“Eva!” Luna exclaims. “For real?”
I lean up on my elbows to look at her. “It’s all I can think about. I’m scared I might have some sort of sex addiction.”
She laughs. “No, you don’t. Sex is beautiful and a totally natural act when it’s with someone you love. Did you ever feel this way with Porter?”
“Never. Sex with Porter was just … sex. Sex with Bodhi is …”
“Love?” Luna finishes for me.
“Love and a necessity, like breathing, like my entire body’s going to explode each time he touches me.”
“Pretty sure that’s called an orgasm, Eva.”
I can feel my face turn red. “I know that. It just never happened with Porter. I never felt that way with him. Ever. But with Bodhi—”
“If you and Bodhi hadn’t of spent three years apart,” Luna speaks over me, “you probably would have had sex together a while ago, right?”
I don’t even need to think about the answer to that. “Definitely,” I respond.
She smirks. “You two are making up for lost time.”
“I like that theory much better than thinking I have an addiction to sex.”
“There’s nothing wrong with girls wanting sex, Eva,” Luna seriously says. “I mean, why does no one think twice when you hear about guys having sex all the time? But why does everyone look down on girls when they do?”
“I never really gave it any thought,” I truthfully admit.
“No shame,” Luna shakes her head. “There’s no shame in having as much sex as you want with Bodhi. Don’t let society make you think there is.”
“I think you’re my new best friend,” I announce. “And I think I might remember your words every single time I feel like I’m some sex crazed seventeen-year-old.”
She laughs. “My god, I would do it every day if I had someone like Bodhi around,” she then declares. “You guys ooze love, like I’m jealous of how in love you are with each other, and the way your bodies just gravitate towards one another. Like magnets almost. I would have sex with Bodhi every single day. You never know what tomorrow holds. Do it, and tell me about it, because Luna’s not getting any action right now.”
I love how natural it is to talk to Luna about sex. I love how natural it is to talk to Luna about everything. I actually just love how much I love being around Luna.
“How’s life on the Halifax?” she asks. “Things better than before?”
“God, yes, but there’s still a bunch of drama. Different drama.”
She leans up and shields her eyes with her hand as she looks over at me. “Oh yeah? Spill woman, I could use a good drama right now.”
I tell her about Bodhi’s dad, what my mom told us about him. How I pulled over yesterday when I saw him, everything he said to me, and how Porter saved me from him.
“Bodhi’s dad,” I cringe. “I can’t believe he’s related to Calvin, and that Bodhi got half his genes from him.”
“That creepy, huh?” she looks over at me again.
“Oh yeah,” I nod. “He’s a drug addict for sure, you can tell by just looking at him, and I think he’s after all that money because of drugs. He’s choosing drugs over a relationship with his son. I feel terrible for Bodhi. Let’s just say I won’t be disappointed if I never see Luke Sullivan again.”
“Has Bodhi even met him yet?”
I shake my head.
“But you have?” she winces a little. “How’d Bodhi feel about that?”
I close my eyes and lift my head to the intense heat. “Bodhi was pissed. Not because I met his dad, but because I stopped for his dad.” I look over at her. “Extremely pissed.”
Luna glances towards Bodhi and then back to me. “First fight pissed?”
“Oh yes.”
She points to Bodhi. “That beautiful creature out there, loves the hell out of you, woman. I’m sure it was obvious he was just worried about what his dad could have done to you.”
I smirk a little. “You sound like Bodhi.”
She laughs. “I might have to kick your ass if I hear you pulled over for his dad again.”
“Oh, trust me, I learned my lesson.”
Luna sighs. “Girl. Why does drama follow you? It’s like the plague.”
“I don’t know, but I would love to know what it feels like to be happy, without having a shadow of worry always over my head.”
“How do we make that go away?”
“Find the letters? Get rid of them? Get rid of Bodhi’s dad? Find my dad?”
Luna lies back down and rests her hands behind her head. “Sometimes I’m envious of you, and sometimes I’m thankful the only thing crazy in my life is my super obnoxious siblings and my overly happy parents.”
