by Tasha Ivey
The inside is quite nice, too. There are all the usual rooms of a house on the main floor, but this place also has a bar area. Two small bedrooms are on the main floor, and a single flight of stairs leads to the master suite upstairs. It has a living room, bathroom, and huge bedroom with a balcony looking out over the ocean. Makenna’s parents have always let us have that room when we’ve come here before.
We manage to manhandle our suitcases up the stairs, and Makenna announces that she wants me to have the master bedroom for the first half of the week, since it’s my birthday and all. Like I’d argue with that logic.
After hurrying to unpack everything, we make a trip to the grocery store to stock up on food for the week. We’ve decided to take turns cooking, so while she’s looking at meats and pastas and, you know, stuff you actually have to cook, I’m tossing frozen pizzas and microwavable meals into the basket. She knows better than to expect anything more than that from me. I’m no chef, that’s for sure.
Once we get back and put away the groceries, Makenna makes the declaration that we should spend the last couple hours of daylight on the beach, so we make sandwiches, grab a couple bottles of water and a bag of chips, and do just that. Two hours of digging my toes into the sand, listening to the soft crash of the waves, feeling the ocean breeze in my hair, and chatting with my best friend . . . it’s exactly what I need. And when I snuggle into bed, there’s still a smile on my face when I fall asleep.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO you!” Makenna sings, jumping up and down on my bed. “It’s going to be a lovely day filled with birthday surprises. Not to mention the fact that we have to go hunt down a liquor store, so you can buy something. It’s a rite of passage into adulthood.”
I throw my pillow at her, nearly knocking her off balance. “For my first birthday surprise, I’d like to sleep, thankyouverymuch.”
“No way. Not happening. Besides, it’s after ten.” She bounds off the bed and flings the double doors to the balcony open. “Do you see this? You’re going to sleep the entire day when you could be out there?”
“Well, when you put it that way . . .”
“I’m always right. You know that.”
We both look at each other before bursting into laughter. Never right would be more like it, and she knows that.
“So what are these big birthday surprises you have in store for me? It may be a determining factor of whether or not I choose to get out of bed.”
“Be right back.” She races from the room and downstairs before racing right back up and pouncing back on the bed. “Surprise number one.” She shoves a wrapped gift at me. Although I’m not entirely sure that “wrapped” is what you’d call it. It’s more like there’s some paper wadded up around it and some tape stuck on there haphazardly. The girl can’t wrap a gift to save her life, but it’s the thought that counts.
I tear at the first opening I can find to shed the box of the layered mass of paper surrounding it, and I lift the lid from the top. Inside is a brand new Breaking Benjamin t-shirt. “You know me too well. I love it, Mak.”
A sly grin curls up the corners of her mouth. “Look underneath it.”
I lift the shirt carefully to find two concert tickets nestled in the tissue paper. They’re for one of their upcoming concerts in Atlanta this summer. I have no words. So I just squeal.
Finally, after a few minutes of hugging her and bouncing up and down, I shower and get ready for the day. She tells me there’s more in store for me, so if the other surprises are anything like those tickets, it’s going to be a damn good day. Makenna knows me better than I know myself most of the time, so she knows exactly what I want or need, even when I don’t know sometimes. That’s one of the many reasons she’s my best friend.
My hair is dry and styled into the perfect beach waves, I’m wearing my favorite denim shorts and new t-shirt, and I just polished all of my nails in the perfect shade of ocean blue. I feel fantastic for a change, and today is going to be a great day. I have no doubt about that.
Descending the stairs, I look back and forth at the shoes I’m holding in each hand. “Makenna, which shoes look best? These black flip flops or the sandals?” I’m nothing if not a shoe whore. Like I’d totally sell myself to buy shoes. Okay, maybe not, but I’d come awful close to it.
“Sandals,” a voice calls back from the living room. But it’s the fact that it’s a male voice has me flinging shoes across the room and screaming.
Wes throws his arms up to keep from being pelted in the face by a wayward flip flop. “Take it easy. It’s just me.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” I pound a fist into his chest when he approaches me. My heart is hammering in my chest so hard that I feel somewhat dizzy. I’m not sure, though, if it’s the fact that I thought a man broke into the house or if it’s the fact that it’s Wes. So much for my troubles not following me here.
Wes grabs my swinging arms and steadies me. “I think we’ve been set up.” He jerks his head to Makenna’s room. “Shane asked me a couple of days ago if I wanted to come down here for the weekend to get away, saying he wanted to come down to see Mak while she’s here with her folks but didn’t want to travel by himself. He even said he already had us a room booked. I stupidly agreed but didn’t think anything of it until I pulled in the drive and Makenna’s car was here. I probably would’ve just assumed her parents rode with her, but the stupid shit-eating grin on Shane’s face was a dead giveaway. As soon as we got here, she dragged him into that room, and I immediately heard you singing upstairs. I’m sorry that they’re idiots and don’t realize that I’m the last person you want to see.”
