by Tabatha Kiss
“I don’t need your help, okay? I can handle Dad by myself.”
“Okay! Fine.” He sidles a step away. “Next time I won’t bother.”
“Never bothered before.”
Seth doesn’t respond. His shoulder sink even further as he flexes his jaw and looks at my engine again.
I bite down as guilt seeps in. “Thank you, though,” I murmur. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know.” He nods with a hidden smirk. “You’re welcome, little sister.”
His little sister. An enemy, sometimes. But always his little sister.
“This battery die on you a lot?” he asks.
“Once or twice.”
“Seems like you’ve really got this down,” he says, admiring my cable work.
“Yeah, well...” I hesitate to say his name. “Drew taught me how to do it, so...”
Seth pauses. “He did, huh?” he asks after a moment.
I nod.
He shifts his weight from one foot to the other with his head down. Then he finally looks at me and sighs. “Did you love him?” he asks.
“Yes,” I answer, without thinking “I do.”
Seth leans forward and places his hands on my car. His head bows beneath the hood, but I can see the sharp furrow of his brow as his face screws up and he grits his teeth.
“Seth?” I ask. “You okay?”
He shakes his head. He taps his fingers. He makes a quiet, pained sound as I inch a little closer. Was that a growl?
With a grunt, he pushes off. I startle backward as he spins toward his truck and hops up into the driver’s seat. The engine turns off and he bounds back over, yanking the cables off our cars as he passes them.
I glower. “Seth, what the hell?”
He slams my hood. “Get in the truck,” he says.
“What?”
“Just get in the truck before I change my mind!”
I move, not in the mood to argue with him, but also a little curious. I lock my hunk of junk before hoisting myself into the passenger’s side of his truck and buckling up.
Seth drives us out of the parking garage. I don’t dare peek at the speedometer as we fly through Sunday afternoon traffic, nor do I make the mistake of asking him where we’re going while he plows through the city with tunnel vision.
After a few minutes, I’ve already figured that out, anyway.
The marina.
My head spins with questions. My memories overwhelm my senses, forcing me to relive some of the most tender moments of my young adult life. Dancing with Drew in the moonlight. Laughing with him between sweet kisses. Making love among the waves.
But Seth doesn’t know about that, right?
Panic brews in my chest.
Seth doesn’t know about that, right?
He parks in a random spot near the back of the lot, one that I’m pretty sure is reserved parking, but he clearly doesn’t care about that right now.
“Come on,” he says as he shoves his door open and steps out.
I follow him, clinging to my jacket as we weave through the cars toward the dock. “Seth, what are we doing here?” I ask.
He doesn’t answer. He marches down the dock, passing this boat and that boat all the way toward The Golden Rose.
“Hey, Drew!” Seth says. “Get out here!”
Drew?
Movement catches my eye behind the helm’s tinted windows. The door slides open and Drew sticks his head out, his expression laced with surprise and suspicion.
My breath catches at the sight of him. It hasn’t even been two days, but my heart bleeds as if we’ve been separated for weeks. White t-shirt. Blue jeans. The same easy-going look he always has, but it never fails to drive me simply crazy. He looks at me with wide eyes, his face sporting some two-day stubble. Is this where he’s been staying?
He looks away from me, targeting Seth instead. “What are you doing here?” he asks.
Seth pivots to the side. He makes a sweeping gesture with his arm, pointing me in Drew’s direction. “Go on,” he says to me.
I don’t move. “What?”
“Go on,” he repeats, waving me forward again.
I look at Drew as he looks at me. “I... don’t know what’s happening,” I say.
“You. Him.” Seth twitches, uncomfortable. “Go.”
“Go?” I repeat.
“You can be together,” he spits. “Date. Court. Hook-up. Whatever the hell. I don’t care.”
My pulse spikes. “What?” I ask.
