Make It Work

I was lying in bed waiting for the clock to strike twelve.

That's when I would sneak out. We did this every night and we never got caught. There was never even suspicion. Well, as far as we knew there wasn't.

Nick was already fast asleep, thank God. He would lose his mind if he knew what was going on.

He forbid me from ever seeing any of his friends, but that didn't stop us. No, not even my big brother could tell me what to do. It's not like I was planning on having a fling with him...it just happened. Actually, it was just an accident the first time. I got drunk and one thing led to another and we had sex. Even though it was wrong we both loved it. He was almost ten years older than me. I was barely 18 but that didn't matter. We were both single adults who needed an outlet for our lust and we found that in each other.

11:59

Close enough.

I flung the covers off my body and grabbed the special outfit I had set aside earlier. I changed into the lacy bra and panties before slipping on a light summer dress that would be easy to get off.

I saw my phone light up so I quickly grabbed it and read the new message.

I'm outside

I smiled to myself before slipping out the door as quietly as possible. Even in the dark hotel hallway I could make out his beautiful features perfectly. His lips curved into a smile when he saw me step out and he wrapped his tattooed arms around my small waist and pressed a tender kiss to my lips.

"Hey beautiful." He greeted quietly.

"Hey." I smiled. "I've been thinking about you all day."

"Same." He whispered before giving me another sweet kiss.

"Did you get more condoms?" I asked as I tugged on his belt with a sexy grin.

"I was thinking we could do something else tonight. What do you say?" He asked.

"Andrew, what else is there to do at midnight?" I chuckled.

"You'll see." He replied before taking my hand and leading me down the stairs and out the deserted lobby.

We started walking through the parking lot and I heard the sound of my favorite place in the world.

"We're going to the beach?" I squealed.

"Yeah, I knew you were bummed when we didn't have time today so I thought maybe you'd like this more than you know," he laughed nervously "what we normally do."

"That's really sweet of you." I smiled, leaning up to give him a kiss on the cheek.

He was about to say something else, but as soon as I felt the sand beneath my toes I pulled his hand away from mine took off running towards the water. I kicked my shoes off somewhere along the way but once I felt the freezing water brush along my toes I came to a halt. I dropped to my knees and pulled my dress up to my thighs so it wouldn't get sandy.

I made hand prints in the earth and let the waves wash them away.

I heard him walk up next to me and I stared up at him.

"I love the beach." I stated. "It just gives the earthy feeling, you know? It's like when you come here nothing else exists. Not the internet, or war, or even sickness. It all just goes away."

"I know exactly what you mean. It's such an honest place...that's why I brought you here." He said bending down to my level, getting his knees all sandy.

"What do you mean?" I asked with a smile as I tilted my head. Something I always do when I'm confused.

"I want to be honest with you." He told me. He spoke in a tone that I don't think I've ever heard him use before. It was soft but nervous.

"I never wanted to just have sex with you." He said.

My heart dropped into my stomach as different feelings started to rush around. I felt embarrassed, angry, stupid, upset, rejected, and most of all confused.

"I want so much more. I mean, don't get me wrong, making love to you has been phenomenal but I need more. I want to hold you and kiss you and take you on dates and not in secret either. I want to be able to introduce you as my girlfriend. I want to be your boyfriend... I'm in love with you, Lyla."

I just stared out at the pacific ocean, searching for anything that could tell me what to do or say.

"Love is..." I trailed off not knowing what to say.

"It's wanting to wake up next to you every morning, it's looking at happy couples and only thinking about you, it's dreaming of your smile, it's wanting to know every single detail about you, it's how I never even knew what love was until I saw your face." He told me softly.

I look up at his face. The moon illuminated just one side of him but that was all I needed to recognize the disappointment in his eyes.

"You really feel that way?" I whispered.

I gasped softly when a new wave of cold water splashed my bare knees.

"I do. And I don't care about Nick, I can deal with him but I need to know how you feel about me...Lyla?"

"I- I don't know! I'm 18! I thought this was just a fling I never knew that you felt more for me..." I blurted out.

He let out a bitter laugh as he looked at me.

"You had no idea? You thought that the way I kissed you was out of pure lust? You thought I held you just because it was somewhere to put my arms? You thought I was low enough to just want sex from you?" He croaked.

"I don't know." I mumbled, shrugging my shoulders.

"Well, at least I know now." He said as he got up off the sand. He started walking away and I just hugged my arms around my body to keep warm.

I felt a strange feeling in my chest that I had never felt before. It was what I imagined I'd feel if someone I loved ever walked out on me.

Am I in love with Andrew?

I thought back to all those nights in his bed. It wasn't just sex. It was never just sex for either of us. We would fall asleep after long conversations and sweet kisses. The way he held me made me feel safe and wanted...loved.

"Wait!" I called to the figure that was half way across the beach.

He stopped and faced me.

"I never said I didn't love you." I yelled.

"You never said you did." He retorted.

I ran up to him at full speed. It was like a scene straight from a Nicholas Sparks book. Except he didn't hold his arms out for me to jump into. I stopped directly in front of him and stared up at his face.

"I, Lyla Santino, love you Andrew Cook." I said just loud enough for him to hear.

He stood in front of me staring in amazement. His eyes searched mine for some sign of dishonesty but he found none.

"Are you gonna keep looking at me or are you gonna pick me up and kiss me?"

A huge grin appeared on his face and he scooped me up in his strong arms and attached our lips. He pulled away but didn't let me down. He brought one hand up and brushed the hair out of my eyes.

"We'll make this work. I promise."