Caffeine buzz my ass. Just like when we were kids, both girls are fast asleep before we are more than a few miles outside of town. I’m going to enjoy the silence while the girls sleep; Ashton is a lot louder than I remember.
I sent an email to the realtor this morning and put in an offer on the dream house. Piper’s dream house. I can’t see there being much of a bidding war for a house that is barely standing so I’m pretty confident I will be a home owner when we get back to town on Sunday.
The look on Piper’s face as she stood in that knee-high grass has been consuming my dreams the last few nights. Those dreams are likely to find their spot in the archives and be replaced by the version of Piper today. Watching her walk down those stairs about did me in. Short, cut-off denim shorts show off her amazing legs and the loose-fitting tank she has on compliments her in ways that have me thinking thoughts I shouldn’t have. Her long hair is in some haphazard bun that makes me want to tug it loose, allowing her hair cascade down like a waterfall.
Obviously I didn’t forget to pack my vagina. Good lord, I need to get a grip or it’s going to be a very long weekend.
An hour after we left Piper’s house we pass the sign that indicates we’ll be at the lake in a few minutes. I nudge Ash awake and instantly regret it. I forgot how violent she can be when she’s woken up and my arm pays the price. The ruckus of my near-death experience at the hands of my sister wakes Piper up and the moment I glance at her stretching I regret my peek in the mirror. Her tank barely lifts but it’s enough to show me a sliver of her bare belly. I wonder if it’s too late to suggest the girls wear wet suits this weekend.
“Finally! I thought we’d never get here!” Ashton frustratingly exclaims as I pull up next to Jameson’s truck. I shake my head at my sister’s dramatics. She’s acting as if her nap was hours long instead of minutes.
“Ben, you should really talk to J about that monstrosity of a truck. What is he compensating for? Small dickitis?” Ashton asks as she hops out of the truck and heads to the back and starts pulling bags out.
I laugh and meet her at the tailgate along with Piper.
“Yeah, I’m not having that conversation with him but knock yourself out.”
“What conversation?” Jameson asks as he walks up from around the cabin to help us.
“The one where Ben tells you that your little dick is showing with your need to drive that truck,” Ashton says as she stomps off. It’s a stomp for sure. I don’t know why she has so much hostility toward Jameson but I just shrug and pull the cooler out before closing the tailgate.
“What’s up her ass? I almost regret putting the tents up, should’ve made her do that herself.”
I look at Piper and she shakes her head and smiles before turning to Jameson. “Don’t mind her, she was sleeping before we got here. You know what a pill she can be when she wakes up against her will.”
That seems to pacify Jameson as we head toward the cabin with all of the bags and food. The girls start emptying the bags and boxes of food while Jameson takes me on a tour of the property.
“I can’t believe you bought land out here. It’s pretty cool, man.”
“Yeah well, it’s not much but it’s mine. If it wasn’t such a drive for work, I’d live here, that’s for sure.”
Once we walk over to where Jameson has set up the tents, the girls have made their way over to where we stand. Ashton seems to have relaxed a little and is more herself. We’re all in agreement that food is the number one priority. A quick loss in a game of Rock Paper Scissors finds Jameson and I tasked with cooking breakfast while the girls ice the beers for later.
Contemplating simply pouring cereal in a bowl and declaring breakfast served so the girls won’t have high expectations from our cooking skills, we reluctantly prepare a feast of a breakfast.
Once we’ve all finished eating and the mess is cleared, I change into some workout gear and start out on a hike around the lake. I’ve never considered myself a loner, but being back in the thick of things with this group has made solitude and quiet something I yearn for.
When I return to Camp Shenanigans, as it has been deemed, I notice that Owen’s truck is parked next to mine. In the distance I hear laughs and splashes coming from the water. I lost my shirt early in my hike as the sun beat down on me making it feel more like a blanket. I pull the shirt from my waistband and wipe my head as I grab and down a cold water. Tossing the bottle in the recycling bin, I turn toward the cabin. Before I have an opportunity to open the door, it comes flying open and a bikini-wearing Piper slams right into my chest with an audible oomph.
“Whoa there, where’s the fire?” I ask while I reluctantly peel her from my body.
“Ss … sorry. I was just using the restroom and didn’t see you there. So uh, yeah how was your hike?”
I smile, noticing she hasn’t looked at me yet. Not true, she seems to be quite interested in the waistband of my shorts, but she hasn’t looked up at my face.
“The hike was good. Hot, but good.”
“Wow, it is crazy hot today. I should get down to the water; you should join us, ya know, after you, umm, change or whatever. I mean you don’t need to change if you didn’t want to so yeah I should go okay bye,” she rattles off in a rambling sentence and takes off in what can only be described as a stumbling hustle toward the water.
Laughing to myself, I go inside where it is slightly cooler and embrace the temperature change. Once I’ve changed into my trunks I grab a protein bar from my bag and another water before I head down to the lake. The closer I get, the louder the hoots and hollers get. I missed these kinds of weekends since I’ve been gone and the realization hits me again. I am the outsider in this group. Funny how Ashton seems to have moved into my place with my friends. It makes me happy to know they embraced and protected her while I was gone even if I do have a twinge of jealousy.
As I take a seat next to Jameson I notice that the girls are in the middle of an intense game of chicken. “Wow, that looks pretty serious. They do know it’s a game of chicken, right?”
