“Ian really is a good boy, Julie,” Mrs. O'Brian said reassuringly, putting an arm around Mrs. Cooper. “We've always hoped the right girl would bring out the best in him.”
“Yes, of course.” Diana’s mother glanced from Ian, hands in his pockets, to Brendan nodding agreeably, then back to her daughter.
“You’re a good boy, Ian,” someone yelled from the bedroom. “You’re the best boy.” It sounded like Keith.
“Well, we have some talking to do. Quite a bit of talking.” Her father nodded to everyone. “We should be getting home. Thanks for a great barbecue, as always.”
Dammit. Diana seethed as her parents shepherded her out, calling goodbyes to the O’Brians. There was nothing she could do, except hold Ian’s gaze as they left the hall. Brendan stood next to his brother, a hand on his shoulder.
“We don't need to be worried, do we, Stuart?” her mother asked on the way downstairs, in a tone that tried and failed to be a whisper. “They've known each other since they were babies. She'll get this out of her system and leave for Yale.”
“Mom,” Diana hissed. Everyone upstairs had heard, she was sure of it.
Her father, oblivious, gestured toward a window to the two backyards, side by side. “I’m just glad there's a seven-foot fence.”
Chapter Twelve
Diana expected her own personal fireworks display once she got home with her parents. Instead, everyone was very quiet, which was worse. The three of them sat down at the kitchen table in ominous silence.
“All this time,” her mother finally burst out. “All this time, you’ve been telling us you were out with your friends every night. Was it always a lie?”
“I’ve been with my friends too,” Diana muttered. “But yeah, I’ve been spending time with Ian.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because I knew you’d react like this.”
Her mother threw up her hands. “When you came home late that one night, Dad said you didn’t seem like yourself, but we thought we were imagining things. He got you high, didn’t he? He’s giving you drugs.”
Jesus. She clutched her hair, then pulled off her glasses and skidded them across the table.
“You can call him Ian, okay? You can say his name. I really was with friends that night. I was making my own choices. Ian wasn’t there. He had nothing to do with it.”
“Your friends?” Her father looked at her in disbelief. “Your school friends? You were smoking pot with them?”
“Not Marissa,” her mother broke in.
Diana fiddled with her glasses, then put them back on. The last thing she wanted was to get anyone in trouble. But this was so ridiculous.
“We were hanging out. I took a couple of hits. It’s fine. We’re adults.”
“No, you’re not,” her father said.
“All this time, we thought there was nothing to worry about—” her mother began. “We’ve given you freedom because we thought you would never get in trouble.”
“Now you’re upset?” Diana exclaimed. “Where were you when I was in sixth grade?”
Her parents glanced at each other.
“What happened in sixth grade, Diana?” her father asked.
“Nothing that was my fault,” she mumbled.
An uncomfortable silence hung over the table. Her parents’ gazes were fixed on her, and she stared stubbornly back. Finally, she couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Please just trust me. I’m eighteen. I know Ian, I know myself, I know what I’m doing.”
Her father coughed. “Do you know Ian? Of course, you grew up together. But you painted a very rosy picture of a boy who’s reckless. Impulsive. Maybe even dangerous. A troublemaker who’s never taken anything seriously. Of course, he’s an excellent athlete. But the attitude, the grades, the partying, the pranks, all spell bad news. Though actually—” Her father’s voice warmed. “I heard about one prank that was really a feat of engineering, and very impressive to actually pull off—”
Mrs. Cooper shot her husband a warning look, and he trailed off.
“When Ian was growing up, he broke a different bone every week.” Her voice rose. “In high school, he was with a different girl every week. I’m sure it’s only gotten worse in college. You have focus, Diana. You are going places. So is Brendan.”
“Mom, don’t even,” Diana interrupted.
