Summer Sweetness

Is it too cliche to say I went to sleep and woke up with a smile on my face? I sat up and checked my phone for messages. All from Twitter. Not surprising.

From:Twitter
Text: DiscoCurtis: Having an awesome time in Florida! Made some new friends :)

From:Twitter
Text: TheTannerHowe: Sometimes the most precious moments happen unexpectedly.

From:Twitter
Text: BrendanBarone: Awesome hangs with @HailLizLeeBeth, @beejeweledd, @Leix3 and @ RoxieSlashh. We made Florida rain fun!

From:Twitter
Text: Leix3: omgomgomg I can't believe today really happened! asdfghjkl;

I got off the couch and walked into the bedroom. I looked over at Lei's sleeping form and smiled. I took out my laptop and plugged in my iPhone.

RoxieSlashh
Thank God the rain stopped. I guess @TheTannerHowe was right ;)
now via Echofon

"Dammit Rox," Hailee slurred, "I thought we agreed no morning tweets!" Hailee slowly sat up. She pulled her phone out from under her pillow.
"I know it was you," she yawned. She scratched her head and scrolled through her texts. She frowned then tossed her phone away.
"Stop flirting with Tanner," she said as she laid back down, "Winky faces make things awkward." My jaw dropped. I was not flirting! The winky face just kinda tied the tweet together. I picked up my laptop and phone then pulled a pair of sweatpants out of my suitcase. I pulled them up over my shorts and made my way back into the living room. I shoved the room key and my phone into my pocket and left the room. Just to annoy Hailee, I sent out a tweet.

RoxieSlashh
This is for you @HailLizLeeBeth! Taking a stroll 'round our hotel.
now via Echofon

I put my laptop under my arm and started down the hallway. I ended up in the front lobby. I sat down in one of the big plush chairs and opened my laptop.

HailLizLeeBeth
@RoxieSlashh When I am fully functional... I am going to fucking kill you!!
two minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone in reply to RoxieSlashh

I logged into Facebook. I hadn't been on her in about a week. Not like anyone noticed though. I had one notification. It was from my ex, Cameron, liking one of my statuses. Ding! Speak of the devil. The bastard was online. I quickly changed my status to offline and continued updating my page and apps.
"Hey." I slowly tore my eyes away from my laptop. Tanner was standing in front of me. I closed the laptop and crossed my legs underneath me.
"Hey yourself," I smiled.
"I, uh... saw you were awake," he said shaking his iPhone. I looked down at my own.

TheTannerHowe
@RoxieSlashh Told ya so ;)
three minutes ago via Echofon in reply to RoxieSlashh

I smiled at my phone. I looked up into Tanner's green eyes. I did a quick run-over of his appearance. He was in sweatpants and a tight v-neck. He was also rocking a serious case of bedhead.
"My tweet to you actually woke Hailee up. Is it my fault she sleeps with her phone under her pillow?" I stood up and grabbed Tanner's hand in mine.
"There's something I want to show you," he said squeezing my hand. I put my phone in my pocket and my laptop under my arm. Tanner led me to the elevator. He pushed the button for the top floor. I looked at him confused; he just smiled at me. When we reached the top floor, Tanner released ,y hand. I followed him down the hallway to a door. He opened it and we were faced with stairs.
"Tan---"
"Come on," he said smiling. He grabbed my hand again and pulled me up the stairs. Before I knew it, he was pushing open another door. We were on the roof.
"Isn't this an amazing view?" Tanner exclaimed.
"Are you sure we're allowed to be up here?" I questioned.
"Probably not," he shrugged. He sat and motioned for me to do the same.
"But...
He grabbed my hand and yanked me down. I ended up in his lap.
"That ended up better than I anticipated," he winked. Pretty sure my face was bright red. He quickly planted a kiss on my lips. I leaned in to kiss him again and my damn phone rang. I placed my head on his shoulder.
"She totally planned that..." I mumbled. I took my phone out my pocket; Happy by Never Shout Never blared out.
"Hi Hailee," I sighed. Tanner chuckled slightly.
"Where are you, chick? Lei's awake and has something to tell us." I pushed myself off Tanner's lap.
"That reminds me," I said into the phone, "You wanna explain why you guys ditched me yesterday?" Not that I'm complaining. Hailee laughed. I felt Tanner move behind me.
"Come back to our room. Jewel just got here." She said something else. I'm not quite sure what it was due to a certain ginger kissing my neck. How am I supposed to concentrate when he's doing that! I could tell you the exact loction of each of his kisses if you asked. Every spot he touched, tingled. I felt myself relax back into him. He placed his hands lightly on my hips.
"ROXANNE!" I cleared my throat and opened my eyes, "Huh? What?"
"Were you even listening to me?!" Hailee shrieked. I pushed away from Tanner and took a few steps.
"Pshhh! Of course I was, Hails," my voice was really high, "I mean...uh...I"ll see you in a bit. Bye!" I turned around to face Tanner. I pointed my finger at him, "You. You are going to get me in trouble." He had an amused expression on his face. He grabbed my outstretched hand and pulled me close to him. He kissed my forehead and looked down at me.
"We should probably go, huh?" he whispered. I nodded. He placed a soft kiss on my lips then bent down to grab my laptop. He held my hand as we went back down the stairs.

