by Kristy Marie
Mom #2: I’m on my way to beat your ass. Mom said you weren’t coming home for spring break.
Mom #2: Why the fuck not?
Mom #2: Sebastian!
Mom #2: I will call Maverick. Do not test me.
Her last text sends a groan through me. I open the message thread and quickly tap out a reply.
Me: Calm down, Cujo. I happen to have plans that don’t include sitting around Mom’s house and getting drilled with a million questions.
I take a breath then tap out one more message, just in case my last text hurts her feelings.
Me: If I’m going to get drilled, it’s going to be by someone a little less chatty and will help me pass my chemistry final.
My sister, considered the no bullshitter in our family, quickly catches on.
Mom #2: What’s her name?
I feel my blood pressure rising as my head falls back against the sofa.
Me: Come on, Cal. Let a man live a little.
It’s a cheap shot. Playing on Calista’s guilt is a low blow, but I need her to let this whole visiting for spring break thing go.
Mom #2: I think you’re avoiding us again.
Me: Not true. I miss you all. Especially, Little Bit. I miss her more than all of you put together.
Bringing Emmy, my niece, into the mix is always the way to my sister’s heart.
Mom #2: Promise you aren’t just avoiding us?
I can’t lie to my sister.
Me: I’ll come see you soon. Promise.
“What’s wrong?”
My head pops up at Vee’s soft voice.
I shake my head and give her a once-over. She’s in another one of my shirts. This time, it isn’t flannel. Not that it isn’t sexy on her, but flannel is her trademark.
“Nothing,” I lie. “Why?”
She shrugs and comes to sit down beside me. “You just look sad.”
“I’m definitely not sad,” I assure her with a grin. Although, that might not be the case for my sister.
Vee nods at my phone. “Someone bothering you?”
I forget how well Vee knows me from before this whole fake girlfriend thing. “My sister is disappointed I’m not coming home for spring break.”
I don’t know why I tell her. Maybe I wanted to feel better about breaking my mom and sister’s hearts. Or maybe I just wanted to talk to Vee and see where her head is after I came in my pants while dry humping her.
“Oh,” she says, “I’m not going home either.”
I’m pretty sure she isn’t avoiding her family like I am mine. “Any particular reason?”
She tips her chin and takes a sip of my water, like we’re a real couple and share things like clothes and drinks. “They’re doing some fundraiser this week. A car wash or something for the school my dad works for.”
“Oh” is all I say, watching as she takes another sip. “And you don’t want to go?”
She shakes her head and tries not to grin. “Nah, it’s their thing. I don’t like to be there when it’s time to clean up.”
I arch a brow. “Why? What happens?”
“You don’t want to know.”
I chuckle. “Okay. So you didn’t make plans with Aspen?”
She chews on the inside of her cheek. “Last I heard, they were thinking of going to the beach, but hadn’t decided for sure.”
The beach sounds nice. “A trip sounds like the way to go,” I agree.
Vee nods to the untouched wakeboard propped up against the wall where it has been since I bought it. “You like to wakeboard?”
I take my drink from her and down the rest of it. “Yeah. I don’t get much of a chance to use it though.”
Vee fidgets for a second, and we’re both quiet, staring at the wall. “We could go to Aspen’s parents’ lake house if you want,” she finally says. “I mean, you don’t have to, but I can check and see if anyone is there for the weekend. I have to work some next week, but I could manage a long weekend.” She shrugs and takes a deep breath, her cheeks flushed. “You could wakeboard. Aspen’s parents have a boat.”
I sit there, not responding, like a total idiot, when she adds, “I mean we could use the footage for the competition.”
She puts her hands in the air, imitating a billboard. “We could say: Spring Break Getaway, Couple Style.”
Her smile wavers for a moment, and it’s in that moment I know I am completely and utterly fucked with this girl. It doesn’t matter what she did in the past, there’s not enough hate in the universe to keep me away from her now.
I tuck a wet strand of hair behind her ear. “I think that’s the best idea you’ve had yet.”
“Wait. We’re bringing real food?”
Vee cuts me a bored look. “As opposed to fake food we can’t eat?”
Ugh. Why does that sarcasm shoot straight to my dick?
I narrow my eyes and refrain from snatching the bag of groceries from her hand, slamming her body on the hood, and putting that mouth of hers to better use. Ever since I came in my pants to the feel of her body against mine, I haven’t been able to chase away the images. I find myself wanting more and more time with her every day. I can’t get enough of her company, and I’m pretty sure that’s a bad sign.
“I’m merely pointing out that I don’t know how to cook,” I say. “So unless you know how to—” I nod to the bag of charcoal in the back, “—use that, then this little ‘romantic weekend’ will turn into a ‘bathroom getaway’ again.”
Vee stuffs the remaining bag into the back of my Jeep, which looks like we robbed Costco every day for a week. “We’ll google it. Besides—” she shrugs, “how hard can it be?”
I’m thinking pretty fucking complicated, but I’d never admit it.
“Whatever,” I clip, slamming the hatch and giving her a shove around to the passenger side. “At least the video will look authentic if we fuck it up.”
