"Blair! I got it!" she hollered. I heard her rush down the hallway towards my bedroom. "Blair!" Her voice escalated into a shrieking tumble of sounds that may or may not have been words.
Got what, I wondered, sensing my relaxing bath disappearing out of reach. I debated whether or not to dunk beneath the bubbles to disappear. Finally I sighed and accepted my fate.
"I'm in here!" I called, slightly curious as to what had her so excited.
A moment later, she cracked the door open, her face peering around the edge of the door.
"Do you mind company?"
Her eyes sparkled with excitement. Without waiting for an answer she rushed in, closed the top on the toilet and sat down crossing her ankles. She had explained to me once that she avoided crossing her legs if she could as to prevent varicose veins.
"I’m so excited!" she said, wrapping her fingers around her knees and scrunching up her shoulders.
"I can see that," I said. "What's going on?"
"I got the call back,” she said. "You remember the audition that I went to last week?"
"I think so," I said. "The one for the German play?"
"Yes," she said. "I made first call backs! With this company that pretty much means that I got something. They just need to figure out which character to give me."
"That's great," I said. "Congratulations!"
I felt genuinely happy for her. She had been to so many auditions since we had arrived, I had lost count. She had explained to me once that an actor couldn’t count on just one audition. They had to play the numbers game and go to every one they could, regardless of the character. It made sense to me for the most part. She had tried to get an agent, but discovered that many of them wanted an actor who was already working. The draw back to that was that many parts were only available to those with agents. An unending and unfair cycle. I told her she needed a good lawyer.
"And to think," she gushed. "I almost skipped this one because of my hair. I thought there is no way they would cast a red head."
"What part is it for, do you think?” I asked.
"The American I think," she said and laughed. "Plus it makes sense, because apparently red heads were looked at as odd during Nazi era Germany. They need me in this play to really drive home the point."
"Of course they do,” I agreed. "That's really great."
"I don't have the part yet," she said. "But this is closer than I have been before. Plus..." She waved her hands excitedly. "Blake changed his status to 'in a relationship' on his page."
"What?" I said. "Is that still a thing?"
"Of course," she said while rolling her eyes. "It's the present day equivalent of wearing someone’s letter jacket."
"I suppose you’re right,” I said reaching for my tea cup. As busy as I was I had little time or energy for social media. "Wait, Blake from the restaurant?"
"Yes, Blake from the restaurant,” she said.
Her eyes glazed over with a dreamy haze as she sighed at the mere memory of him. I laughed at her theatrics.
"I guess I didn't realize you guys were still going out,” I said.
"You don't mind. Do you?" she asked suddenly.
"Oh, of course not!" I answered.
"That's right," she said tapping her chin. "You have a thing with Aiden, don't you? How is all of that going, by the way?"
"I do not have a thing with Aiden!" I said with vehemence.
"Right," she said nodding. "You totally do, but whatever." Her eyebrows drew together in mock seriousness. "So how is all that going, by the way?"
"Ugh!" I said.
I acted on my earlier notion and plunged my head underneath the water. The sound of her laughter still reached me under the few inches of insulation below the surface.
Maybe I could hide under here forever, I thought.
I didn’t need to breath.
Not today.
When my lungs started to burn, I broke the surface, gasped and wiped my hair out of my face finding her sitting with an expectant glare.
"Okay, fine. Court went great today by the way. Thanks for asking."
"Well good,” she said. "But I knew it would. What I want to know is how things are with Aiden?"
"I have no idea,” I said. "A few weeks ago, he kissed me."
"Well that's good,” she said.
"Yeah, but... He had pretty much said that the reason he never made a move on me in high school was that I wasn't pretty enough."
"Oh, that's bad,” she said shaking her head.
"But then today he apologized, and invited me to go fishing with him tomorrow."
"That's good, I think,” she said as if keeping tally in her mind. "How did the apology go?"
"He said that the reason he never made a move when we were younger is that he hadn’t wanted to ruin our friendship."
"Makes sense." Kelsey nodded. "Are you going with him tomorrow?"
"Well, yeah,” I said. She suddenly burst into laughter that didn’t seem to have any relation to anything that had been said. "What's so funny?" I asked.
"You are!" she said. "You’re so hung up on this guy and you don't even know it! I'm sorry, I know it's not funny, but it's hilarious to watch."
"I'm glad I can be of service,” I said.
"What about that night you spent over at his place?" she said suddenly. "The morning I had to pick up your mom at the airport. Whatever happened then?"
"I don't want to talk about it, but..." I couldn’t contain the grin that broke over my face.
"No way!" she shrieked. "Did you guys...?"
"What do you think?" I said.
"I kind of thought so, but I didn't want to assume,” she said. "Are you going to do it again?"
"What?" I said. "I don't know! It shouldn’t have happened the first time."
"Totally hung up,” she said, staring at her fingernails.
I rolled my eyes.
"Can you hand me that towel? I think I'm done,” I said.
"Sure." She set the towel on the counter next to me and stepped out of the bathroom. "I'll give you some privacy. I'm going to order some take out. You want some?"
