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It wasn't the first time Jess visited Sam’s father's house for dinner. However, it was the first time he'd come over as her boyfriend. Nothing was different, except he felt like her dad was shooting unnecessary looks from the other side of the table. It made him uncomfortable, but that’s understandable. Sam was his only daughter. His dad was overprotective of Brooke, especially regarding her boyfriend, Jared. But that could also be because Brooke and Jared started dating when she was the rip age of sixteen, and he was twenty-two. If it hadn't been for their mother, their father would have called the police and filed charges against Jared for statutory rape. Luckily it didn't go that far, and now Jared was part of the family. Jess was only one year older than Sam, and they'd been friends for longer than he could remember.

While Sam helped clean up dinner, Jess always found himself hanging out with her younger brothers. They were chill for only being in middle school. Not to mention they worshiped Jess and thought he was the coolest out of all Sam’s friends. “Crap, no!” Jess yelled as he consistently hit the button on the controller. He always made sure to censor himself around them. He didn't need her father, thinking he was a bad influence on her brothers or even Sam.

After a while, Sam finally found him. He heard her, but he didn't really. Jess hadn't comprehended anything his girlfriend had said to him. “Fudge!” Jess finally died. “Sorry, guys, I tried.” Jess handed the controller over to one of her brothers before turning his attention to Sam, who was still standing in the doorway. He made a face back at her and quickly said his goodbyes, pounding their fists. Jess got off the beanbag and made his way to Sam. “I’m sorry,” he turned her around, wrapping his arms around her from behind as they moved down the hallway. “I’m all yours now. I promise.”

Sam's dad had married Amber not long after her mother had remarried. Amber already had two sons, both older than Sam, when they got together and then they welcomed two more sons to their new family unit my Amber's two sons had both since moved away from the islands and gone to college on the mainland and Sam was honestly grateful for that tonight. They were as protective as her dad was and had already tried intimidating Jess when he was still only a friend.

Her younger half brothers, however, they idolized Jess. They were constantly bugging her to invite him over whenever she stayed with them. Sam loved all of her parents but Amber was the one that she felt most comfortable talking about boys with so as they did the dishes, they chatted about the dinner and how amazing of a boyfriend Jess is. Once done, Amber and her dad went for their evening walk to decompress from the day, leaving Sam in charge of her brothers for the meantime.

"Hey nerds. Jess and I will be in my room if you need anything until dad and mom get back." Sam didn't even care that Jess hadn't heard her, she was too busy watching him be adorable. She immediately placed a hand on her hips and acted annoyed when he finally looked over at her. She enjoyed the fact that intermingle with both her families without any weirdness because they'd already been doing it for years under different circumstances.

"About damn time that I get my turn with you." Sam teased as they ventured off to her room together. Once there, she left the door cracked before joining him on the bed. Plopping down on her back she rubbed her stomach. "I'm sooooo full! You were right, I shouldn't have had that last bread stick." Rolling onto her side to face him, she smiled at him until he smiled back and when he did, she gently poked his dimple with her finger. "So cute."

Jess always wished for younger brothers as a kid. He was bummed when he realized he would only ever have an annoying prissy older sister. So, he enjoyed his time with Sam's little brothers.

Jess climbed into bed and stretched before making himself comfortable on Sam's bed. He rolled to his side, sliding his arm underneath the pillow, and closed his eyes. "I've told you this. I'm always right, baby. You just gotta listen to me," he commented. Jess didn't open his eyes until Sam started to shift to face him. He smiled, but it became more prominent after she poked his dimple. "You like my dimple, huh?" He said before taking her hand and holding it between them on the pillow.

"I never asked, how'd things go with Leighton?" Jess didn't pretend to understand girls. He was clueless, just like the next guy, but he always tried to see things from their perspective. So while they were all best friends, Jess understood why Leighton may not have wanted to shout from the rooftops that she slept with one of the biggest players in school. But, on the other hand, he also understood why his girlfriend got her feelings hurt. It was just a big mess of drama, and Jess was hoping the girls could hash it out on their own without him or Spencer needing to get involved.

He let go of her hand, pushing her hair over her shoulder so he could better see the side of her face before resting it on her hip. "You wanna do something this weekend? Just me and you?" They'd been doing a lot of group activities lately, and Jess thought it'd been good for them as a couple to do their own thing. He loved their friends and hanging out with them, but Jess and Sam weren't just fuck buddies anymore. They needed their own time now. "I was thinking maybe go-carting and dinner?" Jess suggested.

Despite her best efforts not to, Sam was pretty sure she made a face when Jess asked about Leighton. She'd honestly been trying not to think about it. Clearly, she had because Jess gave her a concerned look. "No. It's not like that. We had a heart to heart, we're good, I promise... It's just... hmm," she paused trying to figure out how to properly word what she wanted to say. "She told me something and that's why I made that face and like I hate doing this but like... I don't think I can tell you what it is. Maybe one day, just not yet."

