Just Good Friends?

Chapter 17 - Relax

Bex

When we get back to the house, the others haven't arrived yet. Joe messaged to say they were stopping at the others houses to grab their beach stuff, and would meet us back here soon.

I went to my room and changed in to my bikini and shorts, then went to find Mike. He keeps a wardrobe full of his things here, has done for years. He's just grabbing a towel when I find him in the entrance hall.

"All ready babygirl?" He smiles at me.

"Yeah, I'm going to skate down I think. My deck needs an airing" I laugh, and then see Mike's deck by the front door.

"Great minds eh" I'm wrapped in his arms before I know it, and we're kissing with such urgency, I don't know if my legs will hold me up. It's almost as if he heard me thinking, as the next second, Mike is picking me up and wrapping my legs around his waist. He pushes me back against the wall and holds me there.

"For f**k sake guys, wait till later Yeah! Some of us are in mourning" Joe shouts behind us. We didn't even hear them coming in the front door. Mike pulls away reluctantly, but doesn't let me down. He leans his forehead against mine as he tries to catch his breath

"f**k" he breaths out.

"Yeah, f**k later, beach now"! Joe says smuggly as he passes us to get to the towels.

"You have f*****g impeccable timing yet again Joe" Mike says letting me down.

"Hey dude, this is my house, and my sister you're trying to f**k in the hall. I think my timing is s**t hot" Joe slaps Mike across the back of the head as he goes back past us, throwing towels to the others boys, snickering like little kids.

"Asshole" Mike mutters, but pulls himself together, then smiles at me sheepishly. We all leave and head to the beach. I go on ahead on my deck, I need a blast of wind in my face to clear my head a bit. Mike has this effect on me which takes ages to shift. I get to the beach and head straight to the skatepark. There's nobody here so I can just let rip for 10 minutes before finding the rest of them.

After a time, I stop and take a breather, and that's when I see a familiar face watching me. It's that older guy we met down here a little while back. I taught his son the basics of surfing, then Joe invited him and his mate to a party at ours the same night.

"Hey Bex, how's things?" He calls over. I put my deck down and push over to him.

"Hey Ben, good thanks. What you up to? Jake still enjoying surfing?" I say when i come to a stop infront of him.

"Yeah, thanks for that help. He is loving it. Where's Oscar?"

"He moved away. Not long after we met you actually. His family had to move and he had to go too" I was still a little sad, but I never loved Oscar really, but he did mean a lot to me.

"Oh, sorry to hear that" he looks a little uncomfortable then, like he's put his foot in it.

"It's alright honestly. Anyway, I've moved on. It gave me the chance to see what was infront of me all along" I smile at him. And then as if he could sense me talking about him, Mike came around the corner.

"Ah, that guy, Mike wasn't it? Your best mate? I take it things developed?" He says knowingly.

"Yeah, how did you know?" He hadn't seen Mike coming towards us yet.

"Intuition I guess. He looked at you with more than friendship in his eye. He was hurting seeing you with Oscar"

"Yes I was, but don't tell her anymore, she'll use it against me" Mike says behind us, with a wink "Hey man, you ok? Ben wasn't it? We didn't meet properly before. Mike" he holds out a fist to be bumped, and Ben obliges.

"Yeah, Ben. Nice to see you both together and happy" Ben smiles then says he has to go and find Jake as he'd only come up this way to look for Jase.

We say goodbye, then head down to the beach.

....

Mike

"Volleyball?" Harry jumps up and asks... or rather tells us.

"Yeah, I'm game. Come on you lot, it's f*****g boring sitting around here" Bex says as she gets up and wipes the sand off. She pulls on her shorts and vest top, then starts walking down to the nets kept on the beach.

"She's very pushy today" Joe grumbles, but he gets up anyway. Ems, Anna and Jess showed up an hour ago, and since then, Joe has been like a little b***h on heat. Ogling every female that walks past, but grumpy as s**t with everyone.

