by LL Meyer
Her expression relaxes as she smiles at me. “Oh yeah, thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”
“Hey,” Jason says, incensed. “I’m the one who actually had to go get it.”
She brings her own plate over and sits between us. “I already said thank you. But I’ll say it again if you really need me to.”
He looks at her with interest and I don’t think she can actually believe he literally wants to hear it again.
Stroking his arm, she bats her eyelashes at him. “Thank you again, Jason. It was so kind of you to go out of your way for a girl you just met.”
He smiles broadly. “All right then. That’s more like it.”
This makes her laugh as we eat the waffles she made for me. For the first time in forever, life is truly wonderful.
The clinic on campus was surprisingly empty when we arrived twenty minutes ago. I guess because school is technically out and there’s just a week of exams coming that nobody needs medical attention. I laugh softly at my own stupid joke. But what can I say? I’m in love.
After explaining my various options for birth control, the doctor is giving me a few minutes to make up my mind. And herein lies my problem. I text Dane, who’s in the waiting room.
So: free pills=1 month wait, $80 shot=1 week wait & good 3 months
I wish I could just ask him outright if he’ll pay, but I can’t bring myself to do it. My pride is proving to be quite immovable.
If ur willing to get stabbed, I’m willing to pay.
The breath I hadn’t realized I was holding comes out in a rush. God, I love him so much. When the doctor comes back, I ask for the shot. And soon I’m cradling my arm while Dane pays the bill.
When we’re in the car, he leans down to kiss me. “Does it hurt?” he asks.
“Like an SOB.” I look up at him. “But thank you.”
“You’re welcome, but it’s for both of us, right?”
“Right.”
He smiles, probably because I’m not arguing to the death about paying him back. “I know something that will cheer you up for sure,” he says.
We end up at the gas station where we get sunblock, magazines, and slushies (I get cherry, he gets Coke) for our day of officially doing nothing while we hang out at the pool.
When I come downstairs in my new black bikini, Jason and Dane are in the kitchen making margaritas. Jason does a double take. “Look at you. All hot and sexy. It’s a good look for you, Pretty Girl.”
I’m pretty sure the way he’s looking at me is inappropriate, but it doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable. It actually gives my self-esteem a boost. “Thanks,” I say brightly. But if the look Jason is giving me is inappropriate, the one Dane’s giving me is downright dirty, like he’s about to order me upstairs. Instead of letting him get too far into that fantasy, I show him my shoulder, which is quickly turning black and blue from the shot.
“What the hell? Are you okay?” he demands.
I shake my head sadly. “I’m going to need help with the sunblock.”
His indignation on my behalf comes down a notch or two as he laughs. “Is that so?”
“It is.”
“Okay. You want a margarita?”
“Lime?”
“Of course.”
“Then, yes please.”
Outside, I happily jump from paving stone to paving stone in my new flip-flops over to the pool, where three lounge chairs and a table with an umbrella have been set up. The idea of spending the day with Dane and Jason makes me giddy. No stress, no pressure. I smile to myself, thinking that if Charmaine could see me now, she’d be appalled. Not only am I not wearing any makeup, but my toenails are naked and my hair’s in braids. But I’m positive that Dane doesn’t mind. I’d even go so far as to say that he likes it. I set my new magazines down on a lounge chair along with my towel, sunglasses, sunblock, and phone. I sigh audibly under the gloriously sunny sky.
Even though the days have been warmer than usual, it’s still only the beginning of June, and I know from last night’s skinny-dipping that the water is cold. Bracing myself, I dive in and swim the length of the pool underwater. When I come up, I shriek out a laugh. Damn, that’s cold. I make a lame attempt to start doing laps to warm up, but halfway across the pool, I decide I just want to be like a kid. I swim down and turn as many circles as I can in one breath. Pushing off the bottom, I shoot to the surface to haul air into my desperate lungs. Laughing through my gasping, I’m about to go back down again when I see Dane sitting on the lounge chair beside mine.
