“Your hair’s gotten much longer. You can even see your roots now,” I commented off-handedly, kicking my shoes off onto the sandy shores. They landed with a dull thunk in the sand, and I peeled off my socks and threw them into the heap, allowing my toes to sink into the cold grains. “Honestly, I would’ve guessed you were a brunette.”

Aubrey played with a strand of her hair, tugging at the blonde part. “What the heck made you bring this up?”

“I just thought it was pretty.”

She pulled her boots and long socks off and took a few steps around barefoot. Her back was to me, and the hem of her sweatshirt was pulled down to cover from the incessant wind. It wasn’t blowing incredibly hard or fast, but it was cold enough without factoring it in too. Nicole watched us from her perch atop the large rock that sat in both the sand and the grass. “You’re really going into that freezing cold water?”

“Why not?” I asked. “Nobody else is around to see us make idiots out of ourselves.”

“No,” she sighed, “I suppose that honor’s reserved for me alone.”

There truly was nobody else present at the beach, not that I imagined they would come flocking in droves. Anybody with half a brain would know this was the wrong time, place, and season for antics at the beach. Dark clouds hung over us ominously, threatening to spill forth soon and drench us. My sweatshirt failed to prevent the goosebumps from cropping up on my arms, and I pulled up the hood to warm my face a little. Aubrey did the same beside me, knowing the water would sap away the last claim of warmth we clung to.

“You really won’t come with us?” Aubrey asked, lower lip protruding.

“Not in this lifetime. I’ll be sure to pull you out when you turn into a big ice cube, though.”

With her expressing such finality about the matter, we had no other choice but to walk over to the water. Well, it had begun as a walk until Aubrey decided to break out into a sprint; I wasn’t about to lose the impromptu race, so I bolted after her. With a photo finish, I managed to pull ahead at the very end, something she wasn’t very happy about.

“You cheated,” Aubrey accused, a bold declaration since she had started the race without a single warning.

“Seriously? You even had a head start.”

“That doesn’t mean much when my strides are half of yours.”

“That sounds like a skill issue.” I chuckled. “You should probably just get better.”

She took a threatening step closer to me, reaching out with an open palm. “I think I might cut you down to size instead.”

“Aubrey?” I asked, eyes wide. “You’re kidding, right? Aubrey?”

No answers were given when she latched around my waist, putting her hands into the pockets of my sweatshirt. I twisted and turned good-naturedly, pushing lightly at her shoulders but enjoying the rush of body heat she provided. Eventually, she couldn’t hang on any longer and dropped to her knees. She left a solid indent in the sand, and I plopped next to her. White-crested foam washed over our toes and pulled away to leave them wet and covered in sand.

“Ready to go in?”

“In one sec.”

I leaned over and pecked her on the cheek closest to me. She looked at me with shock before glancing back at Nicole. “Seriously, what the heck is wrong with you today?”

“I kissed her at the animal shelter, so I wanted to make it even.”

Her brow creased. “Make it even?”

I laughed. “You know I didn’t mean it like that. Obviously, I wanted to kiss you because I find you irresistibly beautiful.”

“Where’d you kiss Nicole?”

“On the cheek,” I answered, hoping she wasn’t jealous. That would not be a good start to our first date and the very beginning of our already complicated relationship. “Is there a problem with that?”

“No,” she shook her head, a cute tinge of pink coating her cheeks, “it’s just that I thought it would be nice if we shared a first kiss together. At least, one on the lips, I mean. Or is that a strange thing to want?”

“I think that would be nice,” I said, intertwining my fingers with hers.

She squeezed my hand tight. “You used to be a lot stingier with compliments.”

I shrugged, bumping our shoulders together. “I wasn’t dating the two of you earlier, which forced me to hold back my overflowing charm. Otherwise, my dad said I’d be beating off the ladies with a stick.”

She chuckled, dropping her head into the crook of my neck. “You know I think your dad’s awesome, but I still worry that he may be a little too blinded by love.”

The faint waft of her vanilla perfume intertwined with the tangy sea salt and tickled my nostrils. I rested my head against hers, feeling the gentle rise and fall of her chest. Smiling, I wrapped my arm over her shoulder, liking the feeling of her beside me. The sound of waves crashing on the shore, and the distant cries of the seagulls faded into the background as we sat there together.

After a few minutes, Aubrey lifted her head to look at me. Her sapphire eyes gleamed in the light, full of warmth and affection. “I’m happy that we decided to do this. I know it isn’t going to be easy, but I think we can make it work.”

“I think so too.”

“I agree.” We turned with a start to face Nicole who had snuck up on us. “Obviously, we’ll need more time to know for sure, but if anyone can make this work, it’ll be you two stubborn idiots."

“Did you miss us that much?” I teased.

That elicited an easy scoff. “I was getting bored watching the two of you failing to make it into the water.”

“Then get on in here.”

Aubrey grabbed her wrist and practically pulled the taller girl into both of our laps. The heel of her shoe struck painfully into my knee, and I let out a low groan while her head fell on top of Aubrey’s jeans. Awkwardly, Nicole adjusted herself into a sitting position between us. She brushed the hair from her face and grumbled unconvincingly when Nicole rested her head on her shoulder. I received a flick to the forehead when I did the same.

“If you ever feel lonely like that, you should let us know,” Aubrey whispered over the gentle lapping of the waves.

“It wasn’t like that.”

I snickered at the full view of her blush, which obviously earned me yet another flick.

“This will be difficult enough without us keeping secrets from each other or bottling up our feelings.”

She snorted, her warm breath washing over the side of my face. “Pretty sure we all learned our lesson there already.”

Aubrey laughed, shaking Nicole who in turn shook me. “Just making sure.”

With her arms behind her, Nicole leaned back and looked up at the mass of clouds. “We should come back here during the summer.”

“I agree. That’d make a great date idea.”

“What?” I asked. “Are you telling me our spontaneous beach trip on the cusp of spring doesn’t please you?”

Nicole gave me a patient smile and shook her head. “No, this is nice in its own way. I just think it will be better to come back when it's warmer and we can swim. Plus, you’ll be able to see us in bikinis again.”

"Alright, you raise some compelling points.”

It wasn’t much longer before the first drop hit me in the forehead. At first, I assumed I had managed to incur her wrath again, but then a few more raindrops struck my neck. Soon, a crack of thunder set us scrambling across the beach to throw our shoes on and sprint back to the minivan. The headlights flashed at us as Nicole unlocked it with the fob, and we piled in. I closed the door to the backseat to prevent the wind from flinging any other stray raindrop inside.

The minivan roared to life, and the wipers beat a rhythmic sound on the windshield while the rain pelted the roof.

“Well, who could’ve seen that coming?” Nicole asked.

“It was fun while it lasted, though,” Aubrey said from the front seat, wringing her damp hair. “Come here real quick both of you.”

I smiled as Aubrey pulled Nicole and me into a tight hug. She was still somehow warm despite her soaked clothes, and it was a welcome comfort against the chill of the rain–even more so when she kissed both of our foreheads.

“I had fun today,” Aubrey murmured, squished in between us. “Can we promise to give this a real chance as well?”

“Of course.”

How could I possibly say anything else to her?

Nicole sighed. “Obviously, but I’m going to pick what we do next time to show you two how a normal date should go.”

Aubrey and I shared an amused glance. “Can’t wait.”

LonMair399

You'll probably have noticed already, but I've updated the cover! This one gives our heroines much more personality and I think I've done a better job with the title now too, so I really like it. In upcoming chapters, we'll start delving into some more individual character arcs that have been cooking on the back burner. Hope you all enjoy, and I'll upload again on Saturday!