I couldn’t bear to get out of the bed next morning. So I didn’t. I laid there until midafternoon, replaying the night over and over in my head.
Each time it got more cringeworthy.
I had thrown myself at Parker and he turned me down so fast my head spun. Literally running out of the hot tub as if he might to catch something.
And the worst part, I had no idea why I did it. Nostalgia. That was the only explanation. Playing our old favorite game. Talking about our childhood. Being on the water. All those old feelings rushed to the surface and once again he slapped me in the face with them.
There was no way he wouldn’t use it against me the next chance he got.
I sent Madison my seventh SOS text of the day. Being the brat she was, it changed to read, but I never got a response. No three dots to let me know she at least acknowledged my mortification. No best friend words of advice. Knowing her, she wanted me alone on Parker island hoping that our hate would turn into lust. If she had been there to witness my epic fail she would already have rescued me.
The door across the hall opened and for three agonizing seconds I waited, expecting a knock on my door. Parker wouldn’t be able to last long without throwing what he considered desperation in my face. But it never came. Instead, I heard the front door slam closed and a few minutes later the sound of a car starting up.
My heart pole-vaulted into my throat at the thought of him ditching me. Totally a Parker move.
I rolled off the bed and stumbled across the floor, flinging the door open with shaky hands.
Did I want him to go?
Of course I did. Why wouldn’t I? Parker had been a thorn in my side since eighth grade and no amount of nostalgia or rippling muscles would change that.
A peek across the hall told me what I needed to know. A pair of jeans lay in a crumpled mess on his equally messed-up sheets. His bag also sat in the corner, tucked under his nightstand.
Okay, so he didn’t ditch me. Maybe he needed the same space I did. After all, whatever went down in the hot tub was confusing as hell to me. He must have been thinking the same thing.
With a heavy sigh I pressed a palm against my forehead. This could work. I could get through the week and the rest of the summer without Parker knowing about my severe lapse in judgment. All I had to do was find an attractive guy and let Parker see it. No harm, no embarrassing retelling when school started.
Since Parker left, it gave me the perfect opportunity to slip out and go find Mr. Hottie. Lakefront was the ideal place. I could only hope that Milo wasn’t there. Parker’s big ol’ lie could spread faster than mono at one of Hunter’s parties if he caught me out there flirting sans Parker.
Stupid Parker.
I yanked on my suit, deciding at the last minute to leave behind my cover-up. Sure, it had become a security blanket and showing so much skin wasn’t a habit of mine. But I couldn’t look like a frumpy mess if I wanted to draw attention. Not with the likes of Tracy McHugh and her new life preservers hanging around. The girl was drop-dead gorgeous before getting a hand with her shortcomings.
The trek to the shore was peaceful, beautiful even. I hadn’t noticed before, but there had been several new houses built in the time I was away. Even with the additions it didn’t detract from the natural beauty of the lake. Most of the houses were made to resemble log cabins. Gigantic log cabins, but they still held the same charm. They ended up blending in with the trees instead of sticking out like a sore thumb. The amount of money these people had to have spent was mind-boggling. Parker’s house had been in the family forever, purchased and built before his dad was born. That’s why all of Mr. Hayes renovations made sense.
His house must have been the old-timer on the block compared to the new and updated versions. But still, it made me sad. Why would his dad want to erase all the good memories just to fit in better?
Lakefront was bursting with bodies I noticed as I lumbered down the embankment, searching for a place to settle in and scope out a possible flirt buddy.
I spotted Tracy by the waterfront, spraying her already tanned body with sunblock. Not as if she was hard to miss with her neon yellow bikini and the gaggle of guys practically drooling at her feet. Okay, jealousy talking, but didn’t they care that her hair was bleached that color and half-fake just like her chest? I saw her at the salon once getting enough hair sewn into her head to make a horse envious.
