Us at the Beach

by Stephanie Street

  “Yeah, that sounds good,” she answered, shuffling through the radio stations until she found a song she liked. I loved how comfortable she’d become in my space. She never asked to change the radio, she just did it. She didn’t ask for a piece of the gum I kept hidden in the glove box, she just stole a piece. I picked up a different flavor to keep stocked in there because I know she likes it. I loved seeing her smile when she popped open the compartment and found the package in there.

  “You’re coming to the diner with me after the game, right? Like last time? Make sure you ask your parents if I can take you home.”

  “Okay, Walker. I will.” She giggled a little, probably hearing the anxiousness in my tone. But I didn’t want her to go home with her parents and I didn’t know if I’d get away after the game like I did last week to catch her.

  “I’ll meet you outside the locker room again.” I pulled into a fast food place. “Is the drive-up okay?” I asked and she nodded. We ordered burgers and fries to share and then I drove to the park near our houses.

  I really wanted to talk to Blythe about what happened with us. Why she pulled away from me. What I’d done to make her do that. But I wasn’t sure how to go about it. So, we ate in silence, because I was having a difficult time thinking about anything else.

  “Thanks for the burger. You’re going to go broke buying me food all the time. First, shakes. Then, burgers.” Blythe teased, lifting the soda we were sharing to her lips. I noticed the ring I’d given her on her finger. She wore it all the time. I don’t think I’ve seen her without it since I gave it to her that night. I didn’t wear the cuff every day, but most days I did. It reminded me of her and I liked that.

  I reached out to take her hand in mine. My fingers twirled the ring around her’s. “You wear it all the time.”

  She nodded, avoiding my gaze. “I like it.”

  I brought her hand close to my face, studying the scroll work on the silver band. “I like it, too. I’m glad you wear it.” I couldn’t resist. I brushed her knuckles with my lips, satisfied with her quick intake of breath. It did my heart good to know I still affected her as much as she affected me. I wanted to affect her a lot more.

  “It reminds me-” she stopped abruptly, a blush tinting her cheeks.

  I smiled. “Yeah, that was a fun day, huh?” It was a day I couldn’t stop thinking about. Just like I couldn’t stop thinking about her.

  “It was fun.” She tugged against my hold a little and I let her go.

  “Let’s swing.” I announced, opening my door.

  “What?” Blythe smiled, surprised at the suddenness of my announcement.

  “Come on, I have a little time before I have to be back to the school.” I made my way around the car and opened her door. Blythe took my outstretched hand with a curious look as I led her to the set of swings on the edge of the playground.

  “Sit.” I gestured to one of the empty swings.

  Blythe hesitated. “Aren’t you going to swing, too?”

  “Nope. I’m going to give you a push.”

  Blythe shook her head, a tiny grin tugging the edges of her lips. “Walker, I learned to push on my own in kindergarten,” she told me as she dropped into a swing.

  “Sure, but even when you knew how to do it on your own, it was still fun when someone did an under duck, right?”

  “No way are you giving me an under duck! I’m too big,” she laughed, totally thinking I was giving her a hard time.

  Ha.

  “Walker!” she screeched and laughed at the same time as I ran at her like a defensive lineman. I gripped the swing at her hips and lifted her high in the air, but instead of letting her go, I followed her until she was resting against both the swing seat and my stomach. Instinctively, her arms and legs wrapped around me.

  Hmmm. Just like I planned.

  “That worked way better than I thought it would,” I told her as I leaned close, burying my face in her neck just below her ear.

  “I have to admit that was a pretty smooth move.” She was breathless. I smiled against her skin as I breathed in the fresh scent that was just- Blythe, like her essence seeped from the place where her pulse throbbed in her neck. I suddenly understood the fascination with vampires. I felt like I wanted to be one right then. I took a deep breath of Blythe.

  “I could live right here,” I sighed as I wrapped my arms more securely around her.

  “With me like a koala, hanging off you?” she asked, her voice soft and trembling.

