Bianca knew JC had tried his hardest to make her feel better about their situation, and he had succeeded, until she saw the picture on his end table. JC had risen from the couch to go to the bathroom and she turned her head to her left and saw the two picture frames side by side. She had never noticed them before, and knew that the second picture had been placed there recently because it was of she and JC on the beach in Malibu the previous month. She smiled and picked up the frame remembering how much fun they had had.
It hadn't exactly been beach weather, according to JC, but to Bianca, it was perfect. A storm had passed the night before and the gray waves crashed hard and fast on the shore. Behind the still discolored clouds, rays of sunlight struggled to fight through, and most importantly, the only people on the beach besides the couple were the hardcore surfers.
"Why would anyone want to come to the beach on a day like this?" JC asked her.
"Because," she answered with a smile. "Look around, it's practically deserted. And look at the sky and the pinks and the blues and the grays painted across it… it's breathtaking."
She had been so lost in her reverie she hadn't noticed JC slipping behind her until she was lifted in the air. "What are you doing?" she screeched. He spun her around until he was dizzy and collapsed on the sand on top of her. They both laughed long and hard before JC sobered and brushed blond strands out of her face. He traced a line down her cheek with his index finger and she sucked a breath. The corners of his lips turned up and before Bianca knew, they were on hers.
In JC's living room, Bianca smiled. They had asked one of the surfers to take the picture of them with their arms around each other, smiling brightly, not long after their kiss, before they left for JC's beach house to rinse off. Her smile quickly faded though when she realized who was in the picture next to it.
She wore a black camisole and blue jeans, and her chestnut hair pulled back with tendrils framing her face. Bianca swallowed. Ally Bennett was beautiful, and with a pain in Bianca's heart, she wondered if she would ever live up to her.
JC smiled as he made his way back to the couch. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how lucky he was to have Bianca. She came to him and told him what was wrong without creating an entire dramatic piece out of it all. He had felt slightly guilty when she voiced her concerns to him. But, when he looked into her dark eyes and those words tumbled from his mouth, he knew he meant them. He was also convinced that he had made her feel better about the whole thing, until he saw her holding one of his picture frames.
"Hey, baby," he said, mentally smacking himself for even placing a picture of he and Bianca next to one of Ally, especially in a place where she would see it.
"Hey," she answered softly putting the picture down.
"Bianca, don't forget what I said," JC told her.
Bianca reached out to hold one of his hands. "I can't be her."
"I don't want you to be," he answered firmly.
Bianca smiled, but her eyes, he noticed sadly, didn't sparkle. "C'mon, babe, I'm tired."
JC helped her up from the couch. "Go ahead on up, baby," he told her. He watched her walk ahead of him to the staircase and then he turned his attention back to the photographs. With a sigh, he picked up the one of Ally and put it face down.
* * *
JC hadn't thought to knock on his own bedroom door, and when he opened it to find Bianca with her shirt off, he was glad he hadn't. "Jesus, Jace, scared the shit outta me!" she exclaimed with a jump when she found him at the door.
JC smiled. "Sorry." He wasn't sure how much trouble he was in with Bianca. Even though he had tried to smooth things over, he understood that she had to be hurting and confused and he didn't like that.
Not at all.
And it really surprised him, because he was starting to really care about her more than he thought he could.
Bianca swallowed hard when she heard JC's melodic voice that had the power to make her blood boil. He was the most beautiful man she had ever had the pleasure of being in close proximity with, she decided. He closed the door and slowly walked over to her and reached on his bed for her nightshirt. Bianca returned his devilish smile as she lifted her arms and he dressed her. Once her head came up, JC leaned over and lightly kissed her lips. Bianca placed a hand on the back of his head when he pulled away and brought him back to her. She teasingly bit his lower lip and he moaned before crashing his lips down onto hers. Bianca's hands gripped his thick hair and her fingers ran through it while he held her with his right arm and ran his left hand up and down her right side.
Bianca knew she should angry with JC, really angry in fact. However, when she replayed his words over in her mind, a warm sensation started in the pit of her stomach and rose all the way to her heart. And at that moment while his tongue swept her mouth and his lips massaged hers softly, she didn't care about Ally because for the first time Bianca realized why it was called falling in love.
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