I smile. “Come do twirly things with me.”
He grins, but shakes his head. “I’ll leave the twirly things to you.”
“It’s not that cold,” I taunt, guessing the real reason he won’t come in. I go under again and swim up to the edge. My eyes rake down his bare chest.
“Come on, once you warm up, it’s nice.”
His half-sigh, half-groan makes me laugh. He says, “You know I can’t say no to you.”
“I know. It’s part of my charm.” I push off the edge with my feet and turn a back somersault in the water.
When I come back up, he’s treading water beside me. The five feet between us is not enough to keep the electricity from connecting and then drawing us together like magnets. I wrap myself around him and press my lips to his until we start going under.
Finally letting go of him, I’m trying to surface when I feel his hands slide up my legs to yank my bottoms down. I kick at him, but that just makes them slide off more easily. Surfacing, I screech, “Dane!”
He’s already halfway across the pool though, holding my bottoms over his head in triumph.
“That’s not funny! Give them back!”
He laughs at me. “Oh, I think it’s hilarious. Hey, Jase! I got you an early Christmas present!”
I watch in horror as half my bathing suit sails through the air and lands near Jason’s feet with a squelch. He’s carrying margaritas, so it takes him a few seconds to set them on the table and then crouch down to scoop up my bottoms with the tip of his index finger.
“I think,” he tells Dane, “that I’d rather have what goes in them.”
“Can I have them back, please?” I ask, swimming closer to the edge, hoping that the water is at least warping his view of me.
He looks down at me, his eyes bluer than the sky in the natural light. “I don’t know. I bet you look pretty good without them.”
Something in his tone has desire coursing through me. And for once it’s not embarrassment turning me red, it’s shame. My boyfriend’s brother should not be able to get that kind of reaction from me, whether he’s teasing me or not.
My cell phone chimes from the lounge chair, drawing our attention.
“Please, Jason?” I’m getting tired, so I move closer to grab the edge.
A brief moment of consideration later, he’s handing them to me. “Need any help getting them on?”
I can’t help but laugh at his audacity. “No, thanks. I think I’m good.”
Dane swims up behind me and puts a hand on either side of the edge, caging me with his arms. Without acknowledging him, I reach back and grab him by the balls.
“Woman,” he warns me, but it loses some of its effect, being an octave higher than normal.
I glare at him over my shoulder, but I let him go. “That wasn’t funny. I don’t appreciate being humiliated in front of people.”
He breathes in relief. “It wasn’t people, it was Jason. And neither of us will ever get enough of watching you turn red. Come on, let’s get drunk.”
He pulls himself out of the pool, leaving me to get my bottoms on. Jerk, I think to myself, but I don’t think I’m actually mad. It was only Jason. Dane’s reaching his hand down to help me out, like some kind of peace offering.
I stare at it for a moment before I smile sweetly. Taking his hand, I try to yank him in the pool. But he’s expecting that.
“That’ll just earn you a spanking, Pretty Girl,” he says with a
devilish grin, hauling me out of the water with brute strength.
“Me? You’re the one misbehaving.” I try to keep my look reproving, but I’m not at all sure I’m successful.
He flashes me that beautiful smile of his as he pulls me close. And just like that, I melt, letting him lean down and kiss me chastely. “Are we good? I didn’t mean to make you mad.”
“Of course we’re good,” I say softly.
A towel materializes behind him that I assume comes from Jason. What are they, some kind of tag team? I wonder as Dane wraps it around my shoulders.
Emptying my chair of its contents so I can sit down, I remember I received a message. I open it and wrinkle my nose. Charmaine wants to know what I’m doing.
I’m at Dane’s, I text. I’m about to send it, but then I can’t resist telling her that I’m lounging by his pool. The reply comes even before I can open a magazine.
Can I come over? Josh is working.
My shoulders sag. How bad of a friend am I that I don’t want her here?
