Seat 2A

by Dela

  “Move over, let me try,” Kendal said coldly, wedging himself between us. Colby shot him an angry glance, his knuckles white on the jar as he squeezed tighter. Kendal stared back with a pathetic expression. “The lid hasn’t budged at all, if that’s what you think you’re doing.”

  Colby ignored Kendal and inhaled deeply, then held his breath and twisted again. Still, nothing. Without a second to recover he exhaled and tried again.

  “Come on man, move over,” Kendal repeated; only this time he nudged Colby in the shoulder.

  Colby swiftly let go of the jar and threw his hands up, stepping away with a mocking your-not-going-to-get-it-either grin. Kendal didn’t pay any mind to that as he lifted the jar and twisted.

  “You’re not going to get that jar,” Colby pointed in a half laugh. Kendal didn’t respond. He was withholding his breaths just as Colby did. “You can’t get it either, give it to me. I can do it.”

  Colby reached for it, but Kendal swiftly turned his back and let out a breath. “No, I got it.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  “Yes, I do!” Colby’s hand had actually made contact with the jar this time but Kendal yanked it away. “Back off, I’m trying to open the pickles.”

  “Give me the stupid jar. You aren’t even getting close.”

  “And you were?”

  “I was doing a lot better than you.”

  “Says who?”

  “Stop it, both of you!” I yelled, but it was as if my voice didn’t exist. They didn’t even flinch in my direction, their hate-filled eyes boring through one another.

  “You’re a fool,” Colby sputtered.

  “You’re a pathetic attorney,” Kendal replied.

  Colby leaped for the green jar and jerked it out of Kendal’s hands. Kendal’s eyes lit with rage and he snatched the jar back. “Take it one more—”

  Colby yanked it back into his possession and took off, angling his back away as he tried to open it with hurried strides. Kendal stepped toward him, making Colby turn and move the other way, his body hunched over as he continued to try and open the jar as he ran. Kendal chased after him. It was ridiculous.

  “Kendal, enough!” I screamed.

  Kendal grabbed Colby from behind and put him in a chokehold, somehow managing to release the pickles from his grasp. Kendal clasped the jar tightly and let go, trying to pry the stupid jar open as he took his turn running away.

  “Kendal, give me the jar. Now!” Colby said with shallows breaths. He straightened his body and bolted.

  Colby caught up to pull at Kendal’s shirt forcing his long body to bend over. He threw his arm around Kendal’s neck and tried to wrangle him in with a weak strangle. Kendal jerked away enough to loosen Colby’s grip and threw his own arms around Colby’s torso, one hand still holding the pickles.

  “Get off me,” Kendal ordered. Their bodies were a tangled mess, each one trying to position their footing to their advantage. They were a ball of heavy weight waiting to be tipped over.

  “Cheater!” Colby roared, no longer reaching for the pickles but rather wrestling for defense.

  “Dumbass!”

  Colby’s eyes enlarged with rage as he placed his hand over one of Kendal’s arms and squeezed. Kendal bent over in pain.

  “Arrogant bastard!” Kendal yelled back. His chin was against his chest, his body like a pretzel as Colby tightened his arm around him. “Nothing happened,” he said through gritted teeth.

  “Stay away from her!” Colby threatened. My heart raced as flashbacks of the night Colby saved me rushed into my eyes. I was seeing this all over again.

  “Don’t you have some legal papers to sign?” Kendal breathed hard, laughing. His face was turning red from the rush of blood to his head.

  “Colby, Kendal, quit it! I mean it!”

  Kendal suddenly burst up, throwing his free arm around Colby’s neck. Colby quickly twisted to escape, throwing his shoulders into Kendal’s chest, pushing him back. He lost his balance and swung his arms to catch himself. But too swift to catch, the jar slipped from Kendal’s grasp and a loud explosion caught our ears. The silence was instant when they stopped to stare at the floor.

  “What is wrong with you two?” I broke, rushing to the scene. Glass shards scattered everywhere across the floor, juiced oozed to all corners, and pickles overlapped their bare feet.

  “I’m sorry, Jessie,” Kendal rushed.