“You need to think long-term. Everything you’ve worked so hard for, all your accomplishments—”
“Ian’s accomplished.” She glared at her parents. “You know what he does every day? He gets up, goes to the gym, and works out. Then he spends eight hours helping people get stronger. And he’s really, really good at it. He’s made my life better. He’s serious about what he does, he’s serious about sports, he’s trying to turn school around, he wants to be the best he can be.”
“Because of Brendan,” her father said firmly. “We’ve heard this from his parents, over and over. Ian has always been hanging by a thread. He wouldn’t have graduated high school without his brother; his parents are sure of it. If it weren’t for Brendan, where do you think Ian would be?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Diana snapped. “Maybe student body president. Maybe voted most likely to succeed. Maybe working for the effing mayor. And by the way, Brendan doesn’t own Ian.”
Both her parents stared at her. She blew out air and drummed her fingers on the table.
“Never mind,” she muttered. “That’s just stupid high school. It’s all over and none of that matters.”
Was she still mad at Brendan? If they hadn’t been interrupted, if he’d gotten Ian in there for the three of them to talk… She had no idea how that conversation would have gone. The opportunity was probably lost forever now.
She crossed her legs, unwilling to break the silence. Her arms too, while she was at it.
“That’s a very low-cut dress, Diana,” her mother had to remark.
Jesus. Yes, her arms were crossed, and a deep valley of cleavage disappeared into the tight top of her ladybug dress. She wasn’t even going to glance her dad’s way right now.
“That’s right, Mom. I have boobs. I’m tired of pretending they don’t exist.”
“Diana!” her mother exclaimed. Her father coughed more loudly. Her own face was hot now, but she made herself look him in the eye. She looked both her parents in the eye.
“You need to let me do this,” she said quietly. “I love Ian. We’re good together. And I like Brendan a lot,” she added hastily, as her mother tried to break in, “and we would not be good together.”
“It’s not your responsibility to fix Ian,” her dad begin.
“Nope. It’s not. Ian doesn’t need to be fixed.”
“Sweetie.” Her mother’s voice softened. “We just want to make sure you’re going in with open eyes. You’re very inexperienced. You’ve never had a boyfriend. Unless there’s more you’re not telling us.”
“No, Mom,” Diana murmured. “Ian’s my first.”
Heat seeped through her skin, bringing back two male bodies surrounding her in lapping water. Bare toes digging into bark, blankets cushioning her back, trees rustling all around. Gasping when Ian took her virginity, her hands clutching his shoulders. Brendan cradling her head in his lap, then persuading her to let him in deep.
Inexperienced? She’d done more than her parents — or anyone — could ever know. But it had all happened so fast.
“Please believe me,” she said quickly. “Ian’s good to me, he’s good for me, I’m good for him. And yes, I do know him. Maybe better than anyone else. Even Brendan.”
Her parents glanced at each other, sighed, and shrugged.
“Well, if that’s all settled—” Diana pushed back her chair.
“Why don’t we spend a nice family evening together,” her father said firmly. It wasn’t a question.
“You’re never home anymore,” her mother pointed out. “You only have a few more weeks before you leave for Yale.”
“S
even,” Diana said under her breath. Now wasn’t the time to argue. College seemed too close and too far away at the same time.
Determined to make the best of it, she popped a bowl of popcorn, settled on the couch in front of the TV between her parents, and sat through a movie with them.
A drama, or maybe it was a comedy. Or a musical, or a freaking cartoon, or a silent film. Her thoughts were everywhere but the screen.
When she looked down at the bowl in her lap, a few kernels lay at the bottom. Either she’d eaten all the popcorn, or her parents had. As soon as the show ended, she couldn't sit still any longer.
“This was fun. I’m glad we had some time together. Let’s do it again soon.” She stood and grabbed her purse. “I’m going for a bike ride now.”
“So that's what you call it?” her mother sniffed. “What are you really planning to do?”
“Mom, the bike's name isn't Ian, I swear.” The second the words left her mouth, she prayed her parents would hear them as completely innocent. “If I were heading out to meet him, I'd tell you. I don't have anything to hide now. Look, I'm leaving my phone at home.” She felt in her purse for her phone and dropped it on the kitchen table. “I just need to breathe.”
