"It's not really an emergency," I say, joining her on the pillows.
"Then what is it? Why'd you want to talk to me?"
"Last night," I pause for dramatic effect, "I almost did it with you-know-who."
"Who?"
I reach over and push on her arm. "You know who!"
"Luke?"
"Shhhh. Someone might hear!"
"No one can hear. We're practically whispering. And your whole family is downstairs in the kitchen having breakfast." She crosses her legs in front of her. "So when you say 'it' you mean..." she glances around, then whispers, "sex?"
She says it like we're ten and have never said that word before. She's teasing me because I'm so afraid my parents might hear. We should've gone somewhere else to talk.
I roll my eyes at her. "Would you be serious for a minute?"
"Sorry." She fakes being serious, her lips pursed. "Go ahead. Tell me about this...encounter of yours." She stifles a laugh. I don't know why she finds this funny. She's being weird today.
"I went down to the kitchen last night to get a glass of water and he was there. Getting a snack."
"Luke," she says.
"Yes! Why do you keep saying his name?"
"Because you could've meant Cal or your dad. I had to be clear who was in the kitchen."
"It was Luke. And he was all..." I smile as I remember last night. He looked so damn hot. Shirtless. Muscles everywhere. His hair a tousled sexy mess.
"Yeah? And?" Birdie says, making an imaginary loop in the air, motioning me to continue. "Let's get to the story here."
"He um....well, he looked really good. No shirt. Just wearing shorts and nothing else. When I saw him I thought maybe I should turn around and go back upstairs but I couldn't."
"A hot man'll do that to you. It's like your mind shuts down."
"Exactly! My brain totally shut down and I went up to him and asked for his apple."
"Apple? Is that some new term for penis?"
"No!" I say, laughing. "An actual apple. He was holding an apple and I asked if I could have some."
"Why?"
"Because I didn't know what else to say."
"You have a very strange way of flirting."
"Whatever. So anyway, I took a bite of his apple and then I don't know exactly how it happened but all of a sudden we were kissing and touching and then I ended up on the counter and there was more kissing and touching and then he said we should go to the guest house."
"All this happened because of an apple?" She shrugs. "Guess I should try it."
"It wasn't about the apple. It was about us being alone, late at night, barely dressed, and insanely attracted to each other."
"But you didn't end up doing it?"
"No. Because my dad walked in."
Her hand flies over her mouth. "Your dad caught you with Luke? Oh my God, did he kick him out?"
"My dad didn't see anything. We heard him coming and stopped before he got to the kitchen. If he'd shown up just a few minutes later, Luke and I would've been in the guest house, continuing what we started."
"Leave it to your dad to ruin your sex life."
"Birdie, we almost got caught!" I fall back on the floor and stare up at the ceiling. "I can't keep doing this stuff. It's way too risky. I'm not worried about myself. My dad's not going to kick me out. He'll just lecture me for breaking the rules. But Luke will end up homeless. I can't risk that happening."
"Then I guess you'll have to stay away from him until he moves out. Or find places where you two can meet."
"But when we do that it just makes us want to see each other even more. And staying away from him here at the house is nearly impossible and is gonna get worse."
"How will it get worse?"
"My mom said she wants Luke to have more meals with us. She's worried he feels like he's imposing if he shows up at dinner so she's going to insist he come over for meals whenever he's home. And she wants him to spend more time in the main house so he's not stuck in the guest house all alone."
"Hmm. Then I don't know how to help you unless you'd like to come move in with me, but you'll have to put up with Max. He's in this photography stage where he takes pictures of everything. The other day he took a picture of me while I was sleeping and posted it online. I almost killed him. My mom made him take it down."
Birdie's brother, Max, is eight. Her parents call him their little surprise because they didn't plan on having more kids after Birdie. He used to be cute but now he's loud and annoying and never leaves us alone which is why we don't hang out at her house anymore.
"I think I'll just have to hide in my room until Luke moves out."
