by Ivy Jordan
“Yes,” I agreed without hesitation.
I walked to my house feeling as if I was on a cloud. Mom sat in her chair and smiled as I entered the house. “You have fun?” she asked.
“Possibly the most fun I’ve ever had in my life,” I said, continuing my ethereal walk to my room.
I fell on the bed, stared at the ceiling, and thought about how devastating it was that he wasn’t staying. All I had was a month with him. Just a month. I’d have to work hard to keep my heart in check while around him. We had fun. He was fun. That’s all this was: fun.
Chapter Four
I could barely concentrate in class. All I could think about was Ethan, and why he hadn’t asked me out again. He’d text me a few times, once to say ‘goodnight’ and a couple of others just to ask how my day was going. The conversations always ended with just a few texts back and forth, and never with an invitation to go out again.
It’s just fun, Penelope, I kept reminding myself.
On my way home, my phone rang, causing me to pull over to answer. I was sitting in the parking lot of the local drug store when I pulled my phone from my purse. My heart raced, hoping it would be Ethan, finally calling to ask me out this weekend. But—no. It was Brenda, whom I hadn’t spoken with since the wedding.
“Hey, lady,” she said cheerfully.
“Hey. How’s married life?” I asked, trying to hide my disappointment that she wasn’t Ethan.
“It’s amazing. You really need to consider it,” she said in the same pushy tone my mother always used.
“It’s a little hard to consider without a proper prospect,” I laughed.
She laughed on the other end of the phone, so loudly that I had to pull it away from my ear until she stopped.
“I was just wondering if you’d like to come over for shrimp and sangria tonight?” she asked.
I paused. What if Ethan was going to ask me out? Should I decline?
“I know it’s short notice. But the boys have been working on the patio all week, and just now finished it,” she added.
“Wow. They got it done already?” I asked, fishing for more details. Was Ethan going to be there? I didn’t want to ask, but I was dying to know.
“Yeah. Ethan is amazing. I had no idea he was so handy. Poor Billy would’ve never been able to do this on his own,” she admitted.
Billy was a bad boy, but he was raised by his mother. His step-dad, Harry, was older, and a professor at the community college—not exactly the role model for teaching construction and mechanics.
“Okay. Yes. I’d love to come see your place,” I said quickly.
“Great. After all the boys’ hard work, it’s time for us girls to enjoy the finished product. See you around seven,” she said, and hung up.
My stomach rolled with anixety growling inside. I thought for sure Ethan would be there, right up until her last comment about the girls enjoying it. Was I being invited to a girls’ night out on her patio?
I dressed in a cute yellow sundress and pulled my hair into a tight pony tail. I wasn’t sure if Ethan was going to be there or not, but I was going to look damn good, just in case. It’d been a week, after all. A week with no invite for another date, and he needed to see what he was missing.
I arrived at Brenda and Billy’s at exactly seven o’clock. Ethan’s shiny blue truck wasn’t in the drive as I pulled in. If it was a girls’ night, I was early. There were no other vehicles parked in their drive other than Billy’s and Brenda’s. Maybe it was just her and I. We were never that close, but I wasn’t opposed to getting closer with her now that we were older. She hated guns, hunting, and fishing. But I held a nice bottle of wine in my hand for the sangrias, and we both liked to enjoy a cocktail, so we’d just have to start there.
“Oh my God! I’m so happy to see you,” she exclaimed as she opened the door, pulling me into her arms.
My body tightened as she bounced against me, squeezing me so tightly I could barely breathe. “Oh, this is my favorite,” she said, pulling the wine from my hand.
“Come in,” she added, already halfway through the house as she called out.
I followed her into the kitchen where she immediately pushed a tall, wide wine glass in my direction. “You have to try this,” she said, gripping the pitcher of sangria from the counter as I held the glass. She poured it to the rim, so full I could barely get it to my mouth without spilling it. “That’s great,” I said, my first words since arriving.
