𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐁𝐈𝐍𝐃 | BRADLEY 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 BRADSHAW

𝐈 𝐀𝐈𝐍'𝐓 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐃

━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎𝑹𝑬𝑩𝑬𝑪𝑪𝑨 𝑴𝑰𝑻𝑪𝑯𝑬𝑳𝑳✈︎

"So..." Phoenix makes motions with her hands urging me to go on. "Did you guys kiss?"

I pick at the picnic table, chipping some of the wood off. "No. We didn't." She sighs slapping a hand on her side of the table.

"Men are stupid!" She spits.

I hold back a laugh, shaking my head. "I'm the one that backed off."

She gives me a questioning look. "Now why would you do that?"

I hesitate, not wanting to give an honest answer. I look out to the ocean. The Hard Deck has the best view of it. The sun was about to set. The sky is painted with different shades and variations of blues, pinks, and purples. "I was scared." I whisper. "I am scared." I roll my eyes as tears prick them.

"What could Cherry Bomb possibly be scared of?" I feel her staring into my soul but I can't bring myself to look at her.

"Rejection. Loosing him again. I feel like I'm stuck in the past and all of my friends are just moving on." I bite my lip. I've barely said anything but I already feel like I've said too much. "I'm sorry. T-This is stupid. Crazy actually." I finally meet her eyes. "Am I crazy?"

She breathes out a laugh. "Rebecca, listen to me." She reaches over the table grabbing my hands before I give myself a splinter. "You are not crazy. Look I don't know much but I know one thing for sure. He loves you." She shakes my hands. "Do you realize how oblivious the both of you are?"I let out a laugh, blinking back tears. "And you still love him. Am I right or am I wrong?" I nod in response. "I say make a move."

I furrow my brows at her. "Didn't you just say yesterday to let him come to me."

"Screw that. He's taking too long!" She shrugs.

I laugh. "Thank you, Phoenix."

"You're welcome, Cherry Bomb." She winks.

"Ladies." I roll my eyes at the familiar voice. I look up to find Hangman and Coyote. "This looks super gay. Got something you want to tell us?" Hangman points to our linked hands.

"You're just mad cause you can't get a chick's attention. No matter how hard you try." Phoenix smiles sarcastically.

Hangman kisses his teeth. "Anyone know why we're here exactly?" He asks, changing the subject.

"No idea. But anything that involves the beach has to be good." I slide my retro shades up the bridge of my nose.

"That's the thing-" I flinch at the voice from behind me. I look and see Bob.

"Geez. We need to stick a bell on you."

"As I was saying." He clears his throat. "We're fighter pilots, why did he bring us to the beach?"

***

"Dogfight football." Maverick throws a football in the air, catching it swiftly. "Meaning we'll be doing attack and defense at the same time."

"What's the point of this?" I whine. I get irritable in the heat.

"I'm building a team. You are my team. Now I need you to act like one." He quickly tosses a football to Hangman and Rooster. "Pick your teams."