Julien pops open his soda and takes a sip. “Well, guess what? What’s not cool is when some guy comes over when he sees you with three other guys and without checking with us first, decides it’s ok to ask you out. That’s not cool.” He points his can in my direction and takes another sip.
Going back to what Maria texted me about earlier, I decide to ask the big question without really coming out and asking it.
“But why?”
“You’re too young.” This from Ryder.
I’m in the middle of taking a drink of my own soda when I start to choke at what he said.
“Oh my God! You did not just say that! And BTW, you are not my parents!”
“Answer is still no, Liz,” Jayson says coming over to my chair and squatting down in front of me.
“You can’t control my life like that. It’s not fair.”
I’m starting to get irritated and my fingers begin drumming on the chair arm in fast staccato beats. Jayson takes a deep breath and places his hands on top of mine to stop my fingers.
Looking at me with deep mercurial eyes, he softly asks me, “Do you want to go out with Elijah, Liz? Is that what you really want?”
I look down at his hands on mine. For some reason I feel like I want to cry.
“No,” I whisper back.
“Do you trust me, Liz? Do you trust us?” He tilts his head over toward Ryder and Julien.
“Yes.”
“Then can you trust us on this? Can you do that, Liz?”
I nod yes.
Jayson gazes into my eyes a moment longer before standing up and going back to his chair. I decide to drop the subject and enjoy the rest of the evening. Jamie and her boyfriend arrive and after eating dinner, which takes forever to fix on the grill, we gather around the firepit. My dad is actually on break for a month from touring, so he was with us for Jayson’s swim meet. He left about twenty minutes ago and said he would be right back. I begin to wonder what's taking him so long when I see him walking towards us holding two guitars.
“Want to put on a show sweetheart?” he asks me.
I love performing with my dad. I get settled on the grass and he hands me my acoustic as he places his guitar strap around his neck. He’s holding two picks between his teeth and offers me one.
I look around at everyone. “Any requests?”
I start to warm up by strumming lightly while turning the tuning pegs. “How about this one. It’s one I’ve been practicing.”
I start strumming the intro to “Stitches” by Shawn Mendes. Dad waits a beat and then joins in as the percussion parts of the song, slapping and thumping his hands on the outside of his guitar, his deeper voice melding with mine so we sound like John Cozart’s acapella cover of the song. I start singing the words and Jamie, Brea, and Hailey join in. Freda and my mom take out their phones to record our impromptu concert. To my total shock and surprise, Ryder joins in and sings. Jayson and Julien whoop it up, banging their hands on the chairs to the beat. It’s amazing. We get to the end and everyone joins in for the last lyrics, even Jayson and Julien. Dad and I take a bow.
Jayson strides over to me and rubs his hand down the length of my hair. “You were so good, Liz.”
And just like that, our disagreement and my hurt feelings from earlier float away in the air like the sparking embers blowing away from the firepit.
It’s almost midnight. Faith brings out blankets for us to lay on so we can watch the meteor shower. Ryder’s dad puts the fire out so the light doesn’t affect our view. Ryder and Jayson pull the blanket out flat, and then Jayson lays down and motions for me to join him. He extends his arm out so I can rest my head on it. Ryder and Julien take their places on the blanket with us so that Julien’s head is resting on my stomach, his face gazing up at the sky, and Ryder lays down on the other side of me linking his pinky finger with mine. We’ve always cuddled together since we were children, so our parents don’t think anything of it. It’s as natural for us to do as breathing.
I start to yawn as I see the first streaking meteor fly across the dark inky sky. Everyone oohs and ahhs at the bright flashing trails of light falling one after another. It’s like we’re watching our own private fireworks show, one I get to enjoy with three of the most wonderful guys I’ve ever known.
Chapter 4
Summer Before Eleventh Grade
Elizabeth
It’s summer vacation before eleventh grade starts and we’re planning to head down to the Outer Banks next week for July fourth. Our families - mine, the twins’, and Ryder’s - rented a huge ten room three-story beach house on the barrier island of Topsail for all of us to stay. Hailey and Brea decided they wanted to share a room together which means I get a room all to myself.