  “Let us help you clean this up,” Colby offered. He knelt next to me, putting his hand on my shoulder.

  I jerked my arm away. “Don’t touch me. This is both your fault! You both need to grow up.” I stood up and looked down at Colby, steam escaping my mouth. “Colby, me breaking up with you had nothing to do with Kendal. Stop punishing him for it. You and I were not going to work out. My decision was made on my own. That is final. Okay?” It was Kendal’s turn. I squeezed my mouth shut, forcing the foul things I wanted to say down. “Really? Why can’t you get along with Colby?”

  I grabbed the paper towels and wiped off my shoes. The boys were like reprimanded puppies, their tales between their legs as they watched me in fearful silence. “I just can’t even with you two,” I said, turning around and walking the other way.

  Gizelle was rushing through the hall toward the kitchen. She must have heard the commotion because she was still pulling her shirt down in her run. Her eyes widened. “What happened?”

  “Sorry, the pickles died.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kendal

  Colby and I hurried to clean up the mess before Sue and Bianca got here. Our behavior was embarrassing. We were like strangers in a bar, stealing glances that told stories—half with hate, half with envy—all without a word. Eventually I grew tired of it and decided to speak first.

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  Colby was kneeling on the floor, picking up last pieces of glass. His ear moved in my direction, listening, but he didn’t respond.

  “Did Austin ever tell you how I met Jessie?” I finally said.

  He stood, tossed the shards in the trash, and squared his shoulders with a breath. “Yeah. Something about you guys meeting in an airport.”

  “It wasn’t just the airport. We spent time together in Whistler.”

  Colby raised his eyebrows suspiciously.

  I waved my hand. “No, no. We never slept together if that’s why you’re staring at me like that.”

  Colby’s eyebrows lowered.

  “Jessie was different,” I said. “I respected her. And like you, I found her when she was broken.”

  Colby looked confused.

  “She had just broken up with her boyfriend and she was all sad about it. We didn’t have very much time together, but in that short time we did have . . . I just knew.”

  “You knew what?”

  “That I wanted to make her happy."

  “Oh . . .” Colby reached behind him and wet a paper towel. “So you lose her, and after all these years, you find her again . . . but with me.”

  I nodded.

  “I made her happy, Kendal.”

  I shook my head in partial agreement. “I think you did at one point. I can’t argue with that. But Jessie was telling the truth today. I wasn’t the reason she broke up with you.”

  His chest rose deeply, not quite believing. “Then why did she break up with me?”

  “If you really want to know then you should ask her. That’s none of my business.”

  He stopped wiping the counter and looked up, and I could see why Jessie would have tried to make a life with him. “You know what? Let’s say I believe what she’s telling me. I still don’t believe that nothing happened between you two on your drive to Oregon. I believe that you somehow manipulated her into believing you could make her happy and you took advantage of her when she was vulnerable.”

  I glared back. “You’re always going to try and be her savior, aren’t you?”

  “And you’re never going to stop fighting for her, are you?”

 
; Touché. We stared at each other hard, thinking . . . stewing . . . translating, and then Gizelle rushed in. She abruptly stopped and did a double take from Colby, to me, to Colby, then back to me.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, concerned, tugging her shirt down.

  I didn’t break my sight from Colby’s. “You know what Colby, you’re exactly right.”

  He snorted. “I know I am.”

  “Jessie doesn’t need a savior. She can save herself.”

  “And Jessie doesn’t need some animal fighting for her either. It’s not classy.”

  I nodded my head. “Fair play. What do you suggest we do then?”

  “I can’t believe I’m hearing this,” Gizelle’s voice weaseled. She cocked her head but didn’t take her eyes off us. Her mouth moved to the side and she hollered, “Austin!”

  “Gizelle, relax. Colby and I are finally coming to terms.”

  “What terms?” she asked.

  “Terms about Jessie,” Colby said.

  Gizelle turned to Colby. “You and Jessie are done. If you want her back, my suggestion, as a woman, is to lay off her. You’ve stalked her for weeks since you guys broke up. Ever heard of absence makes the heart grow fonder?”

