Keanna

 

I watch the girls walk away from us. They’re giving each other confused looks like maybe they’re crazy or something. I start laughing. That was awesome. I can’t count how many times I’ve been with Jett in public and he’s had adoring fans come up and talk to him. I keep my cool and I deal with it, but it always sucks. I always hate it, because it’s not like girls are talking to Jett about his motocross skills. They just want attention from him because he’s attractive.

But seeing him deny these girls is probably the best thing I’ve done all day, even topping the water slides.

“I love you,” I say when I finally stop laughing.

He winks. “I love you more. And this is our vacation. I don’t want anyone getting in the way of it.”

I gaze out at the water park in front of us. The building we’re in is made of something like clear plexiglass, a big square that’s at least ten stories tall to fit in the water slides. There’s little splash areas for tiny kids, a huge lazy river, and all of the fun water rides. This place is pretty awesome in general, but knowing it’s cold outside makes it even better. It’s our own little warm summer oasis in the middle of winter.

I watch a pair of twin boys play on the splashpad with their mother. They’re probably about four years old, wearing matching red swim shorts. They’re laughing and screaming and having a blast. The mom is having fun too, running around chasing them and splashing them with water.

It makes my heart hurt in a weird way. The scene is cute—a family having fun. Kids being kids. But the feeling it gives me burrows down in my chest and makes my stomach hurt. I never had anything like that.

The closest I ever got to a water park was staying in a cheap motel that had a tiny run down pool I could swim in. I had to swim in my clothes because I didn’t own a bathing suit. A couple of times when I was a kid, I got invited to school friend’s pool party birthday parties, but my mom never let me go. She said you had to spend money on a gift and we didn’t have that.

My biological mom certainly didn’t don a swimsuit and splash around with me like one woman here is doing with her kids. My mom didn’t play much. She didn’t laugh much, unless it was laughing at some stupid joke made by whatever man she’d decided to sleep with that night.

I know I’m an adult now. A college student. An employee and a big sister to my adopted parent’s new baby boy. I shouldn’t be dwelling on my past, but sometimes it slips into my subconscious even if I don’t want it to.

I glance over at Jett, relieved that he hasn’t noticed the darkness that’s crept over me in the last few minutes. He’s leaning back in his chair, his face tipped up to the ceiling where the sun shines in. The warmth we feel in here is no doubt from the heating system, but you can pretend it’s the sun if you close your eyes.

“Babe?” I say, reaching out for his hand. “I’m hungry.”

Jett chuckles with his eyes still closed. “How are you so tiny when you eat so much?”

I make a face at him even though he can’t see it. He sits up and opens his eyes, smiling at me. “I’m hungry, too. Plus, I’m feeling icky now that my skin is dry and feels like I rolled around in pool cleaning chemicals.”

I wrap my towel around my still wet bikini, and we walk back to our hotel room. It feels a little weird being half naked in swim wear with wet hair and towels as we walk through the gorgeous forest themed lobby, but other people are doing it, too. I can only imagine what this place looks like in the summer when it’s filled with kids and happiness.

The moment the hotel door closes behind us, I drop my towel to the floor. “I call first shower!” I say, rushing into the bathroom.

“So not fair!” Jett says. He throws his wet towel at me and I stick out my tongue. We are really quite mature people.

I turn on the hot water and then strip down, fully aware that Jett is leaning against the door frame watching me.

When I glance over at him, he wiggles his eyebrows. “Can I help you?” I say.

He shakes his head. “Just enjoying the view.”

I grin and rinse out my bathing suit in the bathroom sink. “We can make out later. I’m too hungry to function now.”

Jett walks into the bathroom and wraps his arms around my stomach while I rinse out my bathing suit. He places a kiss on my neck and I feel chills ripple all over my skin.

“I love you even if we aren’t making out,” he says softly, resting his chin on my shoulder as he meets my eyes in the mirror’s reflection.

I grin and wring out my suit.

The warm shower water feels great as it washes away the sweat and chlorine from a day spent at the water park. But I don’t stay in very long because I really am hungry. Climbing up a billion sets of stairs all day really wore me out.

I shampoo my hair with the tiny hotel bottles and then towel it dry. I’m not in the mood for makeup and hair styling, and luckily, my boyfriend doesn’t care about that stuff.

Jet showers after me, and I look through the menus for the two on-site restaurants. My phone rings and I feel a little guilty when I see Mom’s number on the screen. I should have called her sooner, but I was having too much fun.

“Hey, Mom,” I say pressing the phone to my ear as I look over the menus.

“How’s it going over there?” she asks. “Bayleigh said you’re at a water park?”

“Yeah, it’s an indoor water park so it’s heated and warm.”

“Oh man, that sounds amazing. It is freezing here, Keanna. You have no idea. Absolutely cold as hell.”

