by Ann, Becca
“Oh no you don’t!” He jumps up, still blinded by snow and runs toward me. I run in circles, trying to disorient him further.
I bend down and grab another handful of snow, pack it and throw. He ducks and the snowball misses him, so I reach for more snow. Not to be outdone, Ryan scoops up two handfuls and launches them in my direction.
Dodging snowballs and water balloons from him for years, my reflexes are pretty good. I jump to the right then to the left, both balls fly past me and smack the window of Kaylee and Nate’s room.
I freeze, eyes glued to that window. Whether I’m the one with the key or not, I am not going in there. There was a tarantula size spider in the tub, and I bet it’s hiding in the rafters just waiting for a cute girl like me to walk in. I’m already too close to the room.
A snowball smacks me in the face, and I drop to my knees. Ice cold pain shoots through my nose and tears prick my eyes. My head falls into my monkey mittens.
“Shit, Lex. I’m so sorry.” Ryan comes skidding across the snow and falls to his knees. Both his hands settle on either side of my face, and he tilts me up. I keep my eyes closed, afraid if I open them, tears will pour over. “Hey, look at me.”
I shake my head and bite my lip, trying to divert the pain from my nose. Warmth spreads through me as Ryan’s lips press against my forehead.
“I am so sorry. I thought you were looking.”
“Spiders,” I mutter.
“Huh?” I open an eye, and the mix of confusion and concern tugs at the corners of his brown irises makes me smile.
“I almost forgot.”
I open the other eye, and when I see his hand reach for the back of his neck, I point toward Kaylee and Nate’s door.
A flash of understanding crosses his features, and I shrug.
“No spiders will get you. That’s why you keep me around. Remember? I’m your official spider protector.”
The tears dry on my cheeks replaced by cold snowflakes. “But you were all the way over there.”
“I’m here now.” His arm wraps around me, and I fall into his chest. “Give me the key. I’ll go find the cards.” I pull my monkey mitten off and reach into my pocket, pulling out the key. He holds his hand out, and I drop it. “You okay?”
I nod and let my lips curl at the corners. “It’s just a little snow.”
“You’re a tough chick, Alexis Boggs.”
Hearing my full name roll of his tongue jolts my stomach, and I have no idea why. I ignore it and say, “I try.”
“Now stay here while I go battle the giant spider from hell.”
“Be careful, it has fangs. I saw them.”
“Not just any spider a vampire spider. Got it. Wish me luck.”
“Luck.” I watch Ryan walk away, back straight, strong arms swinging at his sides, confidence evident in his strut. No wonder the girl was fawning all over him.
After a turn of the key, he disappears into the room. I fall back into the snow, and for the first time since we arrived, I take it all in. The bright blue skies, white mountains, log cabins, the paradise I was hoping for.
I sit up and see Sandy running, blond hair trailing behind her. She spots me, and I expect her to roll her eyes and keep going, but instead she storms over, fists pushing into her sides.
“You!” she yells as she closes in on me with her chipped nail polished finger pointed at my face.
What did I do now? I wasn’t even anywhere near her. One of these days I’m going to figure out why she hates me so much.
“I hope you’re happy.” Makeup streaked tears cover her cheeks.
“Happy about what?”
“Sean dumped me.”
My eyes shoot up, mouth agape. Could this really be happening? Did my plan really work?
“I didn’t have anything to do with that.” Or maybe I did. I bite back the smile trying to form on my lips.
“Please. Don’t act all innocent. I saw you drooling all over him at the hot tub, strutting around in that slutty bikini. Not that I’d expect any less from white trash.
Her words hit me like a snowball to the gut. The wind knocks out of me, my breath catches in my throat, and I’m ready to keel over.
Two words. The two words I’ve been hiding from my whole life. Everyone thinks it, I’m sure, but no one has ever come out and said it to me.
She’s right though. No matter how far I get away from our hometown, and no matter how hard I try to pretend my life isn’t so bad, I will never outrun the truth.