  “Something that is working in my favor,” I chimed.

  “Shut it, Kendal,” Gizelle said. Her shoulders softened and she raised her hands to cup Colby’s arms. “Look. I love you Colby. And I want you to be happy. If you and Jessie are meant to be I believe it will happen. But in its own time. Don’t force it.”

  Gizelle turned to me with a stern face, the way she looks at Austin when she is upset with him. “You, on the other hand, need to apply yourself. You’re smarter than this. You don’t drive someone else’s girlfriend to another state and have this be the outcome. I’m sorry, but no matter what Jessie or you say, it’s just weird that she would break up with Colby right after your road trip. That isn’t the way to get a girl, especially if you want it to last.”

  She turned to a neutral space in the room, knowing we were both listening. “From now on you two are friends. You treat each other with respect, and you quit acting out. Colby, you’re taking Kendal’s room. Kendal, you’re on the couch.”

  “If I stay!” I shot out.

  “Why wouldn’t you stay? We all just got here.”

  “You know, I’ve got a lot to do. I’ve been here since Wednesday and I have a lot of contracting stuff for the house.”

  Gizelle rolled her eyes. “I know. I’m dealing with all of it.”

  “Kendal, don’t go, man,” Colby said.

  “See?” Gizelle had an astonished look about her when Colby spoke, as if she couldn’t believe her speech had worked. “Kendal?”

  Suddenly, Jessie appeared. She stayed in the doorway rubbing her arms. “Is everything going to be okay?”

  I looked back to Gizelle. “Okay.”

  Colby smiled a little before walking past Jessie, touching her arm briefly, then disappearing.

  “Gizelle what sort of magic did you just use?” Jessie asked, perplexed.

  “I’ll go move my things,” I said, leaving them to the kitchen.

  I spotted Colby leaning in the girls’ room, supporting himself with his hand along the doorjamb. The girls giggled at whatever overplayed cat joke he’d probably told Jessie a million times, Sue sounding particularly like a neighing pony. I retrieved my bag from my room quietly, realizing how grateful I was for my nerves before Jessie arrived at the beach house. They kept me from unpacking my things, in case I needed to leave here quickly. It also made moving to the couch easier.

  The plush, tufted sofa was conveniently placed in front of the fireplace in the main room. I dropped my bag on the floor and grabbed the remote. I turned the fire on, and then sat on the couch until Gizelle called us to eat.

  Bianca was adamant about going in the hot tub after lunch. It was exposed to the snow dumping on the uncovered patio at the moment, but she didn’t care. I got the impression she just wanted me to see her in her bikini. She actually was really pretty, except there was another girl to her right, a brown-eyed doe who alerted every nerve in my body, practically paralyzing me. Yeah, I wanted that one.

  With his attention off Jessie, Colby seemed to be fascinated with Bianca. Colby’s version of fascination amounted to a whole lot of open-mouthed nods, and not a lot to say. Maybe he felt he was in a different league than her; maybe he was playing her, secretly trying to get Jessie to notice or even get jealous. Or, he was trying to avoid Sue, who clearly wanted him.

  Poor Sue. She spent the better part of lunch trying to catch Colby’s attention with one-liners that usually weren’t very good. They seemed an unlikely match anyways.

  Anyhow, I paid no more attention to them. I had to figure out what to do with Bianca. Her hand suddenly reached across the table and grabbed my hand, slowly bringing it in toward her fake chest.

  “Kendal, want to come hot tubbing with me?” She was blinking at me strangely with her false eyelashes.

  I remembered her face from when Gizelle introduced us years ago. It was more pleasant without all the add-ons. Her body however, had developed from skinny and straight to curvy and tight. Everything on her now was rounder, firmer, more defined, and her waist seemed abnormally small for her large butt.

  “I want to go hot tubbing,” Jessie spoke out, watching my hand nearing Bianca’s breasts.

  I flinched my hand away and perked up. “Sure, I’ll go turn on the heater.”

  By the time I came back inside, the girls were tracing around in their bikinis in my ‘bedroom’ by the fire. Colby was there in his trunks, wearing one of our Vargas styles from a few summers ago. The light printed fabric was too long, hanging closer to his knee than I preferred nowadays.