Beach trips to the Outer Banks are my absolute favorite type of vacation. You would think living about three hours from the coast, we would go every summer, but our families like to mix things up. Some summers are spent in the mountains, some visiting major cities, while others are spent camping and hiking.
Needless to say, I’m a beach kind of girl, even though my fair skin burns easily, and North Carolina has some of the best beaches. The southern barrier islands have nice, flat, white sand that goes on for miles. Between the barrier islands and the mainland are a network of sounds and during low tide, sand bars will emerge. You can paddle your float across and walk along the sand bars to find hermit crabs, sand dollars, conk shells, scallops, and various mussels. One thing I would like to do is rent a boat and sail along the Intercoastal Waterway. Perhaps I can suggest that to Mom and Dad for a future vacation.
My best girl friend, Maria, and I went shopping for swimsuits this morning. I think we tried on like fifty different swimsuits before I settled on three: a bright blue bikini with matching halter top, a long-sleeved swim shirt that zips up the back and comes with bikini bottoms, also in blue, and a medium green one-piece paired with black board shorts. The green one matched my eye color, so Maria said I had to get it. She took pictures of the winning pieces using my phone, and I sent them to the boys and Hailey asking what they thought. With the amount all three cost, I didn’t want to spend the money if everyone else thought they were butt ugly.
I get two thumbs up emojis from Julien and Hailey, but no response from either Jayson or Ryder until they unexpectedly walk into the clothes shop barely ten minutes after I sent everyone the group text.
Maria runs into the dressing room where I'm sliding my legs back into the shorts I had on that day, my ponytail swaying in front of my face, wisps continuously getting in my eyes.
“Sexy boy alert!”
“What?”
I look up and puff a wayward strand of hair out of my face. I have always kept my hair long, but it has really grown out a lot the past few months. It’s halfway down my back now and keeps a permanent wave to the strands, which I love by the way, but the temperatures are too hot right now for me to do anything other than tie it up into a high ponytail. I'm considering cutting it. Would a medium bob look good on me, I wonder?
“Jay and Ry are here. They’re looking for you,” she informs me, jumping around the front of my dressing room door.
The boys seem to make her nervous for some reason. She says it’s because they are totally and utterly hot and she can’t deal with all of the hotness. I don’t disagree. They are hot. Always have been. As they’ve grown older, though, their level of hotness has exploded exponentially. Once all three of them hit their growth spurt, Jayson and Julien shot up to six feet, but because they both are so active in sports, their muscle mass compensated for the sudden height gain and they do not look gangly at all. Ryder has filled out as well, partly because of all the heavy lifting of equipment he does in his dad’s garage, and partly because of the strength and endurance he needs to race. Sigh. I called them my princes when I was little. Now they are my kings. The boys I grew up with are turning into men and it’s creating a short circuit in all my girlie hormones.
“What do you want me to do? Are
n’t you done yet? Get your sweet ass out of there.”
“I’m coming. Calm down.”
I poke my head out of the dressing room door while hopping on my left foot trying to pull my sandal over the heel. I turn to grab my small cloth bag that I use as a backpack purse, grab everything that I am purchasing, and head to the registers to pay.
Ryder is going to race his dirt bike in the Fields tonight, so he and Jayson left early this morning to ready the bike in preparation for the race later that evening. Maria and I were planning to walk over to Ryder’s dad’s garage when we finished here to see if the boys were still there. I told Maria we could stop by the ice cream shop on the way for slushies. Since they're here now, perhaps we can all go together.
When I come out of the dressing room area, Jayson and Ryder are walking toward us.
“What are you guys doing here? I thought you were at the garage. We were about to head over.”