Lei was currently telling us all a play-by-play version of what happened between her and Garrett. Basically, after they ditched me and everyone else, they found a cafe. Whilst talking over pastries and cappuccinos, they kissed. According to Lei, it was even more romantic because the restaurant was French themed.

From:Tanner Howe
Text: Guys wanna go to the beach. Think we can sneak away later?

Oh. Did I forget to mention Tanner gave me his number? Well... Tanner gave me his number! Insert excessive fangirlish squealing here. He gave it to me once we were off the roof. You can only say so much in 140 characters.

b]To:Tanner Howe
Text: If Lei and Garrett can, I'm sure we can manage.

"Roxy!" Lei yelled. I jumped. My three friends were staring at me.
"Why've you been so spacey today?" Hailee questioned.
"No reason," I shrugged, "What was the question?"
"What's going on with you and Tanner?" Jewel asked.
"Nothing," I said, my face going red. Lei crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow.
"Honest! After you ditched us we walked back here. End of story." I checked my phone and looked back at them. I could tell right away that Lei didn't believe me. Jewel and Hailee kinda sorta believed me. Lei glanced at my phone then back at me. I didn't think it was possible, but her brow rose higher. Before she could drill me, someone knocked on the door. I jumped off the bed.
"I got it!" I yelled.
"Grab her!" Lei screamed. I raced out of the room with the three of them on my tail. I reached the door just as Jewel caught me. I managed to open the door and my heart stopped.
"Holy shit," I gasped.
"Hot damn!" Jewel exclaimed at the same time. There were four hott, shirtless guys at our door.
"Any of you ladies interested in going to the beach today?" Garrett asked. Lei pushed me and JEwel to the ground.
"Oh hi there," she winked. Engage Lei flirt mode.
"Damn girl," Jewel groaned. She stood up clutching her arm. I sat up and leaned against the door frame.
"Hey guys," Hailee said squeezing into the doorway.
"So what do you say?" AJ asked, "Beach?"
"Twenty minutes!" LEi said. She jumped over me and ran back to the bedroom. Hailee and Jewel followed, I stayed on the floor.
"Will you be joining us?" Tanner asked, leaning down towards me.
"I---"
"Roxanne!" Lei popped up out of nowhere and grabbed my arm.
"Let's go, sweets. No time to socialize." She dragged me away from the door. She winked at the guys before kicking the door closed.
"Rug burn! Rug! Burn!" I shrieked as she continued to drag me.
"Can it! Just get in the shower!"
"You are so abusive," I wailed as I got off the floor. I dug in my suit case for my red, white and black striped swimsuit and a tank top and shorts. I hopped in the shower then changed. While the other three showered and primped, I got all my stuff together: blanket, towel, sun tan lotion, book, phone, room key, money. I swept my long hair up and pinned it with a clip. I put on my sunglasses and flipflops and waited for the rest of my posse.
"Oh my God! You guys are such girls," I complained, "I'm leaving."
"Five more minutes!" Hailee called. I picked up my bag, "Peace ladies." Despite their protests, I left our room and walked the three doors down to DC's. Of course Tanner was the one to open the door.
"Hey," he smiled, he had put a beater on, "You guys ready?"
"I am," I chuckled, "They're still beautifying themselves." Tanner nodded, "Hold on a minute." He closed the door. He came out moments later with his phone and sunglasses in hand.
"I told the guys we'd scope out a spot."
"Clever," I said nudging him with my hip. He intertwined our hands and kissed my forehead.

