All Chapters of Toxic Paradise : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

The place he took me to was really quite cute. There were options to sit both inside and outside, but due to the rain, we had to sit inside. It wasn't an overly large place, but there also were not very many customers. Aside from the two of us, there were only two other occupied tables. The inside was dimly lit, and it looked more like a dive bar with cute beachy decorations and funny bar signs all over. We were seated across from each other in a corner booth, and were currently scanning the extensive menu.The air conditioner was blasting in here, and I was glad to have decided on the sweatshirt. I pulled it tighter around my body."Cold?" Alec asked.I nodded."Want to trade sides? You're sitting right under the air vent," he offered.I nodded again, "If you don't mind, that would be great."He stood up and I scurried passed him to sit on the other side of the booth. I could still feel the air conditioner, but it was a little better. "This is better, thank you," I said. It looked l

“Ouch!" I complained dramatically as I dipped my foot into the hot tub. I pulled it back out immediately, repeating the process until the water was tolerable. "I swear this is even hotter than last time."Ryan just watched me in amusement. I never understood how people could just walk right into the tub without any adjustment stage. He and Alec both could, and I just didn't get it."Any day now, Jay," Ryan teased."I'll get there," I responded. "Speaking of days... how was yours? Everything okay with your job?"Ryan leaned his head back, closing his eyes before responding. "Yeah. There was just a glitch with some of the finances. It's all resolved now though."I lowered myself in so that I was now squatting on the seat with the water up to my bellybutton. "Well, that's good then. Does this mean you're off the hook for a while so that we can hang out?""I think so! Fingers crossed," Ryan said with a smile. "How was your day? I see you convinced Alec to take you out?"I smiled, finally

Waking up this morning, I felt strange. I kept replaying my interaction with Alec last night over and over in my head. I didn't think what I felt for him was one sided... but after what he said last night, I couldn't help but wonder if it was. Had I been the one to lean in? Was every spark, jealousy driven moment, and ounce of attraction just a figment of my imagination?Just as I felt my head was going to explode, my phone lit up with an incoming phone call from Maddie. I answered, holding my phone at the most unflattering angle I could capture as her face appeared on my screen."Morning, bitch!" She screeched.I groaned. "You are way to chipper for this early in the morning."She rolled her eyes. "It's 9:00— why are you even still in bed? Don't you and Ryan have some amazing adventure planned?"I laughed, "Not really; I think we may go to breakfast somewhere, but other than that we were just going to have a pool day. Apparently there's some huge beach party tonight that Ryan wants

I didn't know what to say. I could feel Noah standing behind me as I stood face to face with Josh and Chris. Seeing Josh's face just reminded me of how crazy I was behaving when he left me sitting on the kitchen island my first week here."Hey Jay," Chris greeted with a smile, "Can we come in?"I shook my head slightly to snap out of it. "Yes, of course, sorry, come on in."I let the two of them walk passed Noah and I as we all made our way into the kitchen to join Ryan and Alec.I was still feeling nervous as I took my seat at the kitchen island, and Noah found a spot standing behind me. Alec and Ryan were both standing up now as well, and were on the other side of the island across from us.Before I could introduce Noah, Alec spoke up. "Oh hey, I know you," he said, looking in our direction."Yeah, I was your surf instructor. Hey man!" Noah greeted, friendly as ever."Not you," Alec responded, fixing his gaze on Josh who was standing beside Noah, "you.""Alec," I warned. If he says

"What the hell!?" I yelled. I was about to storm off to confront Noah when I felt Ryan's hand thread around mine. "Jayna, calm down. He's an asshole. You could go and waste your time and energy cussing him out, or we can do what we do best, and have a good ass time together."Although I was boiling inside, and a little hurt, I decided to take Ryan up on his offer. The rest of the night, the two of us danced, drank, flirted, even swam a little in the ocean, and all the while dodged Noah, Josh, and even Alec.I had an amazing time despite the rough patches, and by the time we arrived back at the house I was happy... and hammered. Ryan went to his bed immediately, giving me a kiss on the cheek and telling me goodnight. I, however, knew that I wouldn't be able to sleep unless I had water handy. I knew I'd be needing it.Again, I didn't want to use a glass for fear of breaking it. So, I did as I have always done and I climbed on top of the counter, standing up and securing a plastic cup i