"We both know that won't happen. You two are drawn to each other like magnets. There's no way you'll be able to stay apart. It's impossible."
"Then what am I going to do?"
There's a knock on the door and I hear my dad's voice. "Taylor?"
"What do you need?"
"Can I come in?"
I look at Birdie who just shrugs.
"Go ahead," I tell my dad. "Door's open."
He opens it and sees Birdie. "Hi, Birdie. I didn't know you were here."
She smiles. "I was bored. Thought I'd come hang out with Taylor."
"What do you need, Dad?" I ask.
"They're filming Luke's commercial today. I'm going down there to check it out and I'd like you to come with me."
"Why would I go?"
"To be supportive. After losing Albert, Luke could use all the support he can get."
"Maybe he doesn't want us there. We might make him nervous. He's probably already nervous enough. He's never done a commercial before."
"He's fine with it. I already told him I'd be there."
"Is she ready?" Cal appears next to my dad.
"Cal's going too?" I ask my dad.
"Yes. And Birdie, you're welcome to come along as well."
"What are you doing here?" Cal asks Birdie.
She sneers at him. "Nice to see you too, idiot."
"Don't start, you two." My dad sighs. "On second thought, maybe only one of you should go. I don't want you two fighting during the filming."
"We won't have time to fight," Cal says. "Birdie will be too busy swooning over her boyfriend."
"What boyfriend?" my dad asks.
"She's dating Luke," Cal says.
My dad's eyes shoot over to Birdie. "You're dating Luke? Our Luke?"
Birdie and I look at each other. Do we keep the lie going? It was only meant for Cal, not anyone else. I don't know what to do.
"Yes," Birdie says as she stands up. "I'm dating Luke. It's nothing serious. We just started going out last weekend."
My dad looks at me. "Why didn't you tell me?"
I shrug. "I didn't know you were that interested in Birdie's dating life."
"He's not," Cal says. "None of us are. Now are we going or not?"
What is Cal's problem? He was fine when I saw him at breakfast earlier and now he's acting all angry. It must be Birdie. Just being around her gets him all riled up. Those two need to learn to get along.
"Five minutes," my dad says. "I want everyone down in the car in five minutes."
He walks off.
Cal remains at my door. "You going or not?"
He directed the question to Birdie, not me.
"Why do you care if I go?" she says.
"I don't." He shakes his head and walks away.
I get up and go over to my closet. "I don't understand you two."
"What's there to understand? Your brother's an idiot. End of story."
"But why do you let him get to you? Why don't you just ignore him?"
She doesn't answer, maybe because she doesn't know why she lets him get to her. She needs to figure it out because the summer has barely started and their fighting is already getting old.
"Do you like this one?" I hold up a white polo shirt.
"Sure," she says, but she didn't even look. She's staring at her phone.
She looks up. "What look are you going for? That shirt says rich country club girl. Is that what you want?"
I hold up the shirt. "Rich country club girl? Really? It's just a polo shirt."
"But it's got that crest emblem on it. That's from one of those preppy designers, right?"
"Well, yeah, but it's a nice shirt."
"Then wear it. It'll look good on you. The white will show off your tan."
I decide to wear it. Birdie had me questioning my choice but we have totally different styles. She wears whatever the latest fashion is, whereas I'm more into classic styles. She also wears more skirts and dresses than me. I mostly wear shorts and t-shirts, or polo shirts. Birdie thinks polo shirts are for guys. She'd never wear one. Today she has on a flower-patterned romper that she insists is the in thing right now but I refuse to get one. It's not my style, plus it's way too hard to go to the bathroom in those things.
When we get to the gym we go out to the weight room where they're filming. There are so many cameras and lights and people swarming around that I don't even see Luke. But then I hear his voice.
"Hey, man."
I turn and see Luke going up to Cal.
"Looks like you hit it big," Cal jokes. "Got a whole crew just to take a few pictures?" He points to Luke's face. "You wearing make-up?"