"It is so hot...and crowded," I said frowning. The beach was packed today. I guess everyone was afraid it was gonna rain all day again so they were soaking up as much sun as possible. Tanner and I walked over and around people looking for somewhere that would fit eight people. We eventually found a spot on the east side of the beach close to the water. I took my blanket out my bag and spread it out. Tanner collapsed down onto it and attempted to cover as much space as possible. I giggled and pushed him aside. I sat on a corner of the blanket with my knees to my chest. I placed my cheek on my knees and looked down at Tanner.
"Hello gorgeous," he smiled. He propped himself up then messed with the bottom of my tank.
"Hey handsome. So what were you planning on doing today?"
"Just a little you me time."
"Found them!" I heard a voice yell. Tanner and I turned around out of habit. The rest of our group was finally making their way towards us. Tanner laid back on the blanket, "I'm not moving." I laughed.
"You two seem pretty cozy," Lei said. The eyebrow automatically went up.
"So Tanner..." AJ began, "You never answered our question back in the room."
"Yea," Brendan said, squatting between me and Tanner, "You ran away before we got an answer out of you." Tanner turned red.
"Uhm..." Tanner cleared his throat, "Let's go swimming. It's a-a little hot. Cool... off? Roxy?" I glanced at Tanner. He was having a hard time forming a coherent sentence and kept getting redder by the second.
"I think I'll tan," I said. I stood up to remove my shorts and tank. I nudged Tanner with my fot to move him over and laid down.
"Tanner. Tell us," Garrett pressed.
"What are you talking about?" Lei asked, "I want in on this!"
"No one wants to go swimming?" Tanner asked, "Please Rox?"
"Nah. Besides, I don't trust you around open water," I mumbled.
"You don't... trust me?" Tanner asked in confusion. I looked up at him. He had a mischievous glint in his eye. Uh oh...
"T-Tanner?" Tanner sat up to face me directly.
"And why exactly," he said slowly smirking, "Don't you trust me? I think I"m pretty trustworthy." He jumped up and picked me up bridal style. Then started running towards the water.
"No!" I screamed, "Tanner!" Just like last time, he pulled me underwater with him. Only this time, he kissed me underwater. I pushed him away and swam back to the surface. He bobbed up right behind me.
"I hate you," I coughed.
"Too bad you don't," he smiled. I stomped back to the blanket. FYI: Stomping has absolutely no effect in sand.
"Five bucks they kissed yesterday," Jewel was saying.
"There's no way I'm betting on a guaranteed win!" Brendan complained.
"So did he?" Hailee asked me.
"I'm cold and wet. Leave me alone," I blushed.
"Oh I bet you're wet," LEi winked. My blush deepened, "I hate you all."
"Roxy!" Tanner called.
"I'm sorry," he chuckled, "It was just too tempting." I grabbed my towel , wrapped it around myself and plopped down on my blanket. Tanner sat next to me.
"I"m sorry," he said again. I glanced over at him. He had his bottom lip poked out. He looked so damn adorable when he did that. I smiled slightly and looked down, "I lied to you guys earlier."
"I knew it!" Lei jumped up and pointed at me.
"After we were ditched, we walked back to the hotel and made a pit stop at the beach." I noticed Tanner had looked away from me; he had a faint blush on his cheeks.
"We-we... took a gander in the ocean. He kissed me in the rain and we went back to the hotel."
"You aren't supposed to leave out details!" Jewel said. I smiled slightly.
"Nice, TAn-Dawg," AJ said, slapping his back. Tanner smiled halfheartedly. And just like that, the conversation was dropped. At that moment, it seemed like the rest of the world faded into that background and it was just me and Tanner.
"Did you not want me to tell them?" I said quietly, "Why?" Tanner shook his head.
"Are you- are you embarrassed by me?" Tanner's head snapped towards me.
"What?!" he exclaimed, "Why would you even think that?" I looked down at my toes.
"Look Rox..." he ran a hand through his hair, "I really like you. I just... I didn't want anyone to know something had happened between us... yet. I mean... obviously Lei and Garrett are together. I didn't... I don't know. I guess I just wanted you to myself, ya know?"
"Tanner..."
