Just What I Needed

Chapter 3

Lola.

"So you're telling me, you and some random guy are going to date for a week and he's going to fulfil all your special requests?" Daisy asks, as she squeezes the sunscreen on her palm and begins to rub it on her shoulders.

We were currently at the beach, and had been here for a few hours.

We were all pretty hungover, so there was nothing else we wanted to do, but be on the beach and do absolutely nothing.

"Yeah, pretty much." I answered.

"But I'm sure he's forgotten all about it. We were all pretty drunk last night. I'm sure he doesn't even remember who I am." I raise my shoulder and let it fall.

I was sorta drunk when I spoke to him and I'm sure he was too.

For the most part I remember everything, but then again there are things that are a little fuzzy.

So I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't remember or care to remember. TJ gave me major fuckboy vibes, I'm sure he was probably only talking to me to sleep with me.

Otherwise why would he do it?

"Whether he's forgotten or not, that's pretty freakin' romantic." Ally leaned back on her elbows on her beach towel. "And you guys share the same birthday. That sounds like soulmate stuff."

Oh God, I could already see the screws working in her head. Ally was all about love, and all that crap, and believed everyone had a soulmate.

Sure TJ and I got along fine yesterday, but I wouldn't say he was my soulmate. I hardly knew him.

"Screw romantic, I can't get over the fact that he kicked Matt out." Daisy grins from ear to ear. "God I wish I could have seen the look on Emily's face when they had to leave."

I hadn't told them anything that happened last night until this morning.

If I would have told them last night one, Daisy would have committed murder, especially with all of the alcohol in her system. She may be small, but she's strong and will really kick ass in a heartbeat, with no second thoughts.

"Who was he again?" Cara asks. "I really need to thank him for looking out." She smiles proudly.

"TJ, the birthday boy." I press my lips together to stop the stupid smile that's trying to break free across my face.

"Holy s**t are you serious?" Daisy raises her brows in shock as do the rest of the girls. "TJ as in six foot something with the curls, hot as f**k birthday boy TJ?"

"Yup." I say popping the P a little extra hard. "That one exactly."

"Damn Lola, get it." Cara says proudly.

"Wait, so does this mean you got lucky last night?" Ally asked, raising a brow.

The girls stared at me curiously waiting for my reply. Even though I had been in a relationship for two years I wasn't as daring as they were. I don't think I could be or knew how to be.

"No," I shook my head.

Had I thought about it? Yeah. But would I have done it? Probably not. Even with all the alcohol in my system I don't think I'm that bold to sleep with a stranger. I wouldn't even know how to- why am I even thinking about this?

"I don't even know what I was thinking. Wait, I wasn't, I was drinking, and I'm glad was because there's no way I'd have the courage to do what I did yesterday. I was in a relationship for two years. I'm not sure I even know how to flirt without alcohol. I'm not even sure you consider what I did yesterday as flirting."

I wince at the thought. What if I made a fool out of myself yesterday? Note to self alcohol doesn't solve any problems, if anything it just makes them worse and triples over.

"You do when your life's not being controlled by your psychotic parents and Matt." Daisy said, making a point. My parents are control freaks. I'm surprised they even let me come to Florida in the first place. They don't even let me have sleepovers. "By the way I'm going to be civil from here until we get back to North Carolina, but when I see Matt, I can't promise I'll be civil."

"Just don't get arrested." Ally said, knowing good and well that Daisy didn't hold off on a threat.

"I'm just going to have a little chat about touching people without their permission, that's all." A wicked smile graced her lips.

"Count me in." Cara said, mirroring her smile.

"Fine I guess count me in too." Ally sighed as if she'd just lost a battle she was fighting so hard to win.

"He's not worth it. Karma's a b***h and it got to him last night. He's not worth getting arrested over. Plus you all have scholarships." I made a point to remind them of that before they did something they'd regret.

Daisy never held back on her threats, and while Cara and Ally always weighed on the pros and cons, when they all agreed on something their minds wouldn't be changed.

"Okay." They sighed in defeat knowing I was right.

"I guess we'll just s***h his tires." Daisy sighed with defeat in her tone. As if she was so disappointed that's all she could do.

