Sea Breeze 01 - Breathe by Abbi Glines Read Free Book Online

long blond hair and dark tanned skin, “and Dewayne,” the dreadlock guy, who also happened to have several tattoos and piercings. “We’ve all been friends since second grade.”
    Dwayne flicked the dreadlocks out of his eyes and grinned. “Ever since Rock beat the shit out of Preston and ol’ Marcus here jumped in to take up for him, and then started getting pummeled by Rock until I jumped in, and about that time we all got suspended from school.” The four of them laughed at the memory, and I tried to picture them all as little boys fighting.
    “Our parents were all so proud. They had elementary school delinquents.” Dewayne grinned and tipped back an oyster.
    “Dewayne will reminisce all day if you let him. Don’t act like you enjoy his stories. He won’t stop,” Marcus said, smiling.
    The friendship among these four made me feel warm inside. It wasn’t something I could relate to.
    “So, Sadie, how did ugly-butt Marcus here find a beautiful blind girl?” Rock asked as he flipped a burger.
    I glanced at Marcus to see him smiling at me. “We work together,” I said. “He came to my rescue on my second day there, and my eyesight is twenty/twenty.”
    One of them let out a low whistle, and another laughed wickedly.
    “Marcus is a regular ol’ knight in shining armor, I tell ya,” Dewayne said with a flick of his dreadlocks. Marcus shoved him playfully, and Dewayne burst into laughter.
    “I’m going to take her to meet other people if you three can’t behave.”
    “What did I do?”
    Marcus sent him a mock glare before turning to me. “Are you thirsty?”
    Dewayne reached into a cooler behind him and held out a soda. I took it, thanked him, and listened to the four of them talk about a beach volleyball game going on next weekend between them and a rival team. They would ask me questions or bring me into the conversation occasionally, but mostly they just planned and strategized. I had no idea beach volleyball was such a serious sport.
    A platinum blonde in a hot-pink bikini that barely covered the important stuff, walked up behind Rock, wrapped her arms around his waist, and kissed his neck.
    “Sadie, this is Trisha, Rock’s fiancée, and Trisha, this is Sadie, a friend of mine.”
    Trisha smiled at me and ran her hand over Rock’s head. “If you get bored with this bunch’s conversation, you are welcome to come lay out with me and the girls.”
    “Okay. Thanks.”
    “Are you bored? Want to go in for a swim and cool off?” Marcus asked.
    I wasn’t really sure I wanted to take off my sundress in front of all these people. My hand-me-down red bikini wasn’t nearly as skimpy as the ones the other girls were wearing, and I didn’t fill one out like they did either. I thought of my long skinny legs and compared myself to the curvy, large-chested girls lying out, and I wanted to keep my clothes on. However, I also wanted to make friends and not let Marcus down, so I needed to lay out or swim. Since swimming kept me covered most of the time, I decided it would be the best option. “Swimming sounds good.”
    He grinned and pulled his T-shirt off to reveal a very tanned and muscular chest. I swallowed hard and wished I didn’t have to do this, but I knew I would have to sooner or later. So I slipped the sundress off and laid it beside Marcus’s shirt. I didn’t want to make eye contact with anyone and wished I could just go jump into the water without having to actually walk calmly over to it and get in.
    A low whistle from behind startled me, and I heard an “Ouch.” I turned to see Marcus glaring at Dewayne and Preston.
    “Sorry, Sadie, these two have no manners.” He took my hand again. As before, he held my hand casually. It hadn’t bothered me before, but being half naked made it uncomfortable.
    “Come on. Let’s go swim.” He grinned at me and didn’t even pay attention to my body.
    It relieved and embarrassed me at the same time. I didn’t want Marcus to like me as anything