Aaron sits at the far end of the half-circle next to John and looks toward me discontentedly. I do feel a little insulted because I have made it plain, in all my actions, I was not interested in being more than just his friend. I hate hurting his feelings now, but I feel an incomprehensible attraction toward his brother.
I decide to take a quick, discreet, peripheral glance at Jared and I see him watching me inconspicuously. He is sitting with his forearms folded on top of his pulled up knees, and his chin is resting on his arms as he faces the ocean.
Connell and John decide to build a bonfire and soon the beach has a warm glow to it, the sun is already starting to set over the ocean. John says something about the sunset and then everyone joins in, discussing the way the different colours play across the water.
Jared moves his arm and, surely unintentionally, he brushes against my arm softly. My body betrays me by sprouting goose bumps.
" Cold, Elizabeth?" He chuckles softly.
" No." I look at him sideways.
" You must be after coming from sunny South Africa only a few months ago." He tries to imitate my accent. "This climate takes time getting used to."
I turn to look at him amused. "Actually, I like the cold."
He smirks. "I have lived here my whole life and I hate it."
I wait for him to explain himself, but he goes back to staring at the waves rolling onto the beach and, so it seems, lost in his own thoughts again.
I turn away from him, feeling insulted.
He moves his fingers resting on his arm closest to me, and his fingers brush against my arm softly. This time I am sure it is intentional because it lasts longer than a moment. He starts to draw circles on my arm, his fingers barely touching my skin, floating just above it. The resident butterflies in my stomach rebel brutally.
I glance at him sideways, questioningly, but he only smiles, while returning my gaze. I get the impression he is daring me to make the next move. For a brief moment, I consider moving my arm away, but then I decide impulsively to enjoy the moment.
Except for Sarah, who ignores me completely, and Jared, who is looking out across the ocean, while tracing the side of my arm with feather-soft movements, we all laugh and talk about school, movies we have seen, books some of us have read, music we listen to, our favourite colours and food. I am sure if they did not already know me before this, they now certainly did.