***
Warmth embraced my body, enclosing me in comfort. I kept my eyes closed, enjoying the peaceful chirp of birds and crashing of waves from outside. The sun shining on the back of my eyelids was a fiery orange and the air was full of hints of lavender and salt water. I felt completely untroubled.
My eyes slid open, the sunlight piercing my vision. Squinting, I studied the room. The sheer, white curtains danced from the breeze, making the light dance around the room, which was lightly furnished with oak furniture. Outside, I could see a sandy beach with roaring waves rushing in, and I sighed, it’s so beautiful.
“Kaydence?” It was then that I noticed the tanned arms wrapped around me, and I realized that was why I was so warm. We shifted so that I was laying on my back, looking up into warm brown eyes with flecks of green near the middle.
Ever so gently, he placed his lips on mine. The kiss, which started out innocent and sweet, grew passionate quickly. As things escalated, he climbed on top of me, moving his grip to around my neck as his tongue traced the inside of my mouth.
I grew hungrier and hungrier for his taste, leaning into him, my hands grasping his face, his body, pulling him closer and closer. His hands moved from my neck and hair to my wrists, pulling them above my head and moving his lips to trace my jawline down to my collarbone.
I squirmed under his grip, needing his lips on mine again. Finally, he worked his way back up to brush his lips on mine before he pulled away, winking and climbing off of me. I sighed, frustrated, as I watched him cross the room into the bathroom.
I grabbed his shirt, sliding it on and pulling on some underwear. As I was buttoning up the shirt I walked down the hall to the small yellow kitchen. I turned on the coffee machine and looked through notifications on my phone. An email from work, a few snapchats, and a message from my good friend Katie.
wanna meet up around 9 for dinner or something? Haven't seen you in forever! xx, it read. I smiled at the thought, I could introduce her to Cam and meet her fiance. I smiled, it had been over a couple years since Katie moved to California, and since this was the first time I had been in Cali, I hadn’t seen her in years. It was kind of crazy to think that she was getting married, she was only a year older than me. I guess when you know, you know.
The water shut off in the other room as I poured the hot, black coffee into two cream-colored mugs. The kitchen seemed to be the focal point of the house considering it was the only room in the small, one-story house that was painted. Everything else was shades of white, black, and grey. I think that was one of the reasons why I enjoyed being in the kitchen so much, it made me feel happier.
Hands wrapped around my waist as Cam kissed my neck. I smiled, “Good morning.” I turned around to face him and give him a quick kiss before handing him his coffee. He smiled in return, leaning back on the counter.
“So, I was reading online that there’s a party today around two at the beach, I thought we could go down there and socialize with some locals.” His face twisted into a frown as he swished around his coffee in his mug.
“Well, I think we should just stay in. I don’t want you going out,” he said firmly. I sighed, I was hoping he wouldn’t be like this. Maybe I should wait to ask him about Katie, didn’t want to push it too much. When Cam made up his mind, there was no way in hell to change it, that’s for sure.
“Okay, of course, honey.” I dumped the rest of my coffee down the drain and we walked over to the couch, sitting down and turning on the TV.
…
Laughter filled the room, making the time move fast. The sunset shot hues of gold and pink across the sky, resembling something like heaven. I checked my phone, noticing it was 8:25 pm. We had been watching movies all day, surely he was ready for a change of scene just as much as I was.
"Cam, my old friend from high school lives close and she invited us over for dinner tonight at 9, so I'm gonna start cleaning this up and then we can head on over to her place." I started to stand from the couch when his hand tightened roughly around my wrist, keeping me from moving further, I looked back at him, rage in his eyes.
"No! Why would you want to spend time with someone else? Are you bailing on me now? After such an amazing day? I don't want to go," he begged.
"Oh, well I just thought that since we've been here for a week and haven't been able to see anyone yet you would like the idea of meeting one of my old friends. And honestly Cam, I really want to go. I will go alone if I have to!" I shot back, pleading with him to understand.
He loosened his grip on my wrist, which had honestly been getting uncomfortably firm, and said, "Fine. Go change into something more appropriate, and I will be waiting for you in the Jeep." He stormed off the couch outside, opening a package of cigarettes on the way out.
I was a little taken aback by his reaction, why was he so angry? And what was wrong with what I was wearing? I looked down at my grey cotton shorts and a red t-shirt, shrugging. I walked into the bedroom and quickly slipped on some jeans and a plain t-shirt with a green cardigan overtop of it.
When I got outside Cam was waiting for me in the driver's seat. I quickly hopped into the Jeep and off we went to Katie's. Cam reached over, squeezing my thigh, "I'm sorry Kayden, I just love spending time with you, and I didn't wanna give up our alone time." He smiled at me, and I sighed with a relief. He really loved me enough to want us to always be together, alone. He just wanted as much as my time to him as possible, and how could I blame him for that?
