the water. "That, I was thinking about doing that."

"You're cruel, abusing the weakness of a man."

Aspen stood tall, feigning innocence. "I don't have the slightest clue what you're talking about, but I think I know a way to make you feel better."

Eli perked up, his body still submerged in the water. "I'm waiting."

Leaning down without another moments hesitation, Aspen kissed him. It wasn't very long but it was enough for him to get a feel of her, long enough for him to want more when she finally pulled away. "Better?"

"I think it still hurts a little."

In their closeness, Aspen couldn't help but laugh, someone she noticed she'd been doing so much more lately in his presence.