by Erica Lee
I made my way over to her and slid onto the bar stool next to hers, leaning in close to whisper in her ear. “I hate to say it, but your cheerleading friend didn’t age very well.”
Charlie’s eyes went wide as she looked at me and then over toward the balding man working the bar. When her eyes met mine once again, her lips curled into an amused grin. “Looks like I’ve been caught.”
I lifted one eyebrow, while smiling back at her. “I can keep a secret if you can.”
Charlie reached her hand out toward me. “You have yourself a deal.”
When my hand made contact with hers, it felt like an electrical current had surged from her body to mine, and I felt myself shivering as a chill ran down my spine. For a split second, I contemplated if Charlie had felt it too, but of course she hadn’t. It was just my stupid hormones messing with me. “So, I didn’t take you as a soccer fan,” I remarked, trying to level myself.
“Why? Because I was a cheerleader? You do realize that cheerleaders literally cheer at sporting events, right?” Charlie bumped her shoulder against mine.
“Obviously, but to be completely honest, I never really thought the cheerleaders actually realized, or cared, what was going on.”
Charlie lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “I guess it’s kind of fifty-fifty, but I love sports. I was so pissed when I found out that we were going to be sipping tea while the guys were watching the game at some sports bar.”
“You and me both,” I laughed, while lifting the glass of beer that the bartender had just handed to me. When Charlie tapped her glass against mine, it felt like her eyes lingered on mine longer than necessary for a simple toast, but I quickly blew this off as wishful thinking.
We watched the game in silence for a few minutes, only making slight grunting noises in response to big plays, before Charlie turned to look at me again. “So, where exactly did you tell my family you were going?”
“I said I had to go to the bathroom which, looking back, probably wasn’t the best lie.”
A mischievous grin surfaced on Charlie’s face in response to my words. “It actually might be the perfect lie. That is, if you’re interested in getting out of here and watching the second half back at my house and also if you’re okay with my family thinking that you came down with a bad case of diarrhea.”
“You can tell your family that I came down with dysentery if it means we can get the hell out of here.”
Charlie’s smile grew as she hopped off of her bar stool. “Perfect. Head out to the car. I’ll meet you out there in about five minutes.”
I didn’t question her plan, and instead, headed toward the parking lot. As promised, Charlie met me there five minutes later, keys in hand. “My mom is getting a ride home with Aunt Dina. She told me to let you know she hopes you feel better. They had just started some card game when I got there, so it will be hours before she’s home. That means it’s just you, me, and Nana until the guys get back from the bar.”
I twisted my face in uncertainty. “Do you think we have to worry about Nana blowing our cover?”
Charlie snorted at my question. “Absolutely not. She locks herself in her room every single weekday from one to five to watch her soaps. She won’t even realize we’re home.”
As soon as we got back to the house, I grabbed shorts and a T-shirt and headed to the bathroom to change. I struggled to fight the zipper down on my own to avoid asking Charlie for help. By the time I made it downstairs, Charlie was already sprawled out on the couch. If I thought she looked good in her dress, she looked downright tasty in her sweatpants and USA Soccer T-shirt. I forced myself to look away and took a seat on the recliner located a few feet from the couch.
As we watched the game, I had to keep reminding myself to keep my eyes on the screen. During one of my many slip-ups, Charlie’s eyes met mine. “So, what other sports do you like, aside from soccer?” I asked, trying to make an excuse for my stare.
Charlie’s face lit up in response as if I had asked her the one question she was dying to answer. Then again, she was probably just excited to be talking about anything other than small town gossip and babies. “I love all sports, but football is my all-time favorite. Probably because of all of the years I watched Jamie play. He and I also used to play pretty intense games of one-on-one tackle football in the backyard. Of course, that ended when my mother decided it was undignified for a young woman to be rolling around in the dirt.”
“She didn’t really say that, did she?”
Charlie playfully threw a throw pillow from the couch at me. “Have you met my mother? Obviously she said that.”
I took the pillow and placed it behind my head before looking back at Charlie. “So, I take it since you’re from Maryland, you’re a Ravens fan just like your brother.”
Charlie smirked. “Not quite. I’m actually a Cowboys fan.”
There it was. I finally found something about this girl that was an absolute turn off. “Now I’m really going to be sick,” I joked. “Please tell me that’s a lie.”
With that, Charlie broke into a fit of laughter. “Of course it’s a lie. I hate the Cowgirls. I just figured you were an Eagles fan since Jamie told me you’re originally from outside of Philly. From the look on your face, I can tell I was right and, man, was it worth it.”
“That was just rude.” I threw the pillow back at her.
Charlie wiggled her eyebrows and stuck her tongue out at me. “Sorry. I couldn’t help myself. I hope you didn’t want this pillow, by the way, because you’re not getting it back.”
“Is that so?”