Seriously, were guys only interested in the Instagram-perfect girls? Because if that was the case, I was screwed. I couldn’t remember the last time anything but scissors touched my hair. Sure, it got its own platinum highlights from the sun, but it was nowhere near beautiful as the colors women could get from hairstylists. My mom tried to take me once before freshman homecoming. I took one look at the prices and laughed my ass right out of the shop.
Did she realize how many books I could buy with that money? And let’s not forget about shoes. I distinctly remember thinking she was out of her mind, which was funny because she looked at me the same exact way on the drive home and muttered her favorite line about them thinking I was a boy on the sonogram and how I should have been born that way.
My poor mom, all she wanted was a girly girl like her. Instead, she got me. But my dad seemed to be happy with that at first seeing as I would rather watch football with him than play with dolls.
In the end, even that wasn’t enough to keep him around.
I scowled at Tracy and hooked a left, taking me farther away from her and up toward the only other open spot in the area.
A girl in a green one-piece smiled as I unfurled my towel. She didn’t look familiar, which meant she didn’t go to my school. Not unheard of, people traveled from all over to spend time on the lake.
“Jayla.” The girl gave me a small salute as she propped herself up on her elbows. “You look about as uncomfortable as I feel.”
“Lily.” I pointed at my chest as I dropped down on my towel. “That obvious? Beaches aren’t really my thing.”
“Me either, but my dad wanted to do something different this year. Most of the time I convince him to take me to Disneyland or camping, but no, he wanted to rent a boat and teach me to water-ski like he did as a kid.”
“How’s that going?”
“Do you see him or a boat around?” Jayla sat up and slid her sunglasses up to rest on her head. “I nearly broke my neck, I shit you not. Nope. I’m good. I prefer to watch the water at a safe distance.”
Jayla was quickly becoming my new best friend since mine went MIA.
“Where do you go to school?” I reached into my bag and pulled out a water bottle. It was way too hot out.
“I go to Eatonville. It’s in the middle of nowhere. So being around a bunch of kids I don’t know is a little unnerving. My brother was around here but he ditched me to go do something with a group of guys he met. No doubt includes burping and setting something on fire.”
“Yeah, my friend ditched me too.” Wait, did I just call Parker my friend? I shook my
head and focused on the water bottle, rolling it between my palms.
“Speak of the devil.” Jayla jumped up and shouted at a group of guys making their way over. “Hey, asswipe! You left your stuff here, which means that I had to stick around waiting for you to get back. I didn’t know looking at a boat took two hours.”
“Chill out, Jay.” A tall, muscular guy who looked around my age made his way through the crowd. “I’m back now so you can go home and continue binge watching whatever sappy show had you hugging your blanky earlier.”
“You’re a dick.” Jayla bent down to collect her things and sent me a tight smile. “It was nice meeting you.”
“Who’s this?” Her brother threw an arm around her shoulders as she stood up. Now that he was closer, it was obvious they were twins down to the towering height, which I hadn’t noticed when Jayla was sitting.
“This is no one. Go back to your burping contest.”
“I’m Lily,” I said it without thinking and tried not to acknowledge the dirty look Jayla sent my way.
After brushing one of his dreads off his forehead he extended a hand down to me. “Jayden.”
My eyebrows shot in the air. Jayla and Jayden?
“I know,” he answered my unspoken thought. “Our parents suck. It wasn’t bad enough that I had to share a womb with her.” Jayla stuck her tongue out at him. “But then they gave us such similar names it confused our teachers for most our lives.”
“Why don’t you go by nicknames then?” I asked, standing to join them because looking up was starting to give me a headache with the sun in my eyes. I was in such a rush I left my sunglasses behind on the kitchen counter.
“Because it annoys her to no end that I won’t go by something else and since she was born first she says she has rights to the name.”
“And I do.” Jayla slung her tote onto her shoulder. “You staying out here then?” she asked her brother. He gave her a nod and smiled in my direction. “Whatever, be home by dinner because I’m not going out looking for you again.”