She was overly excited to see me. I wasn’t sure why. All I knew was Ethan wasn’t here. There was a plate of shrimp skewered on the counter, at least forty pieces spread out on four metal skewers. It obviously wasn’t going to be just us. I dreaded the thought of spending the evening with Marla and Caroline, her two favorite friends. All I could hope for was that she chose a couple of our cousins to come over, maybe making this a family thing instead of a friend thing.
“So, who’s all coming?” I asked, sipping on my large glass of wine. I couldn’t take the suspense any more. I needed to know how quickly I should chug this alcohol.
“No one. I just wanted to hang out with my favorite cousin,” she said sweetly.
Favorite? That was stretching it a bit. There were at least four other cousins that I knew for a fact she liked better.
“You think I can eat all that shrimp?” I laughed.
“Oh, well, the boys will be here,” she said calmly.
The boys. Ethan!
“You look so nice,” she said, eyeing my dress. “I thought my wedding would’ve been the last time I’d see you in a dress,” she teased.
“It’s hot out,” I said, trying to come up with a good excuse for my attire.
My mother was as giddy as she was right now as she smiled in my direction. “Well, I’m sure Ethan will appreciate this heat wave,” she laughed.
I wondered if he’d said anything about me, but I didn’t want to come off needy, or even interested. I was going to play it cool, even if I was bursting with excitement and curiosity inside.
“Why’s that?” I asked.
Her cheeks lifted and her lips curled as she stared at me with a twinkle in her eyes. “You’re all he talks about anymore,” she said.
My heart did a flip in my chest. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. But this was Brenda, the town gossip, and the over-exaggerator from the time she was old enough to talk. Calm down, Penelope. None of this may be true.
“What’s he saying about me?” I asked, still curious, even if not totally believing.
“Oh, everything. How you’re such a good shot. How he loves that you don’t worry about how you look. That you ate messy wings and looked adorable with sauce on your cheek and meat in your teeth. He’s really got it bad for you,” she said.
I don’t worry about how I look? Meat in my teeth? I was mortified. How can that be adorable?
“Sounds like it,” I said with a wry smile.
Now, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted him to show up or not. What if all those things he said were not as flattering as Brenda made them out to be? He could have been trying to be polite, avoiding saying that I was just not his type. Men liked women who spent two hours getting ready, that fussed with their hair, and ate salad, didn’t they?
“Lucy, we’re home,” Billy’s voice echoed through the house.
I heard the door slam shut as he did his best Ricky Ricardo impersonation. My body tensed as footsteps neared the kitchen. My heart almost stopped when he and Ethan came into the room. “Holy shit, what’s the occasion now?” Billy teased, eyeing me up and down in my yellow dress.
“Shut up, Billy,” I sneered, taking a long sip of my wine.
Ethan’s eyes were on me. He smiled as he, too, took the time to eye me from head to toe. “Wow,” he gasped.
Billy slammed the case of beer he carried on the kitchen counter, still grinning ear to ear at me like I was some sort of circus side act for his entertainment. “A woman that can shoot a gun, and pull off heels, damn!” he surpr
ised me with a compliment instead of a snarky remark. “But then again, wouldn’t it be like dressing up one of your buddies and fucking him at night?” he added.
There it was. Billy’s famous sarcasm that everyone found funny—except me.
I wanted to crawl inside my own skin and hide from Ethan’s eyes. They looked shocked at Billy’s comment, but I couldn’t help from wondering if he found any truth in it. Was I too boyish to try to be a girl?
“I’d give my left arm for a woman like Penelope,” Ethan said with a smile.
His words instantly made me feel better. I flashed a smug smile at Billy, and even though I tried to refrain, I couldn’t help my tongue from protruding past my lips at him as I wrinkled my nose like a fourth grader.
“I’m just teasin’, Penelope. Any man would be lucky to have you. You’re a rare find,” Billy said lovingly.