  I shook my head against her neck and shoulder. “No.” I pressed my lips to her pulse. “Well, kind of.” I kissed her neck again. “But I meant here.” I brushed my lips back and forth across her skin.

  “In my neck?” she squeaked, making me smile.

  “Uh-huh, you smell so good.” I inhaled deeply.

  “I think I get what you mean,” she said, her lips close to my jaw. “You smell good to me, too.”

  Her voice quivered with nerves, admitting that to me and I knew it was enough for now. I knew it was enough to make her think of me. Wondering. And I hoped- hoping. I would continue to show her how much I wanted to be with her. How much she means to me. But for now-

  I lifted my head away from her neck and brushed her lips just once with mine before making sure her arms were still looped around the chains of the swing and then I lifted her as high as I could go and ducked under.

  “Aahh!” she cried out, her smile so big I wanted to kiss her again. I watched as she leaned back against the chains, her long hair trailing almost to the ground as she passed. She didn’t use her legs to keep the swing going and so after a few moments, it slowed enough that Blythe jumped to the ground in front of the swing.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Blythe

  “Omigosh, that was fun.” I turned to find Walker watching me, an amused smile curling his lips. He’d surprised me, lifting me like that. I knew he was strong, but the appearance of his bulging biceps was sexier than I could have imagined as he held me in the air on the swing. And swoon! The way he’d kissed my neck- my pulse was still racing. I felt as though I could sit for hours feeling Walker’s warm breath against the skin beneath my ear.

  “I’m glad.” Walker took my hand again and started toward his car. As disappointing as it was that we had to leave, I knew he needed to get ready for his game and I was anxious for another opportunity to watch him play.

  “Any chance of a cheer uniform with my number on it tonight,” he asked once we were on the road again heading toward my house.

  I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “Fat chance.”

  Walker laughed. “That’s what I thought. How about this then?” He reached into the back seat to retrieve something. I watched as he pulled a white jersey out of a mesh bag and set it in my lap. “I washed it, I promise.”

  Stunned, I held up the jersey with the number four emblazoned on it. It was his away jersey. All the guys gave them to their girlfriends to wear to home games. And just like that, I felt overwhelmed.

  Walker must have sensed it, because in the next moment he was reassuring me. “It doesn’t have to mean anything, Blythe. It can just be because we are friends and I want to see you in the stands rooting me on.” He stopped his car in front of my house, but I barely noticed. I was barely breathing. Did that mean he wanted me to be his girlfriend? Or he didn’t?

  “Walker-” I started to say...I don’t even know what, but he interrupted me.

  “Or it can mean something. If you want it to.” I sat frozen as Walker swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple moving in his throat.

  “I- I- Do you want it to?” Seriously, what is happening right now?

  I remained incapable of movement as Walker struggled with his thoughts, the muscles in his jaw clenching and unclenching.

  “Bly,” he sighed and raked his hand through his hair. “I have to go. I’m going to be late.” He turned his shoulders so he faced me in the front seat of the car. “I want to skip this game and talk to you about this, I’m
not even kidding. But I can’t.”

  “Walker, it’s okay, we can-” and then he reached over and kissed me. And not a brush of lips, but a pressing. An exchange.

  And I melted.

  “Oh, my,” he kissed me again, “goodness, Bly, you have no idea. But I have to go.” With one last hurried (and utterly hot) kiss, Walker pulled away. “Will you wear it?”

  I nodded, because, really, what else could I do?

  “Okay,” Walker nodded too and his pensive expression melted into a genuinely happy smile. He nodded again. “Okay. I’ll see you at the game.”

  “Yeah, at the game.” He’d rendered me stupid. I fumbled on my side of the car for the handle to let me out.

  “Here, let me help you,” Walker grinned as he reached across me to open my door from the inside.

  “Thanks,” I murmured, still somewhat taken aback by all that had transpired in the last hour, especially in the last ten minutes.

  “Don’t forget this,” he said, holding out the jersey. I took it and held it to my chest. “I’ll see you later,” he said again.

