Pepped Up Forever

by Ali Dean

  I’m glad I wore a sporty one-piece because there’s a lot of jumping involved. It’s a huge pool and we’re able to contain the game mostly to the shallow end. It’s a serious workout, and as the points go back and forth it’s easy to work with Jace as a teammate and temporarily forget our past. Omar and Rollie are athletic and quick, and since none of us have exceptional volleyball skills, that’s all you need to make it a good game. Jace is the dominant player, but he lets me hold my own side, and doesn’t try to take over the game like some guys would when playing with a girl. We’d probably be winning by a landslide if he did, but that’s not the point. He knows I actually want to play.

  When we finally win, I’m not sure how much time has passed, but Rollie and Omar want to challenge us to the best out of three matches. Instead, we hear people call out they want next game, and before we can protest, several guys are in the pool arguing over who gets to play winner. I recognize two of them from last night, and apparently they win the argument, because I find myself in a volleyball game against two Rockies players. It’s the one with the huge neck, who I learned was named Mitch, and the other is Juan, whose golden skin attracts some of the female attention away from Jace.

  But when my competitive spirit takes over, I forget where we are and who’s watching us play, because we’re actually beating two professional athletes. The rush I feel is almost as exhilarating as passing someone on the track at the end of the race. Mitch keeps trying to slam the ball to my side of the pool, since, I’ll admit, I’m the weaker player. But I hold my own, leaping shamelessly a few times and getting my nose clogged. When we finally claim victory, I’m in serious need of some water. Of the non-chlorinated variety, that is. I find Zoe on the side of the pool with Wes beside her, and she heads off to grab me something to drink. Wes fist-bumps me for my badass playing, and behind us Mitch and Juan are getting ribbed by their teammates. And then I hear Clayton’s voice, announcing it should be four on four instead of two on two. Before Zoe returns with my water, a new game has begun, and this time, it’s not as much fun.

  Clayton, Jace, and a guy I don’t know are my teammates, and we’re playing four Rockies players, two of whom I met last night, but I can’t remember their names. Mitch and Juan have been sidelined, apparently. The whole thing has turned into a fairly serious sporting event, given that the dozens of people poolside are now watching intently. It’s not so easy to forget my surroundings now, because Clayton is trying to get all up in my grill and it’s pissing me off. He acts like he’s being chivalrous when really, it’s insulting.

  Jace watches the situation, and he keeps opening his mouth to say something and then closing it. I don’t get it. The old Jace would just butt in and tell Clayton to let me play, end of story. When Clayton dives in front of me to get the ball and ends up hitting it out of bounds, I’m about to yell at him myself, but Wes does it instead.

  “Clayton, man, Pepper can get the shots herself. Give her some space.”

  Clayton doesn’t get a chance to respond, because the next thing I hear is a wolf whistle, followed by the distinct sound of Bernadette Jones cheering, “Yay, Pepper!”

  Seriously, Gran is here? This is when most girls would dive under the water and hide from embarrassment. But I scan the crowd and find her standing beside Wallace, who’s nodding at the people around him.

  “Who’s that?” one of the guys on the other side of the net asks.

  “That’s Bunny,” Jace answers, like it’s obvious, like she’s famous and everyone should know who she is. I love it.

  The guy shrugs in acceptance, making me laugh. “Did you bring your suit, Gran? Want to play winner?” I call out.

  Gran frowns with disappointment in her lack of preparedness. “This was spur of the moment. Wally got a tweet about this party while we were at Bingo, and we hightailed it over here!”

  Wallace gives me a thumbs-up, and I grin back at him in approval. Well done, Wallace.

  “So, where’s the keg?” Gran asks. And with that, Mitch shows her the way, and I’m back to playing volleyball. My heart’s not in it anymore, and I’m kind of relieved we end up losing. I’m ready for a drink, and my skin is pruning.

  Zoe’s got a bottle of water and a towel for me when I hop out. “Looking good,” she informs me with a grin.

  “Thanks,” I grumble. We both know it wasn’t my intent, but I’ve managed to garner attention. This would be my cue to head home, but with Gran here, I’m happy to stay.

