Gotcha
“Alec, I’m not so sure about this.” I bite my lip for what must be the millionth time today, and the familiar metallic taste of blood fills my mouth. “What if they don’t like me?”
The stupid ass decided today was the day; he’s finally going to take me to see his cousin Natasha again today, and meet her mother (Marie’s sister) Rosa. I’m currently sitting in the back seat of Marie’s car with Alec, and I think I’ve run out of nails to chew with nerves. I’ll be chewing off my fingers next.
“You’ll be fine, Riley.” Alec rolls his eyes. “Honestly, you have nothing to worry about. Mom already rang Rosa up, and she’s really looking forward to meeting you. Natasha loved you when you two met. Plus, Joe and possibly Chase will be meeting us there too, so you won’t be alone.”
That should be some consolation to me, but I’m still nervous, although I can’t pinpoint why. Meeting Alec’s family? Screwing up and embarrassing myself? It’s a mystery to me. Alec seems to be under the impression that me and Natasha already get along really well, but the truth is we only spoke for a few minutes at Marie’s engagement party. How do I know that it’ll be as good as last time? Or what if she stops pretending to like me the moment Alec’s back is turned?
I’m not exactly the most skilled of socialisers.
“Joe is going to be there?” I echo, and Alec nods. His hand reaches out slowly, and his fingers touch mine. We haven’t had the “what are we” talk yet, but things have definitely not been the same since that kiss.
“Yeah, we went to my aunt’s house a lot when we were kids. He wanted to see her again,” Alec informs me. He’s sitting in the back seat with me, and Marie is driving. I’m not sure how long it takes to get to his aunt’s house, but we’re at the edge of Lindale now so it can’t be much further. All the larger houses are located here, and I can’t help but feel a little intimidated. Are they going to be really snobby and wealthy? No, surely not. Alec would let me know, right?
“Chase wants to see her too, but he might be held up with some kind of event,” Alec says after a pause, and I glance over at him. That doesn’t sound fishy at all.
“What about Dylan?” I try to act nonchalant about the question, but the truth is that my throat is dry. I want to know if the boys still aren’t speaking.
“He was never that close with Nat and Aunt Rosa anyway,” Alec replies curtly.
Well, there’s the answer to my question.
“Riley, you’re going to love it,” Marie reassures me. “My sister is so lovely, and I can already tell that you and Natasha will get along like a house on fire. There’s no need to worry, sweetheart.”
I nod mutely and stare out of the window again. We’re turning into a thin road with giant houses and swooping gravel driveways on either side. Intimidating would be an understatement for this. I suddenly feel incredibly underdressed in my skinny jeans and Converse. Should I have dressed up a bit more? Alec isn’t dressed up . . . but then again, this is his family we’re talking about. He probably does dress casually in front of them – he has no need to impress them.
Fudge. I should have worn a frigging prom dress or something.
“Here we are!” Marie chirps as we turn in to a stone driveway. I stare at the house in front of me. It’s big, just a step smaller than a mansion, and it’s painted a pale yellow colour that has faded with years and years of the Oregon sun, I expect. Ivy climbs the wall in an unkempt but kind of homely fashion. It’s probably the least intimidating house on the street of clifftop mansions, but I’m still not exactly in my comfort zone.
“You’ll love it here, Riley,” Marie gushes as we clamber out of the car. “We’re going to have a picnic and you kids can play in the yard; it will be amazing I promise you. If you’re not enjoying it though or you want to leave at any point, just let me know. I’ll take you home, okay?” She offers me a reassuring smile, and I give her a grateful one back.
“Why isn’t Millie here again?” I murmur to Alec. At least if she was here, I could have held her hand for comfort or something. I’m not quite sure what the policy is yet for holding Alec’s hand.
“She’s staying at her friend’s house for a playdate today,” Alec replies.
So cute.
“We can’t bring her here very often with the dog,” Alec continues. “The thing is just way too excited, not to mention bigger than her. She gets hurt.”
Whoa, big dog?
“Marie!” a voice calls excitedly from the doorway, and I turn to see a curvy woman standing in the entrance to the house. She has the same curly hair as Marie, but it’s a lighter shade of brown, and she has the same friendly face. She’s dressed in a white shirt with a brown belt and some jean capris, her hair pulled back into a bandana.
“Come in, come in,” Rosa chirps. “How was your drive over?” Marie places a reassuring hand on my back and guides me to the large door, smiling at her sister.
“It was okay, thanks. Where are Natasha and Percy?”
