“I’m not worried about it.” I glance around at the stray faces still poised in my direction. “And I’m not dating my brother!”
“So, next weekend, huh?” Cassidy tries a false smile on for size, but her voice drips with disapproval.
“Never mind. Forget all about next weekend, would you? In fact, if any of you don’t approve, you can forget about me, too. I don’t need this bullshit.”
I jet out the door and cross Founder’s Square on my way to Roxy’s apartment where she has deliveries for me that reach the ceiling. Rex already volunteered to help, and, of course, I promised to pay him in donuts among other creative means.
My phone bleats for attention. It’s a call from my mother, and my adrenaline spikes for a second.
I pick up, breathless, and share a brief hello. Mom segues right into small talk regarding school, my “cute little summer job at the bakery” as she refers to it, and seemingly benign questions about my siblings. How are Sabrina and that boy you dated? Has Lawson been captured and bound by a gaggle of girls? She’s almost right on that last count. I’ve seen the way girls swoon over my brother. Suffice it to say, he has his pick of the litter when it comes to the kittens clawing at him for attention. He’ll be at Whitney Briggs next year, so I’ll get to witness the carnage for myself.
“So that brings me to my next question—” Her voice drags painfully slowly, and I take a seat on the benches across from the field in anticipation. While the chance of Savannah phoning my mother and informing her that I’m about to bed my big bro is slim to none, after the way my summer is unspooling, this wouldn’t necessarily shock me.
In the distance, I spot the football team warming up on the field, and a goofy grin comes at the thought of one of those hard bodies being pressed tight to mine later tonight.
“Is everything okay with your father?”
Her question wipes that goofy grin right off my face. My adrenaline kicks right back up again at the thought of anything happening with my father.
“Yes—as far as I know. Why wouldn’t there be?” My heart thumps unnaturally as if she’s about to deliver some life-altering news.
“I don’t know.” She snows up the line with a heavy sigh. “He called this afternoon to let me know about Lawson’s summer schedule, and, well, he sounded a bit down. When I asked him how things were going with Lynette, he brushed it off and said it wasn’t anything I needed to worry about.”
“Well, it’s not.” My heart sinks right down to my feet because that little fact should have been enough for me to reconsider any plans I had on destroying what happiness my father’s found.
“Of course, it is. Even though your father and I aren’t together, it doesn’t mean I don’t want to see him fulfilled with someone else. What kind of a monster do you think I am?” she puffs incredulously into the phone.
“No, of course, I don’t think that.” I would be the monster in question. “I’ll talk to him and see if there’s anything going on.” I’m pretty sure I don’t need to ask. I already know. I wrap up the conversation with my mother just as a pair of strong arms encases me from behind.
Rex drops a kiss to the top of my head. “You have any plans after we make those deliveries?”
I spring up into his arms and marvel at this dark-haired boy who makes my heart go boom. “I thought we were eating donuts, and you were going to whisper naughty things into my ear until we landed ourselves in a sticky situation?” I flick his chin, and he rumbles a quiet laugh. “Why? What did you have in mind?”
“I thought maybe we could drive up to Mirror Lake a little early.” He tries to give an indifferent shrug, but his lips are curling at the tips, and his eyes have hooded over in that same way they do right before he loses it.
“I’d like nothing more.”
“Really?” He inches back a notch as if to assess my sincerity.
“I swear it. Cross my heart, hope to lose my virginity.”
Rex laughs and spins me, peppering my face with kisses. “We can play it by ear. No pressure. It’s all you. I just wanted to test out a new compound bow I bought for my girlfriend. Maybe you can tell me if she’ll like it.”
My mouth falls open with fury at first, quickly melting to endearment as I realize that Rex Toberman just called me his girlfriend for the very first time. It feels official. It feels perfect.
All of the smart-ass comments that beg to vomit from my throat are quickly encapsulated by the fact I’ve got better things to do with my mouth, like kiss my newly minted boyfriend.