  I searched for my soon-to-be-released shorts and walked to the bathroom. They were black with neon edging, much different than Colby’s. I slipped them on, enjoying the freedom of having them much higher above my knee, and joined them in the living room.

  Colby sized me up when I entered. I pretended I didn’t notice and looked around for Jessie, rubbing my bare abs for no reason. It felt good to let the fresh air touch them.

  “She’s still changing,” Colby said, swallowing his aggravation.

  “Oh.” I picked up my black sunglasses and turned to Bianca and Sue, who seemed to be watching me already. “Shall we?”

  They flitted along my side to the sliding door in the kitchen and we all shivered together as I opened it. I ran first, my bare feet packing the freshly fallen snow. The girls followed closely, covering their chests with their arms.

  The steamy water burned my body upon submersion but I sighed; it felt blissfully pleasant. I moved to the far side but as I suspected, Bianca sat herself conveniently next to me. Sue placed herself on the opposite side of the tub, a clear space for Colby, right where Bianca should have gone. I was growing impatient for Jessie to join us when Bianca scooted closer, making our legs touch with an uncomfortable closeness. I shifted my weight to the opposite side and leaned on my outstretched arm.

  By the time the sting of the hot water had dulled, Colby, Jessie, Austin and Gizelle had finally walked out, carrying all the towels we’d forgotten. They shivered and huffed like us as they placed the towels on one snow-covered chair and one by one hopped in. I paid special attention to Jessie as she unwrapped her towel from her tiny body and placed it carefully on top of the pile so it wouldn’t fall and get covered in snowy silt. She looked incredible in her white bikini, goose bumps and all . . . much better than Bianca.

  Jessie winced at the first dip. I watched as the muscles in her belly tightened, her shoulders arched over, her hands pulling tight to her chest like the other girls. I took pleasure watching as her entire body quivered. I’d like to make that body quiver so hard.

  “You’ll get used to the water pretty quick,” I said.

  She glanced at me with jittery teeth and then descended until the water was just below her breasts. Eventually she lowere
d and sank her hands underneath the water, too, with a soft sigh that sent me to cloud nine. I looked back to her chest, hoping her nipples would show through the light-colored fabric as it got wet. They didn’t. I sighed, too.

  My stomach tightened suddenly, wondering if Jessie would sit next to me. I nearly screamed out with joy when she decided to settle on the other side of me, giving Bianca a friendly smile as she did.

  I was surprised to see Colby’s stumpy legs climb in and move next to Sue. He kept his hands under water as he turned and started a conversation with her.

  “So Kendal,” Austin said. “What’s new with the house?”

  “Ooh, yes! Tell us all the deets,” Bianca said, delighted.

  I winced as the subject caught Colby’s attention and he whipped his head toward me.

  “If the contractors do what they say they’re going to do,” I started, masking my annoyance with the contractors. They never seemed to finish things when they said they would. But of course how could they have known I was fighting for time with an unavailable woman? “Then I’ll be in Portland in a month.”

  “Bianca you wouldn’t believe how excited Daniela is.” Gizelle beamed—or even glowed. She was sitting at the edge with only her feet in the water.

  “Why aren’t you in the water?” I asked her. “Aren’t you cold?”

  Austin’s face lit up. “Tell him, hon.”

  “Tell me what?”

  “Well . . .” She glanced around nervously. “I’m pregnant.”

  I shot up, my chest flexing against the cold. “What?! Daniela’s going to have a baby brother? Come here sis, give me a hug. I’m so proud of you!”

  I squeezed Gizelle properly, as a big brother does his sis, then sat back down, elated.

  “What if it's a girl?” Jessie wondered.

  I shrugged. “Girl, boy, I don’t care. Either one is totally fine with me. Can we get some jets on in here?”

  Austin leaned over and pushed the button that sent small under currents and a nice pressure against our backs. I hadn’t braced myself for a hand to reach underneath the wall of bubbles and settle on my inner thigh. It crept upwards and upwards towards my junk at such a quick pace that I jumped.