by Natasha Boyd
No fraternizing with vacationers was at the top of our Rules and Conduct Manual. Not that we were fraternizing. Wait, what did fraternizing mean, exactly?
He looked down at the book in his hand as if he didn’t know, which was my first sign that he wasn’t as cool and calm as he was letting on. The tiniest part of me preened as I thought he might also think I was attractive. I did a quick mental inventory of what I must look like. No make up, ratty and extremely short jean cutoffs I didn’t mind messing up, stained t-shirt, sweaty skin and wild hair yanked into messy bun with head band to keep wisps out of my eyes. No. And no.
I deflated immediately.
“Uh …” He read the title of the book in his hand like it was the first time he’d seen it. “Um. The Wolf of Wall Street.”
“That who you hope to be one day?” I asked, totally overstepping my boundary. The hired help did not ask questions like that. No fraternizing with vacationers.
“How do you know I’m not already?” He faced me, his eyes friendly but challenging and whoa, I took a direct hit of charm.
“You don’t look old enough,” I responded, my cheeks warming under his gaze.
“Or corrupt enough?”
“That’s not for me to say.” I laughed, awkwardly.
“You local?”
I shrugged. “Yes.”
“Do you have a name, local girl?”
No fraternizing with vacationers. “Jessica. But my friends call me Jazz.”
“Jazz,” he stated, then nodded and turned back for the door, gracing me with his impeccable back muscles again. Was he a rower? He could totally be a rower. He was probably an Ivy League frat boy rower.
My shoulders slumped a little in disappointment as he started to leave. No fraternizing with vacationers, I reminded myself. What had just happened? Probably the reverse of the rules on his side, which stated: No fraternizing with the help. Anyway, what was I thinking? He was cute, but I didn’t know the first thing about him. He looked about college age, but for all I knew his family that was supposedly arriving today could be his wife and kids, rather than his parents, which I’d originally assumed.
I turned back to the unmade bed.
“Hey, Jazz?”
He stood a few treads down the stairwell out in the hall where he could see directly into the room. Good thing I wasn’t sniffing his sheets. Which, duh, I was totally not going to do. But I was intrigued, and curious, and my lady parts were telling me he smelled as yummy as he looked. “Yes, Chase?”
And he smiled at my use of his name. “What do you do here on a Saturday night?”
My stomach swirled giddily. What was I doing? Or what did one do? Totally different questions.
“Tonight I’m going to a party on the beach with some friends.” I purposely left out that it was an unofficial High School seniors’ graduation party. No need for him to know my age. But for some inexplicable reason I added: “At Marker 11” giving him the exact closest beach access point to where we would be. No fraternizing with vacationers. “You should come.” NO FRATERNIZING WITH VACATIONERS! I bit down on my tongue
“Maybe I will.” He nodded and turned, heading down the stairs.
I dropped my face to the sheets, just as much out of sheer mortification over my hastily thrown out invite that wasn’t fully accepted as for my previous reasons. My nose was rewarded with the scent of sunscreen and stale male sweat. What else had I expected? Still, he was cute. And he might be a good candidate for mission V-card. Who was I kidding? He was the perfect candidate.
Tourist? Check
Cute? Check, check, check
Older-ish? Check
Possibly attracted to me too? Check.
This was going to be more simple than I’d thought.
So why did I get the distinct impression my life was about to get really complicated?
I quickly stripped date bed and grabbed all the towels out of the bathroom, dumping them with the other stuff out in the hall. The large window by the stairwell looked out over the pool deck and the dunes and ocean beyond. What I wouldn’t give to be out on the beach today.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket. It was Keri Ann.
KA: What time do u want to go to the beach 2nite?
Me: Maybe 8?
KA: Cool. I think Joey’s going to come. That okay?
I thought about his job interview this afternoon. I so hoped he got it. Below me, Chase appeared and stood at the end of the pool. He executed a perfect racing dive and proceeded to cross the pool with powerful strokes.
Me: Sure. Guess what? Met hottie tourist today, he may show up at beach tonight.