“What’s the matter?” Dane asks as he hands me a margarita.
I’m on the verge of not telling him when my phone chirps again.
Please? I’m bored.
I’m loathe to ask him. Charmaine’s presence would throw a wrench into my stress-free day.
“Lil?”
I toss my phone onto the chair between my legs and take a sip of my drink, imagining that the tequila and lime are acidic enough to burn away my aversion to asking things of him. “Charmaine-slash-Crazy wants me to ask if she can come over.”
He chuckles, but it sounds a bit humorless. “But you want me to say no?”
I look at him in surprise. “I . . . no . . . do you . . . It’s the worst idea ever, isn’t it?”
“What was it that I said earlier? That I can’t say no to you?” He leans in to kiss me, biting my bottom lip a bit. “Of course, you’ll have to pay for it later,” he says in a low voice that makes me quiver.
“Okay.” The hesitant, husky sound of my voice flusters me, and he notices.
Leaning in again, he says, “I love you, Lily.”
Since I was expecting innuendo, his words practically knock me off my metaphorical feet. It takes a second for me to answer with my breath caught in my throat the way it is. “I love you, too.”
He offers up his glass. “Cheers.”
“Cheers.”
My next swallow is a big one. Wow, is every day with Dane going to be this intense? Or was I just so starved for attention that being around him feels like flying too close to the sun?
I text Charmaine and then ask Dane to type in the directions.
By the time Dane informs me that the doorbell’s ringing, I’ve finished off two margaritas and have a pretty good buzz going.
Shoving my feet into my flip-flops, I make my way back to the house and to the front door. When I open it, my heart drops and my high all but disappears.
“Charmaine! What the hell?”
She’s standing there with Josh, Bryant, and Glory/Scary.
“What?” she says, totally unconcerned, like I’m making a big deal out of nothing.
“I thought you said Josh was working,” I say through gritted teeth.
She waves her hand vaguely in the air. “He got off early.”
I don’t even want to stand back so they can come in. How could she do this to me?
“Wow!” Glory says in that fake saccharine voice of hers. “Is this really his house?” She looks like some kind of pornographic doll with her bleached blond hair, perfectly made up face, and fake boobs hanging out of a bikini top.
Charmaine pushes her petite frame past me into the foyer and Glory follows.
“Is that my bikini?” Charmaine accuses, noticing what I’m wearing.
“No! You know I always ask before I borrow stuff.”
“Then, where’d you get it?”
I hate that she knows I’d never have enough money to buy it for myself, but I refuse to let her condescending look make me feel guilty about my answer. “Dane bought it for me.”
“Hey, Lily,” Bryant says, looking around the house. “Sorry, but we had to make sure this guy wasn’t some kind of axe murderer.”
“You did this on purpose?! You guys, this isn’t funny.”
Glory ignores me as she says, “What happened to your arm?”
I look down at my shoulder. The bruise seems to have stopped spreading, but it doesn’t look very nice. “I got a shot.”
“Well, don’t you have any cover-up? This,” she says, gesturing around her, “is not a trailer park. If you want this guy to stay interested, you’re going to have to step up your game.”
“She’s right, Lil,” Charmaine adds. “And what’s up with this hair?”
“Lay off, you guys,” Josh says, and I silently thank him with my eyes, which are verging on producing some tears.
“Pretty Girl?” The sound of Dane’s voice is at once comforting and terrifying. What’s he going to say about all these people in his house?
I watch as all four of my ‘friends’ turn to take in my boyfriend. Charmaine and Glory’s chins practically hit the floor. Even I’m struck by how good-looking he is at the moment with his bare chest on display, his abs seeming to flow like water into his board shorts.
I’m about to start apologizing profusely when I’m saved by two more people showing up in the still open doorway.
“Dane!” a girl exclaims.
“Hey, Jen.” A genuinely pleased smile spreads across his face as she marches right up and stands on her tip-toes to plant a kiss on his cheek.