  “She’s by the bar,” Zoe answers my unasked question, pointing behind me. Sure enough, Gran’s surrounded by shirtless men, her hands on her hips, arguing about something.

  “Oh, boy,” I breathe out, wondering what mischief she’s stirred up.

  She sees me approaching and ushers me over, apparently with the belief I can help her cause. “What’s going on, Gran?” I ask.

  “These young men here seem to think I’m not cut out for a keg stand,” she huffs indignantly. “Wally, what do you think? Do you think it’s my age?”

  Wallace eyes her up and down before deciding on an answer. “No. I think they don’t want to be bested by a woman, that’s what I think.”

  A few onlookers laugh, but the guys standing around the keg glance at me for help. I can tell they’re thinking that this is my grandmother, so obviously I’ll be the first to talk her out of it. But they don’t know Bernadette Jones, so instead I nod and say, “Well, fellas, is that it? Are you afraid my gran’s going to last longer than you?”

  A moment later, she’s hoisted up by two beefy guys, and she’s chugging beer, her legs in the air. She only lasts for a four-count, but she’s set in motion another competition, and now the party has diminished to a true kegger, with guys challenging each other and counting off how long they can last. I know I’ll be dragged into it if I stick around, so I leave Gran and Wallace to their fun and search for my friends.

  I spot Jenny and Rollie by the doors inside. She’s sitting on a bar stool and he’s standing in front of her, head tilted as he listens to what she’s saying. Ignoring the pang in my chest, I continue wandering behind the crowds lining the pool, watching whoever is still playing water volleyball. Zoe and Wes are still sitting beside each other with their feet dangling in the water, and though I’m sure they wouldn’t mind me joining them, I’d rather not wiggle through people to get there.

  At one point, I thought I was the lucky one in love. Jace and I were together in college, and we had three years in the same place ahead of us, with no major obstacles in our way. But things changed fast, and I couldn’t have predicted that Jenny would follow Rollie to college, that Zoe and Wes would stay kind-of together, even if they have some issues to work through, and Gran would be in a long-term relationship too. Oddly, seeing the others together and happy is comforting, even if it hurts a little. It means love lasts for some people.

  Clayton’s back is to me as he watches the game, his teammates beside him. I don’t want him to notice me, and when I see familiar faces standing a few feet back, I’m approaching them without overanalyzing it. Jace’s head is bent over his phone, texting someone, when I join the group. Remy and Ben are beside him, and they greet me easily.

  “This isn’t what we expected,” Ben says, gesturing around him. “You and Bunny turned it into a pretty cool party, I’d say.”

  I nearly choke on my water. “What are you talking about?”

  Remy laughs. “It was all macho guys with fan girls when we got here, and I was ready to bolt, but now people are actually having some fun.” He nods to the chanting crowd by the keg stand, and the people jumping in the pool.

  “You didn’t tell me you’d been practicing your volleyball skills all summer, Pep,” Jace’s voice rumbles beside me, and the normalcy of the moment strikes me. His voice is light and easy, approving and teasing, and I want to melt into his chest. When my body leans toward him of its own accord, I realize what I’m doing and take a steadying breath.

  “Right. Skills,” I say shakily. Jace Wi
lder still smells the same. Clean laundry, pine (his deodorant or aftershave maybe?) and just, boy, or man, or something tangy I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s really not fair how enticing he is.

  “You’ve made some new friends, huh, Pepper?” Ben asks, nodding behind me.

  I glance over my shoulder to where Juan, Mitch, and Steve – the one with the wiry beard who told me not to cave to Clayton – are standing around with several women wearing skintight minidresses. Frowning, I wonder at their attire. “Is there a club at the Marriott I don’t know about?” I’m only half joking. But really, people don’t dress like that in Brockton unless there’s a fraternity theme party or it’s Halloween.

  “They’re just trying to draw attention,” Remy says with a chuckle. “They’ve got to stand out. There’s lots of competition.” He smirks and I look around, realizing women have come in droves.