Sam felt the tension leave her body when suggested that they have some solo time together soon. Her hand moved from on top of the pillow to under it as she found part of his arm to rest on instead. It didn't matter that they were right next to each other or that he already had his hand on her hip, she always found herself wanting to be touching him too. Anything to feel closer to him. It seemed like the longer they dated, the more addicted she found herself addicted to him.

"Of course, I want to do something with just us. Go-carting though? Sounds like you spent too much time with those two out there," she nodded toward the door where the sounds of her brothers playing could be heard. "I'm only teasing babe, go-carting and dinner sounds fun. I fear you might be spoiling me though... We don't have to go out and do anything special every time. We could easily just spend some time at the beach together and I'd be happy."

Sam didn't want him thinking that they shouldn't still have dates or anything, but he'd been spending a lot of his money on her since they began dating and she didn't want him thinking that he had to in order to keep her happy. She was still the same girl who wasn't afraid to eat some cheap fast food and roam around town just looking for trouble to get into.

It didn't offend Jess that Sam couldn't tell him what Leighton had told her. They had their friendship just the way he had his friendship with Spencer. He respected it enough not to pry. “All good, baby. I'm just happy the two of you could hash it out.” Jess didn't like awkwardness or drama. It killed his carefree vibe.

Jess chuckled when Sam mentioned it sounded like he still wanted to hang out with her little brothers. “I mean, I could take you to a movie or something generic. But no, you’d probably think that was boring and lame,” Jess elaborated with a grin. “I know you are, baby,” he said, acknowledging it was only a joke. There wasn't any pressure thinking up things to do when they were just friends. Now, he pondered more than usual about what to do and where to take Sam because he didn't want to disappoint her.

He pulled his arm from underneath the pillow and scooped her up, pulling her into him. Jess tangled his legs with hers while his other hand moved to the side of her face. “I'm not spoiling you. I'm treating you the way you should be,” he stated. “You deserve the world, Sam, and I just want to help give it to you.” Jess rested his head against her forehead, brushing his nose against her before kissing her softly. He pulled away, laying his head on the same pillow as hers. “You’re my girlfriend now, and I’m going to treat you as such.” Jess hasn’t had many girlfriends. But the ones he did have, he always treated them the way he’d seen his father treat his mother. It just so happens he has a better example than most.

Jess leaned in and kissed her again, but this time with tongue. He knew it would be tricky trying not to become aroused, but he didn’t want to fight the urges. As their kiss continued, his hand moved to the small of her back, pulling her body into his. He could feel himself start to become excited, he pulled back and sighed. Jess licked his lips, “I can’t. I’m sorry,” he said, looking at her apologetically before he rolled onto his back. “I feel like someone can barge in any minute.”

Sam melted into his arms, trying not to smile like an idiot while he spoke. She knew him well enough to know that he'd always been the hopeless romantic type, but it still felt so surreal to her that she was the lucky girl who got to be loved by him. She constantly found herself thinking about the fact that if any of his other relationships had lasted before she realized her feelings for him, she would have been screwed out of the best catch on the island.

"Swoon," was all she could bring herself to say before he kissed her. She kissed him back, her hand running through his hair. As much as she enjoyed making out with him, she didn't mind when he pulled away. She never had any intentions of going any further than heavy kissing anyway. "You don't have to be sorry, dummy. I mean, I highly doubt anything is going to tear them away from game time, but no, over the clothes touching and kisses is all you're getting tonight, mister." Sam informed him with a playful wink.

Sam kissed him on the nose before pulling away and sitting up, peeking through the crack in the door and down the hallway to double check that there were no prying eyes. "Not that I was super worried or anything, but I'd say dinner went great. Even with my dad wanting to display his dominance or whatever the hell that was he was doing with those weird looks he was giving you. I'm willing to bet that as we speak, he and Amber are talking about how totally amazing you are and how happy they are that we ended up together." After talking in the kitchen, Sam already knew for certain that Amber was.

Sam grabbed her phone, opened the camera and held it up. "Smile, lover boy." She snapped a few selfies of them before putting it back to sleep and setting it back on her nightstand. Sam spent a lot of time on her phone, like any other teenager, but whenever she was having alone time with Jess, she went out of her way to try leave it alone so he could have all of her attention. Still, she needed cute pictures of them to stare at and share with everyone.

It still felt wrong, especially after everything that happened tonight with her father. “Yeah, well, you might not even get that,” he teased as he pulled at his pants, trying to adjust himself and gather his composure. “Your brothers are the last ones I’m worried about barging in.”