“Diana, I really think—”
“Let her, Julie,” her father said suddenly.
Diana glanced at him, surprised by the support. “Thanks, Dad.”
She stretched up to kiss his cheek. He nodded and shooed to the door. Impulsively, she hugged her mother too.
Mrs. Cooper held up her hands in a gesture to wait. “Diana, I realize we've never talked about boys or...ahem. Boys. There are things we should discuss, honey. If you have questions…”
“Mom, don’t worry. I already know everything.”
“She'll be fine,” Diana heard her father say as the door closed. “Let her stretch her wings.”
Outside, she pedaled past the neighbors’ quiet lawns. Maple trees rustled overhead. Her ladybug dress was hiked up around her thighs. The breeze blew her hair straight back.
Standing on her pedals to coast down a hill, she felt her muscles stretch. What the hell did she know? A lot. Nothing at all. She remembered telling Ian, that first session in the gym: I had no idea what I was doing.
“I still don’t,” she said out loud.
Fireworks lit the velvet sky in bursts. Crackles punctuated the air as she biked in circles around the neighborhood. It felt good to be outside, alone and moving over the pavement.
Whatever had happened between her and Brendan in his bedroom was lust, nothing more. Nothing to take seriously. She loved Ian, really loved him. What she’d told her parents didn’t begin to do that feeling justice.
That love was out in the open now, hard as she’d tried to protect it. Having it exposed just made her want to protect it more. She was so vulnerable after stripping down with Ian last night, she’d responded to Brendan, and—
Maybe Ian didn’t need protection. Maybe she didn’t either.
When her legs throbbed and she’d followed every street in the area, she pedaled back up the hill. Her pulse quickened, and she’d tired herself out on the ride, but the climb was easier than it used to be. The training with Ian was paying off. Her body was still soft and curvy, but stronger. She liked it.
Back home, she tiptoed into the dark kitchen. Her parents’ muffled voices drifted down from upstairs. The microwave clock said a few minutes past ten.
Her phone was quiet. That was okay for now. She'd let it be. She didn't want to be that person who couldn't last two minutes without texting her significant other. But her body ached for Ian, and the ache threatened to overwhelm her.
Leaving her phone on the counter, she slipped out to the backyard.
*
Night breezes whispered as Diana stretched out on her sleeping bag. She hadn’t bothered to take off her dress. Tiny dots starred the velvet sky, and soft music unwound from her record player.
Every so often, a low boom met her ears, and a shower of sparks brightened the darkness. The sound of splashes drifted over the fence.
Ian liked to swim at night. A few times, she’d joined him after everyone else was asleep, but she didn’t begrudge him the alone time. She understood, maybe more than anyone else, and thank God Ian understood she needed to be alone sometimes too.
But after snarling “mine” last night, pretending there was nothing between them today, meeting the twins’ friends, her mom bursting into Brendan’s bedroom, and her father’s comment “I’m just glad there’s a seven-foot fence” — Ian deserved a surprise.
Standing, she peeled off her ladybug dress and let it fall on her sleeping bag. Her bra came next. She wriggled out of her lacy thong panties and kicked them away.
The grass was soft under her toes. Before she lost her nerve, she ran toward the fence.
Oh God. She was naked. Outside. At every jog, the bounce of her breasts reminded her, not to mention the air rushing around her bare skin.
Please let the spot still be here….yes. At the end of the fence, behind the bushes, lay a pile of rocks and extra boards. She and the twins had used it to climb back and forth when they were kids, and her parents had never bothered to clear it away.
Clambering onto the rocks, she grabbed the top of the fence and dug her toes into the boards. This would never work if she hadn’t been training with Ian. So crazy, trying to climb the fence naked, but she was halfway up now and there was only one way to go. The top scraped her knees, but she made it over and dropped onto the O’Brians’ lawn, panting and laughing and totally bare.
