Accidental Love (Accidental Crush #2)

by Adrienne Torrisi

  "Nice outfit." I give Todd a smile.

  "You, too." He wraps his arms around me and playfully tugs at my matching lifeguard t-shirt. Our uniform is similar except the girls all have one-piece, red spandex swimsuits and can wear whatever shorts we want until we get up in our chairs.

  "Did you lather up with sun block? It's supposed to be brutal today," he inquires with a grin.

  "Yeah. Thanks, Dad."

  "What? Is it a crime to care? Plus, if you didn't, I can help you with it." He gives me a playful smirk and a quick kiss as he pulls me closer. Then we start to walk toward the main building. I know, once we get inside, we're on the clock and it's hands off. I want to get as much of him as I can right now, so I pull him back.

  "Wait. One more." With this kiss, I twirl my tongue with his. I want this one to count if it has to get us through the entire day.

  "You're going to get me in trouble." He gives me a smile that says he's the one who is actually trouble.

  "Love you." I stand on my tiptoes to whisper in his ear.

  "Love you back." He leans down and nips my ear with his teeth.

  I push him away, mostly because I know, if I don't, neither of us are going to make it inside. I try not to laugh as I see him adjust his shorts. I know why and I love it.

  He grabs my hand and interlocks his fingers with mine. "Just until we get inside," he says, smiling down at me. Sometimes I still see hints of the No-PDA-Todd, but I kind of love that he takes work and rules seriously.

  "I'll take what I can get," I say, returning his smile as we make our way to the main building.

  As soon as we enter the gates, we let our hands separate. It's a little painful, but I know we have to do it. Relationship rules are pretty strict. When we finally make it to the lifeguard house, where we can go when we're on break, we each get a small locker to leave our clothes in while we're on duty. The "house" is part of your rotation; you guard for two hours at your assigned pool, then you get a half hour in the house to get out of the sun and cool down.

  Seeing Todd take off his t-shirt before he goes out to his post is enough to hold me over for a few hours. The world suddenly goes into slow-motion as I see the bottom of his shirt slide across every one of his defined ab muscles, revealing his beautifully tone stomach, chest, and my favorite—the indentation above his hips peeking out of the top of his shorts. I seriously think I need to wipe the drool off my chin.

  As I make my way over to my assigned post, the slow-motion replay of Todd's abs runs through my head, and I can't help the smile that forms on my lips. Just as I start to walk up the wood ladder to my chair, I see Casey walking in my direction. He's definitely not ugly with his wavy, dirty-blonde hair and perfectly tan swimmer's body to match his perfect green eyes and bright white smile.

  "Ashley?" he asks as he holds out his hand to shake mine.

  "Yeah, that's me." I slip my hand into his to return the gesture. Wow, he has a firm hand shake. Geez.

  "I'm Casey." He smiles, revealing just how flawless and white his teeth are, especially against the backdrop of his sun-kissed skin. "We're on duty together." He gestures to his chair across the big kid pool.

  "Cool."

  "You're Ryan's sister, right?"

  I try hard not to roll my eyes. Seriously, can anyone just know me for me? "Yup. That's me."

  He doesn't give me the typical confused look, like how could I possibly be related to Ryan; instead, he gives me a smile that makes me feel a little uncomfortable. A smile that could be mistaken for flirting if he wasn't so smooth.

  "See you on break. Don't let anyone drown." He flips his head back to move his perfectly wavy hair out of his eyes.

  "Nice. You, too. See ya."

  It's so amazing to be up in this chair as an official lifeguard. I love the view from up here. You feel absolutely in control, or maybe it's the whistle that gives you that sense of authority. Speaking of my whistle, I've had to use it a ton and it's only been an hour. These eight-year-olds are rough, but the whistle equals power in their eyes and they listen—well, at least so far. Also, being able to threaten to kick them out of the pool is a huge bonus.

  Casey is a pretty good lifeguard. He's taking it way more seriously than I thought he would. Every time I glance over at him, I see the younger girls checking him out as they walk by. It's pretty funny how obvious they are. I hope I wasn't ever that blatant about it, though I probably was. It's also clear the young boys respect him instantly. I know this is sexist, but it must be a boy thing.

