by Magan Vernon
"Hey, I knew I recognized you." Johnny pointed a finger at me while he had his other hand across his chest and rubbing his shoulder. "You're that girl from the Italian place in town. That's where you got us the pizza"
"Yeah that's why you got us this food." Scotty looked at him like a light bulb finally went off in his head.
Jay rolled his shoulders. "I swear I told them you were coming over. I think they hit their head one too many times on the lane lines."
"Hey! That restaurant was where we picked up that nasty Asian chick." Johnny shook his head so that the air flew through his cheeks and made a whooshing sound. "No wonder you didn't go with us to her place, Jaybird. You had eyes for the hottie waitress.
I tried to hide my smile at that. I couldn't wait to tell Sofie what they had said about Christy. This would totally make up for Sofie not getting first chair flute in high school. Or at least give her a few quips to give back to Christy on Facebook.
And I couldn't deny that my face was completely on fire from the guys calling me a hottie. I don't think I'd ever been called that in my entire life.
"Well on that note…" Jay moved his arm around my waist, pulling me closer. "I think we’re going to head up to my room."
Gulp. His bedroom? He really was expecting something. Did guys usually invite girls over via FaceTime to make their bed rock? The last real boyfriend I had was Joey and that was a long time ago. The farthest I ever went was making out with a guy during a game of seven minutes in heaven in Missy Carlyle's basement, sophomore year. The guy grazed my boob and pinched my nipples so hard that I had bruises.
"Don't do anything that I would do!" Johnny called as we headed up the stairs.
The walls were covered in pictures of different Texas landmarks and various animals from the region. I followed him down a long hallway that reminded me of something you’d find in one of the luxury hotels in Dallas, before we finally got to his bedroom.
I think his bedroom was even bigger than my parents, so I figured it must have been the master. We were greeted by the bright afternoon sun that poured in through the floor to ceiling windows and French doors that led out to a huge balcony. I tried my best to notice everything, but the giant bed that sprawled across an entire wall and sat directly across from a large brick fireplace. It looked like it could have been a scene from any girl's fantasy…if she wasn't wearing granny panties and not sure if she had shaved her armpits that morning or not.
"Um...is this your room?" I asked, trying to grasp at what to say.
"Yeah. Johnny and Scotty got here the day after me so I got first dibs on the best room."
I tried to look at him, even though my eyes were darting around the massive room. "Oh, um, I guess I thought your coach would take the bigger room."
Jay smiled. "Yeah, he would have, but he's got a place with his family in Rockwall. His wife has some big account in Dallas for the year she that needs to be closer to. It’s why he moved out here and we followed. He’s also practically walking distance to the training center in Rockwall."
"Oh. That's cool."
I was trying to think of something to say, but I had no idea what to talk about. I was extremely awkward in any conversation.
Jay plopped down on a couch that faced a flat screen TV. "Coach figured it would be better for us to be out here in the middle of nowhere than in a hotel."
"Yeah. I guess hotel living would get old," I said, trying to sympathize, but really I couldn't. My family hardly traveled, only to Sicily, and when we did, we stayed with family.
"You can sit next to me, you know, I'm not going to bite." Jay raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry. I'm awkward." Slowly I sat down next to him, putting a few inches of space between us.
He turned, leaning into me. "Who isn't?"
"You're definitely not."
He laughed, shaking his head. "Trust me, my only swagger comes when I'm in the pool, outside of it I'm just another clueless guy. It's probably why I've gotten into so much trouble."
I chewed on my bottom lip. "I don't know if I've ever actually been in trouble. Okay, maybe once when I was like five and I had this thing about shop lifting from the grocery store. I didn't realize we actually had to pay for things so I always opened all of the food and started eating it while we waited in line. My mom was always so pissed."
"That's actually pretty awesome." The smile broadened on his face.
"Not really. I mean, you're awesome. Olympic swimmer. All the gold medals. You could probably walk into the grocery store and people would beg you to eat their food. Wow that sounded weird."
Jay put his hand on mine. "Lia. Can you relax? You act like I'm going to pounce on you. You don't have to be nervous."
I sighed. I did. He didn't need to know that I was an almost twenty-year-old-virgin or how much of a nerd I was, but it had to show. "Sorry. Like I said, awkward."
"What can I do to make it less awkward?"
"Uh..."
He was just trying to be nice, but I couldn't even come up with a way to make myself less awkward.
"How about music? Come here. Let me show you what I found in the closet here."
He stood up and put his hand out to me.
I sucked in a breath and decided to stop worrying, putting my hand in his.
He pulled me off the couch and walked a few steps to a cedar closet, opening it up. He let go of my hand to pull out a large, old banana box and crouched down next to it
When he lifted the lid, a cloud of dust wafted in the air and I leaned in.
"Is that what I think it is?"
"If you're thinking it's an old record player then you would be right."
"I don't think I've seen one of those in, well, ever. Does it work?" I asked.
Jay smiled and pulled out another box. "I found some old vinyl that we can test out."
"What kind of music are we talking about here?" I sat down next to him and looked through the box.
