“I’ve told you that I’m just not interested in dating right now. We just graduated. I want a summer to prepare for college in the fall, enjoy being away from my insane mother and just—relax.”
Jewel sighed and bent her head down to nibble on her straw while her eyes zeroed in on the poor bartender who had to be ready for us to be seated at a table.
“You can still come with me, you know. Skip this living with the preacher stuff and come party all summer at the beach. Corey would love you to join us. Her step-father’s condo has three bedrooms and a killer view of the ocean.”
A summer hanging out with drunk Jewel and friends was not appealing, at all. I had my plans and so far everything I’d put into motion was running smoothly. However, I couldn’t help but be nervous about the next step. It was the most crucial.
Having my naturally red hair darkened to a deep copper and styled attractively instead of pulled back in a braid or ponytail had been step-one. The darker red color had made my pale skin seem almost delicate. Then the cleaning out of my closet had been the next move. I’d bagged up every single piece of clothing I owned and dropped them off at the local Goodwill. My mother had been horrified but after she’d seen the clothing style I intended to replace it with, she’d been very supportive. Unlike most mothers, my mother wanted to see me in shorts that showed off almost all of my legs and tight tops that emphasized my C cup boobs.
Jewel had wanted to teach me how to apply makeup but I’d kindly refused and went to the Clinique counter at Macy’s and had them teach me, and then I’d bought everything they’d used. Although I’d never been one for makeup I had to agree that it did startling things to my eyes. I’d closed my bedroom door and stared at myself in fascination for hours after they’d put makeup on me.
Convincing my mother to let me stay the summer with my aunt and uncle had been a little more difficult. My cousin, Ashton, had helped tremendously with this part. She’d talked to her mother who in return talked to mine. Our mothers are sisters and once my aunt convinced my mother that Ashton truly wanted me to come spend our last summer before college together, I’d been so excited I’d momentarily forgotten about the last step in the plan. The reason why I’d made myself moderately attractive and begged to come stay the summer with my cousin. The goal sounded so simple but when I allowed myself to dwell on it then it became so incredibly complicated. Getting a boy to fall head-over-heels in love with you isn’t easy. Especially when he’s been in love with your cousin for as long as you can remember.
Chapter Two
Sawyer
“You’ve got to curb the temper, man. If anyone could take on Beau—it would be you but you’d still walk away beat up,” Ethan announced as I pulled out onto the country road from the dirt road that led back to the field parties.
“It’s been six months, bro. How long you gonna be pissed over this?” Jake asked from the backseat.
Why was this any of their business? Neither one of them knew what a committed relationship was like. They’d both been through so many girls during our four years of high school I couldn’t even name them all. Explaining to them that I’d planned my life with Ashton as the center from the time I was twelve years old wasn’t exactly easy. So instead, I leaned forward and turned on the radio to drown out any more of their interrogation.
“You can turn on music all you want but the fact is you got to let this go. He’s your cousin and your best friend. A chick can’t come between that. Not for long.” Ethan was watching me from the passenger seat. I knew he was waiting on a response from me but I didn’t give him one. His comment about Beau being my cousin was reminder enough that no one really knew me, except Beau and Ash. He wasn’t my cousin. He was my brother but once Beau found out the truth from his mother, he’d decided to keep that information locked away where it’d been his whole life. He didn’t want to claim my dad as his own and I couldn’t really blame him. It wasn’t like my dad had ever done anything to help Beau’s home situation growing up. Beau held nothing but disdain for my father, our father. He chose to remember our father’s brother as his dad. He’d been the only dad Beau had ever known. Even though he’d died when Beau was in first grade, he’d been a fond memory for Beau—unlike his real father.
“Hey! You passed Hank’s,” Ethan announced, pointing his finger toward the burger place we normally went to eat.
“Not going to Hank’s,” was my only response. They were the ones who jumped in my truck. If they didn’t like my need to get out of Grove then they could walk back to town when we got to where I was headed.
“You leaving Grove?” Jake asked.
“Yep.”
Ethan sighed and leaned back in the seat, “We may end up in Florida before he stops this damn truck.”
“Florida? I’m starving and a cheeseburger from Hank’s would’ve fixed that,” Jake grumbled.
Slowing down the truck, I pulled over and glanced back at Jake, “You’re welcome to get out and walk back.”
His eyes widened and he slowly shook his head. “No man, that’s okay. I’m good.”
I pulled back onto the road and ignored the exchange between the guys. They both thought I was nursing a broken-heart. Well, they were right.
No one said another word until I pulled the truck into the parking lot of Wings. I’d driven about twenty miles south to the next town big enough for decent restaurants.
“You should’ve told me you were headed to Wings. I’d have shut up,” Jake made an excited whoop as he jerked open the backdoor of the truck and jumped out.
This was somewhere I’d never eaten with Ash. There weren’t many places that I didn’t have a memory of her so my choices had been limited. Tonight, I needed to get my mind off her and focus on my future—or at least my summer.
“I’m gonna eat my weight in some wings,” Ethan said in reply to Jake’s excitement over my choice of restaurant. At least I’d made them happy. Not that it mattered.
Opening the door, I went inside and stopped at the hostess stand. A tall girl with long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail smiled up at me with an appreciative gleam in her eye that I was used to. It had been habit for me to ignore that look in other girls’ eyes for so long that I automatically brushed it off. Tonight, I wasn’t going to do that. It was time I started flirting back.
I flashed a grin that I knew was pretty damn impressive because it was one Ashton always commented on. “Three please,” I told her and watched as her brown eyes got bigger and she blinked several times. She wasn’t exceptionally pretty but seeing her get all flustered was a nice balm to my ego.
“Oh...um... okay... yes... uh,” she stammered, reaching for the menus and instead knocking them to the floor.
I bent down beside her to help pick them up.