"But enough of all of that." I opened the white Yeti cooler and pulled out peaches, a container of cut up watermelon we brought, and whiteclaws. "We're here to have a good time and not talk about guys." I said and tossed them each a white claw which they happily accepted.

"You're right," Ally nodded in agreement and opened her whiteclaw can. "Cheers to having a f*****g fantastic senior week."

"Cheers!" We all brought our cans together in the air and then took a sip.

I set my drink down and picked up one of the peaches.

"I swear peaches are the best fruit in the world and you can't prove me otherwise." I bit down into the juicy peach.

"I'd like to try your peach."

I jump a little and almost choke on the peach, caught off guard as I recognize the familiar voice.

The girl's eyebrows raise in shock, and their mouths pop open as they take in the person behind me.

I look over my shoulder and sure enough TJ is standing right behind me in only his swimming shorts, and holy f*****g hell it just got so much hotter.

I let my eyes coast down from the wet curls hanging on his forehead to his taunt chest and very defined abs, and the v- I stop my eyes before let myself get carried away, and raise them back up to meet his honey eyes and amused grin.

"Mind if I sit?" He asked looking at me and then at the girls.

"Not at all." Daisy replied before got too, and I'm glad she did because I'm not sure any words would have come out of my mouth.

"Hey you're here." I snap out of my stupor and smile at him. It wasn't something that I meant to say outloud but it just came out.

"I'm here," He looks taken back, placing a hand over his chest.

"Have you already forgotten about me? Damn you're ruthless. Does she do this often?" He asks the girls.

"Do what?" I ask him.

"Break hearts?" He grins.

I rolled my eyes and take another bite of my peach.

"Looks juicy." TJ says and takes the peach from my hand.

He doesn't turn the peach around, and bites down on it and then leans into my ear. "I wonder if it's as juicy as it looks."

My eyes widen and I feel my cheeks heat up, but I don't comment on it, instead shove my shoulder against his but of course he doesn't budge.

For a second I almost forgot who was around us until I meet eyes with the girls. They just stare at me with bright wide smiles on their faces.

"Sorry I'm being rude, that's Daisy, Cara, and Ally," I point at each one. "And this is-"

"TJ," He flashes them a charming sweet smile. "Lola's boyfriend."

"So we've been told." Daisy smiles at him and then she briefly stares at me with a look I know all too well.

"You need to f**k him." I'm sure she would say out loud if he wasn't here.

"By the way we wanted to give our thanks for kicking Matt out and punching him. But next time if you see him don't hold back." Cara gratefully says.

"Duly noted." He chuckled, giving them a quick salute and turned his attention towards me.

"I'm getting really hot," Ally fans herself.

"Yeah me too," Cara nods in agreement.

"We should get in the water." Daisy stands dropping her sunglasses on the towel.

"Well I guess I'll see you later." I gave him a small smile and began to stand up.

"No need." Cara shook her head practically pushing me back down.

"You stay here and enjoy that peach." She winked at me.

The girls wasted no time to make themselves scarce and almost sped walked towards the water, leaving TJ and I alone.

"I like your friends." TJ grinned amusingly.

"Yeah me too. They're great." I narrowed my eyes at them as they looked over their shoulders and laughed.

"I would like my peach back." I took my eyes off of them, and took the peach from his hand.

"Babe, how are we supposed to make this relationship work if we don't do the first base s**t couples do?"

"And what exactly is that s**t first base couples do?" I arch a brow.

"Clingy, obsessed, happy, and all over each other." He leaned forward, his face mere centimeters away from mine.

I just now realized something I hadn't last night, I guess it was because the house was sorta dark, but there are specks of gold in his eyes. It made looking away so hard. They felt as if they had trapped me, they were just so intense, yet so warm, so inviting. I had always liked Matt's blue eyes, but brown eyes were something else.

"I think we were all of those last night, for the most part." I replied and pulled back, taking a bite of my peach.

"You haven't been all over me." He teased and took my peach, and bit into it.

"I sat on you yesterday." I countered, but realized by the stupid childish grin on his face sitting on his laps wasn't what came to his mind.

And now the image was vivid in my head, and it just kept replaying over and over again.

I'm hot, really hot.

I looked away feeling my body burn. And it was not due to the hot scorching Miami heat.