  I shake my head in wonderment. Most of the Rockies players aren’t especially attractive, and since these women don’t even know them, it can’t be their shining personalities that make them irresistible. “How much do baseball players make, anyway?” I wonder.

  “A lot,” Ben informs me. Remembering Clayton’s plea for a dinner date earlier today, I find it even more suspicious that he’s interested in me, given that he’s by far the best-looking of his teammates and surely has his pick of women.

  “But not as much as Jace here will be making pretty soon,” a female voice sing-songs. It’s Amelia Laroche, Remy’s sister, whom I’ve met a few times. She’s four years older than me, but judging by the way she’s holding onto Ryan’s arm, it seems the age difference between us doesn’t matter anymore. Or the fact that Ryan is her little brother’s friend. I glance at Ryan and try to smother my smirk. Looks like he’ll have a “sort-of girlfriend” for the rest of the summer after all.

  He fake-scowls at me and then I really laugh.

  “What?” Amelia turns, smiling at me and assuming I’m laughing at what she’s said. “You don’t think Jace is going to make it bigger than all these Rockies guys?” She twirls her finger around. “Just you wait. He’ll get more from one underwear ad than most of these guys get in a year’s salary.”

  “Amelia, really?” Remy asks, his cheeks reddening at the thought of his sister ogling one of his best friends.

  “Yeah, Wilder, can you ask about having, like, a co-model? I’ll start working out and maybe we can pose together for a billboard shot?” Ben deadpans.

  I let myself steal a glance at Jace, who’s shaking his head and refusing to answer the question. Half-naked Jace Wilder on billboards does not make me happy. I’m still possessive about him, even though he’s not mine.

  I’ve only recently allowed myself to wonder about the rumors that he hasn’t hooked up with anyone since we broke up. I haven’t heard anything about him with other girls, which is odd, because girls don’t keep it a secret when they get with him. But I haven’t let myself probe about it, even to my best girlfriends. I was afraid people just didn’t talk about him in front of me because they felt bad, and if he was with other girls, I didn’t want to know. But recently I’ve heard the murmurings. People wonder if there’s someone in secret, because he doesn’t give women the time of day.

  His eyes dart to mine, and when he catches me watching he looks at the ground, almost shyly. Who is this guy? The one who interacts so easily with women, drawing them in without even trying, seems unsure of himself in this moment. And what’s more, he’s letting it show. He’s not hiding it with flirtations, detachment, coldness or any of the Wilder methods I’ve come to know over the years. The aching curiosity to reach out to him, tug his hand and dig through his layers is quickly pushed aside by the alarm bells ringing in my ears, screaming danger.

  When Clayton Dennison steps between us, I’m filled with an odd sensation. A strange mixture of regret and relief.

  Chapter Nine

  Jace

  I wanted to tell her, “Baby, if you don’t want me modeling in my underwear, just say the words.” But then I remembered she wasn’t my girlfriend anymore and I couldn’t say things like that. Still, I was probably going to dream about the way she looked at me. It was that same possessive feistiness she used to get when we were together and women tried to pretend I was single. It was one of Pepper’s hottest looks, and it was only Clayton Dennison’s annoying presence that snapped me out of my daydream.

  “It’s a Brockton Public reunion right here at the Marriott,” he said. Amelia was standing across from me, and the way she was watching Clayton put me on edge. Her expression was soft and sharp at the same time, suggesting they’d probably been intimate but that she was harboring bad feelings about it. Most likely, she wanted more and he didn’t. That was the classic story with a guy like Clayton, which I could understand well. Yet, I’d slept with Amelia my sophomore year of high school, when she was a college freshman, and she’d never looked at me quite like that. Remy probably suspected, but he didn’t know for sure, and frankly, I didn’t think he’d really care. His sister was three years older than us and he didn’t have much say about who she slept with. Hell, she was flaunting Harding in front of us right now.