  I catch his eyes wandering over here a few times, and whenever our eyes meet, he smiles at me with his flawless white teeth, he doesn't look away. It's like he wants me to see him staring over here. He's a confident one for sure. The more I look at him, the more I think, if I was twelve, I would totally loiter around his chair, too.

  Once we're finally on our first break back at the lifeguard house, I cop a squat down on the floor right under the air vent. I don't really care where I'm sitting as long as there is air-conditioning. The cool air feels amazing as it breezes across my sweaty skin. I love the sun, but being out there for two hours takes its toll.

  Casey comes over and sits down on the floor next to me.

  "Hot, huh?" He leans his elbows on his bent knees.

  "Yeah, brutal."

  "Was that your first time up in the chair?"

  "I was a junior lifeguard last year, but this is my first year in charge of a chair."

  He raises his eyebrows. "That's cool."

  I find myself intrigued by him, wanting to know more. "How about you?"

  "Nah, this is my second year, so I'm an old pro." He leans back and smiles.

  "Is that right?" I give him a sarcastic smirk back and he laughs. He's got a great laugh: strong, confident. "How long have you been swimming?" I ask, curious to find out more about him.

  He runs his fingers through his shaggy, blonde hair. "Eight years. You?"

  I shrug. "I used to swim competitively, but I stopped a few years ago. Now I just do it for fun."

  "Why'd you stop?"

  "I don't know. I still love the water. Life just got in the way, I guess."

  "Times up, guys." George, our head lifeguard, shouts over to both of us.

  Casey looks at me and our eyes lock. "You should start to compete again." He tosses his shirt at me playfully, hitting me in the face.

  "What do you care?" I say as I toss his sweaty shirt back at him.

  "I don't." He turns and starts to walk away with a smile. "But I bet you were good." He glances back as he waits for me to catch up.

  Just as we're walking out of the house, Todd and Ryan are walking in. I instantly read the look on Todd's face. He doesn't seem happy Casey and I have been paired together, but he's hiding it pretty well.

  "Hey, Casey. What's up? Hey, Ash," Ryan says as he passes us, his cheeks are really red from the searing sun. That's one thing we have in common: whenever we are hot, our cheeks turn bright red. However, as soon as we cool down, it disappears.

  Todd doesn't say anything; instead, his hand brushes against my shoulder. My skin instantly reacts to his touch with goose bumps.

  "Have fun out there." He gives me that crooked smile I love so much.

  Casey notices our interaction and raises his eyebrows. "Friends?" He gestures toward Todd with his head, causing his wavy hair to move along with the motion.

  "Something like that." I give him my best wicked smile as I climb the ladder back up to my chair.

  After another couple of hours, it's finally lunch, and luckily, Todd and I have the same break. Unfortunately, so does Casey. We all end up sitting at the same table, and the whole time, Todd keeps rubbing his leg against mine. Every time I feel it gently brush mine, there's an explosion of joy in my stomach. Above the table, we both try hard to seem as normal as possible, following the pool's strict no PDA rule. I keep having flashbacks of when we tried to keep our relationship a secret in the beginning. That didn't last very long, not to mention it was tortu
re. Part of me is grateful Todd won't be here the entire summer; I don't think I'd make it. With just his smile, I want to lean over and kiss him.

  ***

  On our next break, Casey comes right over and sits next to me as I hibernate under the air vent. "Hey, partner." He gives me a slick grin.

  We sit in uncomfortable silence for a while before I finally feel the need to break it. "So where did you lifeguard last year?" I ask, trying to make small talk since he's sitting right here.

  "At my parents' country club," he answers matter-of-factly, like everyone's parents belong to a country club.

  "That's cool. Is that how you know Ryan and the guys?"

  "Yeah, and from sports and stuff." I'm hopeful he'll bring up his sister, but he stops there, so I'm guessing she's the 'and stuff.' I continue to pretend I know nothing, though.

  "Ashley Taylor," he says my name like it has deeper meaning as he gazes out the large window that faces the pools. Then he turns to have his eyes meet mine. "Do you have a boyfriend, Ashley Taylor?"