My lips touch his, and Rex and I indulge in an explosion of a kiss that makes me dizzy with lust for him. Rex might have given me the sexual out if I want it, but every last part of me knows what’s going to happen later tonight. Rex Toberman is going to have me in the most intimate way. I’m not worried about any future spouses. I’m not worried about our siblings, or even our parents. Tonight is about being with this beautiful boy and making him mine, and not just for a few brief hours. A part of me wants what Rex and I have to last forever.
If Lake Avalanche had an opposite persona to its laid-back, casual, family-friendly atmosphere, Mirror Lake in all its stately pretentiousness would be it. After six deliveries for Sprinkles Cupcakes, that actually required six different highways, lots of death-defying merging and hostile lane changes, Rex and I load up on four boxes of Auntie’s glazed donuts. I figured what we couldn’t stuff our faces with we’d shove in the freezer and live off of for the rest of the week. Rex and I each went home to pack a bag after meeting up on the lawn. But that phone call of my mother’s has ricocheted in my head like an unwanted echo ever since.
“Wow,” I marvel at the long line of luxury vehicles in front of us as we make our way through the double arch enwreathed in antlers reading Welcome to Mirror Lake, where friends and family become one! “They know us well.”
Both Rex and I share a nervous laugh. There’s an official chalet, and an entire row of pricey boutique stores that would have Daisy begging to stop for a quick look-see. Lake Avalanche is more Piggly Wiggly to this William Sonoma atmosphere. I remember my mother once lamenting about the fact they should have bought a cabin at Mirror Lake instead, and now I see why. It’s much more to her liking. Even though my father is well-to-do, my mother had her hopes pined on much higher tax brackets, and to her credit, she’s landed in them.
Rex drives us up a back road that leads to a sweeping estate fashioned of thick, fat, honey-colored pine trunks. As much as it looks as if a five-year-old armed with a tub of Lincoln Logs could have pieced it together, the giant wraparound deck, the oversized bay windows, and the ten-foot high wrought iron doors beg to differ.
Rex grabs both of our bags. “Last one up has to do the dishes.” He bolts for the door, but I beat him by a hair.
“I win!” I pant through a smile. “God knows my hands can’t be submerged for any length of time. My delicate skin has a tendency to chafe when doused in hard water.”
“I promise to be gentle to your delicate skin.” He pumps out a crooked grin. “I’d do dishes for you every day of the week.” He pulls me in by the back of the neck and lands a searing hot kiss over my lips. Rex fumbles with the keys as the donut boxes bounce between us, and I catch them as he lets us into the overgrown home.
The old me struggles to the surface as I take in Lynette’s grand masterpiece. The Toberman home is full of regrettable décor choices. White canvas seating? Sure, it looks pristine, but Ding Dongs and coffee happen. Just one look at this place and I’m surprised my father didn’t run for the hills. Vases in the shape of shards of glass. The entire back wall of the living room is plastered with red, white, and blue seagulls in an arresting pattern. It’s a patriotic bundle of nerves guaranteed to sponsor a seizure. A bloated shag rug takes up a majority of the living space, making it both a challenge and a hazard to navigate with heels. And can you really vacuum that? I bet if you dug deep enough you’d find a small pet hiding out in there.
I’m quick to submerge th
e older, far more bitter version of myself. Of course, my father didn’t run for the hills. He’s in love. And Lynette is free to decorate her family getaway any way she likes. In fact, the entire birds of America theme is growing on me.
“How many platoons bunk here?”
“Just the Toberman infantry.” He gives a quick wink, takes the boxes from me, and I follow him into a kitchen that rivals any top restaurant in size and appliances.
“Holy wow,” I marvel, bumping my fingers along the stainless steel. “I’ve died and gone to Viking heaven. The damage I could do here would stun your taste buds. Please tell me we have an open invite to come back whenever we want.”
“Are you kidding?” Rex picks me up and lands me on the counter, bringing my face to his sweetly for a kiss. “We can live here all summer.”