With that she stomped off, leaving Jayden there smiling at me.
“So.” He plopped down on my towel. “What are you doing out here alone?”
I shrugged and joined him. “My mom forced me to come up here with the family that lives next door. He ditched me so I figured I might as well take advantage of the sun and water.”
“Well he’s an idiot then.”
“What do you mean? I mean totally, but why do you say that?”
Jayden smiled. “Why would he leave such a beautiful girl out here alone? He’s either blind, an idiot, or goes for a different persuasion. So I went with idiot.”
“Wow,” I giggled, bending forward to grab my knees. “Does that usually work?”
“Usually.” Jayden joined in on the laughter, leaning forward so that his face was close to mine. “But seriously, you guys aren’t like…you know?”
“No. God no.” I waved my hands frantically in the air. “We grew up together. Honestly, I think my mom just wanted me out of the house. I haven’t even talked to the guy in four years.”
“Well that’s good news for me.” Jayden pushed my wayward bangs out of my face. “Have any plans for the afternoon?”
I felt my cheeks warm and not from the sun. Jayden was full-on flirting with me in plain sight on a beach swarming with hot girls. At my school I would have had to strip naked and run down the halls just to compete. And even then most of the guys would have given me one look, then continued on their merry way.
“Well…I was thinking about playing a game of pool, but then I was ditched. Can’t play pool alone.” I shot him what I hoped was a flirty look. Judging by the smile on his face, I was doing better than expected.
“I love pool! We used to have a mini one in the garage until my dad decided he wanted to restore an old Challenger. I haven’t played in years because the only other place in town that has any is in a bar and they won’t let me in.”
“Well, it is kind of hot. Want to come play?” Wait… did that come out totally wrong?
Jayden grinned and reached for my hand, standing up in the same movement. “Hell yeah.”
I gathered up my stuff with a growing lump forming in my stomach. Okay, yes, I had planned on finding a guy to prove to Parker I wasn’t the least bit interested in him. And Jayden wasn’t hard on the eyes, but the way he smiled down at me and gripped my hand. It was almost enough to change my mind. I didn’t want to hurt him in the process. Then again, it was a summer fling. No one got attached at the lake. That’s why there were just as many hookups as there were breakups.
My thoughts ran a mile a minute, trying to come up with a list of pros and cons on the fly. That was, until I saw the boy standing next to Tracy fiddling with the string on her bikini top. Freaking Parker. Seeing him with her solidified my plan. If I didn’t make it clear that he meant nothing to me and made sure my own brain knew that, he would make my life a living hell. Ten times worse than he had before.
I entwined my fingers with Jayden’s and tugged him toward the house. A little pool and flirting never hurt anyone.
As I was making my way up the embankment, I caught Parker’s gaze. Even from where I stood, I could have sworn I saw a frown on his face. It only lasted a minute before Tracy threw her head back and laughed, drawing his attention to her.
But the smile on his face was forced in a way I hadn’t seen since the day he stood next to his dad and greeted his extended family in that sad black suit.
* * *
Jayden’s ball banked off the side and hit mine, sending it straight into the corner pocket. I laughed and poked him with the clean end of the pool stick. He may have had a pool table at his house, but he wasn’t very good at it.
“Are you on my team or something? Because you keep sinking my balls.” I gave him a little wink as I bent over to line up my shot. He had been doing such a bad job that after a measly five minutes, I only had two balls left on the table.
“It’s at an angle I’m telling you!” He took a drink of his Coke, shaking his head as I laughed and made my shot.
“It’s okay to admit you’re terrible at something. You can’t be great at everything, you know.”
Jayden growled playfully and crunched the empty can on the counter. “The sun was in my eyes.”
“Uh-huh.” I attempted to sink red seven into the far pocket, but I missed by a mile causing Jayden to whoop and jump off the barstool.
“Big talk for someone who can’t make a wide-open shot.”