Ryan bounces out of the room, cards held high above his head in victory as Sandy stomps away.
Tears prick my eyes for the second time today, but this time the pain is worse. It goes deep into my heart and slices through the muscle.
Lexie 2.
Sandy 1.
Chapter 12
Ryan
So much for the no touching thing. Seeing Lex cry is a lot like paralysis. I have no control over what my body does, and once the fountain starts, I park my butt right next to her in the snow and hold her. She won’t say anything about why she’s suddenly leaking rivers, and when it’s Group A’s turn for the rec room, I try persuading her to a game of pool, but it’s a no go. So after there are no chaperones in sight, I take her straight to the cabin, and she bawls some more. I keep trying to get it out of her, but every time she opens her mouth to talk, another rainstorm pops from her eyes.
Finally, after… oh, it’s got to be like five hours now, I pull her up from the floor and grab her shoulders.
“Damn it, Lex,” I say as I shake her. “If you’re not going to talk to me, snap out of it! You’re on vacation. Enjoy yourself.”
Her eyes bug out of her face, and she socks me a good one in the shoulder. “Geez, Ry. Way to be sensitive.”
“I’m not trying to be a dick.” I let my hands drop, but I keep my fingers tucked around hers. It sends sparks up my arms. “I just want you to forget about that spider. Or that stuff with Sean. Or your dad or your mom or whatever girly hormones you’re dealing with and just relax.” Half my lip pulls up. “Just be with me.”
Letting go of her hand, I grab the deck of cards we left on the bed. “You ready to play now?”
Her nose scrunches and she points a finger at me. “I can’t believe you’re pulling the PMS thing. That’s going to get you in trouble.”
“Wrong answer,” I say, reaching over and poking her in the ribs. She flies over to the far side of the bed and puts her hands up in surrender.
“Okay, okay. I meant to say, ‘Hell yes, I’m ready to play! Get ready to get your butt kicked.’ Better?”
“Much.” I pull the cards out, jump on the bed across from her and start shuffling. “So, five card draw or Texas Hold ‘em?”
“Five card.”
I nod and deal, trying my best to keep tension down in the room. It’s not like Lex to cry like that. It scares the crap out of me, but I have no idea how to handle it. Making her laugh… forget, seems to work best. “Care to make it interesting?”
Her eyebrow pulls up. I like it when she does that. “What did you have in mind?”
I rearrange the cards in my hand and give her a smirk. “For every hand I win, you have to tell me something you like about me.”
Her eyes go straight to the ceiling and back around as she shakes her head. “Did falling on your ass really bruise your ego that bad?”
“Yes. And I need you to make it feel better.”
She smiles her two-dimpled smile and says, “Fine. But you have to do the same for me if I win.”
“Deal. How many cards you want?”
“Three.” She doesn’t even look at her hand. She keeps her eyes locked on mine as I pass her the cards. Damn, she’s sexy when she’s confident like that.
“I only need one,” I say, taking the top card from the deck.
“Well, goody for you.”
I give her a huge grin. “You want to play what you got?”
She sets her hand down on the bed with a proud smile. �
��Three kings.” Then she taps her finger against her chin. “Let me guess. You were bluffing your butt off.”
My shoulders slump, and I put my cards face down on the bed. “I really thought you’d fold.”
She starts laughing. “Next time you want to try to intimidate me, remember I know all your tells, Purple Face.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“So, what do you find so awesome about me?” Her grin is back. It was as if the cryfest never happened. And I’m going to ignore what that does to my stomach. The fact I’m the one who can make her happy when she feels like shit.
Gathering up the cards, I try to think of something that isn’t, “Everything. You’re perfect. And you’ve got one hell of an ass.” So I go for something lame, but still true.
“Your laugh.”
“What? Really?”
I nod.
She starts to giggle, but stops, trying to keep her laughter in. It doesn’t work. Pretty soon we’re both laughing our faces off over nothing.
“Okay,” she says, wiping her watery eyes. “Why my laugh?”