“Hell is supposed to be hot, I think. What with the fires and eternal burning and everything.”

She laughs. “You know what I mean! We wanted to go skiing today but we’re snowed in. That stupid storm has covered everything in too much snow and the lodge is making everyone keep inside for the next day or two. Why did we think going to Colorado was a good idea?”

“Temporary lapse of judgment?” I say with a laugh.

“That had to be it,” she says with a sigh. “I miss Texas. Even when it’s cold there, it’s not too cold.”

“I miss you guys,” I say, glancing out the balcony window at the setting sun. “I think Texas misses you as well. How’s Elijah?”

“Oh he’s having a blast,” Mom says. “There’s a popcorn machine in the cafeteria here and he loves watching it spit out popcorn.”

“Babies are so easy to please.” My stomach clenches as I think about my brother and Brooke, Jett’s baby sister. “At least the kids don’t realize they’re missing out on Christmas.”

“That’s for sure!” Mom says. “But since tomorrow is Christmas Eve, the lodge has a Santa Claus who will be entertaining the kids. So that’ll be fun.”

“Oh my God. How could I have been so stupid?”

“What is it?” Mom asks, concern in her voice.

I grit my teeth and stand up, nearly knocking over the chair. “Tomorrow is Jett’s birthday!”

“Yep,” Mom says. “Not a big deal, sweetie. He knows your present for him is with us.”

“Yeah, but it is a big deal. I don’t want him to have nothing on his birthday.”

“Honey, Jett is not very materialistic. He won’t mind.”

I groan. “Still. I need to do something for him.”

I glance back at the bathroom, where the shower is still on, so I know he can’t hear me. “Honestly, I kind of totally forgot it was tomorrow. This whole trip has been a surprise so I just wasn’t thinking.”

“Well, you remembered now,” she says with a chuckle. Maybe have room service bring him breakfast with the number nineteen written in whipped cream on the pancakes.”

“That’s a good idea,” I say, but I’m not feeling any better. I’ll need to think of some way to truly celebrate his birthday even though the card and gift I got him are currently waiting for me in Colorado.

I flip through the binder of information on the desk in our hotel room. The hotel has that big gift shop we bought our bathing suits at, and they had lots of trinkets and gift items. Of course, none of it is anything I would buy Jett for his birthday, but maybe I can find something that will be special in its own way. Of course, I’ll have to get down there without Jett coming with me so the surprise wont’ be ruined.

And, because fate is being mean today, his birthday is tomorrow and today is almost over. How am I going to pull this off?

I take Mom’s advice and dial room service. I order the deluxe breakfast for both of us to be delivered tomorrow morning, and the person on the phone chuckles when I ask for the number 19 to be written on the pancakes.

“I think the cook will be able to do that,” she says.

“Thanks,” I say. “It’s for my boyfriend who is turning nineteen tomorrow.”

“A birthday on Christmas Eve? That kind of sucks.”

“Yeah, I know,” I say. “We’re not even supposed to be staying in this hotel, so I don’t have his present or anything. I just want something to be special for him.”

“I understand,” she says. “Actually… hold on a second, I might have something for you.”

The water in the shower turns off, and my heart speeds up. I need to get off the phone before Jett comes out here and sees that I’m planning something for him.

A few seconds go by and I’m freaking out, listening to the bathroom as Jett dries off and gets dressed. Finally, the woman comes back on the phone.

“We have a birthday cake that was ordered for Christmas and then cancelled,” she says. “But the cake decorator made it this morning and we were going to throw it out. It’s just plain white icing right now, but he said it’s yours if you want it. I know the gift shop sells candles so you could get a tube of icing from the kitchen and decorate it yourself”

“That would be amazing!” I say. “How late are you open? I don’t want him to know what I’m doing.”

Kitchen is open twenty four hours a day,” she says. “I’ll tell them to keep an eye out for you.”

The bathroom door opens. “Thank you!” I say quickly, and then I hang up.

Jett emerges wearing a pair of jeans and no shirt. He rubs his hair dry with a towel and I can’t help but stare at the sexy curves of his chest, the vein in his bicep that bulges as he towels off his hair.

“Everything okay?” he asks, lifting an eyebrow. I am sitting here with my hand on the hotel’s phone, and I probably look freaked out about his birthday tomorrow.

I grin. “Yep. I just, uh, called the hotel to see how late the restaurants are open.”

“The sign said open until midnight,” Jett says.

I shrug. “Yeah, but it’s a holiday, so I just wanted to check.”

He grins and I feel a little bad for how easily he believes me when I’m lying. But I’m lying for a good cause, so I guess I don’t feel that bad.

“Ready for dinner?” he asks, pulling a shirt from the gift shop over his head.

“Yep,” I say, trying to hold back a grin.

He doesn’t suspect a thing.