“Except for the tiny details of my job and your football practice, it would totally work.”
“We work. That’s all I care about.” Rex takes me by the hand and offers up a quick tour of the palatial estate. Lined against the hall are a series of family pictures, and I pause, taking them all in. So many happy faces stare back at me. So many memories encapsulated in print. A large candid portrait of the Tobermans catches my eye—it’s their wedding portrait. Mr. and Mrs. Toberman look longingly out at us with his large toothy grin, her heavily squinted smile. They look so happy framed in the middle of the family boneyard. Another large portrait sits to its right. This time with the entire Toberman crew. There they all are, outfitted in the latest skiing fashions. Lynette has her arm draped around her then-husband’s shoulder, a seemingly happy grin on her face. Knox and Trixy are about half their sizes, but Rex looks as boyishly sexy as ever.
“You still have that outfit lying around?” I tease, trying to wipe some of the trauma off the situation. “I can strip it off you with my teeth later if you like.”
“Nope. Nothing in that picture is around anymore unless you count the people as individuals.”
I wrap my arms around him, as the air grows serious around us. “You and your brother and sister still have each other.”
“I guess. But Knox and I still have a long way to go. My dad and I are still close.”
“Have you talked to your mom recently?” I duck as the words come out because the last thing I want is for our parents to get in the way of our perfectly romantic getaway. And the logical side of me won’t even try to grapple with all of the bad karma I might have inflicted on the two of us. It’s pretty obvious Rex and I have gotten off to a rocky start.
“No. Is something wrong?”
“No. I just, you know, wondered.” I shrug it off as if it were nothing. “So, why did she and your dad split?” I look at the picture with a little more scrutiny. “He looks like a really nice guy. Like, literally if there was a picture of the term nice guy in the dictionary, he might even win my own father out for the spot.”
“He is a nice guy.” Rex shakes his head. “But as far as he and my mom go, it’s a long, horrible story. I guess it’s not that important at this point.”
And we leave it at that.
Rex takes me to the extra large suite that is precisely the size of the entire student union, and I gawk, slack-jawed, at the oversized bed, the showy Persian rug, and meticulously crafted tapestry depicting a herd of elk in a forest that sits framed against the entire north wall. It looks more like a museum than a bedroom. A part of me does a quick sweep of the vicinity for velvet ropes and a well-dressed docent ready to lead us through the rest of the Toberman exhibit. For the life of me, I can’t envision getting down and dirty on the bed Lynette once soiled with her husband. I’m pretty sure this room is a no-go.
“Not here,” Rex says as if reading my mind and leads me down the hall. He swoops in and picks me up off my feet, leading me into another oversized room. Although markedly smaller than the Taj, it has a sweeping view of the lake that expands forever.
“In here?” I ask, perpetuating our secret Morse code for love shack.
“This would be the place.” Rex lands me on a queen-sized bed with its bulky patchwork quilt and a mattress that feels as if it were made to mold to the shape of our bodies.
“Oh, this is heaven. I could fall asleep right now. I’ve never felt a bed so comfortable in all my life.”
“You could totally sleep.” Rex holds up a hand as if conceding to the idea that some shut-eye might in fact take place.
“And I will.” I bite back a smile. “In approximately three days, when you wear me out.”
“Three days? Try a solid week.” Rex takes a playful bite from the side of my neck. “Thank you.”
“Thank you for what?”
“For being so sweet and beautiful.” The moment grows serious. “I meant it about the new bow. It’s yours. Hope you like it.”
“So, that wasn’t just a lure to get me to the lake?”
Rex growls as he runs a soft line down my chest. “You’re the lure. You got me hook, line, and sinker.”
