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18| Brawls and Brothers (pt. 1)
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Toxic Paradise 19| Brawls and Brothers (pt. 2)
After Max threw the drink, something must have snapped in Ryan, because next thing I knew, he was shoving Max.One of Max's friends caught him, while another grabbed Ryan by the arm, throwing a punch that hit Ryan right in his face. At this point, Chris responded, but there were more of them than there were of us. We were outnumbered. I watched as the men started gaining up on Chris and Ryan. I couldn't see much of what was happening in the fight, but I knew I had to at least try and help; it was 4 on 2.Without thinking too much about it, I jumped onto Max's back, wrapping my arms around his neck to try and pry him off of Ryan. Since he was so much bigger than me, my attempts did little in way of helping Ryan. Instead, after landing a nice scratch to his face, I was forcefully thrown backwards off of him, landing hard on my sore ankle and falling to the ground.Stunned and pissed, I was about to get back to my feet and rejoin the fight when I was lifted up from behind. I had no idea
Toxic Paradise 20| It’s Official (pt. 1)
A few days had passed since the brawl at the club. After that night, I was hoping that Alec and Ryan would have had some sort of breakthrough; but instead, Alec was gone more than ever, and the two haven't even spoken since. I wasn't sure where Alec ran off to every day, and a part of me wished he would stick around. Not that him being gone a lot hindered any of the fun Ryan and I were having. Honestly, every day here was a new and amazing adventure for me. Yesterday, we rented ATV's and rode them down the beach, and the day before that, we rented paddle boards. I couldn't deny that despite the complete and total lack of control in my life at the moment, I was happy; I was genuinely happy.Today had been another long day of eating good food, drinking fruity beverages, and laying on the beach; I know, life was rough. Currently, I had just finished applying aloe to my slightly burned skin and was scrolling through my I*******m feed while I tried to fall asleep. I hadn't checked any so
Toxic Paradise 21| It’s Official (pt. 2)
The minute we broke the surface, I gasped in a large breath of air. I didn't even realize how much my lungs had been burning for oxygen till now."Jayna, are you okay?! What the hell were you doing?" Alec's deep voice rumbled from behind me. I clung to his arms that were wrapped around me as he walked us both to the shallow end of the pool. "Alec? I'm fine! What the hell are you doing?" I breathed. Once we were shallow enough for me to stand, he released his grip and I immediately turned to face him. I almost lost my breath again as I took in the sight. I knew Alec was insanely good looking, but a wet, shirtless Alec was in an entirely different league.Although it was dark, the pool lights illuminated the perfect outline of his sculpted body, and I could see his muscles flexing as he caught his breath. He ran a hand through his hair before responding. "I'm saving you! I thought you were drowning!" "Well, I wasn't; I'm fine," I sniffed. "Could have fooled me," Alec responded. "Y
Toxic Paradise 22| Surf’s Up (pt. 1)
"So, you feel better today now that we went to bed early last night?" Ryan asked as he took a bite of his bagel. We were both sitting at the kitchen table, enjoying a simple breakfast of bagels and yogurt.I sipped my coffee. "Yeah, kind of. I actually didn't go to bed that early though; I couldn't sleep.""Really? How come?" He pressed."I was talking to Maddie for a while, and she told me David is in another official relationship. I guess I was just really in my head about it," I answered honestly. “It just seems too soon…” "Oh no, Jay, I'm sorry. Are you doing okay?"I nodded, "Yeah, I am now. Full disclosure, and I don't know how you'll feel about this, but Alec was up last night, and he talked with me about it. He actually did help me a little."Ryan's jaw tightened for a second and I was nervous about what he was going to say next. "Speak of the devil," he finally said, fixing his gaze somewhere behind me.I turned around to see Alec strolling into the kitchen. My heart did a s
Toxic Paradise 23| Surf’s Up (pt. 2)
Finally, about 45 minutes later, we arrived at the beach. As I fumbled with my seatbelt and gathered my beach bag, I was surprised by the sound of my door opening. I looked just in time to see that Alec had opened my door for me. I shot him a smile as I jumped out of the car.Ryan lead the way as we made our way over to a small, blue building that looked like a little shed. It had a large sign out front with different purchase options, and paintings of surf boards on either side. I noticed the price of the surf lesson on the sign and immediately turned to Alec."I can do the lesson by myself... really, please don't pay that much just so I don't look lame and alone." I wasn't expecting the lessons to cost 70 bucks for an hour. I thought maybe 30–40 max.As I was speaking to him, I noticed his eyes were fixated on the shed. When I turned to look, I realized what he was staring at. The girl in the window was absolutely gorgeous.She was tall— really tall, slender, and had long blonde hai
Toxic Paradise 24| Pop Up!
I don't know what I was expecting from a surf lesson— I guess I just thought that it would be more intense. The beginning of the lesson was actually pretty boring because it was just Noah explaining the different parts of the board and the logistics of surfing. I sat stiffly next to Alec while the other couple next to us cuddled up, kissing at random and inappropriate intervals. I assumed they were probably newlyweds.On occasion, my back would brush against Alec's arm and I would quickly sit up, hoping he didn't notice. I wasn't sure why he was sitting so close to me anyway. I tried my best to focus on Noah as he spoke, especially since he spent most of his opening information looking directly at me.Next, he had us practice "popping up" on our boards while still on the sand. I'm not gonna lie, I was nervous to attempt this. I watched the ease and agility in which Alec moved, "popping up" like a pro. He certainly didn't need this lesson; I could tell.I, on the other hand, was tryin
Toxic Paradise 25| The Happiest of Hours
"To Jayna completely eating shit in front of the hot surf instructor," Ryan teased, holding up his whisky sour. I watched Alec hold up his beer, chuckling along with Ryan.I held up my tequila sunrise, shooting daggers at them both. "Or... how bout to the fact that the two of you made it through almost a full day without killing each other." I knew this was kind of risky to say... but also, it was true. They both looked to be having a nice time, and I thought they should acknowledge it.They both looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders before we clinked our glasses together in cheers.We didn't have to go far to find this restaurant. In fact, it was right on the beach. The restaurant was half inside, half outside. Where we were seated outside, the ground was made up of wooden slats that resembled a boardwalk, with some tables, booths, and a large tiki bar with stools. If you followed the boardwalk past the bar, you would end up back on the sand, next to a DJ where other people
Toxic Paradise 26| Saved You Again
As Alec and I moved together, we fell into a comfortable silence. It almost felt natural— the two of us moving together like this; one of his hands wrapped around mine while the other was placed firmly on my lower back.I knew this was wrong. One reason being that I truly wasn't in a good headspace to really open up and let someone in. Another reason being that the man giving me butterflies has a very intricate family relationship with one of my friends; a relationship that I can't even begin to understand. And lastly, Ryan aside, this was Alec. Alec was... well... a dick, and a player, so after all I've been through and my fears of abandonment, I knew he probably wouldn't be the safest option for me."Oh look," Alec pulled me from my thoughts, "your boyfriend decided to see for himself that we're actually dancing."I looked over to notice the man from before had now moved onto the sand with some of his buddies. His eyes were glued to Alec and I as he took a swig of his beer. "God.
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