Seth takes a breath. “You were right,” he says to Drew. “Nobody wins here. You’re miserable. She’s miserable. And I’m fucking miserable just watching the two of you be miserable, so...” He taps his foot against the dock. “Go ahead and do what you want. You have my blessing.”
Drew looks at me with mild excitement, but he holds back. “Are you sure?” he asks Seth.
“No,” Seth answers as he exhales. “But I’ll get over it.”
“You will?” I ask, unconvinced.
“Yeah.” He stands up taller, puffing his chest out. “As long as I don’t have to see it, or hear it, or think too much about it... yeah. I’ll get over it. Eventually. Maybe. What I want doesn’t matter. What makes you happy does, and... if that’s him, little sister, then... that’s him. I mean...” He bobs his chin in Drew’s direction. “Look at him. It’s like the gods chiseled him out of marble.”
Drew frowns.
“And those arms?” Seth grins at me. “I bet it’s like being cuddled by a bear.”
“Seth...”
“Not like a real bear, but one from those toilet paper commercials.”
“Stop.”
I smile at their familiar banter, but the warm feeling fades quickly. I look at Drew, my feet still locked in place on the dock. After the way things went before, does he even want me back at all?
“What?” Seth asks, turning his hands up at me. “Did I miss something? Why aren’t you jumping up and down?”
I don’t answer.
“I didn’t expect a choreographed dance number or anything, but I at least thought there’d be some kind of positive reaction here.”
Drew hops down onto the dock. “Can we have a minute?” he asks Seth.
Seth regards the two of us for a moment before stepping back. “Sure,” he says, giving a shrug. “You got beers in the chest?”
“Yeah, go nuts, man.”
Seth climbs on board and disappears into the helm.
Drew takes a step closer. He studies me silently, his eyes traveling into each corner of my face before focusing on something just beneath my chin. He reaches out, softly hooks the golden chain around my neck, and draws it out, revealing the orange topaz pendant hidden beneath the neckline of my sweater. He holds it in his fingers, the edges of his lips curling as he looks me in the eye.
“Jenna gave it to me,” I say.
He nods as if this is new information. “She has good taste,” he says. “It really matches your eyes.”
I bite my cheek as he lets go of it. “I don’t know how I feel about it.”
His brow rises. “No?”
“It’s a little flashy,” I say, feigning a wince. “Not really my style.”
“You think so?” He cants his head with doubt. “I think it really suits you, actually...”
“No idea where I’d even wear it, you know?” I shrug. “I think I might just sell it.”
“Sell it?” he repeats in surprise.
“Or trade it. Maybe for an easel.”
He chokes. “An easel?”
“Yeah,” I say. “An easel.”
“Well, that can’t be a fair trade.”
“Eh, how much could a plastic gemstone and a little fool’s gold be worth?”
“Fool’s—” He sputters in offense. “That is not fool’s gold. Or plastic. I mean, it’s clearly not.”
“Of course, it is.” I scoff. “Jenna wouldn’t buy me real gold. You kidding me?”
“It looks real
to me.”
“No way it’s real. Trust me.”
He shifts nervously. “I really think you should double check first before you decide.”
I let my smile curl. “But I really want an easel, though...”
“I’ll buy you an easel!” he says. “I will take you to the arts and crafts store right now and I will buy you the best damn...”
I bite my lip to smother my laugh.
Drew nods. “You’re messing with me right now.”
“A little bit.”
“You’re mean.” He shakes his head, but his smile grows. “You’re a big, mean girl.”
“And I love it,” I say, pinching the pendant. “Thank you, Drew.”
He looks at the necklace as he relaxes his tense shoulders. “You’re welcome,” he says.
We stare at each other as thunder rolls softly in the distance. Yet again, I lose myself on his face. I glide along his sharp jawline. I curl up in his thick lips and swoon beneath those damn forest eyes.
And dimples. I’m all about those dimples.
“I’m sorry,” we both say together.
We laugh. I open my mouth to speak, but Drew holds up his hand.
“Me first,” he says.