Before Charlie could respond, I hopped out of my chair and onto the couch, trying to grab the pillow from her lap. She quickly pulled it away, putting it underneath her back. Forgetting all about where I was and who I was with, I lunged forward, landing on top of Charlie as I tried to reach around her. I froze when I realized what position I was in, and Charlie’s body went stiff underneath mine. Losing all self-control, my eyes drifted to Charlie’s lips and I allowed myself to imagine what it would be like to lean in and kiss her. These thoughts were interrupted when I felt strong hands push on my shoulders. Before I could comprehend what was happening, my body had flipped off of the couch, and I landed on the floor with a loud thud. The impact would have hurt if it wasn’t being overpowered by my embarrassment over my lack of judgment. Judging by how forcefully Charlie had pushed me away, I had a bad feeling she had noticed me staring at her lips and figured out what was going through my mind at that moment. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping I could somehow turn back time, and keep myself from completely blowing the cover off of this fake relationship.
“Shit!” Charlie’s voice cut through the silence. “I totally did not mean to push you that hard.” When she looked down at me, her cheeks were flushed. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good. No broken bones and I’m not bleeding,” I joked, trying to rectify the situation. “Did you get those muscles from cheerleading? All this time I figured you must have been a top, but now I’m wondering if you were a bottom, with strength like that.” When Charlie’s cheeks went from a light pink to a deep red, it hit me what I had just said. “Of the pyramid. In cheerleading. The top or bottom of the pyramid. That’s what you guys call it, right?” At this point I was rambling, but I couldn't stop myself.
Charlie was still staring at me, eyes wide. When I finally forced myself to stop talking, she pointed over her shoulder. “I’m just going… I… I need to use the restroom.” She was out of the room before I could say another word.
Less than a minute later, I heard the front door open, and soon Jamie was standing beside the couch staring at me. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at me straight-faced. “When my mom texted me to tell me that you got sick, I figured you lied so you could sneak off and watch the game. I guess I was wrong. You look like shit.”
“Wow. Thanks a lot, dear.”
Jamie’s face took on a more sympathetic appearance as he sat down next to me and put a
n arm around my shoulder. “I’m sorry you’re not feeling well. But, hey, I have some good news. I was thinking about what you said…about my sister. You’re right. I need to start opening up to her more. I’m not ready to come out to her, but I do think this is a good chance for us to become closer. If you’re feeling better, I thought the three of us could do something together. Just the three of us. Then you get a break from my parents. How does that sound?”
“Sounds great,” I muttered.
Just great.
Chapter 4: Charlie
If I didn’t know any better, I would swear there was chemistry between Reagan and I. The electric current flowing from her body to mine whenever we were close was so palpable it seemed impossible that only I felt it. I found it hard to believe that a feeling so strong could only be one-sided. But it was. I had to keep reminding myself of that. There wasn’t some magical connection between us. It wasn’t fate that had brought us together. It was, quite literally, my brother who had. The same brother who had come to my room last night to reiterate how much he has missed me and tell me how excited he is to get closer this summer. The brother who had planned a day away from my parents and was nice enough to invite me to come along. That sweet, caring brother who was madly in love with the girl that I had developed a stupid crush on.
I wanted to chastise myself for having these feelings, but I could also see that it was way beyond my control. What I needed to do was hide it better. Reagan hadn’t done anything to make me believe she had caught on to my crush, but I wasn’t sure how she hadn’t. Yesterday had been one slip-up after another. First, there was the way my breath hitched as I was zipping up her dress. Then there was the whole couch incident. She was clearly just messing around, but for a moment, I let myself believe that she was just as turned on as I was. I’m not sure why my gut reaction to snapping out of that was to Incredible Hulk her right off of the couch. As if all that wasn’t bad enough, I freaked out when she made an accidental sexual innuendo. Even with all of my awkwardness, Reagan had still acted completely cool toward me both last night and this morning, which sucked in the grand scheme of things. Maybe if she wasn’t so laid back about everything, I could kill these feelings.
“Charlie? Hello? Earth to Charlie.” My brother’s voice brought me back to reality. I focused my eyes in front of me to see him and Reagan sharing a laugh at my expense. “Welcome back. I’ve been trying to tell you that we arrived, but you were out in space. Who’s the guy?”
“Excuse me?” I choked out.
Jamie smirked in response to my question. “The guy you were thinking about. You had this dreamy look in your eyes so I figured it must be some guy.”
Or your girlfriend…
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I teased, proud of myself for keeping my cool.
“Actually, no,” Jamie chuckled. “If you told me who it was, I would have to beat him up, and I don’t feel like getting violent.”
Reagan responded to his joke by giving him a playful slap on the arm. “Stop trying to act like a tough guy. You know you wouldn’t beat him up. If there is someone, we would be happy to meet him, Charlie,” Reagan informed me, although I couldn’t help but notice that her eyes didn’t meet mine as she said it.
What was that all about? Was she feeling uncomfortable about how I acted yesterday? As if my thoughts had transferred from my brain right over to hers, she made eye contact with me. This sudden change had my body reacting in all sorts of ways. All sorts of terribly incredible ways. Her dark sparkling eyes latched onto mine for a few agonizing seconds before she spoke.
“I still can’t believe that you guys have a boat! This one over here never told me. I’m so excited!”
“Have you ever been water skiing?” I asked, hoping she didn’t realize how my voice had cracked in response to those eyes continuing to bore into me.
