Robyn

by Jade Parker

  “Well, see, they were being really nice, telling me I could have anything I wanted, and Whitney told me that when you ask for stuff you’re supposed to ask for the biggest thing you can think of — so I thought ‘Okay, I’ll do it.’”

  “Do what?” he asked.

  “Ask them to transfer you to marketing.”

  “You’re kidding?” He looked surprised, his eyes big and round. I decided I liked the look.

  I shook my head. “Nope. They’re going to tell you tomorrow, but I wanted to tell you tonight.”

  “But you hate working at Splash.”

  “It’s not so bad, and you’re right. I need to work my way up. And watching the kids is an important job.”

  There were screams in the background as the shark attacked.

  “Robyn, I can’t believe you did that.”

  “I was being selfish, really. I didn’t want you to be my supervisor — just in case, you know, we worked out our communication problem.”

  “You’re never selfish. That’s one of the reasons I like you so much. And if I’m not your supervisor anymore, well, then I can do this without getting in trouble.”

  He dipped his head and touched his lips to mine. My very first kiss. It was everything I thought it would be: warm and thrilling and perfect.

  It felt so right, being with Sean, kissing Sean. It was difficult to imagine that I’d ever had any doubts — that I’d ever not known that he liked me, that I’d ever thought that I didn’t like him.

  He drew back and grinned. “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.”

  “Is that the reason you always left the room when I walked in?”

  “Yeah, I was afraid you’d figure it out — - that maybe I was looking at you with longing or something like they do in the movies.” He shook his head. “How embarrassing.”

  “If I had figured it out maybe this would have happened sooner.”

  “Maybe. What matters is that it’s happening now.”

  We stood there with the water lapping around us. Screams that weren’t coming from the movie and laughter echoed around us. People were having a good time. I should celebrate that the idea was a success. But all I wanted to celebrate was Sean and me. Finally. At last.

  He must have been thinking the same thing, because he leaned in and kissed me again.

  I could tell already that there were going to be advantages to dating someone who’d known me forever. He knew everything about me, especially how much I liked his kisses.

  A couple of hours later, I was stretched out on a lounge chair on the Tsunami deck, eyes closed, soaking up the sun, waiting for Robyn and Whitney to catch up with me for lunch. Since this was my work area, I was always the first one to arrive. I suppose it would have been fairer to switch around where we ate, but the truth was that my area had the best views of guys.

  Originally, I’d been thrilled about that aspect, but after my experience with Tanner, I was no longer sure that I wanted a summer romance. As a matter of fact, I was pretty sure I didn’t. I just wanted to work, shop, hang out with friends. Maybe later, I’d take a more serious interest in guys again, maybe when school started —

  “Hey, if it isn’t the rules girl stretched out on my lounge chair.”

  I heard another lounge chair scrape over the ground as someone sat on it. Droplets of water slapped my bare arm. I’d taken off my sunglasses because I didn’t want big white ovals of non-tanned skin around my eyes so I had to squint to see who had disturbed me. Although I thought I’d recognized the voice. It just sounded a little different close up, when it wasn’t being yelled across water.

  Romeo.

  His wet hair fell across his brow again, and he did a little flick of his head to get it out of the way. More droplets slapped my arm. It appeared that keeping his hair out of his eyes was a constant battle, because almost immediately the heavy locks fell back over his forehead. His sunglasses prevented me from telling the exact color of his eyes. When he was in the pool and not wearing shades, I could tell that they were a light color. Blue maybe. Like the sky at noon. Not that I really cared about his rebellious hair or the color of his eyes. I just wanted him to go away.

  “I don’t think it’s yours. No towel, no bag, no item showing that you claimed this spot,” I told him with authority. After all, I still had my whistle, which meant I was the girl in charge.

  “Right there. My Birks.”

  I leaned over and looked beneath the chair, where he was pointing. No way those were there when I sat down.