“We’re we at the same dinner?” He asked with a little chuckle. “If looks could kill, I’d be fucking dead, babe. Your dad used to be cool with me hanging around. I mean, now, I guess it’s a bit different. I’m no longer just your friend. Out of everyone on this island, though, I think I’m a pretty good catch.” He never quite had this issue; his girlfriends' parents usually loved him. It threw him for a loop. Jess twisted one of the many rings on his fingers as he listened to Sam trying to reassure him about her parents. She knew her parents better than anyone. If she said everything would work out, Jess had no reason not to believe her. “Okay, okay. I hear you.”

Jess hated taking photos of himself or with anyone, but with Sam, he was always willing to. It seemed to make her happy, the only thing that mattered to him. “Don’t forget to send those to me,” he said as she sat her phone to the side and he got out of bed. Jess dug into the front pockets of his jeans, looking for his marijuana pen. Once finding it, he tossed it on the bed before Sam, so she had something to puff on. “I wanna go smoke,” he informed her, pulling out his pack of cigarettes from his back pocket. Jess extended his arm for Sam to take his hand.

On the porch, Jess sat on the front step before lighting up. His thoughts were still consumed by what happened at dinner. “I’m going to get him to like me. By Thanksgiving, we will be like this,” he said, crossing his middle finger over his pointer to show how close they would be, with his cigarette in his mouth.

Sam chuckled slightly as she watched him straighten himself up. "Their walks are usually like forty-five minutes minimum. But fine, if you're not going to do it, I will." She teased as she gave her own boob a squeeze. "Seriously though, he loves you. You are an amazing catch, and he knows how happy you make me. He's just putting on the tough guy act to make sure you stay in line, and clearly it is working. "

"Of course," Sam stated with a nod when he requested the pictures for himself. Grabbing his weed pen, she smiled up at him like a kid in a candy store before taking his hand and climbing off the bed and following him outside. Sam just shook her head and chuckled at him; he'd just been so worried about getting caught making out but here they were smoking on the porch. "Whatever you say, baby. I really don't think it'll take even that long though."

Sam hit the weed pen, checking to make sure her brothers weren't peeking out the window spying on them. Last thing she wanted was them tattling on her. They may have idolized Jess enough to not want to get him in trouble, but their sister wouldn't be as lucky. The flashing on the wall told her they were probably in the middle of battling in their game. Relaxing in her spot next to him on the stairs, she hit it again before passing it to Jess to hit in between drags of his cigarette.

Moving behind him, she placed a leg on either side of him and began massaging his back. "My family adores you. Even if they didn't, it doesn't matter because I love you and that's all that matters to me. Luckily, we don't have to even worry about that." Her arms worked their way around to his front as she hugged him from behind.

Jess inhaled deeply and exhaled as he leaned back into his girlfriend, rubbing one of his eyes. It was irritated from the wind blowing his smoke into his face. He immediately felt comforted by his girlfriend's arms around him. “I love you too. I’m never going to get tired of hearing you say that,” he placed one of his hands over hers that rested on him.

“Oh! I almost forgot,” Jess exclaimed. “Brooke was at the house today. She wanted to know if we wanted to tag along on a weekend getaway she and Jared had planned. She said the stay was on them, so I told her I’d ask and see what you wanted to do,” he said to his girlfriend, shifting his body on the step to the side to see her better. “I think this is also her attempt to get to know you better,” Jess smiled and took a drag off his cigarette. Brooke never went out of her way to hang out with him and his girlfriends. Granted, none of his girlfriends prior had ever been as important as Sam, and Brooke knew that.

He chewed on his bottom lip as he stared off into the distance. Jess was starting to feel the effect of his weed pen. “I picked up a shift tomorrow after school, so I won’t be able to meet you at the beach. I hope that’s okay?” Jess said before turning his head back to her. Since he had the luxury of making his schedule at the restaurant, Jess wandered in whenever he needed the extra cash. He wasn’t complaining, but he had spent much more on Sam over the last few weeks than he had intended. But because it seemed to make her happy, Jess wanted to keep up this monument, so he knew he would have to pick up many more shifts other than tomorrow. “I was thinking, though. You could come after or skip surfing altogether and hang out while I make some money. Then after my shift, we can have dinner?” He knew it was ridiculous, but Jess didn’t want to be without her. Sam gave him butterflies every day. He was addicted to the way she made him feel.

Once finishing the rest of his cigarette, Jess swiped the cherry against the cement until it was out before putting the remainder in his pocket. He wasn’t trying to give Sam’s father another reason to dislike him. Jess got off the step before turning around to face Sam. Holding his hands out, Jess pulled her towards him when she placed her hands in his. He nuzzled his face into the side of her neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Jess finally pulled back to look at her, admiring her beauty. “You look gorgeous tonight, by the way,” he said, looking down at her with a grin. Jess moved his hands to the sides of Sam’s face before leaning down and giving her a quick kiss.