"Don't give me shit about it. They made me do it."
"They do the same to me," my dad says going up to Luke. "They pat me down with so much powder I can barely breathe."
Luke sees me behind my dad and smiles. "Brought the whole family?"
My dad moves aside so he's not blocking me. "Taylor had some time before she meets with her coach." He grins at Luke. "You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend."
Luke freezes and his eyes go to mine. He thinks my dad's talking about me.
"We told my dad about you and Birdie," I say to Luke.
"Oh." He nods. "Right."
Birdie goes up to him and gives him a hug. "I wanted to come wish you good luck." She lets him go. "Break a leg!"
"That's for the theater, not commercials," Cal mutters.
She spins around to face him. "So now you're an expert in theater? I bet you've never even been to the theater."
"Okay, you two," my dad says. "Stop it right now. You're not fighting here. You both need to get along."
"Not gonna happen," Cal says, glancing at Birdie.
She glares at him. "What is your problem?"
"That's enough," my dad says. "He grabs Cal's arm and leads him over to Birdie. "You two are going to dinner."
"Dinner?" Cal asks. "What the hell? I'm not going to dinner with her. Are you crazy?"
"You're going to dinner and you're going to stay there until you work out whatever it is that makes you two fight all the time. I'll pick the restaurant and pay for it. And I'll be driving you there to make sure you don't leave."
Cal and Birdie shake their heads and say, "No way."
"C'mon, it's just dinner," Luke says. "You might as well try it."
"You two need to learn to get along," I say. "It'd make things better for all of us."
"No," Birdie says. "Absolutely not."
"At least that's something we agree on," Cal says.
My dad sighs, completely frustrated with them.
"Mr. Tuckerman," a guy says from behind me. I look back and see Garret Kensington, Lilly's brother, and owner of WaveField.
"Please, call me Lou," my dad says, going around me to shake Garret's hand.
"It's good to finally meet you," Garret says. "I watched you play when I was a kid. I've been a fan for a long time."
"Thank you, but you're making me feel old." My dad laughs. "So how's business?"
"Good. We're considering expanding again but not sure when it'll happen. I've got four kids and I don't like being away from them for too long. Or my wife, Jade, although she usually goes with me when I travel."
"I know what you mean. Golf always had me on the road. I missed out on my kids' younger years." He motions to Cal and me. "But now I get to see these two all the time and they love it, don't you kids?" He laughs.
"Yeah, it's great," Cal mutters. He's just joking. He loves hanging out with my dad. I do too. We have a great relationship with our parents.
Garret smiles at me. "Hey, Taylor. How's your summer been?"
"Good, so far. I've mostly been golfing, working with my coach."
"And hanging out with me," Birdie adds.
"Sorry, I should've introduced you. Garret, this is my friend, Birdie."
"Hey, Birdie. I assume you're also a golfer?"
"Me? No." She shakes her head. "I don't even know how to hold a club."
"So you're just here to hang out with Taylor?"
"She's here to hang out with her boyfriend," Cal says. "She's dating Luke."
Garret looks at Luke. "I didn't know you had a girlfriend."
"We've only been on one date," he says. "So when does the shoot start?"
"Now. They're ready for you. That's why I came over here." He smiles at my dad. "And to meet the great Lou Tuckerman."
"Great?" My dad's brows rise. "Well, you certainly are a fan."
"My dad is too. He'd love to meet you someday."
"I think that could be arranged. Perhaps when I take Taylor back to school in the fall. I assume your father will be there, dropping off Lilly?"
"Yeah, we'll all be there. The whole family goes. It's like a circus with my kids running around."
"Garret, are we ready?" someone yells.
"Yeah, he's heading over," Garret yells back.
Luke walks over to Garret. "Where do I go?"
"Follow me."
Luke catches my eye as he walks away. I want to smile at him but I don't in case someone is looking.