  I grabbed my sunglasses from where they rested beside my hip and put them on. It’s easier to be intimidating when you’re not squinting. “Sorry, but it doesn’t count when you slip them under there after someone has sat down.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “To irritate me, because I wouldn’t let you swim with Juliet on your shoulders.”

  “Juliet?” Then, as though a lightbulb had gone off, he grinned broadly. “That’s good. Clever, even. So you caught that my name is Romeo, huh?”

  “Hard to miss when your girlfriend is screaming it at the top of her lungs.”

  “She’s not my girlfriend.”

  Okay, this was too much like my experience with Tanner earlier in the summer. No-commitment-Tanner as I’d started to think of him. Too-many-girls-too-little-time-Tanner. I thought of a new name for him almost every day. I knew I needed to get over what had happened, but what can I say? I was crushed.

  “Does she know that?” I asked.

  “I hope so. She seemed pretty smart.”

  I just bet. “Could you go away, because I’m trying to take a break here?”

  “So what’s your name?” he asked, as though I hadn’t spoken, as though I wasn’t trying to get him to run off and play with some other girl.

  “Good-bye.”

  “Bummer! You’ve got cruel parents. What were they thinking to name you that?”

  I had to fight really hard not to smile at his teasing. And talk about cruel parents. Romeo? But I wasn’t mean enough to point that out. No reason to make him feel badly about his name just because I wanted him to leave.

  Why was he even over here? I wasn’t going to tease back. I wasn’t going to indicate that I had any interest at all. I had a new rule: only one heartbreak per summer. I’d reached my limit.

  “I bet it gets really hard when you’re at a party and everyone starts leaving,” he said, as though he wasn’t at all bothered by my ignoring him. “I mean, you have to wonder — are they really saying good-bye or do they want to talk to you.”

  Groaning, I shook my head and closed my eyes. I wasn’t going to be influenced by his cuteness or the fact that he seemed as though he might be a lot of fun. Been there, done that.

  I felt a disturbance near my hip-pack — where I’d clipped my park ID earlier. My eyes sprung open in time to see him holding my ID and reading my name.

  “Caitlin. I like it,” he said.

  “Like I care what you like,” I said, shooing his hand — as though it was a pesky mosquito — away from my badge.

  “So why are you giving me such a hard time?” he asked.

  “You’re a player. Obviously.”

  “Why? Because people call me Romeo?”

  “You’re here with another girl. Shouldn’t you give attention to her?”

  “Actually, I’m not here with another girl. I just met her this morning. We were hanging out in the pool for a while. She’s off doing something else now.”

  Why was he telling me all this? Didn’t my attitude say “I don’t care”? And where were Robyn and Whitney? I sat up, looked around, and spotted them at a nearby table. Robyn wiggled her fingers at me. Great. We were supposed to be lifeguards, rescuing people. Why couldn’t she and Whitney see that I needed rescuing?

  “Gotta go,” I said. “My lunch partners are here.”

  I picked up my soft-sided cooler.

  “Later,” he said.

  I didn’t want to be totally rude so
I gave him a halfhearted wave. I crossed over the sand that made this part of the park look like an island. I dropped into the chair at the table. “Thanks, y’all, for coming to my rescue.”

  “I didn’t realize you wanted rescuing,” Robyn said.

  “Well, I did.”

  “Who’s the cutie?” Whitney asked.

  “Romeo,” I stated flatly.

  Robyn laughed. “No way!”

  “Yeah. That’s what I thought. I’ve already had one Romeo this summer, thanks so very much.”

  Jade Parker LOVES summer, sun, and visiting water parks. She lives near Dallas with her husband, two sons, and two dogs.

  Read all the

  MAKING A SPLASH

  books!

  MAKING A SPLASH #1

  Robyn

  MAKING A SPLASH #2

  Caitlin

  MAKING A SPLASH #3

  Whitney

  Also by Jade Parker

  TO CATCH A PIRATE

  Copyright © 2008 by Jan Nowasky

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  First printing, May 2008

  COVER ART BY MICHELLE GRANT

  COVER DESIGN BY STEVE SCOTT

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-68368-5

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