The air mattress squeaked under me as I rolled over. The light was muted outside my window, just past dawn, which meant I had slept maybe three hours.
Parker’s sudden appearance at the bottom of my stairs had stalled my mom enough to cover up Madison and gave me time to change out of her clothes. I didn’t think my mom believed for one second that Madison had eaten something bad at the restaurant we “went to”. But she seemed way more interested in discussing why Parker was in our house to press too hard.
That was a delightful conversation. My one semester of theater really helped sell the idea that I didn’t absolutely loathe Parker and that he was just so helpful when Madison fell ill in the driveway. The combo lie would make it a total of seven lies I had told my mom in my seventeen years on Earth. The first one had been about the piece of candy I had stolen from a gas station when I was six. My latest before the whole Madison ordeal was that my father leaving didn’t bother me.
There was a high chance the lies would continue to accumulate as I attempted to hide the fact that Parker and I would be fake dating the entire summer thanks to Miss Pukes-a-lot.
Speaking of Madison, she better be one good liar or her moms would have her doing community service at the local animal shelter instead of spending lazy days with me.
And judging by the way Parker acted after that stupid dare, I would need her as a buffer. Even my own damn mom was salivating over the prospect of us spending time together. She’d practically had our wedding mapped out since we were kids. I’d burst that bubble long ago when we stopped hanging out every day, but seeing him in our house might have ignited a new fire. Or threw accelerant on the old smoldering one.
I draped an arm over my eyes in an attempt to block out the light. He was the real reason I couldn’t sleep. I’d been ready to wring his stupid neck after the whole night, but then he went and did something weirdly nice and helped me put Madison to bed. I hadn’t seen him do anything remotely selfless, in like, forever. So with that kind gesture my foolish brain slid down a rabbit hole, most of which revolved around him. Him and all the fun times we had together before he decided I was no longer worth his time. Then, when I finally fell asleep, I had a nightmare where his full and infuriatingly dreamy lips were all over mine. And in my twisted head, I liked it. Okay, more than liked it.
So all night I tossed and turned with Parker dominating both my waking and sleeping thoughts. Round and round in a circle until I wanted to cry because awake me still hated him but dream me seemed to have other ideas…
Yeah, I was never going back to sleep. Maybe never again.
What I really needed was a long hot shower and an extra large almond milk caramel macchiato from my favorite coffee joint. It was this tiny little shack in a parking lot that housed mostly home improvement stores, but it was the best coffee I’d ever had. Something about pulling their own shots and then smothering it all in ooey-gooey caramel. Seriously, angels sang every time I took a sip. Rainbows appeared. My general hatred for everyone lessened. Believe it or not that was the biggest miracle out of the three.
With a sigh I rolled off the side of the mattress and attempted not to take the blankets with me. I despised the blow-up bed. Next time Madison got trashed beyond belief, I was making her sleep on it.
The house was quiet as I made my way across the hall to the bathroom. I had about an hour of peace before my mom woke up to get ready for work. The company she worked for had been hosting an event twice a month on Saturdays for local kids. It was meant to get them into science and technology industries at a young age. They geared it toward girls, but everyone brought their kids. With lectures and structure, it pretty much meant parents could dump them there for a couple of hours and have a free Saturday.
Don’t ask me how a Realtor office got involved in science. I never understood it. But it worked.
I cranked the water up as high as I could handle and stripped as it warmed up. As I got undressed my mind drifted to Parker. Again. I had to come up with a way out of the dare or he would spend the whole summer break torturing me. The logical answer was to find him an easy, gullible girl to distract him—kind of like a laser pointer with a cat—but I shot myself in the foot when I banned him from dating other girls.
I was just trying to piss him off, but instead I shoved myself into a corner.
The hot water rolled down my back as I stepped into the shower.
God it felt good.
It was difficult to stay pissy at the situation as the steam swirled around me and the heat loosened my stiff muscles. I was never sleeping on that blow-up bed again. I was pretty sure my mom bought it sometime in the 90s. There were several glue-on patches that did little to stop the slow loss of air. I was amazed I didn’t end up on the floor in a heap of deflated plastic in the middle of the night.
Thirty minutes later. Scrubbed clean. Sorta awake. And I still had no answer about Parker.