“Which are you again? Because I thought you called stripes off the break but the number of solids you’ve sank says otherwise.”
“I’m sticking with the sun was in my eyes.” Jayden managed to sink one of his balls and sauntered around the table toward me. He leaned in, his breath blowing my hair out of my face. “Or maybe it’s just the view.”
I scrunched my eyes shut and felt my face warm. Again. It was at least the tenth flirty comment he had thrown my way and I had to admit, the boy was smooth. Maybe a little too smooth. I would never be able to keep up with him. Parker would see right through it.
“Why don’t we call a tie on this game? I saw a nice hot tub out on the deck.” Jayden leaned on his pool stick and arched an eyebrow.
Images of my rejection in the hot tub the night before surfaced, forcing a lump to form in my throat. “I’m not letting you off that easy.”
Jayden groaned and nudged me out of the way. “Fine. But after I win, we take a dip.”
“And when you lose, what then?”
“You’re feisty as all hell.” Jayden tugged on the sundress I had thrown on over my bathing suit when we got back to the house. “I like it.”
His gaze locked on to mine, and I felt my breath stutter as he leaned down toward me. I wasn’t planning on kissing him. Not with my original plan. But I couldn’t deny how attractive I found him. The boy could have been a model and he knew it, but instead of being a complete ass like most of the boys at my school, he had a genuine demeanor about him. His smile didn’t seem forced and his playful banter came natural. So, yeah, I had to admit I was a little smitten especially since all that flirting power was directed at me.
I wet my lips and he tracked the motion with his eyes, letting out a little groan as he tipped his head to the side. My hands gripped the pool stick as I closed my eyes and waited for the pressure of his lips on mine.
Instead, a throat cleared from somewhere in the room and in a rush of wind I felt Jayden move to the side.
My eyes focused on the figure in the doorway. The angry figure. Yikes, I couldn’t recall ever seeing that expression on Parker’s face. His glare was directed at Jayden, hands clenched into fists for a few seconds past awkward before he concentrated his anger on me.
“Who’s this?” He tipped his chin in Jayden’s direction, keeping his eyes on me.
“This is Jayden. We met at the lake.” I set my pool stick on the table and did my best not to wither under his stare. Seriously, if looks could kill I would have fallen victim in a heartbeat.
“You must be the guy Lily is staying with.” Jayden took a step forward, extending his hand.
“I must be that guy.” Parker’s gaze traveled to him for a split second before sliding back to me. He ignored the offer of a handshake and Jayden let his hand fall back to his side. “And Lily should know that we can’t have visitors at the house when my dad is out.”
“Oh shit, man, I’m sorry. We just wanted to get in a game of pool.”
I flinched under Parker’s unyielding glare. Part of me wanted to get Jayden out of the house fast so I could defuse the situation. The other part of me wanted him to stay because I was fairly certain Parker wouldn’t go off on me with someone there. It still didn’t explain why Parker was so pissed though unless his dad had given him that rule and I went ahead and broke it.
“Well game is over unfortunately.” Parker crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe.
“Sure, man, no problem.” Jayden turned giving me a weak smile. “Maybe I can get your number? I’m out here for a few more days. We’re going out on the boat tomorrow if you want to join.”
“We have a boat, but thanks, Jayden,” Parker answered for me.
I shot him my own dirty look as I held out my hand. “Sure, give me your phone and I’ll put my number in.”
Jayden fumbled for it, glancing between us uncomfortably as I typed in my number.
“So…I’ll call you?” His words came out as a question as he gathered up his stuff.
Something told me that he wouldn’t be calling me. Especially after he bolted from the room, taking the stairs two at a time.
I stood at the top of the staircase a few seconds after the front door slammed shut. I could feel Parker’s glare attempting to burn a hole through my back, but I suddenly didn’t have the energy to face the inevitable blowup.
Plan successful, I guess? Only instead of seeming relieved that he didn’t have to turn me down to my face, Parker seemed pissed.