  “I’ll be there,” I finally found my tongue. “Good luck!” I called out as he pulled away from the curb. I stood, rooted, watching as he drove away until I couldn’t see him anymore. And then I did what any girl would do in my position, I let my trembling legs buckle beneath me and sat in the grass, giggling hysterically.

  “He what?” I pulled my phone away from my ear so I wouldn’t lose my hearing when Lilly shouted at me from the other end.

  “He asked me to wear his jersey,” I told her again, no less calm. In fact, I felt as though I might faint from the shock of it all. And I hadn’t even told her the best part. “And he kissed me.”

  “He did what? I’m coming over.” She didn’t even wait for me to respond before she hung up the phone.

  Ten minutes later, an out of breath Lilly burst through my bedroom door. “He kissed you! When?”

  “Today, after school. We went to get burgers and he held my hand. Then after, we stopped at the park and he pushed me on the swing.” I blushed remembering the way he’d held me in the air. “And he kissed me.”

  Looking dazed, Lilly dropped to my bed. “Wow. I was not expecting that. I mean, I know he’s been hanging around this week, but- wow.”

  I nodded because she was right. Walker had been practically following me around all week, but I hadn’t expected this either.

  “So, what does this mean? He holds your hand, kisses you, and asks you to wear his jersey? Are you guys going out now?” Lilly asked.

  “I don’t even know.” I answered.

  Lilly frowned. “Well, what did he say?”

  I squirmed a little. I wasn’t sure what Walker had said. He wasn’t clear. I didn’t know how Lilly would take the end of my conversation with him, but I kind of needed her help interpreting it.

  “Well, he said it didn’t have to mean anything. It could be us just being friends. That he really wanted me to wear it so he could see me in the bleachers rooting him on.”

  “Wow,” Lilly breathed, her eyes wide with astonishment. “Bly, he likes you. Like likes you, likes you.”

  I shook my head. “No, he doesn’t.”

  Lilly glared at me from under her lashes. “Of course, he does. Think about it, Bly. Why else would he walk you to class all week and sit with us at lunch. He could be sitting with the whole football team and freaking Deidre and Abby and those girls. He chose to sit with us. With you.”

  We sat in silence, each considering the implications of Walker’s actions. “He did ask me if I wanted it to mean something- wearing his jersey.” The words passed my lips tentatively as though I almost didn’t believe them, which maybe I didn’t.

  Lilly sat forward, her jaw dropped open. “He said what? Tell me exactly what he said.” She looked at me with her eyes squinted like she was concentrating really hard.

  I thought back to Walker’s words just before I got out of his car. I’d been so stunned by him asking me to wear his jersey, I wasn’t sure I could remember how he’d said it. “He was just like it could mean something- if I wanted it to.”

  Lilly didn’t say anything for a moment, then she let out a huff. “What does that even mean?” She rose from the foot of my bed and began pacing my room. “How do you even respond to that without knowing how he feels?” Lilly paused in her pacing and faced me. “Do you want it to mean something? Do you want to be Walker’s girlfriend?”

  “Are you kidding me? You’ve seen Walker, right?” For goodness sake, he’s the most beautiful guy. Like ever. And when he kisses me...It’s like everything else just falls away and it is just us. Just him. Just me. He makes me feel like I am the only other person in the world. That I am the only other person in the world he even cares about. “Of course, I want to be his girlfriend.”

  “But what about that week before school started? When he ignored your existence for days?” Lilly asked.

  I took a deep breath and shook my head. “I don’t know, Lil. I just don’t know. I thought for sure he’d just been messing with me at the beach. Just passing the time with me because I was there- available. But now-” I fiddled with the string on my hoodie. “Now, Lilly, he isn’t like that. I mean, is he? I haven’t seen him do anything that makes me think he is a player, right? He hasn’t been trying to hook up with the girls that are always hanging around him. He didn’t go to Mack’s party last week after everyone went to the diner. I know he didn’t, because after he dropped me off, I saw the light go on in his room. He’s been nice and sweet and attentive. Not a jerk, but just like the guy I got to know at the beach.”