“Right here.” Natasha steps out from behind Rosa, and I get my second glimpse of the cousin that Alec raves about to me. She’s as gorgeous as I remember, only this time with a little less make-up on and wearing a simple checked shirt and jean capris. She looks even prettier this way, in my opinion. “We haven’t released Percy yet. Don’t want to scare off our visitor halfway through the door, do we?” She offers me an infectious smile. “Nice to see you again, stranger.”
“You too,” I say, glad to see that the tension I imagined is non-existent.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Riley.” Rosa nods with a wide smile. “Let’s head to the living room, shall we? Drinks anyone?”
There’s a murmur of approval among our group, and Rosa puts a delicate hand on my back to guide me into the house. Despite the scale of it, the interior shockingly makes me feel really at ease, and I gaze around in wonder.
The hallway is wide, painted beige with a driftwood flooring that is partly covered by a patchwork rug. Photographs line the wall and the open-plan layout means that I can see directly into both the kitchen and living room. Both rooms are equally cosy. Warm coloured, with mismatched furniture that just seems to go together perfectly despite clashing patterns and textures. It’s gorgeous.
I think the large stone fireplace is my favourite part – you never see those any more, and it looks so beautiful with the candles on the mantelpiece. Honestly? I’m already jealous of Natasha; I’d love to live in a house like this. The others are following close behind us, but no one else is quite as in awe as I am of my surroundings. They must have grown used to it, although I don’t think I could ever get used to this.
I gaze around for a while but snap out of it when I sense Alec coming up next to me. He leans in and I stiffen, his breath tickling my earlobe.
“Wait until you see the yard. It’s the best part,” he whispers.
I think I’ve melted. My knees shudder, but I straighten and walk away hastily, not wanting him to know the effect he has on me.
But if his smirk is anything to go by, I’d say he’s pretty damn aware.
We walk into the living room, and Rosa spins on her heel.
“Let me go and fetch a jug of lemonade, and then we can go outside,” she says. “Is it okay with everyone if I let Percy out?”
I’m assuming that Percy is the dog that Alec was talking about earlier . . . otherwise I should probably be calling the cops right now. I nod, and Rosa beams before disappearing out of the room.
Marie, after realising she’s been left in a room with three teenagers, escapes just after her. I perch on the edge of a russet leather armchair and smile at Natasha. “So, what are we going to be doing today?”
She shrugs. “We’ll have a picnic for lunch, and maybe a barbeque later . . . Until then, it’s up to you. We can watch movies, play on the Xbox or whatever. We’ll have to squeeze in a water balloon fight when Chase and Joe arrive though; that is mandatory.”
I laugh at her enthusiasm.
At that moment, I hear a distinct bark and the thudding of feet coming down stairs. Percy. He bursts in through the door, a giant woollen sheepdog with a pink tongue dripping from his mouth. Fur bouncing, he leaps straight for Alec and stretches until his paws are on Alec’s shoulders. I can’t help but let a laugh escape my lips as I watch the pair wrestle. That is a beautiful dog. I let out a low whistle and open my arms.
That’s all it takes, and in less than a second Percy’s bounding towards me, fur flying all over the place. He barrels into me, pushing me backwards and causing me to stumble a little to keep my balance. His tongue is all over my face, paws on my shoulders. Heck, Percy is taller than me. I should be worried.
“Ew!” I laugh, running my fingers through his fur and craning my neck so that he’ll stop licking my face. I can sense Alec and Natasha watching me and laughing, but I’m too wrapped up in Percy, quite literally, to retort or say a smartass comment like I usually would.
“So Chase is definitely coming then? How do you know?” Alec questions Natasha, as I finally manage to put Percy back down. I scratch tenderly behind his ears and bend down to look him in the eye as I stroke and coo at him. He’s lapping it up.
A faint blush appears on Natasha’s cheeks, and she drops eye contact with Alec. “Joe texted me earlier saying they were on their way.”
I’m sensing something here. Is it just me?
“Cool,” Alec replies nonchalantly, but his eyes catch mine and glint with humour. We’re both thinking the same thing; I can see it from his face. She likes Joe. There’s no doubt about it. That blush gave her away completely.
Seems Alec and I have some matchmaking to do.
“Let’s play truth or dare.”
I glance up from my sandwich. Chase is lounging across the picnic blanket, taking up most of the room, and a smug smile is curving his lips.
“Come on, let’s play. It’s something to do, right?”