  My heart skips a beat, although I'm not sure why. I guess because the question is so unexpected yet so direct.

  "Do you have a girlfriend, Casey… What's your last name?"

  "Osterfield."

  I can't help laughing. "What? Really?"

  "Yes, really. Ouch." He tries to hide his smile as he pretends to be wounded. "How do you think I feel? I had to grow up with it. You can't choose your last name, Ashley Taylor." He puts extra emphasis on my full name once again.

  "Okay. Sorry. Do you have a girlfriend, Casey O.?" I smile up at him. "Sorry, I couldn't do it."

  "Wow, you are rough." He smiles back at me. He really does have a nice smile. "And no, I don't."

  "Times up. Back to your posts," George shouts into the house, and everyone starts to head back to the pools.

  "Guess that's our cue."

  "You still didn't answer my question," he says as he helps me up.

  "I know," I say with a smile as I turn to walk away.

  I hear him laugh from behind me as he jogs to catch up. When we pass by Todd as he heads into the house for his break, he winks at me and mouths, 'Meet you in the parking lot.'

  I glance at Casey. It's clear he caught that exchange. He gives me a raised eyebrow and I know he is aware that something is up.

  ***

  "Finally," Todd says as we lean against his car. His arms are straddling me on either side, his lips feel incredibly good against mine.

  "I know. I missed you today," I say through our kiss.

  "Not as much as I missed you. It sucks being on separate rotations."

  "Yeah, it's going to suck even more in a few weeks when you're away at camp."

  "I know." He drops his head down, his soft hair brushing against my forehead.

  "Hey, we'll just have to make the most of the time we have before you go." I smile up at him. I can tell he's really upset about leaving, and I don't want to make it worse.

  "See you tomorrow, Ashley Taylor." I hear Casey's voice and feel Todd's arms immediately stiffen on either side of me.

  "See ya, Casey," Todd says before I can say anything, his eyes still locked on mine.

  "Bye, Casey O," I shout sarcastically as I peek around Todd to see him getting into his deep blue Range Rover.

  With that, Todd gives me a look and pushes off his car. "Let's go, Ash."

  He's already starting the car by the time I slide into the passenger seat. "Hey, are you okay?" I touch his leg. God, I love touching him.

  He turns to look at me with his piercing blue eyes. "I'm fine." But his tone tells me he's not.

  I stare out the front window as we drive in silence. This is the first time silence has ever felt awkward with Todd. When I glance over at him a few times, his eyes remain glued to the road. I've never seen him concentrate this hard on driving. I keep thinking of a million different things I could say, but all of them involve football camp or the pool, and I know those are topics I should probably avoid.

  "I don't like him," Todd finally breaks the silence. As usual, he's direct and to the point, no beating around the bush, thankfully.

  "Why?" I instantly decide I'm going to continue to pretend I don't know who his sister is.

  "I just don't, Ash. I saw the way he was looking at you today."

  I practically choke on the water I'm drinking, "What? That is insane."

  "Is it?" He turns to look at me then shifts his gaze back to the road.

  I quickly run through the day, instantly recalling the 'do you have a boyfriend' question, but I honestly think Todd is overreacting. I've never seen him jealous, so it's strange. I don't like it. I keep reminding myself who Casey's sister is and why Todd is overly sensitive. I just wish he'd tell me.

  "Listen, I just don't like him, Ash. I don't trust him." He shakes his head and hits his steering wheel. "I hate that I'm leaving, and you are going to be here with him as your partner."

  I rub his arm. "Todd, you're forgetting something."

  "What?" he asks, his eyes still fixed on the road.

  I run my fingers over his tone arm. "That I love you." With that, I feel his tension soften as he turns to lock his eyes with mine. I hate that he feels this way while part of me is angry he thinks I would ever do anything.

  He gives me a soft smile. "I'm sorry, Ash. It's not that I don't trust you. I just don't trust him. He's rich and spoiled. He's one of those guys who will do anything to get what he wants. He acts like he's your friend, and then he stabs you in the back."

  "What happened between the two of you?"