Vee’s eyes go wide. “Yes! Now you’re thinking! Did you see Malcolm teasing his viewers with a surprise in his last video?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
There are rumors about Malcolm and his video ideas. I honestly don’t know if the rumors are true about him stealing other MyViewer’s material, but something in my gut tells me they probably are, given Malcolm’s creepy personality.
“I wonder who he’ll rip off this time?”
I shrug. “Does it matter? We’re beating him by a landslide.”
Vee climbs into the passenger side and buckles in. “Do you think we have a shot at really winning this thing?”
I walk around the front of the Jeep and get in. “Absolutely. After this weekend, nothing we post will cause us to lose our spot. Malcolm doesn’t have a chance in hell of winning.”
“Stay on the road!”
I ease back to the middle of the road and cut Vee a pained look. “I’m sorry. It was like my hands knew the only way to peace was to run us into a ditch.”
I smother a laugh when her eyes narrow. “I swear to all that is holy I will cut your pillow to shreds and use it as dog bedding if you make one more joke about my singing.”
I shrug, not promising I won’t make another joke about her horrific singing. “I’m kind of used to sleeping without it now. Do with it what you wish.”
I focus back on the road but then tell her, “I’m still not giving your chair back though.”
She scoffs. “You think that concerns me? I’ll just continue to come watch my movies at your house. All your future girlfriends will have to learn to adapt to your nightly houseguest.”
The words, ‘future girlfriends,’ send a chill through the warm air. It reminds me that whatever this is with Vee isn’t real nor will it last until ‘future girlfriends.’ Once we win, I’m leaving. I don’t plan to stay and finish school. Instead of Vee watching her stupid movies on my patio while I pretend to watch something else, she’ll be watching them back on her patio like before. Alone.
Vee’s chuckle dies when she notices that I didn’t contribute to the laughter
. I could have faked one, but I don’t see the point. The contest will be over soon, and I think it’s best we both remember that. It’ll make things easier.
“So…” She clears her throat, turning the radio off. “I was looking on the map and there’s a town coming up.”
“Do you need a bathroom break again?” I roll my eyes. I swear she needs to stop to pee every fifteen miles.
“No, jerk face. I don’t have to pee, but I know there’s a Red Cross there.” She looks down at her hands. “It’s not out of the way and since you were sick on the week you normally go, I thought you might want to make up for it.”
I sigh. I hate that I took her with me that one time. “Are you going to faint this time when they stick me?”
She grins. “Maybe.”
“Maybe?” I repeat, my lips tipping up at the corners into a grin. “Maybe you should wait in the Jeep?”
She waves me off. “I’ll be fine. Second time’s a charm.”
I scoff. I highly doubt it, but I guess we’ll see.
“Alright, you can come in, but if you faint, you can’t sing for the rest of the ride.”
I don’t mean it, but it feels good changing the subject.
“You’re a dick.” She side-eyes me, but she’s smiling.
“And?”
She turns the radio up, the wind blowing in her hair. She doesn’t care that it’s tangled. I like that she’s not a diva about her appearance. “And you have a deal. If I faint, you can sing the rest of the trip.”
About fifteen minutes later, we pull up to the donation center. The parking lot is sparse and almost looks abandoned.
“Do you want to put the top up on the Jeep?” Vee asks.
I shake my head. “Nah. It’ll be fine. We’ll just take the camera bags in. If someone steals our clothes and food, it’ll just make for a more entertaining video.”
I don’t really hope someone steals our shit for the sake of likes; I’m just too lazy to put the top up and then back down an hour later when we leave.
Vee shrugs one shoulder. “Whatever you want.”
Grabbing the bags, we head into the blood donation center, and I sign all the paperwork. Vee follows behind me and the tech without a word.
“Sure you’re not going to faint again?” I toss behind me, which Vee responds with a middle finger salute.
“Have a seat right here, Mr. Carrington.” The tech pats the recliner. “And your girlfriend can sit in this empty one next to you.”
The girlfriend term stops Vee in her tracks, but she recovers quickly and hurries to sit.
I slide into the leather chair and prop my arm up on the armrest, while the tech busies herself with prepping my arm and asking me to make a fist while she finds the vein. I glance over at Vee, who is seriously pale. I knew her weak ass stomach couldn’t handle the sight of blood. She might be able to shoot whiskey and moonshine like a dude, but a little bit of blood will send her eyes rolling into the back of her head. I groan and put my hand on the tech. “Hang on just a minute.”
I then look at Vee. “Come here. I’m not dealing with having to carry you to the car and stopping by a diseased taco truck to get your strength back after you faint.”
Sliding to the side of the recliner, I pat the few inches of space next to me. The tech cuts me a disapproving look that I ignore. Vee will either squeeze her little ass in or she’ll faint on the floor. I’m guessing the tech would rather see two grown ass people squeeze into a recliner than to deal with the paperwork of writing up an incident report.
Vee eyes the needle in the tech’s hand and then the spot beside me.
I already know what her decision will be, but she needs time to prepare herself. I get it.