He has a point there. Our morning has mainly consisted of lounging around in the backyard, or watching Alec and Joe battle it out in foosball. Mainly because Natasha has gone gooey eyed over Joe, plus Marie and Rosa keep checking on us so we can’t do anything too exciting. I glance over at the others to see what they think of Chase’s proposal. They all seem to be deliberating, like me, until Natasha finally breaks the silence with an agreement.
“Really?” Chase echoes. “Cool! Okay, I’ll go first. Have you guys got a bottle?”
I hand Chase my iced-tea bottle, and he sets it in the middle ready to spin. I have to admit, I’m a little apprehensive of this. Who knows what the dares flung my way will be like? Chase grins at us all as we continue to eat our lunch, his teeth glinting wickedly as he sets his hand on the bottle, flicking his wrist to begin the game. It spins quickly, so much so that it’s making me dizzy just watching it. It slides past me a few times as it finally slows, before eventually landing on Natasha.
“Truth or dare?”
“Truth,” Natasha replies through a mouthful of sandwich, dusting off her jeans.
“Coward.”
“Just give me the damn truth.”
“Okay, what’s your bra size?” Chase smirks like he’s thirteen years old.
I catch sight of Alec’s disgusted face – disgusted because it’s his cousin. Natasha, however, looks eerily calm. I don’t know how she’s not blushing right now – if I were her I would have turned into a tomato. Heck, I’m blushing even when I’m not the one being asked.
“It’s 34C,” she replies smoothly. “My turn.”
I watch as the bottle spins again, and this time it slides to Joe. Ooh, tension.
“Truth or dare?” she asks him.
“Dare,” Joe grins cockily.
“I dare you to make out with Alec’s leg.”
What? Joe’s jaw drops and I burst out laughing at his and Alec’s faces, fishing my phone out quickly so that I can record the event. Best dare ever. Natasha looks so smug, and I don’t blame her. This dare is great. Alec tries to grab the phone from my grasp, but I lean away from his reach, grinning as I press record. There’s no way I’m not recording this; it’s an event to remember. Joe finally lets out a groan and Alec begins rolling up his jeans. With one last glare at us, Joe presses his lips to Alec’s shin.
“For ten seconds,” Natasha adds, much to Alec’s distaste.
“Make sure to use some tongue,” I call playfully, and Joe raises a hand to give me the middle finger, not moving his lips from Alec’s leg. After ten seconds of Alec pulling faces, Joe finally lets go and wipes his mouth, shooting a glare at Natasha.
He sets his hand on the bottle and spins it, but it lands on himself. Nothing is going his way today, I chuckle. He spins it again and this time, the bottle lands on Alec.
“You choose,” Alec says before Joe can ask the question.
“Okay.” Joe smiles. After a second, his lips carve themselves into a devious smile. “I choose truth for you, and I want to know if anything has happened between you and Riley.”
I freeze, and my eyes snap straight to Alec’s. I don’t know how to act, or what he’s going to say. I don’t know if the kiss means “anything” or not.
“Nothing,” Alec says with a quick roll of his eyes. He doesn’t look at me. “That question is getting old.”
Despite myself, I can’t help but feel a little stung by his dismissal. I know that he has his reasons. He probably doesn’t want to talk about it yet, before we’ve had a chance to talk it through ourselves. I release a breath. We definitely have things we need to talk about.
“It’ll happen soon, Alec,” Chase butts in. “Now spin.”
Alec places his hand on the bottle and flicks his wrist. After a few seconds, the bottle falls to a stop. Pointing at me, go figure. Alec’s eyes meet mine.
“Truth or dare?” Joe smirks.
“Dare.”
“I dare you to give Natasha a hickey!”
What the actual fudge.
My jaw lapses and I turn to stare at Natasha. What the hell are we going to do? I could bluntly refuse to do the dare, but then I’d be the awkward coward that nobody likes. Unfortunately, before I’ve even deliberated over the other options, Natasha says something I really wasn’t expecting.
“Okay.” She grimaces. “But let us do it in private at least. You’ll have your evidence.”
Chase glances at Joe before nodding, and Natasha stands up while grabbing my hand.
Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my motherfreaking gosh. This can’t be happening.
“Natasha,” I hiss as we begin the quick walk back inside, wolf whistles chasing after us. “Natasha, we aren’t actually going to do this are we?”
“Of course not,” she scoffs. “We’re going to get revenge.”
She leads me into the kitchen and hurriedly begins to rifle around in the cupboard underneath the sink. She turns on the faucet furiously, and the cold water splashes me. What is she doing? “Aha!” she exclaims, bringing her hand out to show me the packet of balloons.
