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●ALEX POV●

After lunch we changed into something a little more comfortable to sit out on the beach and dip our toes in the water . We ran around and splashed each other laughing until out stomach's hurt . The trip started awkward with how I handled the kiss in the car and the double meaning with talking about meat .

Aria is definitely a light and a force to be reckoned with , "Stop.... stop, Alex! Put me down," she giggled as I lifted her in my arms pretending to drop her in the ocean .

I gently put her back down onto her feet and held onto her a little bit longer , "I would never drop you Aria , I'd never let any danger come to you," I told her .

She didn't move either and we stayed in this position for a few minutes. My heart beating quickly as I felt the warmth of being next to her travel throughout my body.

"I'm getting hungry , Alex."

"Me too, should we to back inside?" I look down at her and she nods.

I let her go, even though I didn't want to . It was as if my body refused because I immediately felt an ache .

We walked back into the beach house and I told her I was going to shower off before dinner . Aria asked me if I had anything special planned and I told her to dress casually . I had ordered food the day before to have it delivered here at 7 . I thought about taking her to one of the restaurants here but I felt like being selfish and decided that having it at the house was better . No distractions.

At 6:50 the food was already here . She was still in her room getting ready , so I went ahead and laid out the plates . Pulling out some candles I lit them to set the ambiance. When she came out of the room , she had her hair swept to the side and the pretty red floral sundress she wore just took my breath away . It was like I was looking at an Angel stepping out of heaven .

She nervously tucked her hair behind her ears and then glanced at the dinner table, "Alex, this looks amazing! Don't tell me you cooked this up while I was in the shower."

I chuckled , "I'm good but not THAT good . I had ordered all of this yesterday to be delivered tonight . I hope you like it."

She placed her hand on her chest , "you are truly the sweetest . I guess I get to reap the benefits of being your fake girlfriend , huh?"

That stung a little . A couple weeks ago I couldn't care less but tonight , I do care . I do want to make this fake relationship into something real. She sat down across from me and smiled.

"Wine?" I ask as I open the bottle .

"Most definitely," she said with glee.

Once dinner was over and we had more laughs about our day and other things we were dealing with I suggested we take a walk outside . She nodded and we got up from our seats.

Then everything felt like it was going in slow motion . We didn't talk as we were guided only the light of the moon . A cool breeze passed and Aria shivered slightly . Without thinking much of it I pulled her into my arms to give her some warmth.

It was then that everything stopped as she looked up at me with my arms wrapped around her . My heart was thumping so hard that I was afraid that maybe she heard it and thought I was going into cardiac arrest . But no , she just looked at me.

The moon made her eyes shimmer and I knew , I knew that if I didn't take this chance I would miss my shot . So I bent down and touched my lips to hers. Everything around us faded away as wave after wave of electricity coursed through my body . Tasting her sweet lips was more than I imagined and to me , this was like having a first kiss.

To me , all the other kisses were practice for this one moment . Just when I began to doubt if she felt the same , she pulled me closer to her as she grabbed my neck and ran her fingers through my hair.

This was the moment that Hollywood would always depict in the movies. A kiss that I never believed existed and now here is Aria proving to me that this is real .

When we pulled apart our breaths were heavy trying to get oxygen back into our lungs. She stared at me with passion in her eyes and before we can say another word, our lips crashed into each other again . Like the waves against the rocks we couldn't stop.

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●ARIA POV●

I don't know what came over us but I was not expecting that kiss . At least not from Alex. And what I wasn't expecting even more, was the feeling I got from it . He elicited a deep desire that's been smoldering inside of me . Was it for him or simply to be touched by a man? I couldn't tell you .

But that kiss was fire and the heat that rushed through my body told me that this attraction is real . Wouldn't this complicate our arrangement? Probably. But if he's like me , he has needs too.

Is it a bad idea to get this physical? Maybe , maybe not . Maybe, this is purely physical for him ? I can't answer that but all I know is that at this very moment, I want him .

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The next morning came and I was woken up by the warm rays of the sun that were peeking through the window. Memories of last night came back to me as I looked over to see Alex's glorious naked body . We both wanted it and threw caution at the wind .

The question weighing on me as I move out of the bed to find something to put on is if this was a good or bad decision . Will this complicate things or will it push us into a direction we're supposed to go. So many emotions coursing through me . This was new. New because I acted on impulse . Even Dylan didn't get this far with me this quickly. But there was something about last night that changed things.

Wanting to do something nice for Alex , I grabbed my phone to order us some breakfast. My app said that we should have the food in 45 minutes so I went into the shower to clean up . What I wasn't expecting was someone to join me in the shower .

"What are you doing in here?" I ask him

"It'd be a waste of water if we took showers separately," he said , "besides, I'm not done with you yet," not finishing his sentence before he captured my lips with his tugging my bottom lip with his teeth.

He growled and well, we went another round before we finally got dressed.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Alex asks as he walks over to the door.

"I ordered food for breakfast," I answered him .

I walked over to the front where he had opened the door and I heard him say , "what are you doing here?"

"I've been trying to call you all night," I hear an exasperated voice say . I peered over and I see a disheveled looking Warren.

"What's going on ?" Alex asked .

Warren looks between Alex and I and says , "Penny's in the hospital and I thought you'd want to know."

I know she's a big part of their past but why was he calling Alex?

Dumbfounded , Alex was still . And then he asked , "How did you know I was here?"

"I have the GPS on everyone's phone , remember? And before you ask me why I was calling you , apparently her last phone calls were to you ."

It was like I was hammered back into reality . Alex made no mention about this to me . Not like it would've mattered had he said anything before . But after last night and this morning, I'm feeling all sorts of things but the biggest one is confusion.

"Which hospital?" Alex asked .

Warren gave him the address and Alex looked at me with an apologetic expression . I was even more confused than ever but I know I should be pissed . Play the girlfriend role of being angry that he hid this from me . And you know what? I don't have to fake that one bit .

As Alex left , our breakfast arrived and Warren looked at me . Before he can apologize I cut him off , "I don't want this to go to waste, want to eat before you take off?"

"Take off? How are you getting home?" He asked with concern.

"I can order a ride, no biggie."

He gives me an odd look, "do you want me to take you home? Or take you to the hospital?"

I can feel a low simmer begin to brew , "what for? My boyfriend seems to have been in contact with his ex that I had zero clue about. Seems like I pick all the faithful ones , huh?"