Taking Flight (Teen Paranormal Romance Series) (The Caged Series Book 3)
Page 8
“What does your swimsuit look like?” she asked, hanging the chosen outfit on her closet doorknob.
“I don’t have one.” I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gone swimming. Probably when I was around her age. I wasn’t even sure I knew how to swim.
She turned and ogled me, shaking her head. “Well, what are you going to swim in, then?”
I shrugged. “I figured I’d just watch you guys.”
“What?! No! I want you to swim with me!” Becca’s high squeal drew the boys into her room.
“What’s going on?” Griffin looked pained.
“Lexus says she’s not going swimming!” Becca wailed.
Phoenix turned to me. “Why not?”
I shrugged and dropped my head. Becca opened her mouth to spill, but Phoenix spouted off before she got the words out.
“Lexus, is this some body-anxiety shit or something? Cuz believe me, you’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.” Phoenix’s eyes swooped up and down my body appreciatively.
I shook my head, although, in truth, the idea of baring my skin in a swimsuit did make me feel a little queasy. “No, it’s not that. It’s no big deal. I’m happy just to watch you guys.”
Griffin’s eyes looked sad, but Phoenix’s blazed. “No way. Now tell me why the hell you don’t want to go swimming.”
I bit my lip, trying to decide what to tell them. Becca swung her head back and forth between me and the boys, sensing that I didn’t want to tell them, but not sure why.
“Phoenix, maybe it’s not a good time for her to go swimming. If you know what I mean.” Griffin made eyes at him, glancing awkwardly at Becca.
My face flamed red, and I covered it with my hands as I shook my head.
Becca pursed her lips and scrunched her eyebrows, confused. “It’s an indoor water park, so it’s always a good time to go swimming! She just doesn’t have a swimsuit.”
Both boys swung their heads towards me. Griffin gave a small, relieved smile, and Phoenix rolled his eyes and huffed.
“That’s all it is? Why didn’t you say so? Let’s go get you a swimsuit then!” He grabbed my hand and pulled me into the hallway.
“Where am I going to get a swimsuit in October? Probably the only place that has them is some expensive sporting goods store. I really don’t mind just watching.”
“Enough of that,” Phoenix growled. “I’m not missing an opportunity to see you in a skimpy bikini. I’m buying you a swimsuit.”
Phoenix tromped down the stairs with me in tow, and Griffin followed. “Linda, Lexus doesn’t have a swimsuit. We need to go buy her one.”
“Oh goodness! Of course. Here, this should cover it.” She reached for her purse and pulled out some cash. Phoenix grabbed it and stuck it in his pocket before I could see how much it was.
“Are the stores still open this late?” Stan asked from behind his tablet.
Griffin pulled out his phone and checked the time. “They should be open for another hour or so.”
Stan and Linda nodded, and we headed out to the old, cherry-red Mustang the boys shared. Phoenix took the driver’s seat, and Griffin climbed in back so I could sit up front with Phoenix.
“She’s probably right about the sporting goods store,” Griffin said. Phoenix nodded and took off towards the closest one.
I was also right about the limited selection, and the prices.
I fingered a one-piece, competition-style swimsuit with a price tag of a hundred dollars.
“Shit, those are ugly, Lexus. You need something nicer than that.” Phoenix sneered at the suit I was holding.
“Here’s some regular suits,” Griffin called from a few racks over.
“No. No. No. Yes!” Phoenix flipped through the suits, dismissing the majority of them before finally pulling out a coral-colored bikini with a crocheted lace, halter-top style neckline and matching lace on the bottoms. I instantly loved it and was simultaneously terrified of it.
“Griffin?” Phoenix asked, and Griffin nodded his head in approval.
“I don’t think that’s big enough.” The tiny scraps of material looked like they would barely fit Becca. I’d gained a little weight since I’d had plenty of food available lately, and I wasn’t skin and bones like I used to be.
Griffin looked at the tag. “It’s a size four.” My size.