“Oh no.” I pass the cards out again. “That wasn’t part of the deal.”
She sticks her tongue out at me, but no other argument. I ask her how many cards—she holds up two fingers—and I give them to her. I take the three I need and a big grin forms on my face.
“You go first this time,” she says, pointing a blue nail at me.
I spread out the Flush on the bed, black cards all smiling up at her announcing my victory. She chucks her hand across the sheets.
“Cheater.”
“Now it’s your turn.” I lean back, flexing my muscles, lifting an eyebrow, giving her a half-grin—you know, acting cocky as hell—and say, “Come on. What’s so great about me?”
She ticks her head back and forth as she looks me up and down. Then she shocks the crap out of me.
“I don’t think I’ve told you before, but I think you have, like, the sexiest eyes.”
Whoa. What?
“You’re lying,” I say even though she’s not showing any of her tells. “My eyes are the color of ass turds. Not the ‘depths of the ocean blue’ or ‘emerald greens’ or even ‘golden brown’.” I pull the cards together again. “Ass. Turd. Brown.”
Her lips pull downward into that I’m-mad-but-not-really look, and I’m about to ask her if she’s constipated, but she leaps on top of me, shaking my shoulders.
“Snap out of it! We are on vacation! I will not sit here and watch you be sad over your turd eyes.”
This girl is unbelievable. I grab her waist, whip her around so she’s trapped underneath me. Oh crap. Why did I do this again? Code Red. Code Red. Ryan on top of Lexie. Must keep teasing her or tickle her or say something. But don’t just stare at her. Don’t look into her deep brown eyes… her golden browns. Don’t pay attention to her smile creating that extra dimple only I know she has. Don’t drool over how her shirt comes up a bit in the front, letting me see her bellybutton. Don’t look at her great rack. Don’t breathe in her scent. Her candy apple and cinnamon scent.
But that’s all I do. We lock eyes and stare at each other, and it’s not awkward. At least for me it isn’t. And the sensation I had this morning comes back ten times stronger. I need her. I need to feel her lips against mine. Taste her lip gloss. Know what it feels to have her this close without holding back. I need her to need me too.
I’m about .08 seconds from leaning in, then her gaze flicks a little bit North, and the spell lifts off me.
She slips her hand from underneath my grasp and runs a finger over the scar on my eyebrow.
“I still can’t believe you let Nate push you off the roof.” She smiles.
I chuckle and roll off her, staying side by side with her on the bed. Like nothing weird just happened. ‘Cause to her, it didn’t. It was just our normal wrestling. “He swore he had the aerodynamics right on those set of wings.”
“And you believed him.” She laughs for a second, but then her smile disappears as she talks to the ceiling. “I’ll never forget how I felt when you landed.”
Something in my chest squeezes so much I can’t find the air to say anything. My heart pounds through my shirt, and I have to wipe my palms free from all the sweat that suddenly accumulates there.
Her head rolls and her eyes meet mine. “I really thought I lost you.”
I’m trying to hide the shock coursing through my body. There was nothing real significant about that day. I jumped off a roof, got the wind knocked out of me for a couple minutes and stitches later at the hospital, but other than that, it really wasn’t a big deal. And Lex never said anything. Just teased me. But now that I think about it, I guess she never did let Nate and I do our “experiments” after that.
I shrug, hoping it’ll erase all the confusing crap going on in my head. Why she’s saying all this to me. “You were probably celebrating on the inside.”
“Don’t be a jerk.” She punches me softly in the shoulder. “Haven’t you noticed I’m a little protective when you get hurt?”
Uh, no.
“That’s why on the hill today…” She taps my nose and takes a deep breath. “So, sorry if I went a little overboard.”
“You didn’t.” ‘Cause she didn’t. “I just thought you wanted to spend more time with me…” I inch closer to her and waggle my eyebrows. “Alone.”
I smirk, waiting for her to argue. Or sock me one again. Or roll her eyes or stick her tongue out or any of that stuff she does when I “pretend” to hit on her. Instead, she inches closer to me too, and grabs my hand, playing with my fingers.