"Yeah," I called after her. "That sounds great."
We spent the rest of the evening watching old movies and eating Thai food at the coffee table. It was a much needed break.
The sun sparkled off the surface of the water as Aiden drove up to the beach making me feel glad that I had remembered my sun glasses. I gazed out the passenger window taking in the spectacular view, the jade colored ocean stretched out before us. He had brought me to a small cove where we would have lunch, and then walk down the beach to rent our fishing gear for the day.
I had gone back and forth on whether or not to wear my swimsuit or just to bring it along as I didn’t know exactly what the day entailed. In the end Kelsey had insisted that I wear the swimsuit, a flattering burgundy two piece that showed off my figure. I felt as if I had lost a bit of my trimness having worked in a sedentary job for several weeks, but between the occasional trip to the gym and Kelsey's insistence, I felt pretty confident that I could pull it off. She had also let me borrow her black cotton cover up, which doubled as a cute empire sun dress.
The sight of the water lapping against the white sands took my breath away, as we stepped out of the car.
"This place is amazing!" I said.
The path led straight to the edge of the sand. In either direction I could see masses of people, but they remained distant enough as to not be a hindrance. I could see that once we stepped onto the beach that the curve of the shoreline would give us the illusion of solitude.
We walked along the path from the parking lot. Aiden had the cooler full of food and beverages tucked under his arm. At the end of the path I slipped off my sandals and stepped out onto the hot sand. The sensation of the sun scorched surface scalded the soles of my feet and made me cry out. Instead of recoiling though, I fixed my eyes on the waves a few yards away and took off towards them with the goal of relieving the hea
t on the soles of my feet, as Aiden laughed behind me.
I made it to the edge of the water, sighing as the coolness embraced my skin. I turned around and looked towards him with my back to the ocean.
"Come on!" he called to me waving me to join him back on the shore.
He laid out the blanket and set down the cooler. Very gingerly I stepped out of the water, which tickled my ankles as if beckoning me back into the cool embrace, and slowly my feet acclimated to the heat of the sand beneath us.
"How did you find this place?" I asked as he handed me a large hoagie from cooler. "It's beautiful here."
I lowered myself next to him realizing that I felt hungrier than I had realized. I reached across and grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler, along with an apple.
"A friend of mine recommended it,” he said. "But keep in mind that I've lived here quite a bit longer than you. I know the secrets."
"I suppose you do. I wonder what other secrets you might know,” I said, surprising even myself at my flirtatious tone.
"I meant what I said, you know,” he said as if changing the subject.
"Which part?" I asked.
"That I wouldn't try anything today." My smile faded slightly as I saw the sincerity on his face. "I want us to go back to being friends, in the good way that is. I've missed hanging out with you the way we used to."
I thought about his words as he spoke, wondering briefly why I felt a pang in my heart. After all, it had been me who had pushed him away every time he had tried to make a move.
But what did I expect after we already had sex?
His words encompassed exactly what I had said that I wanted. He finally respected my boundaries and I found myself saddened at the thought. Regardless of that, we had been through some awkwardness as of late, but our friendship had been too deep and long running for us to ignore that aspect of our relationship.
"You’re right, Aiden,” I said. "We were good friends once, weren't we?"
"We still are,” he said raising his water bottle as if to toast.
"Of course we are,” I said with a smile.
The discussion ended, having washed away the hurt from the previous outing. I smiled and listened to him talk, telling me stories about his brothers as I ate my sandwich. I felt as if I didn’t have as much to share, since my visits home had consisted of hanging out with my mother for the most part. It was nice to hear about his family, though. I had spent a lot of time over at his house when we were kids. We reminisced over our summers at Lake Okoboji, settling on the final trip before we had gone off to college.
"Was that the last time we saw each other?" I asked. "Before now, I mean?"
He considered, drawing his forehead together in deep thought. "I think so,” he said. "It seems like no time at all."
"That's funny," I said. "It feels like forever to me."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," I said. "But being here, at the beach, with you, makes me feel like we are picking up where we left off. It's like we've traveled back in time somehow and we are back at Lake Okoboji."
I leaned back on my elbows enjoying the warm sun on my face. We had both eaten, and I wanted to wait before approaching the water.
"You want to head on down and get out gear?" he suggested.
"Sure," I said.
He stood and extended his hand to pull me up. We quickly packed up the cooler and he took it back to the car. I waited for him down by the water. The tides had shifted and the waves crept slightly closer to the shore each time they pulled in. The feel of the shifting sand made me feel even more like old times. For all the weeks I had lived in California, today was the first time spending any significant time at the beach. I regretted not having done so sooner.
Aiden walked up behind me but stayed back from the approaching water. He had kicked off his shoes as well, wearing cargoes so he didn’t have to worry if his ankles got wet. I stepped back towards him and we fell into pace walking along the edge of the water.
"The fishing rental place is about a mile down the beach if that's not too far,” he said.
"No, that's great,” I said. "But you have to be careful. I've heard there are some serious risks to going into the water around here."