“But aren’t you supposed to go up a size in swimsuits?” I squeaked.
Phoenix rolled his eyes. “Just try it on, Lexus. We don’t have a lot of other options here.” He waved his hand over the tiny section of leftover swimsuits.
“Well, let’s take a few more back, just in case this doesn’t fit. Lexus won’t want to have to get dressed and come back out again,” Griffin suggested.
He pulled a few more suits off the rack and even grabbed one of the one-piece suits.
It was late, and the store was closing soon, so there weren’t many shoppers, and no one was in the dressing room area. I headed into a changing room while the boys plopped down on a nearby bench.
“Try the one I picked first,” Phoenix demanded. I nodded and shut the door behind me before quickly slipping off my clothes.
The store was quiet, and I felt self-conscious knowing the boys could hear me as I wiggled into the swimsuit.
The cold air made me shiver, and I felt way too exposed under the bright, florescent lights in the dressing room.
I kept my back to the mirror while I was changing, but eventually I had to turn around and look. I gasped as soon as I saw myself. Whoa. The suit was gorgeous, but it left nothing to the imagination. The tiny bottoms barely covered my pubic hair, and the bra cups dipped down low between my breasts, the crocheted lace halter not really hiding my cleavage.
“What does that sound mean, Lexus? Get out here and show us.” Phoenix’s voice echoed from the other side of the door.
Did I dare step out there in this? It was a perfect fit, technically. And I was sure the boys would love it. But was I brave enough to actually wear it?
The color looked great against my pale skin, and the halter top kept me from feeling like I was falling out. I glanced at the other suits on the rack, trying to decide if one of them would be better.
“Lexus! What’s taking so long? I want to see how that suit looks on you!”
Ugh! He was so pushy!
Sucking in a deep breath, I cracked the door open and peeked around it. “It’s kind of… revealing,” I said, scrunching my nose and biting my lip.
Phoenix rolled his eyes. “Duh. That’s a good thing. Come out here and let me see it.”
I slipped around the door and stood in front of them.
“Holy shit,” Phoenix whispered, his mouth left hanging open. Griffin was wide-eyed and staring at me in stunned silence.
I crossed my arms in front of my body to hide some of my exposed skin and shuffled nervously from one foot to the other. “I don’t know… What do you think, Griffin? Is it… too much?”
He shook his head, finally in control of his faculties. “It’s perfect, Lexus. You look amazing.”
I ducked my head at his compliment, and he stood and slid his hands down my arms then gently down my sides till they rested at my hips. Sparks tingled against my bare flesh, and butterflies swirled in my stomach.
“You’re amazing,” he whispered, and his head tilted down till his lips aligned with mine. He slowly moved in for a kiss, his lips barely grazing mine as he pulled me closer. Electricity coursed through my body, and I shivered as Griffin groaned at the sensation. Apparently he felt the same thing.
Once Griffin and I pulled apart, Phoenix gulped and said, “I would say it’s my turn, but if I start kissing you right now, I won’t be able to stop. But I’m buying that suit, Lexus. And you’re going to wear it all day tomorrow and drive me crazy. End of story.”
I smirked at him but nodded then turned around and went back into the dressing room to take the suit off. It was only then that I noticed a woman gaping at us in revulsion.
15
Actually, the more I thought about it, that wasn’t a bad idea. We could take turns, even. I could be her boyfriend for this visit, and Griffin could have next time. If my brother and I were more alike, we could switch places every day, taking turns pretending to be the one she was dating, but as it was, we were just too different to pull that off for very long.
Griffin was in the bathroom, and I rapped on the door as I was heading in. He was taking a whiz, and he lost his aim when he swung his head around to see what I wanted. He grimaced, and I laughed as he bent over to wipe off the wallpaper.
“Bro, all these years, and you still don’t know how to aim that thing? I could piss over my shoulder and not get any on the toilet seat.”
Griffin rolled his eyes. “What are you, four? You want to have a pissing contest?”