WE SIT THERE for a while, watching Bodhi and Coop out in the water with my brothers, amazed at how patient they both are with them. It doesn’t take long before Rowan catches his first wave, with Miles not too far after. I haven’t seen Bodhi surf in years. Every few waves he jumps on his board and surfs to the shore while my brothers impressively watch. I forgot how good he is. I forgot that watching him surf always gave me butterflies in my stomach. Remembering these feelings from years ago makes me smile.
Eventually, they all make their way back over to us. Rowan and Miles sit on the edge of my towel eating snacks my mom packed for them, while Bodhi throws himself down next to me right in the sand. His arm goes over my bare stomach as he pulls me closer to him, planting a kiss on my shoulder.
“Well, I’m exhausted,” he proclaims. “But Rowan and Miles, you two are going to be better than me and Coop. We need to do this every week. That okay with you guys?”
“Yes!” they both shout with excitement.
I pick up my phone to check the time. It’s almost three. “Mom said to have you two home around four because you have a birthday party this evening. Should we go get ice cream before we head back?”
“Absolutely,” Bodhi agrees as my brothers cheer. “My treat.”
Luna sits up and points to Coop, who’s still ridiculously silent in her presence. “Coop?”
You can see him gulp. “Yes?” He barely gets this one word out.
“Do you have plans tonight?” she asks him effortlessly.
“Uh. No … no I don’t,” he says, looking between Bodhi and I as if asking for help.
“Wanna take me out?”
Coop looks pale, if that’s even possible. “Take you out where?”
Bodhi and I are trying hard not to laugh.
“You should take her to play putt-putt, or go-karts,” Miles chimes in. “That’s where we go when my mom takes us out.”
I can’t keep it in anymore. I laugh uncontrollably. So does Bodhi, and so does Luna. I’ve never seen Coop look so embarrassed.
“Either of those would work,” Luna tells him. “Or dinner?”
Coop finally understands what Luna’s asking him. “Oh!” he gasps. “I can do that.”
“Good,” she replies.
A thought enters my head. “Bodhi, you coming over later?”
“Do you even have to ask me that?” he responds.
“Luna, you should just come home with me,” I tell her. “Coop can bring Bodhi over and pick you up there. Ahh! You should spend the night!” I squeal.
She nervously laughs.
“I’m serious! Bodhi’s staying right next door at Calvin’s, which means Coop and Beck probably are too—”
“Correct,” Coop agrees with me.
“What’s Beck doing tonight?” I ask the guys.
“Meeting up with Kennedy Wallace. She’s back in town, house hunting with her parents,” Bodhi tells me.
“This is perfect then!” I exclaim. “Luna comes home with me. Coop, you pick her up there and bring Bodhi, tell Beck to come over when his night is done with Kennedy. Then when you two,” I point to Coop and Luna, “get back, we can have a fire, roast s’mores or something.”
“Girl,” Luna half smiles. “I don’t do sleepovers.”
“Neither do I,” I announce. “I have never had a friend stay the night at my house, I’m not letting you say no. I’ll take you home to grab some stuff.”
First, we head to Sally’s Ice Cream, where the ice cream melts into puddles at our feet within moments of it being served. It’s humorous how fast we try to eat it as the heat beats down on us and the sticky ice cream drips along our arms and legs. My brothers pass out the moment they get back in my Volvo, their mouths stained blue from the Superman flavor they both chose.
Luna and I say goodbye to the guys and head to her house, where she’s in and out in under five minutes. Her parents both wave enthusiastically from her garage door as she jumps back in my Volvo. Luna is definitely the perfect combination of them both. Her mom, a Hawaiian goddess in a long skirt and sparkling tank-top, and her dad, a mop of light brown wavy hair with ice-blue eyes.
“Your mom and dad are adorable,” I quietly say to her. My brothers are now snoring in the backseat. “And super young looking,” I notice.
She puts her head in her hands. “Embarrassing is more like it, and they were parents by the time they were our age.”
I raise my eyes at her. “For real?”