With a groan, Vee leaves the bags in her recliner and puts a knee on my seat cushion then hesitates.
“She’s about to stick me so make a decision,” I add.
“Promise you won’t tease me about this?” She’s so serious that I can’t help but laugh.
“No. Definitely not.”
“Then I’ll just faint and you can stop at the next taco truck.”
For fuck’s sake. “Fine. I promise. This one doesn’t count.”
At my assurance, she slides in on her side, so she can fit, putting her arm over my chest and burying her face in my shoulder.
“Okay. Tell her to stick you now.”
I chuckle and nod to the tech who looks like this is the craziest shit she’s ever seen during a blood donation. But she does it, and before long, I’m bleeding into a bag with my neighbor’s face shoved into my shoulder hard enough that it’ll probably bruise.
“Sebastian,” she says, her voice muffled.
My eyes are closed, opting not to watch TV while I donate. “Yeah?”
“Are you ever going to tell me why you do this?”
I turn my head and admire her dark hair while her fingers grip my t-shirt like she’s scared someone is going to force her to pull her head up and see all the blood. I trail my fingers down her back, watching as she visibly relaxes her grip.
“Maybe one day,” I whisper.
It’s not a no, but it isn’t a yes.
“Does it have to do with your sister’s illness when you were little?”
My fingers stop. “How do you know about that?”
She tries to pull her head up to face me but then thinks better of it. “When we were friends you told me that your sister had been sick when you were little.”
I try relaxing when the tech comes by to check on the progress. “I forgot I told you.”
She tightens her grip when she hears the tech placing a bottled water on the table. “You used to not mind sharing,” she manages to get out.
“You used to make it easy to talk to you,” I admit.
She pulls her face up and levels me with so much sincerity in those big brown eyes. “I don’t now?”
I touch her hair and let my fingers trail along to the bow of her lips. “No. Now, it’s definitely harder.”
She watches me for a second, both of us locked in a heated stare laced with months of lies and friendship, before she notices the blood and slams her face back down onto my shoulder. “I’m still the same person, you know?”
I wrap my arm back around her and make sweeping strokes with my fingers along her back. “I know,” I finally whisper.
“Aspen’s family owns this place?” I tip my shades forward, so I can get a better view of the three-story lake house. Stone nestles the wooden accent beams across the deck. “This is…”
She cuts me off with a wave of her hand. “Lavish, I know. But it’s home. I can remember spending many summers here.”
After we finished with the blood donation, we stopped by a taco place for lunch—a chain restaurant this time—and had lunch, which fueled her vocal cords, so she could sing to me the rest of the way to the lake house.
I’ve never been so happy to get out of the car.
Vee smiles and flashes me a playful wink. “Come on, playboy. Get out of the car. We have an audience to impress and we aren’t leaving until we make this look like one hell of a romantic getaway.”
I straighten and get out of the Jeep, piling a couple bags on my arm from the back. “You’re sure Aspen said we can use the boat?” If I were Aspen’s parents, I wouldn’t trust two college kids with my boat and million-dollar house for the weekend. I wouldn’t care how close my friends and I were. No one would fuck around with my expensive toys.
Vee shoves me aside and grabs the board. “I’m sure. Come on, we’re losing the good light.”
Right.
The contest.
A half a million dollars and a new life away from Georgia.
Focus, Bash.
We take the steps up to the front door, and Vee pulls out a key.
“I’m surprised you actually have a key,” I tell her.
I had my doubts since I never see her with any.
She turns back and grins. “I only break into my neighbor’s house
.”
I shake my head and follow behind her as she pushes the door open into the grandeur of her summer home.
“Wow,” I tell her. “Not a bad way to spend the summers.”
She smiles. “It wasn’t summer camp, but it was fun.” She points to the sofa that is stark white and plush with red, white, and blue throw pillows. “Just set the bags over there. We can put everything away when we get back.”
She shoves the bags of groceries in one of the two refrigerators, leaving the cooler we brought on the floor.
“I don’t think all that needed refrigeration,” I tell her.
She waves me off. “It’s fine. Come on. Get changed and let’s take the boat out. That’s what we came here for, right?”
I nod and gaze out through the back of the open living space. The back wall is made of glass where you can see the view of the lake at every angle.
“You can use the bathroom on this floor to change if you want. I’ll change in the one downstairs.” She points to a door down the hall that, I assume, is the bathroom, before taking the circular staircase and disappearing out of sight.
It only takes me a few seconds to throw on board shorts, but it takes Vee a little longer. When she finally comes back upstairs, I’m on the sofa, scrolling through my phone.
“You ready?”
I lift my head and admire the same bikini she wore at Drew’s birthday party. I hated the sight of her in it while Vance stole glances of her tits. But now, I think it’ll be the perfect scenery as the boat bounces along the water.
I’m a dude. Any type of titty bounce makes for a good day.
The word ‘boat’ seems like an insignificant term when we finally make it down the hill and to the boathouse. “Are you sure you know how to drive this thing?” I have my doubts. This boat is massive. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this looks more yacht-like than ski boat.