Zoya looked up from her book as Liam flopped onto the towel next to her. Despite Emma's dismissiveness, he really had filled out nicely. Not as tall or broad as Nolan, granted, but Zoya wouldn't kick him out of her bed. Her eyes roamed down past his chest. There was just a hint of hair trailing below the waistband of his board shorts. She wondered if he trimmed. He looked up, catching her biting her lip.
"What's up?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing," she smiled. "I thought you guys were surfing?"
"Nolan said it's too calm for surfing." He shrugged. "Then he ran off with Emma."
Zoya glanced in the direction he indicated and saw the redhead and the tall blonde frolicking in the waves. Liam sighed, drawing her attention back to him. She imagined tangling her fingers in his tousled hair and pulling his mouth to hers. Feeling his bare chest press against her... Fuck. She shook her head, trying to clear the haze of aroused thoughts. Watching Emma and Nolan fool around last night had left her worked up.
"How awful of him to run off and leave you with just me for company," she teased.
"That's not what I meant," he grinned. "It's just that he always does this. We make plans, and then he ends up flirting with some chick."
"Hmm," she considered, stretching languidly, and pretending not to notice him watching. "Maybe when he does that, he's trying to give you space to hit on someone?"
"I dunno, I'm terrible at flirting."
"Are you?" Zoya rolled her shoulders. "It's not that difficult. Just a matter of being receptive to signals."
"I guess." He frowned. "Girls don't send me a lot of signals."
"I doubt that," she said, turning away from him. "Will you rub my shoulders? I'm a bit stiff."
"Oh, uh, sure." He sat behind her and started massaging her back.
"That's nice. I must have slept funny last night. How about you?"
"Not so bad. We surfed a lot yesterday, so I passed out right away."
"You can go a bit lower," she purred, leaning into his touch. "I'm glad you slept alright. I was worried about you, down there on the floor."
"Yeah, uh, we got lots of, um, extra blankets..." He trailed off as his hands drifted down her sides.
"Good," she murmured as he daringly reached forward just enough to brush the edge of her bikini.
"Uh, yeah." He caressed the sides of her breasts for a moment, trying to act like it was part of the massage, before losing his courage and going back to her shoulders.
"Alright." Zoya decisively got to her feet and offered him her hand. "Come on, Liam. Show me how to surf."
"But," he protested as she helped him get to his feet, "it's too calm."
"That's fine," she laughed, "just teach me how to stand up on the board."
He shrugged, grabbed his board, and led her into the surf until they were chest-deep. The water felt lovely in the midday heat. As Liam had said, the waves were very gentle. Useless for surfing, but perfect for standing close, swaying with the flow.