I chugged more of my wine, waiting on the next biting remark from him, but he didn’t offer one up. I was used to something rude falling out of his mouth any time he’d become too sentimental or kind. Maybe Brenda was good for him, smoothing out all his rough edges.
The boys grabbed a beer and the plate of shrimp before heading out to the patio. Ethan’s eyes lingered on mine as he passed me, his body so close it created an electric shock between us. “What was that?” Brenda roared.
I didn’t know. I was still in a daze from the electricity flying between Ethan and me. If he felt so strongly, if he’d been going on about how great he thought I was, why did Brenda have to ask me over here for him to see me? Why couldn’t he have asked me out?
“Men love that tomboy shit,” she said, grabbing the pitcher of sangria. She poured herself another full glass, then offered to top mine off. I pulled back, smiled, and took a sip of what was left.
“I had no idea,” I said, ignoring the jealousy in her tone.
“You like salad?” she asked, changing the subject. I was grateful.
I nodded and then moved to the counter. “Let me,” I said.
She gave me a strange look. “You sure?” she asked.
“It’s just salad. I don’t think I can mess it up,” I laughed.
“She’s the trifecta,” she hissed, her smile as sincere as a snake’s good intent.
Brenda had always been a little jealous of me, but I thought it was mainly about how much time I spent with her dad once mine had passed. She had the perfectly straight hair, the flawless complexion, and the straight teeth. I got braces to fix my smile, puberty cleared up my acne, but I still had this hair. I hadn’t spent much time with Uncle Jack since I graduated college, backing off from what I’d thought was stepping on her toes.
“I think you’re the trifecta,” I said, trying to salvage her mood.
“How so?” she asked, seemingly very interested in my compliment.
“You’re beautiful, you’re an amazing homemaker, and you’re a business woman,” I said with a smile. I left out the successful part since her bakery took a dive last year.
“Thank you, Penelope,” she said, hugging me tightly and offering another one of her constricting squeezes.
The agony of her embrace for a few seconds was well worth the change in her mood.
“You ladies ready?” Billy asked, popping his head into the back door.
“Coming,” she said, releasing me, and grabbing the salad I’d poured into the wooden bowl she provided.
Ethan stood, pulling out the seat next to his for me to sit in. I squeezed in, tried not to show my enthusiasm for his interest, and asked about the wedding. Billy seemed irritated, saying that’s all anyone wanted to talk about. Brenda, on the other hand, was more than eager to go over every single detail of her big day. Billy placed the shrimp on the table. “Okay, enough wedding talk.”
Ethan’s hand slid onto my leg. My skin heated instantly, my panties growing tight against my swelling flesh. I worried my face was obviously blushing as he moved his hand higher on my thigh. “So, these shrimp are amazing,” I said abruptly.
Billy gave me the recipe, taking pride in his grilling expertise as he stood. “I need another beer.”
“I need another sangria,” Brenda announced, quickly standing from her seat.
“Would you like a refill?” she asked me softly.
“Sure,” I agreed, handing her my glass.
It felt planned as they both disappeared into the house. Ethan and I sat at the table alone. Alone for the first time since our date, since that amazingly spicy kiss.
“How was work?” he asked.
“Pretty easy. They are only second-graders,” I laughed.
“I figured they would’ve worn you out. I couldn’t imagine dealing with that many little kids all day,” he joked, his eyes falling onto me lovingly.
“I love kids,” I admitted.
“I do too. I just think two, maybe three would be more than enough,” he said with a grin.
“Well, I certainly wouldn’t want twenty-three of them running around my house,” I laughed.
“But you would want a few?” he asked.
I nodded, watched Brenda and Billy sneaking back out the back door. I really hated to end that conversation.
We all laughed, drank, and enjoyed one another’s company for what felt like a couple hours. I looked at my phone, realizing it had been quite a bit longer than that. “It’s almost midnight,” I said, feeling the pain of the day setting in.
“You turnin’ into a pumpkin?” Ethan asked with a smirk.
“I promised to help my mom in the morning,” I said quickly.