  I stopped. “What does it mean, Lil?” I asked.

  Lilly shook her head. “I don’t know, Bly,” her perplexed expression turned sly. “But I do know this, tonight you are going to the game wearing the jersey of the hottest starting quarterback Ridge High has ever seen and you cannot go looking like that.” She glared pointedly at my light washed jeans and faded hoodie.

  She was so right. “Help?”

  For the next hour, Lilly went through every tool in her arsenal- or every tool in my arsenal that she’d given me over the years. After I showered, Lilly moisturized, painted, tweezed, curled, and sprayed until I was perfectly groomed for a high school football game. How ridiculous. But apparently, necessary. I didn’t want to show up to the game wearing Walker’s jersey and embarrass myself or him because I looked like I just got done with cross-country practice.

  I looked at myself in the full-length mirror hanging from my closet door. Lilly had chosen a pair of dark wash, bootcut jeans with rhinestones on the back pockets. They fit my slender curves to perfection. The top wasn’t as crucial as I was going to cover it with the jersey, but I would probably take it off at the diner, so I still wanted to look cute, or as cute as I can manage. So, Lilly suggested a fitted, white thermal shirt. I threw a bright scarf into my bag to add once I took off the jersey. My hair had been loosely curled and pulled away from my face with a stretchy headband and I was wearing more make-up than I was used to. Lilly had lined my eyes in black and brushed my lids with different shades of grey and silver to give it a smoky look. My lips were glistening with a clear gloss.

  I looked amazing. Ha. If I do say so myself.

  “You look great!” Lilly’s eyes sparkled with her accomplishment.

  I turned and grabbed her hands. “Will you come to the game? Please!”

  Lilly shook her head. “No, you know I hate-”

  “I do know. But, Lilly, I don’t have anyone else to sit with. If I go, I’ll have to sit with my parents. And Joy! You have to go,” I plead. I might have pouted.

  “I don’t know, Bly,” Lilly furrowed her brows and shook her head.

  “Look, I can’t go to the game and cheer for my potential boyfriend with my parents in tow. You have to come with me.” I threw my arms around my best friend and begged. “Please, Lilly, please!”

  “Oh, my goodness, Bly. I so do not want to do this,”
she sighed. “But, I will. Because I love you.”

  “Yay!” I cried, jumping up and down, still hugging her. “You are the best best-friend ever.”

  “Ugh. And don’t you forget it!” Lilly said, but a teasing smile played at her lips. “I guess I have to get ready now.” Her sigh was filled with fake long-suffering.

  “This is going to be amazing!”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Blythe

  We braved the student section. It was so different to arrive at a game in the car Lilly’s dad let her borrow than it was coming in with Mom and Dad. I felt like an honest to goodness teenager for once. It didn’t help me to not feel like all eyes were on us as we made our way to the bleachers, however. Which was silly, who even cared that we were there? No one.

  “Oh my gosh, Bly, everyone is staring at you,” Lilly whispered, her grip on my arm tightening to an almost painful level.

  “What? Why?” Panic rose in my throat. Was my hair all wrong? Maybe my zipper was down. What had I done?

  “Don’t be so surprised, you are wearing the starting quarterback’s jersey.” Lilly pulled me to the edge of the crowd, placing us between where the parents sat and the student section.

  “Holy crap,” I muttered. And then I saw him. Holy crap! On the field, Walker passed the ball to another player twenty yards downfield. He looked amazing. Tall, muscular, athletic. But even those things couldn’t compare to the poise he showed on the football field. Just like last week, Walker proved himself to be a leader with confidence. I couldn’t look away. He must have felt my gaze.

  “Bly, he’s looking right at you!” Lilly squeaked.

  “I know, I know.” I tried to smile, but I think it came out more like a grimace. Walker grinned and started walking toward the fence surrounding the track. He tilted his head, his brow raised in a question. “Crap, I think he wants me to go down there.”

  “Well, you better go, then,” Lilly said, practically shoving me off the bleacher.