Stupid Parker. He had made torturing me his favorite pastime over the past four years. Impeccable timing too. The summer my dad walked out on my mom and me. Great friend, right? I kind of thought since he had been my friend since we were two he would be there for me, but no, he decided that was the best time to drop me and move on to cooler friends all while doing his damnedest to make sure I remained in my dark hole of sadness.
I had sworn that summer that I never wanted him in my life ever again. And there he was, four years later trying to reinsert himself like a puzzle piece that had been trimmed to fit instead of the piece that belonged there. The saddest part about the whole thing was our friendship ended the summer I planned on telling him I was in love with him.
Gag me, right?
But it was the truth.
Dumb, naive me had once been in love with the jerk.
Good thing I saved myself the embarrassment and kept that to myself.
Madison groaned and gave me a small wave as I entered my bedroom. Her messy bed head poked out from under my pillow, squinting at her cell.
“Parentals?” I asked as I reached for my brush.
“Five missed calls and twenty texts between the both of them. Remind me to thank your mom later.”
“Do they at least believe you were sick?”
“Judging from the start of the chain, yes. Toward the end, not so much.”
I set the brush down and plopped on the edge of the bed causing Madison to groan again. Served her right for getting so wasted. “How can they show up for this when they couldn’t care less how you dress or where you go?”
“Drinking is a big deal in my family. It’s like their one rule.”
I slid my hand under the covers and popped one of her toes. She squealed and tucked her feet up. “Think you’ll get grounded?”
“They can’t ground me if I avoid them until all traces of alcohol are gone.”
“I think you managed that last night in my driveway.”
“Oh, God.” Madison lifted the pillow to peek at me. “Please tell me I didn’t throw up all over Parker.”
I wrinkled my nose in disgust. “You’re worried about Parker? What about my shoes? I have bits of hamburger plastered all over the fabric.”
“Shut up, you do not!” She threw the pillow at me, which I caught and tucked under my forearms on my lap.
“I expect you to get them cleaned. They’re my favorite pair.”
“I’m never going to a party again.”
“Not until the next one, right?”
She grinned then sat up slowly, gripping my arm and wincing. “Is your mom up yet? Maybe a shower will help this pounding headache.”
“You have like twenty minutes.”
“Perfect.” She threw her legs over the side of the bed and wobbled slightly once they touched the floor. “Can I live here if my moms find out what really happened last tonight?”
“No, not a chance.”
Madison giggled as she stumbled out of the bedroom. I breathed out a sigh of relief. She seemed more like herself. I’ve seen her drink before, but I’ve never seen her puking her guts out because of it. If Parker hadn’t been so calm about the whole thing I might have been tempted to call 911 and have her taken in for alcohol poisoning.
Parker.
Why couldn’t I get him out of my head? I threw my pillow against the wall then grabbed a pair of jeans and a hoodie. I figured I would have time to go run and pick up coffee before my mom left and I took Madison home. Maybe I could order her a tea instead of coffee. I wasn’t sure, but judging from her reaction to simply walking, her stomach might not be up for the whole milk and sugar thing.
I snagged my purse from the floor and made my way outside. Mr. Jones across the street was already deep into his Saturday morning yardwork ritual. He had the best lawn on the block, something he took a lot of pride in. If it meant getting up at the crack of dawn and staying out there sweating and laboring for most of the day, I would settle for Astroturf or just throw a bunch of bark down and call it a day.
I was so busy admiring his hard work that I didn’t notice the person leaning up against my car until I almost bumped into them.
“Sorry I—” My eyes narrowed on Parker and I had the sudden urge to punch him square in the gut. All the nice things I thought about him helping Madison evaporated the second I was faced with this cocky smirk. “What do you want?”
He grabbed a drink carrier off the roof of the car that housed three beverages including one that looked suspiciously like my favorite coffee. I read the label on the cup and my eyes narrowed farther.
“What is this?”
“Coffee. Well, coffee for you and your mom and a tea for Madison. Judging from her gastrointestinal acrobatics, I didn’t think milk would settle too well.”
I stared at him in disbelief. Those were my exact thoughts. “I was just headed to get coffee.”
“Now you don’t have to.” He held the carrier out in the space between us as I continued to stare at him.
“What did you do, spit in it?”
He chuckled and cocked his head. “Why would I do that?”
“Why would you buy me coffee at all,” I countered.
“Can’t a boyfriend buy his girlfriend coffee?”
My stomach churned, and I had the overwhelming urge to do what Madison did the previous night. All over his nice white shoes.