An hour later they take a break and Luke finds me by the beverage cart that's set up for the crew. My dad, Cal, and Birdie took off to use the bathroom and check their phones.
"Do they care if I take this?" I ask, picking up a bottle of water.
"Help yourself." Luke takes one as well. "I didn't think you were coming today."
"I wasn't, but my dad insisted."
"And Birdie?"
"She was in my room when my dad came in and told me we were going to the shoot. Cal told my dad you guys are dating so of course she had to go. You're her boyfriend."
"I'm not her boyfriend," he says quietly.
"I know. I'm just going along with the story."
He inches closer to me. "You look really hot. It's very distracting. I keep looking at you when I'm supposed to be looking at the camera."
"Sorry. I'll go hide in the locker room."
"I don't want you to go." He almost holds my hand but then stops himself. "I like having you here. It relaxes me."
"Luke."
We turn and see Garret there.
"They need you for one more take and then you're done."
Luke nods. "Great! I'll head over there."
He leaves but Garret stays behind. He takes a water from the cart. "So you and Luke."
"What?" I ask, confused.
"You and Luke," he repeats as he opens his bottle of water. "You're going out."
"No," I say, trying to sound convincing. "Birdie's going out with him, not me."
"Why are you hiding it?" He takes a drink of his water. "Because your dad doesn't approve?"
"Wait—what are you talking about?"
He looks me in the eye. "I know you and Luke are dating. It's obvious from the way you two look at each other and how you act around each other. So why the fake story?"
I glance around to make sure we're alone. "You promise not to tell anyone?"
"Trust me, I can keep a secret."
"Okay, then yes, my dad doesn't approve. That's why we have to keep it a secret. My dad's only rule for Luke living at our house is that he not try to date me, or even flirt with me. Basically he's supposed to treat
me like a sister."
"And if he doesn't?"
"My dad will kick him out of the house."
"Does Luke have anywhere else he could live?"
"No. He'd have to live in his car. He doesn't have money for rent. All his money goes to pay for golf and his coach and tournament fees."
"Did Albert leave Luke anything in his will?"
"As far as I know, Albert's kids got everything. Luke got nothing."
"That doesn't make sense. He said Albert was like a dad to him."
"He was, but maybe Albert forgot to change his will. I don't know. I just know that if Luke doesn't go pro soon he'll be working at the docks back in San Diego."
"It'd be a shame to see a talent like his wasted because he can't afford to play."
"I know. Hey, don't tell him I said anything, okay?"
"I won't. Going back to you dating Luke, I do have a question."
"What is it?"
"Do you really think it's a good idea to let your friend, Birdie, date Luke? What if she really falls for him?"
"They're not dating. Birdie's in on the plan. She's the only other person who knows. Oh, and Lilly. And our friend, Willow."
He chuckles. "So basically everyone but your family."
"No, just a few close friends. And you. You won't tell anyone, right?"
"You have my word. I've done the secret relationship thing before. It sucked. I'm sorry you have to hide it."
"Me too. It's nearly impossible when we basically live in the same house."
"Does your brother know?"
"About Luke and me? No. And he can't find out. He'd kill Luke if he knew we were dating. Cal doesn't want me dating any guy but especially his best friend."
"And this thing with Birdie and Luke? He thinks it's real?"
"As far as I know. He hasn't questioned it."
"He must hate seeing Luke with Birdie."
"Why? What do you mean?"
"He likes her. It's obvious he wants to go out with her."
I burst out laughing. "You think Cal wants to date Birdie? That's hilarious."
"He's never asked her out?"
"Are you kidding? They hate each other. Always have. They can barely stand being in the same room together."
"Huh. I didn't get that vibe at all. I assumed they were dating which is why I thought you guys were joking when you said Luke was dating Birdie."
"Birdie and my brother are definitely not dating. They're complete opposites, and like I said, they can't stand each other."
Anyone But Her Page 16