“No, I should go first,” I say. “I shouldn’t have—”
“No, I shouldn’t have let you feel like you weren’t as important to me as Seth. You are. You’re even more important.”
“I shouldn’t have disregarded your friendship because of my dumb high school hang-ups. It wasn’t fair.”
“They weren’t dumb,” he says. “Seth’s an ass.”
“Seth’s a big ass.”
“He can be a real jerk sometimes.”
“A big jerk!”
“Hey,” Seth says, poking his head out of the helm. “I can hear you guys.”
“But I love him,” Drew says, looking at him. “He’s been my brother for over two years. We’ve been through a lot together and I don’t know what I’d do with myself if he weren’t in my life.”
Seth grins. “Aw, shucks, man.”
“I was scared to lose that.” Drew looks at me. “But not nearly as scared as I was after I lost you. I won’t make that mistake again, Heidi.”
“You’re not mad at me for kicking you out?” I ask.
He smiles. “No.”
“She kicked you out?!” Seth laughs from the boat. “Man, I missed a lot.”
Drew glares at him until Seth backs up and hides away in the helm again.
“I’m sorry,” I say, shivering in the wind. “Things just got so messed up.”
Drew nods. “I know,” he says. “I’m sorry, too. And I’m really sorry I missed your birthday.”
“All things considered... it wasn’t a bad birthday,” I say. “Jenna pulled through.”
“Good.”
I take a deep breath. “Now that Seth is on board,” I say with a glance at the boat. “Do you think we can just... go back and forget it happened?” I ask.
He smiles. “I’d like to.”
A raindrop falls on my cheek. “Because I really miss you, Drew.”
He reaches out and wipes the drop from my face with his thumb. “I miss you, too,” he whispers.
I gaze at him as even more rain starts to fall. It’s soft at first, then the sound intensifies as a thousand drops of water touch the lake at once. But we don’t move. Drew’s hand remains on my cheek, his thumb softly caressing my bottom lip. Blooms of warmth fire through me, overwhelming the chilly wind hitting the shore. He drifts closer, his deep eyes locked on my lips as his other hand rises to my hip. I tilt my head, my body aching to feel his kiss again as a tickle rises in my—
No.
Wait.
Not now!
I jerk away just in time to catch the sneeze in my elbow.
Drew leans back with amusement, but keeps his hand planted on my side. “Bless you,” he says.
“Sorry,” I say, composing myself. “It’s the rain.”
“You know, at some point, you’re just going to have to admit that you’re allergic to me,” he jokes.
I chuckle.
He jerks me in surprise. “You laughed,” he says.
I force my smile down. “No, I didn’t.”
Drew lifts me up and twirls me around in circles. “I finally got you to laugh about it!”
“No, you didn’t!”
He sets me down and cups my face. “It took two months, but I heard it!”
I laugh. “You’re such a dork.”
“I don’t care,” he says. “You’re still laughing.”
“If you don’t kiss me now, I’ll sneeze on you again,” I warn.
“And now you’re joking about it, too.” He grins. “You’re killing me, Heidi.”
Drew kisses me, our lips easily blending in the pouring rain. I cling to his wet clothes, primed and aching to feel his body against mine. My heart pounds over the sound of raindrops on water. He lifts me up off the dock again. I wrap my legs around his waist. We kiss until we can’t breathe anymore; until we’re soaked through and begging for more.
“So, I should probably leave, right?” Seth asks from the boat. “I feel like I should leave...”
Drew releases me and I let my legs fall to stand on my own. “Maybe,” he says. “Or, you know...”
Seth smirks with devious eyes. “Boat?”
Drew nods. “Boat.”
“Impromptu beach party?”
“Impromptu beach party.”
“Uh, guys...” I gesture around. “It’s raining.”
They pause.
“Impromptu beach house party?” Seth says.
“Impromptu beach house party!” Drew smiles at me. “You in?”
I laugh as I roll my eyes. “Sure,” I say. “I’ll call Jenna.”