But even as I typed, I felt weird about Joey meeting Chase. If Chase even showed up. I hoped Joey didn’t get all judgmental and big-brothery or scare him off.
He wouldn’t, would he?
KERI ANN AND I rode our bicycles along the warped decking of the beach walk access. The evening ocean breeze was cool on our warm skin. We were supposed to walk our bicycles down to the sand, not ride them, but off season, we locals pretty much did what we wanted. The season on Butler Cove Island geared up in fits and starts as the round robin of week-long spring breaks staggered into town around March and April. Then we had blessed relief until Memorial Day weekend. Enjoying our last few weeks before then was a necessity. “So tell me about this hottie you met,” Keri Ann asked.
“He probably won’t come, but man he was soooo cute. Don’t know a thing about him though.”
Keri Ann laughed. “So what did you talk about then? I mean how did you get to the point of inviting him to the beach?”
“I don’t really know. I mean we talked about a book he was reading. Then he asked what people do here on a Saturday night, and I just kind of invited him.”
“Well, I’m sure Joey will protect you if this guy’s not on the up and up.”
“Oh joy. Just what I need. When’s he coming anyway? Did he say if his meeting went well with Dr. Barrett?”
“He didn’t say. Thanks for doing that by the way.”
“Of course. Oh shit, I meant to give it to you at the house … no wonder my bag is weighing me down. I finally finished the Erath book. Holy schmexy. It was amazing. I can’t believe we have to wait a year for the last one! But at least we have the movie to look forward to.”
Nearing the end of the decking, we were forced to hop off to push our wheels through the soft dry sand until we reached the hard packed stuff left behind by the earlier tide. Then we jumped back on and rode.
“Was it weird to read it now that they’ve cast the actor who’ll be playing Max?” Keri Ann asked. “Personally I prefer leaving those things to my imagination.”
“It was better. Jack Eversea is sex on a stick. Please hurry up and read book two though, seriously, I need to rehash it with you.”
“Dang, Jazz. Gimme a chance, you haven’t even given it to me yet.” She laughed as we rode our bikes over the hard damp sand, our hair streaming behind us, our baskets full of firewood, newspaper, spicy corn chips, and chocolate milk. Oh and Nana’s pimento cheese spread and crackers. Dinner of champions.
The setting sun behind us turned the blue sea to deep iridescence. If we were on the other side of the island right now and facing the sun, it would have set the water to flame. The left over gullies from the tide were carved into the sand and gleamed silver in the low light. “We live in the best place on earth,” I yelled and reached out my hand, laughing. Keri Ann did the same and we rode side by side, our fingers touching.
We saw the group of our classmates up ahead. The wind whipping past our ears stole our laughter as it passed and drowned out any sound from the group, but a faint bass beat of their music grew louder as we approached.
Someone let out a whooping yell. Cooper. I shook my head, amused. “Yeah,” he yelled. “Now it’s a party.”
“Glad to oblige.” I laughed and let him take the handlebars and steady the bike as I climbed off.
“It’s my favorite gypsy girl.” He tugg
ed my long braid that hung loosely over my shoulder, giving me his goofy grin and grabbed the firewood bundle out of my basket.
Cooper was everybody’s good friend, but he had a problem with authority and for a while always seemed to be in trouble. It didn’t help that his father had been away fighting in Afghanistan for most of his teen years, and then died two months before his tour was up when we were in tenth grade. It had been a tough time for Cooper, but we all loved him to bits and felt his pain along with him. My mother had a lot of opinions about Cooper Jenkins being part of our friend group, as did most of our parents and teachers. But we pretty much ignored them, and Cooper calmed down eventually.
The fire had already been started in a hollowed out dip in the sand, and Cooper threw our log bundle to join the other wood supplies off to the side. I looked over and caught another friend, Vern’s eye, and he gave me a wave as he chatted with a boy I recognized from the grade below ours. Keri Ann was chatting to our friend Jasper.
“So,” Cooper said as we flopped down cross-legged on the sand. I knocked my chocolate milk against his can of Cheer Wine. “When do you leave for college?”