  He turns to look back out at the road. How convenient for him to have driving as an excuse to avoid looking at me.

  There's a long silence again before he shakes his head. "Nothing, it's no big deal." He says it so low I almost don't hear him. There's more silence, then he turns and gives me his crooked smile as he places his hand on my knee. "Just be careful with him when I'm at camp," he says squeezing my knee.

  "Anyway, enough about him. I'm glad I get to drive you home," he adds as he turns into the parking lot of our favorite field. "Pit stop?" He gives me a smile I can't resist, a smile that makes me forget everything. Almost.

  Chapter 13: Goodbye

  The best part about every day is my ride home with Todd. We usually stop off somewhere to be alone, really alone. We've discovered a lot of empty parking lots around town, and luckily, his car seats go all the way back, if you know what I mean. We also spend almost every late afternoon at our special place. It's become our routine.

  The month flies by, and this is our last Friday together. I'm trying really hard not to think about it as we lie on our usual wool blanket, in our usual spot. I run my toes through the cool blades of grass; it's the only thing even close to being cool. I see beads of sweat forming on Todd's nose. Even though we went for a swim before we left the pool, we are both already sweating again; that's how hot and humid it is today.

  "Are you excited to go to Penn State tomorrow?" I ask.

  His instant smile answers my question, but he hangs his head down and his damp hair brushes my arm. "I'm going to miss you."

  "Well, that's a given." I rise up on my elbows to kiss him, twirling my tongue around his to let him know just how much I'll miss him.

  The sky is golden with streaks of orange and pink as the sun starts to set. I know it's getting late, yet I also know, when we separate, this is it. I won't see him again for four long weeks.

  The boys are leaving first thing tomorrow after meeting at Brian's house since he's driving. Brian got a brand new BMW because his was totaled in the accident, so they'll be riding in style at least.

  "Yeah, I'm going to miss you so much, but I am getting kind of excited. I'm glad Ry and Bri will be there."

  "It's pretty cool that it worked out that way." I run my fingers through his hair. "You're going to live on a college campus for two weeks. I'm so jealous."

  "Whatever. It's going to be a lot of hard work. It's not like we're go
ing to be partying."

  I just smile. "We'll see."

  "Trust me, Ash. The coaches already warned us. Up at five a.m. for drills and practice all day until six at night, at least. We're going to be too tired to do anything else."

  "Will you guys be on the field together?"

  "For some of it, but they separate positions for a lot of it. I'm just glad we're all rooming together, so I'll see them at night before we pass out from exhaustion." He laughs.

  "Hey," I say, pulling his face toward mine to capture his full attention. "I was just kidding. I do hope you get to have fun. You need to take advantage of being on a college campus with no parents. Plus, it's important for you to get the full experience to see if you like it since you could be spending four years there."

  "Yeah, it's so strange to think about that—full freedom. It's unfathomable."

  "Wow, a big word. You must be going to college."

  He gives me that smile that melts my insides and then leans down to kiss me. "I'll tell you one thing, I'm going to miss this. Our afternoons. They are perfect."

  "I agree." I return his kiss, our lips crashing together as we roll over on the blanket. His kisses are deep, and I can feel the urgency in them. We know this is it.

  "Ashley, Todd?" I hear a voice, but it sounds far away, too far to be real. In this moment, it is just me and Todd. I could swear I hear it again, though. Todd's the first to pull back; he must hear the voice, too. We both look over to see Todd's mom standing above us.

  "Hi, Mrs. H." My cheeks instantly flush red—bright red, I'm sure, because they feel like they are on fire.

  "Hi, Mom. What are you doing here?" he questions more harshly than I think he intended.

  She looks stunned by both his tone and the fact that we are sprawled out on a blanket on top of each other. "I was driving by and saw your car. I wanted to make sure everything was okay since it's pretty late."

  "Everything is good, Mom," he says through clenched teeth.

  "Oh, okay, I'll see you at home, then. Soon." She uses her don't-forget-who-you-are-talking-to tone, definitely getting her point across. "Bye, Ashley. Nice seeing you," she says with sweet sarcasm.