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
I stepped over to the edge of the waves close enough that the waves washed around my knees. When the water washed towards me, I reached down and scooped up some water in my cupped hands.
"Oh look!" I cried, peering down at the little pool in my hands. "You can see them! Right there!" I glanced towards him and he took a curious step towards me. "Come here quick! Before they dissolve!"
"What are you..." He edged over to me trying to see inside the hollow of my hand.
"Right there," I said, extending my arms out to him.
Just as he leaned in trying to see anything besides the clear water, I lifted my hands and splashed him with it directly in his face.
"Oh! You’re going to regret that!" He laughed and lunged towards me.
I shrieked and took off down the beach. Trying to dodge him clutching after me. I figured there was only one way to escape, and I pulled the sundress over my head. Dropping it on the sand past the tide line I promptly ran full on towards the incoming waves, laughing as they crashed over me taking my breath away. I dipped my hair under during the calm break between swells.
"Come on, then!" I called out to him a few feet away still back on the beach, staring at me with a bewildered expression. "Or are you afraid of a little bit of water!"
At last he nodded, pulling his linen shirt over his head and tossing it aside.
"You asked for it," he said as he rushed towards the waves much like I had.
He dove into the waves and caught me around my waist pulling me under just as a large breaker crashed over us. I laughed when I broke the surface, struggling to catch my breath. He emerged from the water moments later brushing his hair back.
I grinned, and bit my lip trying not to notice his bare torso glistening in the sun. He turned, focusing his eyes on me and splashing the water in my direction. I quickly scrambled back towards the shore, adjusting my bikini top as I stepped onto the sand. I turned expecting him to be back in the water. Instead I found him diving through the waves, using the surf to get to me faster. I squealed as he approached and ran along the edge of the water dodging and weaving to avoid capture. He tackled me a moment later and we both landed on the sand as the water receded around us.
"More than you can handle?" he said, leaning over me with a grin.
"You wish," I said. "I can handle anything you got."
"I'll bet,” he said playfully.
Then the moment shifted as he hovered over me, with both hands leaning on the sand on either side of me. If he had loosened his elbows he could have easily leaned down and kissed me. Our eyes remained locked as the moment passed between us, and I wondered if he had the same thought. I bit my lip and leaned my chin towards him, hoping he would take the hint.
Regardless of what I had said before, I knew that I hadn’t been able to get the thought of him out of my mind. For a moment he leaned forward, his head blocking my view of the sky, crowned by the aura of the sun behind him. But then he pushed up and stood, holding his hand out to help me up.
"Let's go catch some fish,” he said.
He really wasn’t going to make a move.
This was surprising.
I smiled and nodded, but the tension had been there if only for a second. Neither of us needed to mention it, but we had both felt it.
He grabbed our clothes while I stepped back into the water to rinse the sand off my backside and we headed down the beach towards the rental cabin. We found the rental place a few minutes later, and we signed out a couple of fishing poles.
"I haven't done this in a while,” I said as we walked back to the edge of the pier. “Since high school actually.”
This part of the beach had a few more people than the grove where we had had lunch, but stil
l not too many as to be too crowded.
"Don't worry," he said. "Some of my friends from school come down on the weekends sometimes. I've been out here a time or two. I'll show you."
I saw some other people fishing alongside of the water, so I didn’t feel quite so self-conscious. I watched him, but he put down his rod and walked over to me.
"Okay," I said. "What do I do again?"
"First you have to cast your line,” he said. "Make sure the sinker is attached. This is what will get the hook to the right depths to catch fish. Do you have your bait?"
I felt like a noob.
"You do it," I said. He rolled his eyes and connected the lure onto the end of my line.
"Here you go."
He placed his hands over mine on the line causing his arms to wrap around me. I became painfully aware of the way his breathing grazed against the curve of my neck, not to mention the touch of his skin, as his fingers wrapped around my own guiding me into position.
God, it felt good to be close to him again.
Concentrate, I told myself.
"To throw the line, just pull back and let go of the reel as you cast it back towards the water."
He moved my arms in slow motion as he explained. As soon as he let go, the breeze off the water raised goose bumps on my damp skin.
At least that’s what I told myself was the cause of them.
"Ready?"
I pulled back the rod and tossed it forward just as he had said, lifting my finger at the exact moment. I couldn’t help but let out a triumphant cry as the line sailed out over the water landing the perfect distance out.
It was just like old times.
"Excellent!" he said.
"Beginner's luck,” I said.
Actually just wiping off the dust but I still felt like a beginner again.
"Whatever works," he said, positioning next to me with his own equipment and casting out his line. "You have better form than I do."
We spent the next two hours on the pier. Aiden showed me how to place the fishing pole onto the stands attached to the pier. This gave me a chance to look down the length of the pier and see the other people fishing, a family with two young kids, laughing and squealing every time they threw the line, an older couple with cotton hats and matching sunglasses relaxing in their canvas chairs while the fishing pole rested against the rail.
Tempted (A Player Brother Romance Book) (A Standalone Novel) (Player Brothers Book 1) Page 13