Chapter 11
Austin
I am such a fucking idiot, Austin thought. The moment he saw Ella again on the beach he knew he had somehow formed feelings for her. How he had feelings after all this time, and after ignoring all of these girls that practically threw themselves at him, he didn’t know. But he couldn’t deny that he did. And because of that, he had to stay away from her.
The moment he caught eyes with her, he quickly looked away. Austin knew that if he stared into her beautiful pooling green eyes for long enough, he wouldn’t be able to keep his distance, and that is what he had to do, for her sake.
Logan plopped down on the sand next to Austin. “So what happened to you last night? One minute you were next to me at the bar, and the next you were nowhere to be seen.”
“I had enough of the bar,” Austin said. “So I headed back to my room.”
“Man, you should have stayed,” Logan said. “We need to get your ass back in the game.” Austin laughed at himself quietly. He did more than get his ass back in the game last night. He scored a full touchdown, but he couldn’t allow himself to celebrate. He was just too broken for her, and there was no point when they would only end up being here for a week. Man, did he sound pathetic. Had the rest of his friends known about how he took her on the table of the library last night, he would have been getting high-fives left and right. Instead he was feeling sorry for himself and wanting to stay away from her.
Austin looked over to Ella, who had lain back down on her towel. His eyes trailed over her body. Damn, she looked good in a bikini. Maybe he should just suck it up and have some fun for once. She was just a good lay, and he hadn’t had one of those in a long time. That is why I was so hung up on her, he thought. Austin watched as Ella turned her body over to lie on her stomach. The way she propped herself up on her arms, giving Austin a perfect view down her bikini top made his trunks feel a bit tighter. Maybe he could actually have a little fun for once.
They had been out on the beach for a few hours. Every so often, Austin would look over at Ella, hoping to catch her eye and smile, but she never looked back in his direction. Shit, maybe she didn’t enjoy last night as much as I did. Austin looked out to the ocean and watched the sun slowly creep to the horizon.
“Hey man,” Logan said, pulling Austin out of his thoughts. “We are going to head back and shower before the event tonight.”
“What event?”
“The speed-dating happy hour,” Logan said.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
***
Austin reluctantly stood next to the bar and stared at all of the tables lined up in the lounge area. Dinner had already been served, and everyone was making their way into the bar for the event. Each table had a number on it. I can’t believe I have been dragged into this, Austin thought. Austin started to walk out of the bar, when a familiar curvy figure caught his eye. He stopped mid-tracks and stared at Ella in a form-fitting green dress as she sat down at table number eleven. Well, he thought, maybe I can stay and suffer through this.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Pearl’s voice carried over the loudspeakers. “Welcome to our speed-dating happy hour!” Austin moved back towards the bar and stood next to Logan. He stifled a loud groan growing in his throat.
“The rules are fairly simple. You will have one minute with each lady, and when the buzzer sounds you will move on to the next one. You will have score cards that will rate each person, which we will collect at the end of the event and match those that rated each other the same. Ladies, if you would please take your seats.”
Austin watched as all of the women filed in and sat down at their tables. Ella was sitting right in the middle of the room. Hopefully he could start right at her table.
“Gentlemen, please pick your tables.” Austin bee-lined directly for Ella’s table. Another guy beat him to it, and it took all of Austin’s training to not lose it and rip his throat out. Ella looked up and shot Austin a death glare.
“My table is open,” a brown-haired woman next to Ella said. Austin let out a frustrated sigh and sat down in the open seat. There was an audible ding which Austin guessed signaled the start of the dating event. He stared at the brown-haired woman across from him. She smiled nervously, cleared her throat, and held out her hand.
“I’m Sierra,” she said sweetly. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Austin”
“Right, Austin.” An awkward silence fell between them. Austin quickly glanced over at Ella and he saw her giggle. Anger slowly started to course through his veins.
“So, I see you are a fan of my best friend,” Sierra said. This caught Austin’s attention.
“You know Ella?” he asked.
“I do,” Sierra said. “We have been friends since high school, and I can tell you now that if you hurt her in any way I will come after you. I don’t care how big of a guy you are.”
Austin let out a laugh. “I don’t intend on hurting her,” Austin responded. “And I’m not too sure how well you would stand up against me, but given how protective you seem over her, I’m not willing to test my chances.”
“Good,” Sierra said, and smiled. The ringer buzzed and everyone said their goodbyes.
“It was nice meeting you, Sierra,” Austin said.
“Go get her,” Sierra smiled.
Austin caught Ella’s eye as he walked up to her table. Austin could see her let out a shaky breath. He hoped she wasn’t too upset with him for leaving her like he did. He sat down at the table and she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Shit, he thought. She is pissed.
Austin cleared his throat. “I wanted to apologize for the other night,” he said. Ella stared at him with an icy glare. “It wasn’t right for me to leave you there like I did. I just wasn’t thinking.”
“It’s fine,” Ella said. Fuck, Austin thought. When a woman said “fine,” it always meant that they were anything but.
“Look,” Austin said. “I know you are not really fine, and by the way you are glaring at me I can tell you are pretty pissed. I was a dick, and I shouldn’t have been. I am not so great when it comes to relationships and feelings, and when I’m drunk all of my morals go out the window.”
The buzzer rang again. Everyone stood up and started moving to the next table, but Austin remained in his seat. “I know you don’t want to be here just as much as I do. So why don’t we get out of here?”
Austin could see the walls that Ella put up slowly come down. “I promise that I will make it up to you,” he said.
A slow smile spread across her beautiful face. Austin’s heart rate sped up and he reached his hand out to Ella. She quickly grabbed it and they ran out of the restaurant.