There were a ton of random 1970s disco type albums but I finally found a gem in between all of the brightly colored albums. "Iggy and the Stooges!"
"Hell yeah, that's what we're going to listen to," Jay said, grabbing the record.
"Are you sure you don't want to listen to ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat’?" I pulled out the brightly colored album, holding it next to my face and made the same cheesy grin as the guy on the cover.
He laughed a genuine laugh. "That's a really good look for you."
"I think this is better." I held up the Prince album that was facing me and tried my best smolder.
Jay kept laughing, digging through the albums. "I think there is a Beatles one somewhere in here. Can you do a Ringo?"
"Whoa. I'm not that talented."
Grabbing the record player out of the box, he found a plug on the wall next to the TV and plugged it in, blowing off some of the dust before he pressed power. "It looks like this works. Do you want to try Iggy first or maybe some Queen?"
I picked up the Iggy album and handed it to Jay. "Definitely Iggy."
He smiled, taking the vinyl out of the sleeve and setting it on the player before he dropped the needle. The soft melody of the beginning chords of "Gimme Danger" played as the record spun around. Then Iggy's melodious voice crooned through the speakers.
"It works," I said, getting way more excited than I thought it would.
Jay took my hands and tilted his head toward the floor. "C'mere."
"What?"
He smiled, lying on his back with his head a few inches from the record player. "It's better like this. You can feel the vibrations in the floor and really hear the music."
I raised an eyebrow.
Jay smiled, shaking his head before he pulled me down next to him. "Just listen."
I yelped before reluctantly laying down.
The floor hummed beneath us, Iggy's voice filling my ears. I closed my eyes and let my body just feel.
It's what I did when I listened to music. It was always an escape for
me. I loved discovering new music and feeling every emotion that came from the singer's voice. Feeling their passion.
Jay's hand found mine and he intertwined our fingers. I looked over to our clasped hands then up to his smiling face.
I couldn’t speak. I had to focus just to make sure I was breathing. I could literally feel the heat radiate off him as he leaned into me. I really wanted to kiss him, but I didn't want to seem desperate and what if I did it wrong and got too sloppy and he labeled me as a weirdo?
"You know, I'm glad you messaged me. Not just because you brought me pizza, or that you’re here and listening to Iggy with me, but I've been thinking about you ever since I saw you on New Year's."
My face was instantly on fire, but I managed to slowly open my eyes and turn to my side to look back at him. "Really?"
He nodded. "Yeah...I have a thing for girls in glasses and who know good music."
Slowly he turned to his side and pushed a stray strand of hair behind my ear, his fingers trailing down my jawline.
I bit my bottom lip, trying to figure out what to say. To do anything. My breath caught in my throat and every part of my body heated up.
"Not every day a girl can keep my attention and have me thinking of something other than the pool."
"You probably say that to every girl that you bring back to your place…" I looked down, trying not to meet his eyes.
"No…" He moved his hand to the small of my back, pulling me closer. His breath was a whisper on my lips and all I could think about was how he would taste. "That's actually the last thing I would say to another girl."
His eyelashes fluttered as he slowly leaned in.
ROSALIA. ROSALIA. ROSALIA. ROSALIA.
My phone screamed from my pocket.
Shit.
Jay scooted backward and sat up as the vibrating of my phone jolted between us.
"Eh…sorry…" I crammed my hand into the pocket of my jeans, pulling out my phone.
Jay put his hand up and nodded before pulling the needle off of the record, stopping the music.
I cleared my throat before putting the phone to my ear. "Hullo?"
"Lia where in the hell are you?" Dana practically yelled in a hushed tone on the other end.
Uh oh. Was I late for work? Did someone call in for the dinner rush? Shit I didn't even know what time it was. "Um… just hanging out with a friend…"
I looked at Jay. He was putting up the record and not paying attention to my call.
"Would that friend be Jay Morningstar?" she questioned, I could hear the sass in her voice. How did she know that?
"Um why would you think that?" I stammered.
Jay arched an eyebrow at me and cocked his head.
"Because there are a herd of reporters here asking why the owner's daughter's car has been at Jay Morningstar's place for the last half an hour."
"I have to go," I muttered, ending the call and shoving my phone into the pocket of my pants before standing up.
"What? Why? You just got here."
I shook my head and headed for the door, trying not to meet his eyes. If I did, I knew there was no way I could leave.
"My parents called. Someone called in and I have to get to work," I lied.
I reached for the door, but his hand was on mine. My breath caught in my throat and my pulse quickened. I was a terrible liar.
"Are you just saying that or did I do something wrong?" he asked.
"You didn't do anything wrong. I just…I have to go."
"Well, can I call you later?"
I didn't know how to answer that. He was probably just being nice. That's all it was. He didn't want a girl that he had to chase. A loser like me.
"Yeah. Sure."
I didn't want to leave Jay's.
I wanted to tell him exactly what was going on at the restaurant.
"Okay. Good. Hopefully we can hang out again. The guys won’t listen to any of the records with me, so I need someone to talk music with."
I forced a smile. That sounded like something I'd rather sit and do, instead of dealing with whatever was going to happen at the restaurant.