“I like that.” My face catches fire, and for a moment, I’m convinced I see flames. “I have a confession. You had me hook, line, and sinker as far back as last summer. Remember that Chinese place in Jepson? The big intro where our parents brought us together for the very first time?” He gives a somber nod. “I knew that day I would never be able to get you out of my head. But with everything in me I wanted to. I genuinely gave it that old college try my entire sophomore year. It was impossible. You were everywhere I looked, starring on the football field, bumping into me at the Black Bear. I wanted to know you even then, but something in me put on the brakes, and I ran in the opposite direction.”
Rex pulls my hand to his lips and kisses it. “You just outlined the entire last year of my life perfectly.” He swallows hard. “And, while we’re swimming in the deep end, you’re a pretty brave, kick ass girl, and I’ve wondered if there’s a thing in this world that you’re afraid of.”
“Afraid of, huh? This really is the deep end.” I dig my fingers into his ribs, and he bucks with a laugh. “You first.”
“My biggest fear is being tickle tortured by you.” He lets out a heavy sigh. “That and having to come to terms with the fact my family will never return to normal.”
“All ye children of divorce abandon all hope.” I land a sloppy kiss to his cheek. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
“Okay, so we share the same big fear. Makes sense. We’re practically the same person in that sense. How about you give me one more? Something goofy. I told you about my tickle torture. And that’s a very real thing by the way. Now it’s your turn.” His fingers strum over my sides, and now it’s me bucking with a laugh. “And you can’t say tickle torture.”
“Okay. Actually, there is something equally as goofy.” I cover my eyes with my fingers before peering between them. “I’m terrified of driving on the highway.” I bury my face in the pillow a moment.
“What?” Rex tosses the pillow across the room and pulls me closer to him. “Is that what all those fractured foot, low tire, a bear might eat me excuses were about?”
“You figured me out. I’m just a big baby who’s terrified to pack eight thousand pounds of steel at sixty miles an hour.”
“Anytime you need a ride, you know where to find me. No excuses needed.” He tucks a kiss just under my ear.
My phone goes off in my pocket.
“And we owe this interruption to”—I pluck out my phone. “My father.” I shrink a little in his arms.
“Why don’t you take that, and I’ll haul up those donuts you owe me?”
I say a breathless hello just as Rex leaves the room.
“Hey, Batter Bits, just wanted to see what you were up to. I thought maybe we could grab a quick bite. That is, if you don’t have any plans.”
“Actually, I do have plans. I’m with Rex up at Mirror Lake.” My face heats. Why the hell did I say that? Am I going to fess up to the fact I’m about to gift him my virginity over a patchwork quilt? That a very fair ex
change has been made for a shiny new compound bow? I think not. I hope not. God knows my mouth has had a mind of its own for the past few weeks.
“With Rex? Are Lynette and the twins with you? What a wonderful time you’ll have.” His voice lifts with hope as he rounds out his thoughts.
“Um, no, not exactly.” This oh-so comfy mattress suddenly feels like a bed of nails, sharp and hard as the truth I’ve just shoved in my poor father’s face.
“Oh, I see. Uh-huh,” he grunts out a few unintelligible words. Probably something only fathers who are faced with the fact their daughter is about to turn in her V-card understand.
“Isn’t Lynette with you?” Another foolish thing to fly from my mouth because it’s pretty obvious at this point.
“No, actually—she’s, well, I don’t know exactly where she is. We haven’t spoken in a week. I’m afraid it’s over.”
“What!” I sit up straight, startled by my own voice. “You have to find her. Talk to her. She makes you happy. And if she’s able to bring that much joy to your life, then that’s someone I want you with for a very long time.” A trail of hot tears trickles over my cheeks. The bed depresses, and I look up to find Rex beside me, wiping down my tears with a grievous nod. “Look, we’ll get together some other time, but I promise you, everything will work out with Lynette. It will. I know this.”
“I wish I had your assurance.” We say our goodbyes, and Rex pulls me over his body and holds me a very long time before either one of us says anything.
“You think we can undo the damage we’ve done?”
I press my face into the warmth of his neck. Not only is Rex gorgeous, but his heart is the size of the planet.