I hopped up on the countertop next to the sink, and Griffin leaned around me to wash his hands.
“Actually, I do.”
He raised an eyebrow and wiped his hands on one of the fancy fingertip towels Linda had hanging.
“I want to be Lexus’ boyfriend today, and I’m willing to fight for it.”
“What are you talking about?” Griffin frowned and glared at me.
“You and me, fight to the death. Winner gets to be Lexus’ boyfriend in front of the Lewises.”
His face twisted in a smirk. “Fight to the death, huh? What’s your weapon of choice — fists, swords, guns?”
I rolled my eyes and slugged him in the shoulder. “No. Video games, dipshit.”
Griffin stared at me with a calculated look on his face before finally responding. “Okay, but I get to pick the game.”
Half an hour later I was doing my version of an end-zone dance, and Griffin was pouting and asking for a rematch. He should’ve known better than to think he could ever out-game me. If he wanted to win, he should’ve picked a math game.
“What’s going on?” Lexus asked, poking her head into my bedroom. I jumped up and grabbed her, swinging her around with a big smile on my face.
“I just won the right to do this,” I said, kissing her soundly.
“What do you mean?” Her face got all worried-looking.
“I wanted to be able to kiss you today, so I challenged Griffin to a duel. Winner gets to be your boyfriend around the Lewises. I won, obviously.” A big grin split my face.
She still looked uncertain. “Hey, we don’t have to if you don’t want to.” I laid a hand on her cheek and rubbed my thumb across her lip. “I just didn’t want to go all day without being able to touch you, and I didn’t think you wanted the Lewises to know about… the three of us.”
She looked at my brother. “What about Griffin?”
“We’ll let him play boyfriend next time.” I said.
Her eyes were still locked on Griffin’s. “Are you okay with that?”
He shrugged and reached for her hand, kissing it. “As long as you’re still mine in private.”
That put a dreamy smile on her face. Damn. Griffin was like a freakin’ romance novel with the sappy lines.
“I guess it makes sense.” She nodded.
My cheesy smile reappeared, and I grabbed her again, wrapping my arms around her. She had on jeans and an emerald-colored sweater that brought out the green in her hazel eyes, but the halter tie of her swimsuit poked out the top of her neckline, and my mind immediately peeled off everything but the skimpy two-piece.
The doorbell rang, and Becca took off down the stairs, yelling, “They’re here! They’re here!” at the top of her lungs.
I groaned, pulling away from Lexus. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, after all. Even as her official boyfriend, I still wasn’t going to get a minute alone with her for the rest of the weekend.
Linda called for us to come down and help load the vehicles. Stan and Linda were going to drive Becca and her friends in their SUV, and me, Griff, and Lexus were taking the Mustang.
As Becca’s friends arrived, we piled the back of the SUV high with half a dozen beach bags and several boxes of cupcakes.
“Who are they?” one of the girls asked, pointing at me and Griffin. She put a hand over her gap-toothed smile and giggled. The other girls stopped their yapping long enough to hear the answer.
“Those are my foster brothers, Phoenix and Griffin, and that’s Lexus.”
“My girlfriend,” I announced, smiling down at her. I wrapped my arm around Lexus’ waist and pulled her closer.
Becca, Stan, and Linda all stopped what they were doing and looked at us, and Lexus blushed as pink as Becca’s cupcakes.
I didn’t look over to see what Griffin was doing. Probably scowling.
“How do you tell them apart?” another little girl with curly pigtails the color of carrots asked. The others were smiling and whispering to each other behind their hands. And giggling. So. Much. Giggling.
Becca waved off the question. “It’s easy once you get to know them.”
Before my head exploded from all the hyper girliness, Linda clapped her hands and told the kids to get in the SUV.
We headed for the Mustang, and I let Griffin drive so I could sit in the back and smooch with Lexus. I was really digging this whole public boyfriend thing.