How had such an innocent conversation turned into mind reels of TJ and I- my cheeks flush and my body feels like it's on fire.

I picked up my white claw and chugged the fizzy drink down, but it did nothing to cool my insides.

"Anyways, did you just get here or are you leaving?" I shook the perverse thoughts from my head.

I wasn't innocent, nor pretended to be, but I never had images so vivid pop into my head like that. Especially with a stranger.

"Leaving actually, I just saw you and wanted to remind you about our date."

"So we're really doing this?"

"Yeah and you can't flake on me now. I know this place where we can go roller skating. And you can bring your friends." He says, running his hand through his curls.

I didn't miss the way his arm flexed as his fingers over and over combed through his hair.

"You were being serious about this?"

"Were you not?" He says with feigned hurt in his voice, once again placing a hand on his firm chest.

"We were drinking last night. I thought maybe it was just a game." I honestly responded.

I know we weren't drunk when we were upstairs or clearly I wouldn't remember a thing, but I didn't think this was serious. Sure I kissed him and told him things but we are strangers.

Why would he want to do that for me? I told him I wasn't sleeping with him unless he thinks I am.

"If you think I'm sleeping with you I'm not." I quickly added.

"I get it I'm young and you think I'm horny and well yeah I'm f*****g horny." He bluntly says. "But I'm not trying to sleep with you. I told you I'm trying to make this unforgettable. Remember what I said?"

"You'll be hard to forget and none of my other boyfriends will ever compare." I say the same words he had said to me last night.

"Exactly." TJ smiles widely. "So hard to forget whenever you have a boyfriend all you'll be thinking is about me." He winks.

"You're so full of yourself." I said, shaking my head.

"No Peaches, just f*****g confident." He shrugs.

"Peaches?" I arch a brow.

"The best fruit in the world and no one can tell me otherwise." TJ repeats my words from earlier. "So damn sweet, juicy, and really round."

I roll my eyes, biting back a smile. "So what's this place called? And what time do we need to be there?"

"The Roller Palace," He replied. "Eight is good. They close pretty late so we can be there as long as you want."

"TJ you coming?!" We turned our heads and saw TJ's friends a few feet away from us.

"Yeah going!" He yells back.

"See you at eight Peaches."

TJ stands and dusts off the sand from his shorts, and gives me a small wave and turns around to walk to his friends. He doesn't make it too far until he returns back, and kneels down so our faces are at the same level. He leans forwards and presses a soft kiss against my lips and then pulls away.

"Just a small taste of first base." He winks at me before he stands up and jogs towards his friends.

—

I'd been to a few different roller skating rinks back home, and for the most part they all look the same.

The carpet probably from the 80s', kids running around like they don't have parents, the concession stand full of junk food, decent candy, and beer. And most importantly the average size rink people of all ages would have to share together.

Roller Palace was from that.

The carpet had an 80s' vibe but no stains that probably came back from the 80s'. Kids were running around, but they had an area specifically for kids to run around and their own rink.

There was a bar area with all types of liquors and beers, and it was separated from the concession stand. I couldn't even call it that because it was pretty much a restaurant.

"Peaches, you're finally here." I was too busy absorbing everything I hadn't realized TJ was standing a few feet away from me.

"Peaches?" The girls ask, looking at me with knowing smiles.

"Don't look at me like that." I press my lips together to fight the smile that's urging to break from my lips.

I start making my way towards TJ and he starts to make his way towards me. We stop, meeting in the middle, and I'm not too sure if I should hug him, but it's apparent he's not over thinking anything because he wraps his arms around me, and brings me into a hug. I let myself relax in his hold, and bring my arms around him to return the hug.

"You had me worried for a second." He said, pulling back from our hug, but still keeping both arms at my waist. "Thought you had actually stood me up."

"Sorry I'm late," I apologetically say. "Trying to get four girls out on time is a work of its own. Plus I ran into Matt." I grimaced at our conversation.

It's almost as if he had been waiting to talk to me because the second we stepped out he was there. At first he was asking for forgiveness and once I wouldn't accept it he started calling me a w***e.

As much as I hated the way things ended I'm so glad they did. To think I'd imagine marrying at one point. That would have been a total nightmare.