Jayson
It’s almost noon, and Ryder and I have finished checking over his bike getting it ready for tonight’s race at the Fields. All the kids in town and some of their parents, even a few sheriff's officers, usually attend to watch. Ryder is a sight to see. I honestly think he has it in him to go pro, whether racing bikes or cars. He says he does it for fun and doesn’t plan to take it to the next level. He knows what he wants in life, and that future includes taking over his pop’s custom auto shop.
My and Ryder’s phones ding notifying us a text came in through our group chat. I unlock the screen.
“Fuck,” I say out loud drawing the word out. That girl is going to be the death of me.
Ryder’s head pokes up from under the hood of the 1970 Camaro Z28 his dad brought in this morning.
“What?”
I hold my hand out in front of me so Ryder can see my phone’s screen.
“Fucking hell,” he groans out before wiping his hands off on a towel and grabbing his own phone from where it sits on the work bench.
I notice he swipes a few times, swipes back, and then saves each picture to a file on his phone. He puts his phone in his back pocket and looks over at me. His eyebrows raise and I smirk.
Liz just texted our group chat pictures of herself asking our opinions on various swimsuits. She’s excited about our families’ beach trip next week. So texting your best friends to get their opinion should be normal, right? Totally innocent. I mean, she, Jules, and I have been best friends for eight years and have grown up together. We used to have sleepovers together all the time when we were younger. She should be like a sister to me, right?
Hell, no.
Elizabeth Penelope Fairchild is not and has never been just a sister to me. That beautiful, glorious, wonderful, sweet-assed, blond-haired, green-eyed girl has been the love of my life since we were six years old. Since the first time I laid eyes on her. Since the first time me and my brother rescued our princess.
But there’s a problem.
I glance at Ryder. He loves her too. So does my twin brother, Julien. Whoever said that teenage boys were full of rampaging hormones and lust was correct. And all of mine are aimed directly at Liz. My feelings for her keep getting stronger and stronger, year after year, and the only thing holding me back from grabbing her and kissing the shit out her is my friendship with Ryder and my loyalty to my brother. I’m confident that Julien will step aside if I ask him to, so my worry is with Ryder. If I break his trust, if I step over the line and tear apart our tight unit, it might end my friendship with Ryder and hurt Liz. I could lose not one but two of my best friends, so I lock my shit down and keep my mouth shut. It’s hard, especially when I see Liz in all her long-legged, smooth-skinned glory posing in the smallest bikini I have ever seen with her silky blond hair tied up in the cutest ponytail. Fuck me.
Ryder is already heading out the door when I look up from my phone. Yep. I’ve been staring at her picture in the blue bikini this whole time.
“You coming or what?” he asks me.
“Hell, yeah.”
I know what he’s thinking because it’s exactly what I'm thinking. Our girl barely dressed, prancing around a store where anyone can see her sexy ass. It wouldn’t surprise me if Ryder threw an ankle-length winter coat over her as soon as he sees her. I’ll be the guy buying her the swimsuits because I’m not totally stupid. I’ll get to see her wear them on the beach next week.
Ryder
Jay keeps looking down at his phone on our way to the clothing store which is located four blocks from my dad’s garage. I have a good idea of whom has his attention. I don’t think I’m going to survive next week when all of our families are together in the same house for our beach vacation watching Elizabeth walk around barely clothed in her tiny bathing suits.
I've been thinking a lot about her lately, about us, about Jay and Julien. I feel guilty. I want to ask Elizabeth out. I have for a long time. But I know both of them like her too, especially Jay. I see the way he watches her. The way he can’t seem to not touch her in some way whenever she’s near him. Jay and Julien have known Elizabeth two years longer than I have. They were a tight group of three before I came barging into the picture in third grade.
I remember that first day like it was yesterday. The way Elizabeth stood up for me, teased me, brought me into the group, no questions asked. And I’m glad she did. Jay and Jules became my best friends. They are my brothers from another mother. I would do anything for them. That has included not letting Elizabeth know I have feelings for her. That I want her to be mine.