“I’m going to Beaufort, idiot.” I smiled and took a sip. “I’ll be living at home and driving to classes if I get a car. I’ll still be around.”
Cooper scratched his head. “Oh yeah, I forgot. I keep thinking everyone’s going off to school and leaving me behind.”
“What about you? You decide what you’re doing yet? Are you going to stay on at the garage?”
“I like it there, you know. Makes me feel closer to my old man. And I’m good at it. My only other option is to enlist. But I’d give my ma a damned heart attack if I went and did that.” He shook his head. “Hey, so I’m working on a VW Bug right now, and I think the owner might be looking to sell it. It needs a new transmission, and the guy doesn’t want to pay for it. But once that’s done, it’ll be rolling.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Do you know how much he might ask?” I asked. I was excited but I still had to earn enough cash. “Or if he’d be willing to get paid in installments.”
“I can ask.” Cooper shrugged.
I bumped his shoulder affectionately. “Thanks, Bud.”
“Oh my God!” I heard my friend Liz whisper behind me to Keri Ann who was sitting next to her. “Did you guys invite Joey and Colt?”
I looked to where she was pointing. Sure enough, Keri Ann’s brother and his friend Colton Graves who was a tad stockier and darker haired than his high school buddy were walking down the beach toward us. I turned and caught Keri Ann’s eye. Her cheeks were pink. “I didn’t know Colt was home too,” I said.
She shrugged and shot me a threatening look, begging me to shut my mouth. She’d had a tiny crush on Colton when we were in eighth grade. “Me neither.”
“Ugh,” moaned Liz. “Could they be any hotter?”
Chase hadn’t shown up and probably wouldn’t so hopefully I wouldn’t have to worry about Joey being a bonehead to him.
I wanted to know how Joey’s interview had gone. Somehow since our breakfast last weekend, it felt like we were finally becoming friends in our own right rather than just through Keri Ann. It made me feel warm inside. Like my family just expanded.
THE SUN HAD set, we were all cast in firelight, and Chase hadn’t shown up. People arrived in dribs and drabs, and there ended up being about thirty of us. Joey and Colt had been surrounded and peppered with questions about college and memories of Butler Cove’s football glory days when they’d been on the team. Butler Cove High hadn’t had a great team since they’d left. Music pulsed from the old school battery-operated stereo Vern had brought down. Ever the traditionalist.
Joey finally got a break and wandered over to me as I pulled my cardigan out of my bicycle basket.
“I shoulda worn jeans,” I said as I pulled it on. “Who knew it would be so chilly in May.”
He shook his head. “Right? And it was sweltering today.”
“Sooo?” I sang, cocking an eyebrow. “Dr. Barrett?”
He grinned. “So. I got it.”
“That’s fantastic!” I held out a fist, and he bumped it. We drew a few curious glances. “Tell me everything.”
Joey shrugged as we sat down on the sand nearer the fire. He leaned back on his hands and extended his long denim-clad legs out in front of him. “Not much to tell. I just have to thank you. And thank your mom. Dr. Barrett was expecting me, and he basically said if your mom vouched for me then we’d figure something out.”
“Wow.”
“Then we spent about five minutes going through what my interests and strengths were and about twenty-five minutes going over his accomplishments.” Joey rolled his eyes with a laugh. “There might be a burgeoning God complex going on with that one.”
“Is he married? I always meant to ask Mom.” The way she spoke about him made me think she had started developing feelings for her new boss.
“There’s a massive family portrait of him with a lady and two young girls,” Joey said, confirming my fears. “So I’m assuming, yes.”
I looked off toward the ocean and for a moment wondered if my dad was looking at an ocean right now too.
“What is it?” asked Joey.
“It’s nothing. Was just thinking. So, Joseph,” I said brightly. “When’s your stalker due to show up?”
“That’s the downside of a stalker, isn’t it? I don’t think you know when they’ll pop up.”
“The downside?” I laughed. “There’s an upside?”
“Point,” said Joey. “So when do you start on beach patrol? I didn’t hear back from you about CPR Training at the Beaufort Y tomorrow. Did you preregister?”