Of course he would make a spectacle. It was asking too much to go even a day, one day, without him being a jerk. There was no doubt in my mind that he already had a good laugh about this with his jock friends. He probably made bets on how far he could go with me.
“I can get my own coffee.”
“Lil, just take the damn coffee and say thank you.” He pressed the carrier into my stomach giving me no choice but to grab it or risk it spilling all over me.
“What are you doing up so early?” I asked in an attempt to break the sudden tension between us.
He leaned against my car, running a hand through his damp hair. “My dad has a strict off-season schedule for my swimming. He doesn’t want me to get lazy during the summer. You should see my diet plan.” He mock shuddered, adding a gag in for extra effect.
When did Mr. Hayes get so strict about his swimming? Sure, he encouraged Parker, but most of the time he was busy at work and missed the meets. Mrs. Hayes was always there though. And me. Right by her side with giant glitter signs to embarrass him. This was of course back when we liked each other.
“Anyway, I have the rest of the afternoon to myself. Do you have any plans?” Parker asked with a somewhat hopeful expression on his face.
No, I didn’t. But I couldn’t let him know that. He had something terrible planned. I could feel it.
“Yeah, I’m helping my mom at some work event.”
“The kids in science thing? Since when do you help her with that?”
“Since none of your business.”
My mom decided that exact moment was the perfect time to come out onto the porch for the paper that had been sitting there all week. Yeah, something smelled fishy. She was even up earlier than normal.
“Hey, Ms. Holladay.” Parker waved and gave her a bright smile. Full teeth and all.
Kiss ass.
“I told you last night, call me Jan.” The expression on my mom’s face could only be described as jubilant.
“I brought you some coffee.” He motioned to the carrier I held and for some reason I tried to turn my body to conceal it as if it was some kind of contraband.
“Oh, how sweet! I’m about to make pancakes. Would you like to join us?”
“Since when do you cook breakfast?” I asked before Parker could answer.
“Since one of the girls gave me a great blueberry recipe last night at book club.”
Book club. I snorted. In reality, it was just an excuse to get together and drink a bunch of wine. I hadn’t seen my mom read a book since she was reading me Dr. Suess.
“Pancakes sound amazing,” Parker called from behind me.
I couldn’t mask the rage on my face as I turned around to glare at him. Since when did they get so buddy-buddy? He talked to her for maybe five minutes the previous night.
“Parker can’t have pancakes. He’s on a strict diet for swimming,” I answered for him.
Parker gave me a dirty look to which I smirked. He was the idiot that let that information slip. Now I had something to use against him and, if push came to shove, tell his dad. If it meant keeping Parker away from me, I wasn’t above cheap shots.
“Good thing these are low carb,” my mom called and stepped back into the house.
Now it was Parker’s turn to smirk. “Really, Lil? Going for the cheap shot? Why don’t you want me to have breakfast with you? Scared your mom will love me? I can’t wait to tell her we’re dating.”
My mouth popped open. “You wouldn’t.”
He shrugged and skirted around me headed for the door. I couldn’t let this happen. Dating Parker was a dream come true for my mom. I had no idea why she loved him so much. She would literally jump for joy.
I caught Parker’s forearm as he reached for the doorknob. “Please don’t tell her we’re dating.”
“So little Ms. 4.0 lies to her mom, huh?”
“It would be a lie to tell her we’re dating.”
“But we are.”
“No, we’re not!” I closed my eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath, trying to rein in my irritation. “It’s a stupid dare, that’s it. Why would you tell her something like that?”
“Because, if your mom thinks we’re dating then you won’t try to back out.” His cocky grin turned mischievous much like it would when we were kids and about to do something that would end with a trip to the ER.
Okay, so he had a point. If my mom was harping on me and doing everything she could to get us together to go out, it would make it harder to avoid him.
“Why do you care so much about a stupid dare, huh? Is torturing me that fun?”
Something flashed in his eyes, an emotion I swear I had never seen there before. Regret maybe? Whatever it was, disappeared the second he blinked.
“I’m just holding up my side of the dare. Hunter will never let me live it down if I back out. Unfortunately, that requires you to go along with it.” His large hand came down on my shoulder. “Live a little, Holladay. Spend the summer with me and I’ll teach you how to have fun again.”
“I know how to have fun.” I shook his hand off and he laughed.
“Sure, Lil. Keep telling yourself that.” With that he entered my house, leaving me staring after his retreating back until the front door closed.