“Yeah, it’s how they decided to determine who is on dish duty tonight. You know Ash, she’ll do anything to get out of dishes so she’s determined to win,” he says as he takes a long drink from his beer.
“Beer already? Is it even noon yet?” I ask and recognize how old I sound.
“Relax, bud, we’re on vacation. There aren’t any clocks here. Besides, it’s five o’clock somewhere, right?” he asks as he finishes off that beer and hands one to me that I waive off.
“I guess. I’ll stick with water for now. Hydrate and all that.”
We sit here, in the blazing sun, watching our friends battle it out to avoid dish duty. Once Ashton and Owen secure the win, they perform some sort of awkward victory dance that includes poking fun at their opponents, Piper and Landon. Eventually, we all settle in for an afternoon of swimming and, for everyone but me, drinking. I notice as the day wears on that my sister avoids direct conversation with Jameson. They’ve never been very close but they have always been civil. I assumed since they hang out as a group that they had bridged whatever gap existed between them. Apparently I was wrong.
Much to Ashton’s dislike, Piper declares it dinner time, which sends Owen and Ashton to the cabin to begin preparing. Feeling the need to impute a little big brother advice, or really just figure out what is going on with her and Jameson, I offer to take Owen’s place in the kitchen. He willingly takes me up on it and suddenly it’s just the Sullivans in the kitchen.
I take the lead and start seasoning steaks as Ashton shucks the corn. A few minutes into the process I decide to bring up the subject of Jameson.
“So what’s the deal with you and J? You pissed at him or something?”
“What? No. Why would you say that?”
“I don’t know, maybe because you never speak to him. You were pretty bitchy when we got here this morning, too.”
“You know I don’t like to be shaken awake, I apologized for that. And for your information, I do speak to Jameson. I just don’t speak slut so he probably doesn’t hear me and thus doesn’t respond,” she declares as she walks out of the cabin with the corn.
Just as I’m about to join her with the steaks, Landon walks in the cabin.
“Hey, man, those look good. How’s it going?” he asks me, pulling up a seat at the table.
“All is well. How’s it going with you? How’s the HVAC business?”
“It’s good. My dad and I haven’t killed each other yet so that’s always a bonus.”
I laugh with him and cannot imagine being business partners with my dad. I love him and we’re close, but business partners? No thanks.
“Yeah, I don’t think I could do it. I thought you’d bring a date this weekend.”
“Nah, we’ve all tried that. Bringing someone outside the group for this last weekend of summer never goes well. The girls we’ve brought have never really meshed with your sister and Piper. Girls are catty, man. I just don’t get it. Last year Tony came with Piper and that was cool.”
I don’t respond to that last comment. I pick up the tray of steaks to head out to the grill when Landon asks me the million-dollar question. “How about you? You plan on hooking up with Piper again?”
I set the tray of steaks down and put my hands on the back of the chair, leaning in a little with a shrug. “We didn’t hook up. It was,” I pause searching for the correct word,” spontaneous. Something that ended once I found out who she was.”
Landon laughs. “Yeah, man, you keep telling yourself that.”
‘What’s that supposed to mean?”
Shaking his head, he stands and smiles. “Ben, come on. I see the way you look at Piper when you think nobody is looking. Yeah, I get it, she’s fucking hot in a bikini, but it’s more than that. We all appreciate what she’s displaying, but you? You look at her like, hell, man, I don’t know, like something.”
I don’t respond. I stand there watching as he enters the bathroom, letting his words settle before taking the steaks to the grill. Yeah, she’s something all right.
A few hours after my conversation with Landon, his words are still ringing in my head. I know Piper and I have a connection that neither of us can deny but that’s all it can ever be. I will never do anything to come between her friendship with Ashton and I really don’t want my sister pissed at me. While I’m convincing myself of this fact the same sister declares it bedtime and, along with Piper, heads to the tent they’re sharing. Landon and Owen follow shortly after, leaving Jameson and me alone with a fire and the crickets.
“So what’s the deal with you and my sister?”
Jameson must be taken by surprise at my question because he wastes a good portion of his beer by spraying it toward the fire.
“Where’d that come from? Nothing, man. She’s a royal pain in my ass as always but we’re cool.”
“She seems really pissed at you all the time. I figured maybe something happened.”
“Nah, she’s always like that. It’s worse when I have a date around. That’s why we don’t bring them anymore. The last time I had a girl here for our last weekend Ashton kept saying things like ‘slut’ and ‘hoochie’ poorly disguised as coughs. Poor Candi had to be consoled all night. It was really a tough job.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you were really put out with that job. If you say everything’s cool, then I guess it is.”
As I respond I hear a zipper from a tent and see Piper walking toward the water. Jameson must follow my gaze.
“She does that every night when we’re out here. Says it is the only time she can think.”
I watch her as she makes it to the water’s edge and starts skipping rocks. Even from this distance and in the dark I am mesmerized by her. Never taking my eyes from her, I feel Jameson’s hand on my shoulder as he stands.
“Quit fighting what is so obvious to us all. Go to her, Ben, see what happens. I’m hitting the sack.”
I don’t move right away. I battle myself and know I should go to my tent too. I should get up, put this fire out, and go to sleep. I don’t. Instead, I find myself walking toward the woman who consumes my dreams and is easily making her way into my heart.