  Still, I got the feeling she was wary of Clayton by the way she was watching his every move, and then I realized she was studying the way he was standing beside Pepper. He had positioned himself slightly toward her, not touching but indicating to any onlooker that she was with him, at least for the night. Pepper was oblivious. She didn’t really seem to be listening as Clayton shot the shit with Remy and Ben.

  “Hey, Pepper,” Amelia said, getting her attention. “Want to grab a drink with me while the guys catch up on their high school glory days?” she joked. Right. For the Rockies pitcher, I’d say he was currently living his glory days. But now I was dying to know what was going on in Amelia Laroche’s head, because she didn’t even wait for Pepper’s answer, just grabbed her hand and pulled her along. Unless there was a bar inside I didn’t know about, they weren’t getting a drink.

  Clayton’s demeanor shifted, and his eyes narrowed as he watched the girls disappear inside the hotel. An awkwardness settled between us, and the other guys shifted uncomfortably while Clayton and I shared a dark stare-down. I was so tempted to get into it with him, to warn him off, stake my claim, but I had absolutely no claim here, and going all caveman was entirely counterproductive. It would only have made Clayton want her more. And he wanted her, whether or not I was in the picture; I could see he still had a high school crush on her. The way he watched her during the game, tried every move to get closer to her, impress her. I would have called him pathetic, but I was no better.

  And then Bunny and Wallace joined us, and I was forced to calm down and get ahold of myself.

  “Hey there, Clayton. Looks like you found my girl after all,” she said, giving him a playful nudge. By the tone of her voice, I had a feeling Bunny had something up her sleeve. “He stopped by our apartment looking for Pepper this morning,” she loud-whispered to all the guys, making a point not to look at me. Bunny clearly wanted me to know that Pepper had other admirers, and she didn’t realize I already had my informants.

  Bunny wouldn’t do this to hurt me, so all I could think was that she was trying to get my attention. Did she want me to make a move for her granddaughter? No way. She couldn’t want that after what I did, how cruelly I broke up with Pepper.

  But if that was her plan, the little lady knew what she was doing. Because even though I already knew Clayton was going after Pepper, now all my friends knew it was more than simple flirting at a party. And once they started in on me about it, I’d get no relief. Despite knowing what I was in for, I smiled, because Bunny had forgiven me. Not only that, she believed in me.

  “I think he wanted to ask her on a date, Wally,” Bunny said to her boyfriend, making sure we could all hear.

  Wallace nodded dutifully. “Who wouldn’t? Pepper’s a gem.”

  Bunny snickered. I think she might have been a little tipsy. I’d have t
o check in with Wallace before they left to make sure he was good to drive home.

  “She turned me down, Bunny,” Clayton announced, and I was a little surprised he admitted this to all of us. I thought he had more pride than that. Though I supposed it wasn’t surprising. Pepper was too smart to make it easy for a guy like him. He’d have to prove he wasn’t playing her, and I didn’t know if even then she’d be interested. I was starting to feel better, like maybe I had the upper hand here, before I remembered this wasn’t a competition. Not at all. And in any case, I certainly wasn’t going to be winning Pepper’s heart back by watching from the sidelines.

  “Oh, you keep trying. She’s a stubborn one. Thinks everything through before she does anything. I try to get her to live by the seat of her pants, like me,” Bunny said matter-of-factly, “but that ain’t her style.”

  “Whose?” Amelia asked. “Pepper’s?” She was alone and I vaguely wondered where Pepper went, but my thoughts lingered on Bunny’s words. Did she really want Clayton to keep trying for Pepper, or were her words directed at me? That woman was rarely subtle, but when I was the subject, the message seemed more cryptic. Or maybe there was no message at all.

  “Where’s Pepper?” Clayton asked Amelia, an accusatory clip in his tone.

  “She decided to head home,” Amelia said dismissively. I noticed she didn’t have the drink in her hands that she supposedly left to get.

  As usual, my heart raced in worry. “Who’d she get a ride with?” I asked. I wondered if I’d ever let go of this need to look after her, even though she’d made it perfectly clear she didn’t need me.

  “Zoe and Wes,” Amelia told me. “They were heading out and she said she’d had a late night last night and was tired.”