Oh, thank goodness. It’s Jenna, Jason and Dane’s sister.
“So,” she gushes. “You can imagine how floored I was as I’m sitting there drinking coffee with my friends,” she gestures at everyone, “and I find out they’re coming here to my brothers’ house for a pool party that I wasn’t even invited to.”
“Aw, you don’t need an invitation, Jen.” His sister is a little taller than me. Her sunglasses are perched in her brown hair that’s streaked with blond, and her pretty face is full of excitement. She looks a lot like Jason, I realize.
Now that she’s done with Dane, she turns to me. We’ve met a few times before and freshman year we had a class together, but it’s not like we’re friends or anything. “Hey, Lily,” she says in a completely forthcoming way that’s topped off with a happy smile. “When I found out, not from my brother,” she turns an accusing glare on Dane for a moment, “that he was seeing someone, I had to totally come and check it out for myself.”
I smile back at her, and she links her arm with mine and starts pulling me toward the kitchen. As we pass by Dane, I mouth “I’m sorry” to him, but he doesn’t seem to be angry.
Jenna chatters with people she barely knows the way I chatter with Dane when I’m happy. She wants to know everything about Dane and me, asking me a gazillion questions but not actually giving me a chance to answer any of them. When she sees Jason in the kitchen, she drags me over to where he’s pouring more drinks from the blender.
“Jase!”
“Hey, Jen,” he answers, obviously surprised, but happy to see her. “What are you doing here?” Then he sees the rest of them traipsing through and heading out the French doors.
I watch him seek out Dane’s eyes over my head, but I can only guess what passes between them.
“Is it true?” Jenna gushes.
He gives her his attention. “What?”
“That Lily here,” she says, jerking on my arm in her excitement, “is here with Dane?”
Jason looks at me with amusement. “It is. I’m still trying to figure out what kind of voodoo spell she used on him, though.”
“Are you talking about me like I’m not here?” I ask with a laugh, my alcohol-induced happiness slowly returning.
He passes Jenna a drink. “Go get your friends set up,” he tells her in a tone that brooks no argument.
She pouts a bit, but doesn’t
argue. When she’s gone, I sag against the counter beside Jason. “Is he going to be mad?”
He puts his arm around me and pulls me to his chest. “Nah,” he says, but he sounds uncertain. “He gets a bit antsy about people being in the house, but we’ll just keep a drink in his hand, okay?”
I sink into him in defeat, noticing that he feels equally as solid and warm as Dane. “Okay.”
Dane suddenly appears in front of us and looks down at me, the swirl of emotion in his eyes making me tense again.
“I didn’t know she would do this,” I tell him earnestly.
Oh, my poor Lily. She looks so miserable, huddled up against Jason like he’s going to protect her from my wrath. But while I admit I’d rather not have all these people here, I’m certainly not going to blame her.
“I know you didn’t,” I say, reaching out to touch her face, watching her expression relax.
“I’m really sorry.”
“Don’t be.” I run my thumb along her bottom lip. “Just make sure I don’t kill Jenna’s loser boyfriend.”
Jason stiffens. “Is he here?”
“What’s wrong with her boyfriend?” Lily asks.
I notice that she hasn’t moved herself away from Jason; in fact, she’s still leaning against him, completely relaxed. It’s starting to turn me on, which is completely inappropriate with a house full of people.
“Hey,” comes a voice from the doors. “Is it okay if we set up some more chairs and stuff?” It’s that Bryant guy, who I don’t hate because he’s the one who got Lily and me together.
“Yeah, go ahead,” Jason says along with a look that says get lost.
I don’t like the way his eyes are pin-balling between the three of us, but he finally takes the hard look I’m giving him as his cue to leave.
I lean down to kiss Lily and then hand her a drink from the counter and take one for myself. “Who wants to go supervise?” I say with a laugh.
“I’ll go,” Lily says immediately before she takes a gulp of her drink.
