Lower Manhattan - Beach

"Neither can I." Lola said trying to look at them.

***

Jacob hugged Evelyn swinging her back and forth. "I'm hungry." He announced, where Jake then proceeded to nibble on Evelyn's ear.

Carrie shook her head. "Tut tut, what's this?" she asked with a wry grin, turning around to head back down the boardwalk. "We're back to square one again."

***

"Jake - what the hell?" Evelyn asked, alarmed as her ear stung. She pulled away, wriggling until she was free. Her stomach turned nervously and she suddenly realized this wasn't completely friendly behaviour, nor was her reaction to Jake's "friendly" actions very platonic. She shook her head. "W-we should, um, head back." Her voice came out a little more breathlessly than she'd expected it to and she swallowed.

Lola shook her head snickering. "Will they ever learn?"

***

Jacob hadn't meant to make Evelyn uncomfortable, but it seems like it was all he could manage to do as of lately. "Right, let's go." He said looking down and walking past Evelyn.

Evelyn cringed as she watched him and her stomach dropped guiltily. "Jake, I - I didn't mean to..." She paused, not sure what it was she hadn't meant to do. She reached out and caught his wrist as he moved past her. Ignoring the warmth from his skin on her cold hand, she continued, "I just figured we should head back, is all."

"Yeah I know, I wanna go back I'm hungry." Jake gave her a faint smile and gave her hand a small squeeze. "Come on."

Evelyn fell silent, letting him lead the way back to their towels.

By the time they got back, the twins and Seth were lying on their towels, soaking up the last of the sun's dying rays. Seth was complaining abotu how his tan-factor (whatever that was, Evelyn didn't know) was at a low and he couldn't wait to hit a real beach.

Carrie was back to reading the book Evelyn had left but lifted her head to greet the two when they approached. Evelyn saw her eyes flick down and rest on something, and realized she was still holding Jake's hand.

Evelyn hastily pulled away and shoved her hands into the pockets of her shorts as Carrie grinned and returned to reading.

"Where've you been?" Seth asked Jake sleepily. "We held an underwater burial for Ashton. Unfortunately - "

"It nearly became a real funeral," Ashton said, glaring over at Seth from his towel.

"I guess someone is sensitive when it comes to putting their heads underwater." Antonio snorted looking at his brother.

Jacob shrugged looking over at Seth. "Just walking around and stuff." He said sitting down at his old spot.

"Dude," Seth commented. "I think I saw a seahorse."

"A seahorse? How, they're like small as hell." Jake asked.

"I have awesome vision, grandma," Seth countered. He winked. "And an eye for all things worth lookin' at."

"That comment was so near bestiality, I won't question it," Evelyn remarked, pulling her cardigan off and looking around for her crop top. "Isn't there a bathroom to change nearby?"

"In that K-mart," Carrie answered absently. Evelyn got up, grabbed her clothes and bag, and walked off down the boardwalk.

Seht waited till he was certain Evelyn wasn't going to turn around before pulling a face after her. He glanced at Jake, amused. "Unlike your clouded scoping abilities, clearly."

"What the hell are you even saying?" Jake said narrowing his eyes at Seth.

Seth answered by reaching over and smacking Jake's head nicely. "Nuthin'!" he said with a grin, turning to lie back down. "I wasn't insulting your ability to scope, you know, sane girls who wouldn't present life-threatening situations or anything."

Carrie was luckily engrossed int he book she was reading, so didn't hear this.

Jacob realized this was a hit about him hanging around Evelyn instead of a sane girl that wouldn't abuse him as much as she did so Jake just pulled a face at Seth. "Oh shut up. " He said dropping back on to his towel.

"I'm jus' sayin'," Seth said, lowering his voice because he didn't feel like being punched by Carrie. "You're at the beach, there were a dozen girls eyeing you but you know, nothin' wrong with playing the field."

"I didn't notice." Jake muttered, truth was he wasn't even paying attention.

Seth pulled a face. Jake was suc a sap. "You're a sap," he informed the Spaniard. "You know, of course, you could just loosen Red up some." He winked. "I'm just sayin' she doesn't seem to be going anywhere...but her prude nature kind of gets in the way."

"She can be a prude if she wants whatever." Jake said kind of distracted poking his towel and looking up at the sky as it changed colors while the sun set.

"Or you can snap out of it and realize you haven't gotten laid since January," Seth pointed out bluntly. "And anyone can see it's affecting your relationship with her. Hell, right down to the way you look at her!"

"He's kind of right," Ashton said quietly so the girls wouldn't hear.

"So what do you want me to do Seth?" Jake asked trying to keep his voice so Carrie wouldn't overhear. "Go fuck the first girl I see?" He hissed.

"I'm not gonna stop you if you do," Seth informed him calmly, "but I meant, you know, maybe since you and Red don't seem to be working out, you might as well help her, um, loosen up, because man, that girl needs to get laid. She is way too wound up all the time!"

Jake snorted. "Ha I can't help her there, she won't even let me poke her." Jake said bluntly which was true he bit her earlier on the pier and she damn near flipped. Then again she bit his neck when he was carrying her around so really he didn't know what to think.

"And yet I saw you having a cozy moment just earlier, liar," Seth replied smugly. He reached over and poked Jake's ribs hard. "Seriously, give her a crash course in biology, she's totally failing."

Ashton stifled a laugh. "Or gymnastics," he added.

Jake groaned turning over so his back was facing Seth. "She's never gonna go for it."

"For Jesus' sake," Seht said, "Use your useless charm! If you have any left! I mean, c'mon, the girl can't handle -"

He shut up instantly and Ashton looked around, spotting the reason. Evelyn had returned from her trip, back in her denim shorts and crop top with no bathing suit underneath. She evidently didn't seem to have realized the top was cropped to a little below her ribs and revealed a fair few inches of skin, or she didn't care because she pulled her cardigan on over it to hide her exposed stomach as she sat down on her towel, stretched out and crossed her legs at the ankles and began talking to the girls.

Seth coughed and gave Jake a small nudge with his knee at the small of Jake's back as if to indicate this was something Jake should have noticed about her prudish nature. "See, you'd be doing the world a favour by curing her nun clothing!" he muttered to the Spaniard.

"So what, you guys want me to turn her into a whore?" Jake asked coldly and as quietly as he could he honestly didn't want Evelyn hearing any of this. So what she was a prude? What did it matter to him? It made him feel somewhat better knowing that Evelyn wouldn't be making out with random strange guys or dressing like half the girls he had hooked up with.