"Yeah. That'd be cool."
He took my hand and walked me out of the room. I walked as slow as I could, wanting to relish in every moment and our almost kiss. I didn't know what my feelings were for him. In the beginning, it was the thrill of the hot Olympian and now I was seeing past the guy in the Speedo to the guy that wanted to be out of the spotlight. The one who listened to records and told me I was beautiful.
Jay Morningstar was going to break me and I couldn't stop him.
He followed me out to the car, leaning on the door for a while.
We both didn't say anything. I wanted to hug him. To kiss him. To do something that showed I was so into this guy, but I didn't even know if I knew how to do it right.
"I'll FaceTime you later, okay?" he asked.
I nodded, getting in the car and buckling my seatbelt. "Yeah. That'd be great," I said before closing the door.
I watched the blue of his eyes out of my rearview window, thinking it was probably the last time I’d see him.
Serves me right for thinking I could have anything with a guy like him.
Always under my parents’ thumb.
Now I had to go and face the music.
Okay, so Dana may have been exaggerating about the herds of reporters outside the restaurant. As I coasted down the hill to the downtown area, there were a few new vans parked outside, but nothing out of the ordinary.
What would the stations like TNC report? Would my name be mentioned? What would Jay say about it?
That was the question that really got to me. I tried not to think too much about it, but truth be told, I was a serial over thinker.
My mouth felt like it was full of sand. It was so dry that I couldn't even speak.
Sonny was standing at the front of the restaurant waiting. He quickly opened the door and made sure to shut it and lock it behind us so that the reporters couldn't get in. That didn't stop them from shouting and flashing their cameras.
"Well, well it looks like the golden child isn't so golden anymore." He crossed his arms across his chest, smirking as he looked down at me.
"How mad are they, Sonny?" I pursued, wringing my hands together.
"Oh, they are pretty upset." It wasn't Sonny that spoke. I winced. It was my mom's gruff accent booming behind us.
"Tell us you're going to a friend's house with pizza and then we see your face on TV going to some boy's house?"
My mother was usually a very pretty woman. Her Mediterranean features made her look like she could have been an Italian film star with her cropped black hair and large almond colored eyes, but none of these features stood out to me right now. She looked more like an army general with her furrowed brow and taught stature. It was like she towered over me, even when she was my same height.
"Ma…I...I… can explain"
“Can explain?" She pointed a nimble finger at me. “Can you explain why you thought it would be a good idea to lie to me and your father? To go to some boy's house? Bring him pizza and who knows what else like some tawdry call girl? We raised you better."
It wasn't like I was having sex with the guy on the front porch. Hell, we didn't even kiss, but I knew better than to argue with my mother. This was the first guy I've even hung out with in years that she knew about.
She made a face like she had just sucked on a lemon, squinting her eyes and sucking in her lips as she looked out the window at the people milling around in front of the restaurant. I thought she was literally going to spit at them.
There were a handful of reporters. Nothing crazy. Probably just trying to get a scoop about where Jay Morningstar had disappeared to and then they'd go away. Maybe not even real reporters and just rabid swimming fans.
But I wasn't going to argue that with my mom.
Most girls my age were off at state schools, doing whatever they wanted. Their parents wouldn’t know about them goi
ng on dates or hanging out with swimmers.
Not me.
“I’m sorry, Ma,” I whispered, looking down at the floor and trying not to meet her cold stare.
“Good." She nodded.
Sonny stared out the window. "It looks like those kids are leaving. I think they were hoping we'd give them more answers on the Olympic swimmer. I wished at least one of those bloggers or wherever were hot. I'd be a swimmer for that."
Mom sighed, shaking her head. "Why were you even over there, Lia? Any boy in the public eye like that, calling on nice girls like you, is usually looking for one thing."
I didn't want to tell my mom that he probably wasn't. That I wasn't the type of girl that guys went for, even though Jay called me beautiful. The first time a guy ever called me that.
"He just wanted a pizza, Ma. That's all."
Mom nodded as if she was satisfied with that answer. "Okay. Well next time just send one of the delivery boys out, okay?"
I sighed and nodded. "Okay, Ma."
I went to the back of the restaurant to grab my apron. I figured since I was there, I might as well work. But I couldn't help staring down at my phone, willing another message from Jay.
I even hovered over the Facebook app, thinking of messaging him.
But the damage was already done.
I left him and now he knew that I was just another loser girl and that was all I'd ever be.
Chapter 4
“Lia can you get the back tables for me? I’m swamped.”
I peered over Dana and looked over the restaurant. The red plastic booths shined with only thirty minutes left before we closed. The last few people coming in were just getting takeout orders. I curled my upper lip, looking down at her, holding one hand on her stomach and the other on a basket of bread.
“Please, Lia? There's only one table over there and I just have to get a few things done. You know how your brother is a stickler about me being late.”
It’s true. Even though Dana married my brother, Nicky, I still didn’t know how she could stand his stubborn, Sicilian temper and impatience.
“You’re lucky that you're having my future niece or else this wouldn’t work so well.”