“Yep,” she answers. “Sixteen. Both of them. With me. Started young and haven’t stopped. Mom’s due with number seven after Christmas.”
“Wow,” I say. “I can’t imagine what having six younger siblings would feel like.”
“Embarrassing,” she says again. “Just a constant reminder that my parents have a lot of sex.”
BY THE TIME I pull into my garage, my brothers are in such a deep sleep, Luna and I each have to carry them out of the Volvo. They sluggishly walk into the house and grab onto my mom’s legs as she turns into the kitchen.
“Woah,” she says, glancing down at them. “You guys even going to make it to the birthday party tonight? How about a shower? Upstairs, please. I’ll be there in a minute.”
They don’t fight her and head right out of the kitchen.
“Mom, this is Luna,” I introduce. “She’s a good friend. She’s going out with Coop tonight and is going to spend the night here after they get back. Is that okay?”
“Of course!” my mom smiles. Her face looks so excited with what I just said, it’s almost embarrassing. “Nice to meet you, Luna.”
“You too, Mrs. Calloway,” Luna says back.
“How’d surfing go?” my mom then asks.
“Pretty impressive,” I declare. “Bodhi wants to give them lessons once a week. Both boys got up and caught a few waves. I think they might be naturals? You’ll have to come watch them next week.”
“I will,” she nods. “I’m sure they loved that. Bodhi’s like a celebrity to them or something.”
Luna grins. “Malibu Barbie and Ken,” she says to my mom, nodding her head towards me. “Eva and Bodhi. Swap the blonde hair for Eva’s … it’s what I’m calling the two of them.”
My mom smirks. “I see it, definitely see it. Will you be alone all evening?” she then asks me.
I shake my head. “Coop’s bringing Bodhi over when he comes to get Luna. He and the guys are staying at Calvin’s tonight. We’ll probably go pick up dinner or something and hang out here until Coop and Luna get back.”
My mom nods her head in approval. “I’m going to join your brothers for the birthday party. Some awful G rated cartoon at the movie theater,” she groans. “Followed by cake and presents.”
“Sounds like you’re really looking forward to it,” I grin.
“Oh yes. The perfect night,” she smiles. “Just keep your phone on, and turn the alarm on if you leave, okay?” she makes clear.
“Yep,” I reply. I then grab Luna’s hand and pull her to the stairs.
“Your mom’s cool,” Luna says to me as we walk into my room.
“Yeah. She doesn’t smoke pot or anything though,” I smirk.
“No, but she seems normal, which is the complete opposite of how my mom acts.”
I laugh a little. I’ve never thought of my mom as normal.
“Mom assumes now that I’m done with school,” Luna continues, “I’ll join her and my dad teaching yoga—”
“Wait,” I interrupt her. “Done with school?”
Luna’s cheeks are pink. “Fast track homeschooling,” she replies. “Apparently I’m pretty smart and was able to graduate last year.”
“Yeah?” I ask. “Pretty smart, Luna?”
She nods her head. “If my parents had saved any money for college, I could go this upcoming school year, but alas,” she theatrically sighs, “I’ll be working at Hidden Treasure and saving every penny I make so that college is in the cards for the following year.”
“How did I not know this about you?” I ask her.
She shrugs her shoulders. “Not that big of a deal. What should I wear tonight?” she changes the subject, dumping out everything she had grabbed from her house and thrown in her bag. “I’m not used to this. I dated my ex for almost a year, and I swear we were high half the time. I can’t believe I even asked Coop to take me out.”
“Are you nervous?” I ask her.
She blushes.
“You’re nervous! For real? I didn’t think you were capable of that.”
“A little?” she responds. “I’ve never gone out with someone who wasn’t an offspring of one of my parents’ yoga students.”
“Coop’s a good guy,” I let her know. “For real. I’ve never seen him shut down over a girl. He really likes you. Go search through my dresses, wear whatever you want.”
“Yeah?”
“Absolutely,” I point to my closet. “I have so many in there, take some home with you.”
She pulls the door open. “Jesus, Eva. Your closet is the size of my entire bedroom.”