The girls decide to stay and sunbathe, so Bex is the only female playing. But that's nothing new. She hates sitting around, and much prefers to be in the thick of it with us lot, whether that's fighting or playing volleyball, she's not bothered, as long as she's doing something.

We play a few games, then decide we've had enough, and go for a swim. Bex dives straight under and starts swimming out deep. The rest of us play with a football, throwing it back and forth, and the others tried throwing it towards random girls to get their attention. I'm so glad I don't need to do that anymore, it was really starting to get to me. I see Joe, swim off towards Bex, and decide they need some time on their own. Joe was getting more and more prickly as the day went on, and only Bex would be able to sort him out.

....

Joe

"Bex, you'll make sure I don't do anything to ruin it forever won't you"? I need Bex in my corner to keep me from screwing up totally.

"Yeah, you know I will. Screw as many as you want Joe, but be careful, and no attachments ok" I knew she'd understand. Bex isn't like any other girl I know. I might be biased with her being my twin, but I don't think so. She doesn't care about how many girls we f**k, she only cares about the end result. Ems is nothing like that, but I still want her. I can't say I love her, but I want her. Not right now though, I just want to f**k and f**k off.

"Love you sis. Race you to the float" I dive under water and start swimming. I've had a head start as Bex didn't know I was going to suggest a race, but she'll beat me anyway, she always does, but I still have to try!

.......

Mike

"There they go, competing again" Nate laughs as he watches Bex and Joe swimming towards the float.

"Joe will never learn. If Bex took up football, she'd probably smash him at that too" Cal giggled like a girl.

"Don't let him hear you say that Cal, he'll wipe the f*****g floor with you" Harry throws the ball and hits Cal in the head.

"Asshole!" Cal rubs his head but smiles at the girls behind him.

"Why hasn't he punched you yet Mike? Never thought you'd get away with being cosy with his sister. He used to go f*****g nuts about you sneaking in to her room through the bedroom window" Nate smirks as he throws the ball to me.

"You f*****g knew too?" I say with a shake of my head.

"I didnt" Cal pipes up.

"Yeah, Joe tells me everything dude. He was ready to smash your head in, then you left. And actually, he wanted to smash your head in even more then for some reason" Nate was looking smug at first, now he just looks confused.

"Hmmm, well I guess he just likes me the best eh" I tease him

"f**k off, he likes me the best. Not even Harry comes close to me" he huffs.

"I don't want to come close to you dude. Now if you were a hot blonde piece, I might come on you" Harry runs as Nate chases after him. He catches up with him and tackles him to the floor in the shallows. For such a laid back guy, he can certainly move fast I laugh to myself.

I'm glad I made that deal with my dad and came back here. Not just because of Bex, but these guys too. No friend ever came close to this lot when I lived with my dad.

"Dude, stop thinking of f*****g my sister! We're heading home" Joe jumps on my back.

"I was actually thinking that I kind of like you guys a little bit. Now you've changed my mind" I throw him off and grin at him.

"Dickhead, we think you're kind of OK too" he winks and starts heading out of the sea.

....

Back at the house, we're all doing some kind of fitness. Bex is actually spending time with the girls, the four of them playing tennis. Me and Joe are lifting weights, and Nate, Harry and Cal are playing basketball.

"If I haven't already said this, I'm glad you're finally with my sister dude. You're good for her. Just treat her right, and we will never have a problem" we are both even as far as the weight lifting is concerned, but I think Joe has the edge over me where speed is concerned.

"I'll never treat her wrong Joe, I wouldn't. She means everything to me, and I think you know that too" I say as I take a break.

"I know, I'm just warning you again dude" he winks at me.

We spot each other for a bit, then finish up and head to the kitchen.

The girls have finished playing tennis, but Bex is now playing basketball with the other guys. It seems to be her and Nate v Harry and Cal. Its got a bit silly now due to Harry picking Bex up and moving her out of the way when her and Nate were smashing them. So when Nate picks her upto dunk the ball, Cal throws his hands up in the air and walks off the court. It crosses my mind how easily Nate picked her up, it was like she weighed nothing at all. He's definitely upped his training thats for sure. Nate and Bex bump fists, and he throws this arm over her shoulder and they head to the pool to join the girls.