I think I’m in love with this girl; she’s a genius.
We set to work instantly, knowing that we only have limited time until the boys come to look for us. Do they actually think I’m giving her a hickey? I hope they do – we could use the element of surprise to our advantage when we’re running away after launching our attack. No doubt the boys will want revenge if we soak them – it’s not like they’re incredibly competitive or anything. After we’ve filled as many balloons as we can hold, we head back outside with them cradled in our arms.
I feel a buzz of excitement in my gut, alongside the anticipation of the aftermath. I can’t wait.
We dash to the wall separating the yard, and I rest against it as Natasha peers over. I feel like a fire-trucking ninja. This is awesome.
“They’re talking,” Natasha whispers. “Now is the time.”
She mouths a countdown, and that is it.
We jump out from the shelter of the wall with a strangled yell, and the boys look up, startled by our not-so-subtle approach. I throw the first water balloon as hard as I can, grinning at the satisfaction of hitting Alec solidly in the chest. The boys curse and leap up from the picnic blanket as a few more hit them, and then their glares are fixed on us, hungry for revenge. Joe begins to run towards us, and I clutch the dwindling water balloons close to my chest as I run backwards, laughing.
Throw. Smash. Joe’s stomach.
Throw. Smash. Chase’s shoulder.
Throw. Smash. Joe’s stomach.
Throw. Smash. Alec’s face.
I release a manic giggle as my last water balloon is thrown, hitting Alec full in the face, before turning and running towards the house as fast as my legs can take me. Just behind me, I can hear Natasha’s pants for breath, and I know that they’re gaining on us. My legs are beginning to burn, and my eyes are watering at the wind on my face. Just a little further.
A startled scream rings beside me, and I glance back to see that Natasha has been caught, her laughter filling the air. I can hear footsteps gaining on me, and I push to run faster, but it’s just not enough. As my feet just touch the patio, I am jerked backwards into someone’s arms, so fast that I fall on the grass with the person landing next to me.
“Gotcha,” Alec whispers. His face is inches away from mine.
Oh, Alec. If only you knew how true that statement actually is.
“Who wants a burger?”
Who doesn’t want a burger?
“Me please!” I chirp, alongside Natasha and the boys’ hums of agreement. Rosa is standing at the old stone barbecue holding a spatula, grinning at us. She nods and begins to place the burgers into bread, and I shiver with anticipation. I’m so hungry. Water balloon fights really take it out of you.
After we were caught at the water balloon fight, the boys tortured us by grabbing the yard hose and spraying us with the freezing-cold water. I managed to escape Alec’s arms pretty easily (being small helps sometimes), but I still got so soaked that I had to change into one of Natasha’s shirts. Natasha got it worst though – she was drenched from head to toe, and her hair is still dripping even now, in the evening. Remind us never to start a water balloon fight with these boys again. We were outnumbered.
Rosa hands me a paper plate with my burger on it, and I thank her quickly before beginning to gorge on the sacred food. Dear lord, this is so good. I have to restrain my moan as I swallow the burger. “This is amazing, Rosa.” I feel quite at ease here now, and it’s surprising how quickly I’ve adapted to this house and its residents. Rosa is so nice, and Natasha and I have exchanged numbers in the hope of staying in contact . . . Honestly? I love it here. I’d come every week if I could.
I take another mouthful of the heavenly burger, giggling as I watch Percy sneak a sausage from Rosa’s plate. She scolds him, but she’s smiling and the love is evident in her eyes. I want a dog for Christmas, it’s decided. That and the motorbike, of course.
“Riley, come over here, sweetheart,” Rosa beckons me. “Would you like a hotdog?”
“How can I resist?” I stand up to head towards the barbeque and Rosa. She smiles at me and serves a sausage on my plate but touches my arm as I turn to leave.
“I just wanted to say that I think you and Alec are very cute together. He’s a good boy, despite his image, and I’m so glad that he has someone like you. He used to come here every summer, you know. Him and the boys. They’re all great kids,” Rosa’s eyes mist over with nostalgia before she looks up at me with a determined nod. “Anyway, you two lovebirds deserve each other.”
“Oh,” I murmur awkwardly. “We’re not actually dating . . .”
“I’m not so sure about that.” A cheeky smile springs onto her lips. “Enjoy your sausage, sweetheart.”
I walk away, frowning.
I really hope she didn’t mean that in the way it sounded.