I just hope I didn't run into him anymore because he was like that disgusting piece of gum stuck on the bottom of your shoe. So frustrating and hard to get rid of.

"You need me to f**k him up a little?" He gave me a cheeky grin.

"No," I shook my head. "He's not worth it. Plus you really shook him up with what you told him."

TJ laughed. "My mom isn't really a lawyer and that really wasn't my house. It was one of my friends, but do have a beach house. We just didn't throw the party there this time because my parents would really f*****g kill me."

"This time?" I raised my brows.

"Yeah but that's a story for another day." He said. "But if you change your mind just let me know."

"I will." I smiled gratefully.

"So what do you think?"

"You really know how to impress a girl."

I couldn't contain my excitement. I probably looked idiotic, but a guy I barley knew actually took the time of his life to bring me roller skating.

To do something actually wanted to do and not the other way around. Maybe I'm being easily impressed but screw it, I'm going to enjoy every minute of this.

"I know the owner so don't worry about using a fake ID." He smirked, giving me a knowing look.

I gasp with feigned offense. "Are you insinuating I'm the type of person to break the law? Because let me tell you something, I'm a law abiding citizen and would never break the law."

"You do realize what you did yesterday was illegal?" He lowly said as he leaned forward, his lips hovering just above mine.

"It's not illegal if it's legal somewhere else." I said knowing it made no sense, but my mind is becoming clouded with the closeness of TJ.

"Fair enough." He chuckled with no argument.

"So are we skating or are you two going to kiss?" Blake said standing next to us. When did he get here? Or was he always here?

I pulled away from TJ realizing just walked away from the girls, but they were already standing next to us chatting away with TJ's friends.

"Kiss, of course." TJ smirked and bent down and gave me a soft brief kiss.

"Okay now we can skate." He released his hold on my waist, and took my hand in his intertwining our fingers together.

We all made our way towards the counter where all the skates were and got our sizes.

TJ made it a point that as my boyfriend he wanted and was going to pay for mine, and whatever I wanted. Who was I to complain?

It didn't take long before we all put our skates on and began to skate. I'm not even sure how long we had been skating for, but I swear I was floating on cloud 9.

Sounds childish to feel this elated just because I'm roller skating, but it's not just the roller skating, but the person I'm with who's holding my hand. He's not once complained about how we continuously keep going in circles though I have shown off the few skills I have, so it's not just circles.

And even if he wasn't complaining, he doesn't have a bored or dreadful look on his face. I'm not just enjoying this but he is too.

And a little too much because at one point we all started competing against each other, my friends and his. Of course TJ was fast and though I used to cheer and workout nothing compared to his speed.

Though out of the four of us Daisy was the fastest and almost beat him.

I know we're not really dating, but I don't know how ever settled for less.

"So Peaches, how would you review your first date? And give it to me straight."

TJ and I were the only ones skating now, everyone else was enjoying the drinks and the food. So it was just TJ and I on the rink.

"I would give this a solid 4.5 out of 5."

"Oh come on, I said I was sorry." He pouted.

While we were all competing somehow he tripped me and I fell on my ass. That was lots of fun.

"Hey you said to give it to you straight, but I think that's a good rating for the first date. Matt could never compare and I dated him for two years." I honestly said. Every reminder of our failed relationship makes me hate myself ever more.

"Well then I guess I'll take it." He turned his head to face me, smiled down at me and then focused his attention straight ahead.

"But I guess I could add an extra .5 points because my date is pretty hot." I smiled looking straight ahead.

I could feel his stare on me, but I didn't look at him.

"Oh yeah?" I didn't have to look at him to see the playful

smile on his lips. "My dates pretty f*****g beautiful."

I wanted to say something but I wasn't sure what to say. Sol just stayed silent enjoying the compliment and my date.

Time to Pretend began to play and a song couldn't be more fitting for the occasion. Because as much as I was enjoying this. It was all pretend once senior week ends we'll never see each other again. But either way I was going to enjoy it as much as I could.

I glanced over at TJ who was already looking down at me. "Tomorrow will surely win me ten out five." He winked.

"We'll see." I teased, but the truth was I'd already given him a 100 for simply going out of his way.

I couldn't wait until tomorrow.