I watch Bex through the doors leading out to the pool. She's slipping out of her shorts and vest top, obviously planning on a swim. She stands in her bikini, chatting to Jess for a few minutes. I can't move whilst watching her, but I also see Nate watching her. Joe told me once that Nate had a crush on her, but that was years ago. Surely he can't still be holding a torch for her? I'm not sure how I feel about that. It shouldn't bother me, I mean, the amount of guys that ogle her is just ridiculous really, but I can't blame them. I'd happily stare at her all day.

"He still likes her dude, but he'd never do anything about it. She's all yours" f*****g Joe and his mind reading s**t again.

"I'm not worried" I try to hide my discomfort, but he sees right through me.

"Whatever man. Don't let it come between you and Nate, he's my best mate and I'd kill for him, but it would just be too awkward if you let it interfer with what we all have here ok. He's a good guy, the best, and he won't let his feelings ever come between any of us, so you shouldn't either" all the time he's talking, he's making us protein shakes. He turns to me and hands me one. He has a very determined look on his face, like he's daring me to argue with him.

"I won't let it come between us, I promise" I look back out, and Bex is just about to dive in. I look at Nate and he's still staring at her. Nobody else has noticed as he's lying on a sunbed with sunglasses on. "So how long has he had a thing for her then"? I ask. It can't be as long as I'm thinking, I must be wrong.

"Since we were about 11 I think. That's what he told me anyway. He told me when we were 14, but only because our mum had died, and he wanted me to know he would never leave me, and that my friendship meant more to him than a girl. But it wasn't just any girl, it was my sister. It made me feel good, that he wanted my friendship more than he wanted my sister. He knew that if she turned him down, he would never be able to face her again, and that would mean leaving me. He wouldn't do that to me, so it meant keeping her a secret" now I understand the bond between them, and why they always have each others back, even if they believe the other is wrong. They have an unbreakable friendship. "Don't hurt my boy Mike, don't confront him, don't treat him any different, just put it out of your head. He gave up on her for me, and I don't think anyone else will ever match her, never mind beat her, in his eyes, ever. He did that for me, and I'll protect this for him always" I've never heard Joe talk like this about anyone before. Nate and Joe have a friendship like mine and Bex... minus the s*x and all that. But I mean, the friendship we had before I fell in love with her. We still have that friendship, but now there's love and sex... obviously Joe and Nate don't have that. They love each other Yeah, but as friends, they're not IN love.

"You have my word Joe, I will never let this come between any of us, ever. I can't forget what I now know, but it won't change anything" I make a cross over my heart with my finger, trying to lighten the mood, and it works, he laughs.

"Alright mate, I know I know. I can get very serious when it comes to my boy Nate. But I can see you're not going to cause any issues over this, so we'll let it drop now ok" he looks at me pointedly, then we head out to the pool.

I give myself a mental shake, so I'm ready to put Nate liking Bex out of my head. When we get to the sunbeds next to Nate, Cal and Harry, Nate doesn't flinch, he is the same old Nate he's always been. "Yo dudes, good workout"? He asks as we sit down. This guy is f*****g good at hiding his feeling and putting them to the side. I have a new respect for him.

"Yeah, good. Joe's not the top beast anymore, I'm on a par with him now and he hates it" I grin and wink at him.

"Ha! I bet he does. Aww Joe, you better up your game mate. I'm always here for you though, you know that" Nate makes a joke, but I know he's telling the truth. He really will always be there for him, through anything.

"f**k you Nate, but I love you too" Joe dives on to Nate and tries to pin him down to kiss him on the cheek, but Nate has the upper hand this time and picks Joe up and walks over to the pool and jumps in taking Joe with him. Those two really are the best of mates.