When we got there Katie was waiting for us at the door. Her dark brown hair had been chopped from its usual long length to rest just at her shoulders, and her brown eyes seemed to twinkle with light. She seemed so happy, and it was a completely different person than the one that was depressed and angry after the death of her Mother.
I ran up to her and hugged her, "Oh my goodness, I missed you so much!"
She squeezed back, "I missed you too! Oh my, what have you been getting into these days?" She pulled away, studying me, still beaming.
"Nothing much really, I've been spending all my time with my boyfriend, Cam," I turned around, seeing him leaning on the Jeep, arms crossed. "Cam, come here, she doesn't bite!" Katie and I laughed, but Cam's face was left unchanging, oblivious, it seemed, to the joke.
"Well, come on in! I want you to meet my fiance!" Katie motioned for us to step through the door, leading us through a hallway to a big room painted burgundy with two couches and a TV. There was a young man sitting on one of the couches, watching some kind of cop show. His hair was light brown and messy, he was wearing a button-up shirt and khakis, and he had a Bud Light on the desk next to him. When he turned to acknowledge us I noticed his piercing blue eyes, a stark contrast to Katie's brown ones, and his white teeth blindly smiling at us.
"Hello! Are these your friends Katie? You have so many friends. I enjoy all of them, nevertheless. My name is Jai, you are?" He stood up, shaking my hand, and offering his hand to Cam, However Cam just stared at his hand until Jai let it drop.
"This is Kaydence and her boyfriend, Cam, was it?" She looked over at him, and he just shrugged. Why was he acting so weird?
"Nice to meet you, Jai." I smiled at him as I took a seat on the couch across from him and Katie, as Cam just stood there. I motioned for him to sit down, and after a moment of hesitation, he did.
"So, when is the wedding?" I asked, ignoring Cam's behavior.
"We decided on a winter wedding, so November 30th." Katie and Jai exchanged a loving look, smiling. I was so happy for her, she deserved to be this happy.
"Kaydence. I need to talk to you, now. Privately." Cam said coldly as he stood up and walked into the hall.
I sent a confused look to Katie. "Excuse me," I stood up and walked over to where Cam was. His arms were folding against his chest as he held a blank face. "What is it?"
"Let's go. It's getting late and I don't know how I feel about this Jai guy. He keeps looking at you weird."
"I don't notice anything odd, maybe you're just overreacting." I sighed. I had a feeling he would do this.
"I want to leave. Now," he replied, anger rising in his voice.
I sighed, "Fine. Let me say goodbye, I'll be out in a minute."
I watched as Cam turned around and started to walk out the door before walking back into their living room. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I think Cam is feeling a bit sick, so we should get home." Katie's expression dropped, sadness overshadowing her features.
"A bit overprotective, that one." She seemed annoyed as she stood up to get closer to me.
"I think he just cares about me a lot," I replied, shrugging.
"Kayden, hear me out, but how much do you really know about this guy?"
"I mean we've been dating for four months-"
"And how many of his friends have you met? Family? Anyone from his personal life?" She raised her eyebrow.
"Well, no, but I don't understand what's wrong about that. I mean, sure, he can be a bit possessive but he's just really in love with me. And I love him too." I replied, hoping that what I said was really true.
"Well, who would I be to argue with such a statement as that? Just be careful hun," her arms wrapped around me, enclosing me in a tight hug, "I've missed you so much. Never hesitate to call."
I nodded, hugging her tighter. When we finally let go, I waved goodbye to Jai and went out to the car where Cam was waiting. "What took so long? I told you I wanted to leave quickly." He sneered. I had never seen him like this, and I felt like I had done something wrong.
"I'm sorry, Katie was very chatty."
The rest of the car ride was mostly him driving way too fast and silence. He didn't grab my thigh or my hand, and it was obvious he was upset. I decided to just let it play out, it didn't seem like there was much I could do.
He was quiet as we pulled into the drive and all the way up to the house. When he continued not to say anything I started to get ready for bed, ignoring his eyes on me. I turned to say something to him finally, but before I could open my mouth a sharp pain spread across the left side of my face and I fell to the ground, seeing spots.
“When I tell you I don’t want to go out, you listen to me, got it?” He yelled, furious. I clutched the side of my face, too shocked to answer, to cry, to scream. He grabbed the back of my hair, pulling my head up from the ground and leaning closer to me, “I asked you a question!”
“Yes,” I whimpered, tears starting to fall from my eyes.
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chapter word count: 2,073
total word count: 5,997
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