“I haven’t, but I’m pumped to try.” She lifted her eyebrows up and down, then turned back around, leaning in closer to Jamie to whisper words that I wasn’t able to decipher. He gave his head a quick shake, then hopped out of the car.
Soon the boat was in the water and the three of us were stripping down into just our bathing suits. The bikini Reagan was wearing was even skimpier than the one she’d worn to the pool the other day. If this was a different world, I would have thought she was doing it to grab my attention, which obviously worked. I tried not to let my eyes linger, but the sight was too damn mesmerizing to not take it in. Her flat stomach had a cluster of freckles just like the ones on her face. I let my mind wander to what it would feel like to trace my finger along those freckles, imagining what it would be like to hear a soft moan escape from Reagan’s mouth in response. Except that wouldn’t happen. What was wrong with me? Never in my life had I let a girl have this kind of effect on me. It felt borderline creepy, but was also impossible to stop.
I tore my eyes away and looked over at my brother. At least I wouldn’t feel alone if I watched him ogling her as well. Except there was one problem. He wasn’t ogling at all. His focus was on starting up the engine. Great. Even my brother, who was dating the girl, had more sense than to stare at her like she was some rare piece of art. Really though. She was.
Jamie caught my eye and waved me over. “Sis! Do you want to captain first so I can show you ladies how it’s done on the water skis?”
I rolled my eyes at him and chuckled. “How quickly you forget which Miller sibling is actually a good water skier. Plus, I lived in Cali for eight years. I’m practically a mermaid at this point. How often do you guys take the boat out on Broadway?”
My brother’s smile grew with my words. “What I really forgot was how funny you think you are.”
I shook my head and threw a life vest at him, then sat at the steering wheel. I forgot how much I had missed this back and forth banter with my brother. It used to be like that between us all the time. I wasn’t even sure when we had drifted apart. Maybe it was college. Maybe the distance was just too much. The distance and my big secret. I sighed to myself, then drove the boat out to the middle of the water before cutting the engine so Jamie could get himself set up.
“You okay to be the spotter?” I asked Reagan.
She put one thumb in the air in response. “I’ve got this. I might not have ever waterskied, but I’m a pro at watching Jamie do dumb stuff. I’ll probably realize he’s falling before he even does.”
I would’ve found that statement adorable, if it didn’t cause me to feel irrationally jealous. Luckily, I didn’t have to harp on it because I soon heard Jamie’s voice bellowing for me to hit it.
I switched between focusing on driving and looking over my shoulder to see how he was doing. For how long it had been, he was doing surprisingly well. He knew it too, constantly going one-handed to give us a big thumbs up or a wave.
“He’s so full of it,” I laughed. “Is he this big-headed all the time?”
The smile on Reagan’s face grew with my joke. “Actually, no. He isn’t at all. This town brings out the best in him. Or maybe I should say worst.”
“Happens to the best of us. What do you say we teach him a lesson? Bring him down a few notches?”
“I think that sounds like a wonderful idea.”
With her permission, I brought the speed up in the boat, just enough to catch him off guard. It worked like a charm and he immediately fell into the water.
“Not cool,” he said with a pout once I brought the boat around to pick him up.
Both Reagan and I laughed at his expense. “That’s what you get for trying to act like a tough guy,” Reagan teased.
Jamie pulled off the skis and floated on his back in the water. “I’m just going to hang out here for a few minutes and recover. It feels so good.”
I took this opportunity to sit down next to Reagan. She sighed and looked up toward the sky, before looking over at me. I tried to ignore the way the sun reflected off of the lighter portion of her hair and the feeling it caused in the pit of my stomach. “This is really
nice. It’s cool that you guys were able to do this growing up.”
I smiled thinking back on all of the times my family had spent taking the boat out on the river. “Yeah, it was pretty great. We have some awesome memories out here. Believe it or not, my parents aren’t always unbearable. They can be really sweet and pretty cool when they want to be.”
Reagan leaned closer and playfully shoved her shoulder against mine. “I’m going to have to take your word on that one. Your brother says the same thing though, so there must be some truth to it.”
I smiled at her honesty. I was learning Reagan’s no-bullshit attitude was part of what made her so attractive. “I know we sound crazy, but it’s true. Our parents gave us a great life growing up. They never missed anything from the time we were just starting tee ball and ballet, through high school and college, and even now. They’ve always worked hard to provide us with a good life, and they really do care.”
Reagan studied my face before speaking again. “Who are you trying to convince of that? Me or yourself?”
I rubbed my eyes, as if clearing my vision would somehow help me articulate what I was feeling. “It’s not that I need to be convinced that my parents care. I know they do. Sometimes I think they might care a little bit too much. It just feels like they have certain expectations that I’m never going to live up to.”
“Can I give some unsolicited advice?” Reagan asked, gently. When I nodded, she continued. “I think you should talk to your brother about all of this. It seems like you guys feel the same way about a bunch of things, but have been too scared to admit that to one another. Speak of the devil!” I followed Reagan’s eyes to see that Jamie was now crawling back onto the boat.