We pulled up to a hotel made to look like a fancy cabin with giant log columns holding up the massive, cross-beamed portico. Griff parked next to Stan, and we trailed behind the horde of wiggling preteens as we headed in.
Stan had grabbed most of the cupcakes, and Griffin got the others, so that left me free to slide my arm around Lexus’ waist and slip my hand into her back pocket. Our hips bumped when we walked, making little bursts of electricity ripple up and down my body. I knew it was just a biological reaction to touching a Catalyst, but it still made me feel like there was something powerful between us. I high-fived the carved bear statue out front as we entered the lobby.
After Stan and Linda got us all checked in and outfitted with wristbands, they let the kids loose in the indoor waterpark while they found a couple lounge chairs to claim. The air was warm and muggy and reeked of chlorine, and the sound of thousands of gallons of running water and hundreds of screaming kids was deafening.
Griff and I dropped trou right there, peeling off our shirts and jeans, but Lexus headed off to the girls’ locker room to shed her clothes, denying me the strip tease I was hoping for.
She came out a few moments later, her pale skin flushed the same shade as her bathing suit. She tiptoed over to us with her arms crossed around her middle, trying in vain to cover some of that gorgeous body.
She was so freakin’ beautiful it almost hurt to look at her. She was soft and curved in all the right places, and I wanted to run my fingers up and down every inch of her flawless skin. My hands reached around her tiny waist and spanned three-quarters of it, my thumbs rubbing circles on either side of her belly button.
“That tickles,” she whispered, giggling, and clenched the muscles under my hands. I groaned and laid my chin on top of her head, sliding my hands around to her back. My fingers skimmed the edge of her bikini bottoms, and I could barely resist sliding them inside.
Griffin was staring at us like a dog begging for scraps, and the Lewises were watching the three of us curiously.
“Will you three help us keep an eye on the kids, make sure everyone is safe?” Linda asked, interrupting our moment.
“Sure. Let’s go check out the waterslide,” Griffin said, yanking on my arm. He was definitely wishing he’d won this morning. But today, Lexus was all mine.
I slid my fingers through he
rs and followed Griffin over to the biggest waterslide, weaving around a kiddie pool, a lazy river, and a dozen other slides and rides in the giant space.
“How high is this? I can’t believe all this is inside a building!” Lexus gazed up at the top of the waterslide as we started to climb the dozen flights of stairs to the top. Griffin was behind us, probably gazing at something else.
“There’s not nearly as many rides as some of the outdoor parks, but it’s pretty cool.”
“Have you been to one of those before?” Lexus asked.
“Yeah, last summer me and Griff bought a season pass to one near our last foster home. We spent all summer there when we weren’t working.” I grinned remembering three months of sun, fun, and hot girls in skimpy bathing suits.
“There’s Becca,” Griffin pointed over the side of the railing. The girls dashed around the fountains in the splashpad area, laughing and teasing each other. I could see Stan and Linda, too. Stan looked like he was asleep already, and Linda was trying to read a magazine, but her head popped up every time she heard someone squeal, which was just about every five seconds.
Finally, we got to the top, and I nudged Lexus to go first, but her body tightened and she clenched my hand as she stared down the dark tunnel. She stood on her tiptoes and looked out over the railing to the landing pool at the bottom. A rider zoomed out of the slide and dropped into the water with a huge splash, jumping up a few seconds later with his hands in the air, shaking his hair like a dog.
“I don’t know, Phoenix. This looks kind of scary. I’m not a very good swimmer.” Her eyes were wide with fright, and she was biting her bottom lip so hard I was afraid it was going to start bleeding.
Griffin ran a hand down her arm. “You’ll be okay, Lexus. It’s safe, I promise. Do you want me to go first so I can catch you at the bottom?”
She nodded, relieved, and I scowled at him. I was supposed to be the protective boyfriend today.
Griffin pushed off down the slide, and Lexus and I watched as he shot out at the bottom with a whoop and a fist pump. I gave her a little squeeze and a peck on the cheek before nudging her forward.