Seth frowns. “Do you have to?”
“Yes. Call everyone.” Drew scoops me up again and I chuckle, my toes hovering over the dock. “My girl is getting the birthday party she deserves.”
He pulls me in for another kiss.
“Hey, hey, hey!” Seth says, annoyed. “I’m still here.”
I hold up my hand to block his view and Drew kisses me.
Chapter 52
Drew
It never stopped raining, but she never stopped smiling, either.
Even now, hours later, as the sun rises over Chicago, as my windshield wipers wave back and forth, Heidi Newbury’s smile remains. We’re all exhausted and hungover, dreading the very idea of our Monday morning classes starting in just a few hours, but whatever. It was all worth it to give her the party she should have gotten in the first place.
And what a party it was.
I turn onto Shanty Row, doing my best not to jerk the car around too much and wake Jenna sprawled all over the backseat. Heidi sits beside me in the passenger’s seat, her hand gently curled around mine in the space between us. She looks at me, her smile as bright as those golden eyes. I raise her hand to my lips to kiss her knuckles. Such a small act is all it takes for me to yearn for more of her.
I park the car in the driveway. Heidi and I open our doors and step outside into the rain still pouring down. Jenna reacts to the sound and groggily hoists herself out of the car. She shuffles across the grass, limping slightly on her left foot, while Heidi and I slowly walk together hand-in-hand.
“Remember, guys...” Jenna says as we follow her inside, “what happened at the birthday party...”
“Stays at the birthday party,” we repeat.
“Good.” She takes a few steps back, her eyes laser-focused on our faces, before spinning around and limping to her bedroom.
“I’ll grab us some towels,” Heidi says as she releases my hand and makes her way down the hall to the bathroom.
I pause, overwhelmed by a sense of deja vu. Sure, things have changed — a lot has changed — but standing here soaking wet in Heidi’s living room on the night we met will always be a cherished memory. Just like before, I walk down the hall to
her room. I look up and admire the drawings on her wall. Family, friends, celebrities, and now me. She’s so fucking talented. I could stand here all day looking at these.
Five Goals for a Perfect Freshman Year.
I pick up the canvas as Heidi walks in with a few dry towels. “So,” I say, “have you made any progress on your goals?”
She smiles. “A little.”
I hold up the canvas and clear my throat. “Learn a new life skill,” I read aloud.
“Check,” she says as she closes the door behind her.
I perform a check mark with my finger. “Get a tattoo.”
“Check.”
“Pay off my car.”
She hesitates, then gives in to my rising smirk. “Check.”
I mark it off. Then my smirk falls. “Enter the Art Fest. Win.”
“Technically? Check.”
I move on. “Fall in love with a stranger.”
Heidi steps closer with a furrowed brow, feigning a few moments of hard thought. “Well, there was this guy from my art class,” she says.
“Oh, yeah?” I ask, genuinely interested.
“Yeah. He, uh...” She presses her lips together. “He was the model, actually.”
“Was he handsome?”
“I thought so.” Her eyes roll. “Jenna thought he looked like a total prick.”
“Some guys just have that face, I guess.”
“I really liked his face.”
I set the canvas on the desk. “What did you like about it?” I ask.
Heidi looks down as she pinches the bottom of my t-shirt. “He had these amazing green eyes,” she says. I raise my arms, letting her peel my shirt off my damp skin. She drops it to the floor. “And sharp cheekbones. Thick lips, but not too thick.” She tilts her head in for a kiss that never connects. “But what I liked the most about his face?” She pauses, extending the moment. “I liked the way it felt when I came on it.”
I quiver as I slide a hand beneath her blouse. “You liked that, huh?”
She hums in response. “The way he used his nose against my clit as he fucked me with his tongue,” she whispers. “I could grind on that jaw all night long...”
Holy fuck.
Corrupted little Heidi Newbury.
“Where did you really learn to talk like that?” I ask.
She laughs. “You don’t want to know.”