About an hour later, Luna’s looking drop dead gorgeous in my blue lace dress, which makes her beautiful eyes stand out even more than they normally do. Her curly hair is pulled back in a low ponytail, and she put on a bit of makeup which she didn’t even need. I slip on a dress too. Just a simply black and white one that dips down at my chest. I try to tame my boobs as my cleavage is the only thing I can see when looking in the mirror.
“Stay down, ladies,” I say to them, pushing them back into my dress.
Luna smirks. “Uh, Bodhi’s going to take one look at you and rip your dress right off. Right down the middle. I wouldn’t worry too much about keeping your boobs in there. God, I wish I had your boobs.”
“You can have them,” I tell her. Just then my phone chirps. “They’re here,” I announce.
My mom lets Bodhi and Coop in, shouting up the stairs at the same time. “Eva! I’m leaving with your brothers now! Bodhi and Coop are here!”
“Bye!” I yell from my open door. “Don’t enjoy the movie too much! We’ll be down in a second!” I then call out to the guys. “Ready?” I turn to Luna.
She nods and grabs my arm. “If I text you later with an SOS, you’ll rescue me, right?”
I take her hands. “I’ll rescue you and we’ll send Bodhi to Calvin’s and eat ice cream out of cartons while shopping through my closet all night long. But you won’t text me. In fact,” I smirk, “you and Coop, and me and Bodhi, we’re going out on a double date next week because tonight is going to go that well.”
“Damn, Eva,” Luna grins. “That was smooth.”
We head down the stairs and into the kitchen where the guys are waiting. I watch Coop’s reaction as Luna walks in behind me, and I almost start laughing out loud.
“You … you look really nice,” he stutters, his eyes twice the size they normally are.
Luna blushes, but quickly regains her confidence and says, “You don’t look half bad yourself.”
“Are you drooling, Coop?” I jokingly ask him. He wipes at his mouth.
Bodhi walks over to me, putting his arms around my waist as he whispers in my ear, “Beautiful, as always, babe.”
I kiss his cheek and lean the back of my head against
his shoulder. “Where are you taking my Luna?” I ask Coop.
“Oceanside,” he answers. “For dinner, if that’s alright with you, ma’am,” he smirks at me. “Then I’ve got a few things up my sleeve. Ready?” he asks Luna.
“Let’s do this,” she replies, pointing to the front door.
I hear Coop let out a nervous laugh and then he turns to us, looking like a deer in the headlights as he does. “Later dudes.”
“Have fun!” I call out to them as they walk out of the kitchen. I then turn to Bodhi. His hands go to the straps of my dress as he runs his fingers under them. “We’re alone for a few hours,” I make known. “We can do whatever you want.”
“Yeah?” He bends his head down and gives me a kiss. “Are you hungry?” He points behind him to my counter. I look to see a couple brown paper bags. “I got us dinner.”
“You picked up food?”
He nods his head. “I was actually going to cook us something. I even called Calvin for an easy recipe, but as soon as he said heavy whipping cream and meat tenderizer, I knew I couldn’t pull it off.”
I laugh at how embarrassed that seems to make him.
“I picked us up some Chinese.”
“That works for me,” I grin.
Chinese food at a kitchen table seems too formal. I lay a blanket out on my family room floor and we sit up against the couch, eating veggie rolls, fried rice, and chicken chow lo mein until I feel like I’m going to burst out of my dress. When I can’t possibly eat another bite, Bodhi reaches inside the bag for the fortune cookies. There’s two, and they’re both crushed in their wrappers. He hands one out to me and I peel the wrapper off, tugging the thin white paper out of the crumbs.
“The one who loves you the most is right in front of you,” I read. I glance up at Bodhi and narrow my eyes at him. “Did you plan this?”
He shakes his head and laughs. “I don’t need a fortune cookie to tell you how much I love you. I can do that on my own.”
I smile and tug on his shirt, bringing his lips to mine. “What does yours say?”
He pulls the paper from the cookie. “Love, because it is the only true adventure.”
Confession Page 39