"Don't ever think I'm ashamed or embarrassed of you," he whispered. I reached over to hold his hand. He raised my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles.
"Hey guys," AJ said, pulling Tanner and I away from each other, "We're gonna go swim."
"Oh, so now you want to swim," Tanner scoffed.
"I'm going to the cabana bar. I haven't eaten anything yet today," I said.
"I'll go---"
"We'll go with you," Hailee interrupted Tanner. She grabbed Brendan's arm and tugged him up. Tanner scowled and looked away. A wave of sadness washed over me.
"Alright, let's go then," I said. I pasted a smile on my face and walked off.
"Were you with Tanner this morning?" Hailee asked when we were far enough away. I didn't answer right away.
"Yea... he saw my tweet."
"Of course," Hailee mumbled. I couldn't help but laugh. She was apparently still sore from this morning. I ended up getting some nachos and a drink called Tropical Dream from the cabana. Hailee and Brendan joined me at a table and continued to drill me with questions about my relationship with Tanner. They left eventually, leaving me alone. There were a lot of couples at the beach. I looked to where my group was situated. There were all splashing about in the water. A couple days ago, I wouldn't have been able to honestly say that Disco Curtis were my friends. We've gotten so close in just a few short days. I was never one to make friends easily. I was always the outsider. Then I met Lei and Hailee and we've been inseparable ever since. This trip wouldn't be happening if it weren't for them. I guarantee I'd be locked up in my room avoiding my mother. I love her to death, but damn that woman smothers me!
"What's a pretty girl like you doing all alone?" I snapped out of my reverie and looked for the source of the voice. A cute guy was sitting in a chair at the table next to me. He had wavy brown hair and gorgeous hazel eyes. He had a devious kind of smile on his face. It made me wonder how lond he'd been there.
"Hi," he said, "I'm Pete. And you are?"
"Roxy," I said quietly. Pete stood up and parked himself in the chair across from me.
"Why are you sitting by yourself, Roxy?" he asked. He ws still smiling. I didn't like it. Cute or not, he had the aura of a douchebag.
"Uhm..." I shifted uncomfortably, "Just because."
"A pretty girl like you can't be single." He leaned a little closer and--- did he just wink at me?!
"I...uh---"
"Roxy!" I turned my head to see TAnner running up to us. There is a God.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," he smiled down at me. I couldn't help but smile back.
"No problem at all," I said. I saw Tanner's eyes shift to Pete.
"Rox... who's this?"
"Uhm... Pete...right?" I slowly turned to face him. His smile was gone. He had his eyes narrowed at Tanner.
"Yea..." he mumbled, "You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend Rox." I told you he was a douche. He's acting as if we actually know each other. Or that I was flirting with him or something.
"I"m not her boyfriend," Tanner said, "We're just friends." My jaw dropped. No one likes hearing those words. I mean, I wouldn't call me and Tanner just friends. You don't kiss your friends like that! I looked over at Tanner who was avoiding my gaze by the way.
"Yea," I said sadly, "Just friends. He looked at me then. I broke our gaze and looked back at Pete. His eyes flicked between Tanner and I; his smile slowly returned.
"Well," I breathed, "I'm gonna go swim." I threw my trash away while blatantly avoiding Tanner.
"Rox---"
"I'll go with you!" PEte said jumping up. He tried to put his arm around my waist but I spun out of reach. I gave him a prize-wining smile and beckoned him to follow me. I was fully aware that Tanner wasn't following us. Ten minutes ago, I would've cared. Ten minutes ago, he didn't say we were 'just friends.' Boys are dumb. Don't know why I thought he was any different. Stupid cute ginger!
"You okay?" Pete asked me as I tossed my sunglasses into my bag.
"Yea, I'm great," I smiled. I turned around and walked to the water's edge. LEi and Hailee swam up to me.
"Hey chickie," Hailee smiled.
"Who's your frined?" Lei asked.
"This is Pete," I said bumping him with my hip. He waved, "Hello ladies."
"Where's Tanner? I thought he was with you?" Lei asked slowly.
"Don't know. Don't care," I shrugged. I grabbed Pete's hand and pulled him into the water with me.