My chest squeezes my lungs again, something heavy falls into my gut, and things below the belt are shooting upward. My mouth gets really dry, and my whole body feels sparky again.
We touch all the time. We wrestle and hug and hold hands and I kiss her forehead, she punches my shoulder. I tickle her sides, she knees me in the nuts.
This is different.
Or, it feels different.
More.
Her eyes flick up to mine, and I have no idea what the hell I look like right now. Probably not keeping my cool.
“Ry, please don’t ever leave—”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
We both shoot upright in the bed, shoulders bumping into each other. Damn whoever is at the door! Lex seems to have shocked back to herself, and I’m left wondering what she was going to say. Don’t ever leave… what? The country? The toilet seat up? This bed? Me?
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Ugh.
“What?” I say, flinging the door open. Then I curse myself because I didn’t even think about who was there before answering. Thank my lucky stars it wasn’t a chaperone. Mike, a kid in my math class, sticks his hands in his coat pocket and gives me one of those, “Dude!” looks as he eyes Lex on the bed.
“Uh, thought you guys should know the chaperones are doing cabin checks. You might want to hide your stuff.”
I peek out the door and see lanterns by the boy cabins and a few headed this way.
“Thanks, man.”
He nods and I shut the door, racing over to Lexie who’s already helping me get my stuff in my bag.
“Crap, Ry. We’ve been here one night and your stuff is everywhere.” She pulls out some rolled up socks from under the bed.
We only get about half my crap in the bag before another knock comes at the door. Like Defcon Five, Lex opens the back window and chucks everything outside. She slams a hand over my mouth as I go to yell at her, grabs my wrist and shoves me toward the window too.
“Get your butt out of here,” she whispers.
“It’s freezing, Lex.”
“Don’t be such a baby. I’m sure it won’t be long.” Her hand pushes my head down to duck it through the open window. She gives me a good shove and I fall on my face for the second time today.
Man, it’s cold. I dig through the bag to find my coat, but it’s not in here. I hope Lex stashed it or something.
; I hear the door to the cabin open and Misty’s mom’s voice mumbling to Lex. I blow into my hands and rub my arms. This better not take forever.
“Oof!”
My neck whips around just as Luke lands in the snow outside the cabin next to me. At least I’m somewhat dressed. He’s in nothing but his boxers. He gives me a head nod, and I shake my head, laughing.
In the other direction, I catch a glimpse of a few girls outside the boy cabins, huddled altogether in blankets. Kaylee’s back is to me, but I can tell it’s her by the long blond braids on her shoulders.
A couple more guys are hanging outside their cabins, all hopping around like I am to keep warm. Some of them are like Luke and standing in nothing but their underwear. If we all get away with this, either the chaperones couldn’t care less, or they’re stupid.
After a few minutes, Luke waves to get my attention. He signals to the girls in the blankets, then points at himself, then… me.
I shake my head as hard as I can. I don’t care how cold he is, or how cold I am, no way am I snuggling with a dude.
“Hey!” Something smacks the back of my head, and I turn around to find Lex hanging out the window with a huge grin on her face. “Want to come back inside now?”
“You know,” I say, rubbing the spot, “for someone who doesn’t like to see me get hurt, you sure cause a lot of my injuries.”
She goes to punch me in the shoulder, but stops mid air. “Hmm… I’ll give you that one.”
Picking up my crap, I hand it back to her, and she tosses it over her shoulder. She goes to help me back in, but I laugh and tell her I’ll use the front door.
The second I step through the threshold, she pulls my arm and drags me to the shower. It’s already turned on, and the steam is billowing out into the room. Oh man, what is she doing? Did she feel something more too? And wants to… ah hell, snap out of it, Ryan. But I can’t help all the embarrassing fantasies playing through my mind. When we get to the bathroom, they all get put on a huge pause as she shoves a towel in my arms and points a finger at me.
“You stay in there till you’re completely warm again.”