I’ve tried several times to talk to Jay and Julien about everything. Each and every time, I chicken out like a pansy-assed bitch. I need to though. I need to pull up my big boy pants and man up. I think I’m going to try talking to Jay and Jules tonight after the race. Get it out in the open and see where the chips fall. Since I haven’t actively pursued Elizabeth, nor have I gone behind their backs, they shouldn’t be upset at me. I hope. Shit. I don’t know.
“Heard Elijah’s racing tonight,” I tell Jayson.
Fallon, a guy I know from Highland High, told me about it yesterday when he came to the garage. Elijah is on the swim team for Highland High. We first met him three years ago when he was going to Highland Middle and swam against Jayson. He started coming to the Fields last year to race his Yamaha WR250R. We suspect the real reason he comes out is to see Elizabeth. Well, he can take a ticket and wait in the back of the line.
“I’ll keep my eye on him and make sure he stays away from Liz,” Jayson growls, not looking up from his phone.
“You know distracted walking is against the law.”
He turns his phone off. “You’re shitting me. Really?”
My grin gives me away. Jay is too easy to mess with and will believe anything I tell him. I don’t take that for granted. That trust was built on years and years of loyalty and friendship. Which makes it even more imperative for me to talk to him and Julien tonight about my feelings for Elizabeth.
We approach the store and immediately see Maria through the large glass windows. She watches us walking up to open the door of the store. Her eyes go wide, and she runs off toward the back. That girl is so weird.
Before we open the door to enter, I stop Jay with my hand to his shoulder. “Hey. There’s something I've been wanting to talk to you about. Julien too. Mind if we meet up at my house after the race?”
Jayson’s mouth thins as he considers what it could be that I would want to speak with both him and his brother about. He gives a curt nod at me.
“Yeah, man. Whatever you need. We’ll be there.”
We enter the store to find our girl. After seeing the pictures she texted, I have an impulsive need to throw a blanket over her and whisk her away so no one else can see her bikini-clad body. Maria rushes out from the dressing room area with Elizabeth right behind her. God, Elizabeth is beautiful. Blond hair swinging. Long legs encased in frayed blue jeans shorts, toenails painted pink. Gorgeous green eyes sparkling.
“What are you guys doing here? I
thought you were at the garage. We were about to head over.”
Elizabeth
We arrive at the Fields right after sunset. You would think it would be too dark to race motorbikes, but several years ago pole lights were placed in to light up the dirt track. The clustered lights on each pole illuminate the track so brightly it’s almost like they’re racing in the daytime. Ryder is scheduled to race first. I don’t know how they set up the schedule, but things here tend to run like a smooth circuit race even though it’s a bunch of kids racing their bikes and cars for their own personal enjoyment and not taking it too seriously. I tend to get nervous jitters when I watch Ryder race. As good as Ryder is, watching him makes me both want to puke with anxiety and cheer my guts out with pride.
As we near the Fields, I look behind us to see Mitch's truck. Jayson and Julien are riding with their dad, and I'll be going home with them after the races. Currently, I'm riding with Ryder in his dad’s Dodge Ram crew cab long bed that's carrying Ryder’s bike, an old KTM he and his dad modified. Maria said she would get her older brother, Samuel, to bring her out. She texted a few minutes ago and said they were on their way.
The Fields is a place for the kids in town to let loose and have fun. Racing bikes and cars can be dangerous, so it’s surprising how many parents support it and join in. I guess they figure kids our age will find trouble wherever, so at least this is one place they don’t have to worry too much, since many of the parents attend along with some of the local law enforcement from our county.
We arrive and Randy backs the truck up to unload the bike. Ryder and I get out, and he starts to release the straps and chains around his bike’s tires while I lean against the side of the truck people-watching. Mitch has to park down the dirt road a bit because it’s already packed tonight. Kids from our school and Highland are here, along with two county deputies, one being Elijah’s dad.
Speaking of Elijah, I spot him across the ditch walking his bike onto the track. He looks over at me as he passes by.
All Our Next Times: Fallen Brook Series: Book 1 Page 5