The laughter died on her lips when she saw two sleek male bodies in the pool. Pool toys bobbed on the water.
Crouching on the landscaped lawn, Diana crept close to a tree. The trunk wasn’t big enough to conceal her, but if she didn’t move, the twins might not notice. She’d stay here until they went inside, then climb the fence and text Ian.
She was spying, she knew. No better than when she’d watched the twins through her bedroom window. But the urge to see them together, in an unguarded moment, won out.
The muscled back streaking through the pool had to be Ian. The strong arms doing a steady breaststroke — Brendan. But the next minute, Ian grabbed the plastic raft nearby and flipped onto it in a lazy float. His swim trunks clung to his body.
“Aw yeahhhh.” The edges of his deep voice were blurred. “This is it.”
“As good as it’s gonna get, huh?” Brendan’s quiet chuckle might have been Ian’s, but the lanterns strung on the patio highlighted the cleft in his chin.
“No, it’s just gonna get better. And better. Unless Diana’s parents decide to lock her up.” Ian’s words were definitely slurred.
“She told them what’s what, bro. She’s come so far. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“Don’t say you’re so proud of her.” Ian flung one arm back, his eyes on the fireworks exploding overhead.
“I am so proud of her. You are too, I can tell.” Brendan swam to the side of the pool with easy strokes, picked up a beer bottle, and took a long swig. “You remember the first time? She was sweet. So shy. Just waiting to get wild.”
His reminiscent smile sent goosebumps across Diana’s skin. She shifted position on the grass, as quietly as possible.
Ian laughed, kicking off the side of the pool as the raft drifted close. “Are we talking about the same person? ‘Cause I don’t remember my girlfriend being shy with us, that time or any time.” Diana shivered at his words. Fresh-mown grass imprinted her knees. The constant breeze teased her nipples. “I remember a girl who was sick of playing the stone-cold fox and jumped at the chance to be herself.”
“Remember anything else?”
Ian stretched out his arm. Brendan handed him a half-empty bottle. Tipping his head back, Ian drained it and tossed the bottle onto the grass.
“I remember thinking this wasn’t real. Being inside her. Holding her. Sometimes I still think that.”
“It’s real
,” Diana called out impulsively.
Two heads swiveled to the back of the yard. She was kneeling in the shadows of the big trees, away from the patio lights, but she was naked and pale and it was only a matter of a second before both twins were staring at her.
Oh God. There was nothing to cover herself with, nothing to hide behind. Nothing for her to focus on, except the identical expressions of shock on two male faces.
Fuck, she was so exposed, her skin flamed from head to toe, and there was only one way to solve both problems. She stood up. She ran. Grass springing beneath her toes, she left her glasses on a chair and took a flying leap into the pool.
Water surrounded her. She blinked drops from her eyelashes. Male bodies closed in on both sides, crowding her.
“Hey,” she breathed.
“What the fuck, Diana?” Ian’s face was incredulous, his hands firm on her hips.
Brendan said nothing, but his pleased smile widened. He tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear.
“I wanted to surprise you.” She wriggled when Ian pinched her ass underwater. “I didn’t know you were both out here.”
“You want me to leave?” Brendan turned in the water.
“No,” she said quickly. “Don’t let me interrupt.”
“You already have, baby.” Ian’s strong arm surrounded her. That was definitely another pinch on her ass. One hand clasped her head, pushing down.
“Ian!” she screeched, breaking free and sending an enormous splash in his direction as she kicked backwards. “Do that again and you’ll regret it.”
“No regrets.” He plowed toward her with an evil grin.
A muscled arm wrapped around her soft bare stomach. Brendan pulled her out of the way and up against his body.
“Ian, be nice to your girlfriend,” he called. His breath brushed her ear as he leaned close. “He’s kind of drunk, Di,” he whispered.
Diana twisted to look at Ian, whooping his way across the pool. Behind him, empty beer bottles lined the patio table.
The Girl in Between Page 17