I sighed thinking of the money for that plus the VW Bug Cooper just told me about. “No. But I’ll call in the morning and see if they can get me in. Is it still okay to drive me?” I cut my gaze over to him.
His blue eyes were dark indigo in the fire light, watching me. “Of course. I offered to do it. The offer is still good. Are you sure everything’s all right? You seem different tonight.”
“Different how?” I asked and registered another person walking toward us from the beach access.
“I don’t know. Preoccupied, maybe.”
I squinted at the approaching figure, my heart picking up a few extra beats. As he got closer in the almost faded dusk, I saw it was Chase. He wore rumpled cargoes, a sweatshirt with a red and yellow striped scarf wrapped around his neck. His brown hair was as messy as I’d seen it this morning. He was scanning the sea of unfamiliar faces. He looked relaxed to be approaching a bunch of complete strangers. He had more guts than me, that was for sure. “Sorry,” I said to Joey. “I invited someone. Looks like he just showed up.”
I leapt to my feet, leaving Joey with a surprised expression on his face, and jogged over to Chase. “Hey, Wall Street. You lost?”
“Hey, Local Girl.” His grin was broad.
“You showed up.”
He reached up and pulled at a tuft of his hair. “That I did. He looked past me at my group of friends. “You in high school?”
I pursed my lips and put a hand on one hip. “Yeah, about to graduate. So?” I glanced behind me briefly imagining what he thought when he looked at everyone. They were all laughing and chatting. Joey had moved and was talking to Colt again, but he was staring at me and Chase.
“So you probably don’t have anything real to drink to keep you warm,” Chase answered.
I shook my head. “Nope. We’ll get moved on by Colton’s father soon anyway. He’s the sheriff. For now he’ll let us be as long as we don’t get crazy.”
“Just so happens I come prepared. You wanna walk with me?”
“Sure,” I said. “Not far though.”
He breathed out with a small chuckle. “Of course.”
We wandered away from the group. I had the feeling Chase wanted to go farther, but I stopped him. “Here’s good,” I said, plopping down on the cool sand. “So what’s with the Harr
y Potter scarf?”
“The what?” Chase laughed.
“Your scarf. It’s the Gryffindor colors.” My heart climbed into my throat as I realized how juvenile I’d just painted myself.
He raised an eyebrow while he unscrewed the lid on a metal flask.
“Ugh,” I said. “I should really hide my dorkiness until we know each other better. Not a Harry Potter fan?”
“Not really.” He handed me the flask. “I mean I probably don’t think of him one way or another.”
“What is this?”
“Whiskey.”
I’d drunk beer, wine, and wine coolers but had never tried whiskey. I’d already shown my youth with my dumb Harry Potter comment, so I felt a bit stuck. I took a small sip, letting it burn my tongue. Yikes! My eyes watered, and I blinked rapidly.
“So what are you into, Chase? Apart from Wall Street and whiskey?”
He took the flask back from me, not bothering to wipe the opening, and set it against his lips. “You,” he said, watching me over the metal as he tipped his head back for a drink.
My stomach flipped over. I dropped my gaze from his in surprise, not knowing how to respond. But God, that had felt really, really … good. “Um, I uh—”
Chase’s fingers slipped under my chin. I looked up. He leaned close, his gaze on my mouth. His lips caught the light just as they lowered to mine. He tasted of whiskey and wildness. He tasted delicious. Of things I shouldn’t be doing. My eyes fluttered closed.
I didn’t even know him, but in the moment I felt his tongue slide into my mouth, I didn’t care. I felt triumphant! This was so easy! I wanted to tell Joey. You see? I can find someone awesome. Someone who’s not a chump. He kisses beautifully. He’ll make my first time great as well. He’s so into me.
Wait, I wanted to tell Joey?
Suddenly, Joseph’s face was in my mind. Blue eyes, not brown. Dirty blond hair, not Chase’s hair. I tried to refocus on the soft slide of Chase’s mouth and wondered if Joseph’s skin felt the same. Was Joey’s skin stubbly?
