Bryan Smith - The Killing Kind

“Huh.”

Her smile gave way to a pensive look. “Yeah. I sort of need help with something in my room. Do you mind? It’ll just take a minute.”

Before he could answer, she turned and strutted out of the room, giving her hips an exaggerated sway. Sean stared after her. That ass was really something. He frowned. He wanted to get down to the beach with Annalisa. Oh, well. Whatever Emily needed help with couldn’t possibly be that complicated or time-consuming. He’d just go help her out, then come back and change.

Emily was already waiting for him in her room. She stood near the foot of the king-size bed that dominated the room and waited for him to come inside. He hesitated a moment. Something was a little off here. He shook his head. That was silly. What could possibly be wrong? He smiled and came into the room.

Emily licked her lips. “Care to guess what I need help with, Sean?”

She hooked her thumbs inside the bottom piece of her bikini and wriggled her hips as she slid the tiny piece of fabric down over her thighs. Sean’s mouth went dry as he got a look at her neatly trimmed patch of pubic hair. It looked like a porn star’s snatch. Barely any hair at all, really. She sat on the edge of the bed and kicked the bikini bottom across the room. She braced her hands on the mattress and arched her back a little to emphasize the swell of her breasts.

His dumbstruck expression made her giggle. “I was getting all horny down at the beach. I can’t help it. Sunshine and sand gets me all worked up. I was hoping you could go down on me for a few minutes. You know, just to take the edge off. What do you say, Sean? Can you help a girl out?”

He coughed. “Um…isn’t this a job for Joe?”

“Joe could do it, sure.” She smiled. “But you’re cuter.”

Sean watched in disbelief as she spread her legs and started fingering herself. What was wrong with this girl? “Look…you’re hot and all, like seriously fucking hot, but I’ve got a girlfriend. And, shit…I love her. I’m sorry, I just…I can’t do this. And what the hell is your problem? Isn’t Annalisa your friend? This is some fucked-up shit. Do me a favor and stay away from me, okay?”

He turned away from her and started toward the door. Emily came off the bed with a snarl, grabbed him by a shoulder and spun him around. His feet tangled and he started to stagger backward. Emily slammed the heel of a hand against his chest and he stumbled backward into the wall.

“Jesus, Emily. What the fuck?”

Her hands curled into fists at her sides. He saw the muscles in her shoulders and arms tense. She looked ready to tear him apart. “Don’t you fucking dare tell anyone about this.”

He laughed-a nervous laugh. “Okay.”

“I mean it.”

Sean stared at her in silence for a few tense moments, and his own anger began to build. “You know what, Emily? I think I will tell Annalisa about this. She should know what kind of-”

“You won’t say a word.”

“I will. And you can’t stop me.”

Emily smiled again, but now there was something almost ugly in the expression. “Oh, but I can. Does Annalisa know about Melinda?”

Sean’s heart almost stopped at the mention of the name. “Um…what?”

Emily’s laughter was almost as ugly as that smug smile. “You heard me. Talked to the girl a couple weeks ago. She told me some very interesting things. Including a thing or two about you. Things you wouldn’t want your girlfriend to know.”

Sean’s eyes filled with tears.

He watched her strut back to the bed. She sat on its edge and spread her legs again, beckoned him with a bent forefinger. He pushed away from the wall and started toward her.

Then stopped.

“No.”

“What?”

He shrugged. “No. Seriously. Fuck this. Tell Annalisa about Melinda. I’ll deal with it one way or another. I made a mistake. I’ve felt like shit about it ever since. It won’t be happening again. And I sure as hell won’t be pushed around by you.”

He left the room without another word, pulling the door shut behind him. Something thumped against the door. She’d probably thrown one of her shoes. That sound and her accompanying cry of frustration were very gratifying things to hear.

Sean went back to his room and changed.

Then he went down to the beach and found comfort in the arms of his true love.

March 24

The low-slung canvas beach chair was a comfortable and peaceful place to be. The softly rippling ocean was so beautiful. It looked endless and eternal, so big it seemed nothing else could possibly exist somewhere beyond all that water. She imagined a world covered in water and populated by benevolent sea people. In her mind she pictured them as a weird cross between sea monkeys and mermaids and mermen. It was a silly, whimsical notion, but Zoe found it deeply appealing.

Most of her friends were wading in the ocean, either just standing there or splashing in the gently rolling tide. Chuck was farther out, floating on a rubber raft. Zoe was content to stay where she was for now. It was nice to just kick back from a slight distance, to just relax and observe. Zoe slipped her still mildly chilled Corona from the drink holder built into one of the chair arms and took a slow, refreshing pull from the bottle.

She heard footsteps approaching from behind-the distinctive slap of flip-flop soles on sand-and remembered there was one other of their number who had yet to dip her toes in the water.

She tensed.

Please don’t let this be weird…

Emily flopped into the chair next to her. She seemed a little agitated. Not a good sign.

“I hate Sean Hewitt.”

Zoe blinked. “What?”

“I hate Sean Hewitt.”

“I heard you. I just don’t understand what you’re saying. Did he…do something?”

Emily grunted. “You could say that.”

“Want to tell me about it?”

Even as she said it, Zoe regretted the words. She liked Sean well enough. He treated Annalisa well, from what she could tell, and he seemed a decent sort. Sure, he liked to joke around with the guys and make occasional rude comments. No big deal. It was what guys did when they drank beer and hung around together.

Emily huffed. “He grabbed my boob in the kitchen.”

“What? Seriously?”

Emily took her dark sunglasses off and looked right at her. She looked pissed off, but there was another quality evident just below the surface of the anger. She looked…hurt. Zoe frowned. Maybe she was wrong about Sean.

“Seriously. Said maybe we should play around some while everybody else was down here.”

“You’re shitting me.”

Emily sneered. “Nope. Had to pry his hand off my tit. The bastard.”

“That son of a bitch.”

“Yeah. You can’t tell Annalisa, okay? Things are weird enough between us without throwing that in the mix.”

Zoe was inclined to agree. There had been enough drama on this trip already. Enough for ten fucking vacations. She’d let it go for now and maybe bring it up at a later date.

She shrugged. “Okay.”

Emily was staring at her. “Like the bikini. Baby blue suits you.”

“Thanks.”

“You look hot.”

“Um…”

Emily laughed. “Don’t worry. I won’t go there again, I promise.”

Zoe smiled. “Thanks.”

“Are we cool then?”

Zoe shrugged again. “Sure. You’re my best friend.” A sudden welling of tears surprised her. “Shit.”

Emily leaned toward her and patted the back of a hand. “Hey, it’s okay.”

Zoe clasped hands with her. “I’m sorry I was a bitch all yesterday.”

Emily stroked Zoe’s wrist with the ball of her thumb. “Don’t worry about it. Seriously.”