“I can’t believe you still live at home. How do you do that?” Brenda asked.
“It’s been hard on her since dad passed. It’s just easier to have someone around. I actually don’t mind. I couldn’t imagine living on my own,” I admitted, feeling the small amount of alcohol I consumed the reason for my blunt honesty.
“I think it’s sweet,” Ethan said.
“We were all talking about going camping tomorrow night,” Brenda said, staring at Ethan as she spoke.
Her attention quickly turned to me. “Why don’t you come along?”
I turned to Ethan, who was smiling and nodding his head. “Yes. That would be amazing.”
My heart answered quickly, “Yes,” but my mind lingered on the question of why Brenda asked, and not Ethan. Why wasn’t he making any moves?
Ethan walked me to my car, gave me a quick, sweet kiss on the lips, and then stood in the drive and watched as I pulled away.
There was no passionate kiss, just a small peck. I was growing more and more confused.
Chapter Five
Brenda texted twice, making sure I was still going camping, but I hadn’t heard anything from Ethan. I packed my bag, loaded it in the car, and headed to Brenda and Billy’s.
Ethan was loading up his truck when I pulled into the drive. “Throw your stuff in here,” he said.
I pulled out my bag and handed it to Ethan, who quickly threw it in the back of the truck. He gripped me around the waist, pulled me in close, and slowly kissed my lips. My body melted into his as our lips met. His tongue was gentle and slow, stroking mine with a precision that made my nipples stand at attention.
“You’re riding with me,” he said sweetly, pulling me deeper into his hard chest.
“You two knock it off,” Billy teased as he came out of the house with a large duffle bag.
“You get the tents?” he asked Ethan.
“All we need,” he said with a chuckle.
Brenda carried a large cooler, bitching at Billy to come help her the entire time. He rolled his eyes. “Damn ball-and-chain,” he said with a laugh.
It was obvious he loved the married life as he rushed to her and lifted the cooler from her hands. “I told you I’d get that,” he scoffed, lifting it to the bed of his truck.
Ethan opened the door, helped me into the passenger side of his truck and said something to Billy I couldn’t hear before he climbed in beside me.
“I’m e
xcited,” he said cheerfully.
“Me too,” I replied.
“You’re in charge of jams,” he said as he pulled out of the drive and followed Billy and Brenda’s truck.
I reached down, turned the station to country, and leaned back in my seat. “I thought you liked rock,” he said.
“I do. But my dad always played country when we were on our way to camping or hunting,” I said, sighing at the memory of my father.
Ethan smiled, reached down and turned the volume knob up, smiling at me with a kindness that warmed my heart.
When we made it to the campsite, Billy and Ethan didn’t waste any time getting everything unloaded. Brenda and I unloaded the smaller bags, placing them on the picnic table by the fire pit.
“I brought hot dogs and marshmallows,” she said to me, shrugging as if to apologize.
“That’s perfect. I brought plenty of wine and a bucket of fried chicken,” I said, motioning toward my small cooler.
“Tents are set,” Ethan said, gripping me around my waist.
I looked at their work, realizing there were only two tents. “You’re with me. In case any bears try to get me. They go after sweet meat first,” he teased, pinching my side gently to make me giggle.
Brenda grabbed a bottle of wine while the guys dug through the large cooler for beer. We drank our wine from the red plastic cups had Brenda brought and watched as the guys hunted the campground for firewood and sticks for roasting the hot dogs and marshmallows.
“He hasn’t shut up about you,” Brenda said, leaning in to whisper.
“Really?” I asked, sounding more surprised than I intended. “Why have you been the one to ask me over and to go camping then?” I asked.
“I think you scare him,” she said quietly.
“How so?”
“He’s been talking to Billy about settling down and starting a life. He’s only here a month, and he’s really into you,” she confided.
“Why would that scare him?” I asked.
“Maybe he’s afraid he’ll get too attached. Or that you will,” she said shrugging her shoulders and sipping her wine.