I try to tug my wrists free from his grip, but he doesn’t release me. “Let me go.”
“Callie, I swear I didn’t know, and I should beat Shane’s ass for lying to me.” He opens his hands, allowing my arms to fall free. “Makenna was in on this, too, you know.”
“Obviously. I’m assuming you’re one of my ‘birthday surprises’ she told me about. Hell of a surprise.”
He shoves his hands into his pockets. “Your birthday is today?”
I nod, refusing to look at him. “Yep.”
“Well, I know it’s not worth much coming from me, but happy birthday.”
Before I can come up with anything remotely snarky to say, the door to Makenna’s room creaks open, and Makenna steps out with Shane on her heels. “Well, I guess you found birthday surprise number two.”
“About that . . . you and I need to have a little chat.” I fold my arms over my chest and raise my eyebrows. Shane is glancing between Wes and me, snickering hysterically, and I figure out why when I look over at Wes. We’re both postured exactly the same—same folded arms, same scowl, same raised eyebrows. “This isn’t funny, Shane.”
He catches his breath enough to answer me. “Hey, you two played a joke on us, so it’s only fair. You know what they say about paybacks.”
“Besides,” Makenna begins, cautiously approaching me, “you may not realize it now, but you’ll thank us for it later.”
Wes glares at Shane. “Highly doubtful.”
“Can I talk to you for a second upstairs, Makenna?”
She looks at me with wide eyes and pulls both of her lips between her teeth before answering. “Sure.”
I march upstairs without a word, allowing all of my thoughts to gather in a somewhat organized collection of violent, malicious words. I want to make her cry. I want her to know that she can’t treat people like pawns, pushing them together when all they want to do is . . . is . . . hell, I don’t know what I want to do about him. But she has to know this isn’t okay.
As soon as I shut the door and turn to her, I open my mouth, about to release my wrath upon her, when she holds up a hand to stop me.
“Wait just a second. Before you say anything, I need you to do one thing for me. After you do this, you can say whatever you want to say to me. You can rip me a new asshole if you want. But when my parents told me that we were coming down here alone, I ha
d this idea, and Shane agreed that it would be risky but totally worth it. Forty-eight hours. That’s all I’m asking for. Shane is telling Wes the exact same thing. Let it play out and see what happens. If you still can’t stand the sight of each other after this weekend, then you can both say whatever you want to say to us. I just need you to give it two days, Callie. Please.”
“Why? Why should I wait two days to tell you exactly what I think of your stupid little scheme? It’s all quite fresh on my mind right this minute.”
She flings her hair over her shoulder and crosses her arms defensively. “Because you’re my best friend in the whole world, and I know you well enough to see that you want this. You’re just too stubborn to admit it. I may rarely be right about things, but there’s not any doubt in my mind that I’m right about this.”
“Even if you were right—and I’m not saying you are—how can you be so sure that he’ll agree to this? What’s your plan if one of us doesn’t agree to your little experiment? Or if neither of us agrees?”
She reaches out and rests both of her hands on my shoulders. “But that’s not going to happen. Shane and I wouldn’t have set this up if we weren’t confident you wouldn’t agree to it. We love both of you, and we want to see you happy. You and Wes haven’t been happy since the weekend we all went to the banquet, and the reasons are obvious. We just wanted to give both of you an opportunity to see it for yourself.”
Is she freaking serious? Regardless of the fact that I secretly think her ridiculous plan is genius, Wes wouldn’t ever agree to it. He got what he wanted from me, and he’s probably gone back to screwing Allison every time he gets the urge, so he has absolutely no use for me anymore. He never disagreed with me when I called him a coward, and I think that’s because he knows it.
“You know what, Makenna? Fine. I’ll give you the damn two days, but only because I can’t wait to prove how wrong you are yet again. And if he doesn’t agree to it, then that will prove that you’re wrong, too. Either way, I’ll win, and believe me, I can’t wait to tell you exactly what I think about it.”
A smug grin forms on her lips. “Oh, I can’t wait either. Stay here just a second, and I’ll find out his answer.”
“Good. Hurry back, so I can start tearing into you. It may take a while.”
To think that the two of them actually think that this would actually work. It’s ridiculous. If they knew the whole story, then maybe they wouldn’t be so confident. Wes will never agree to this nonsense.
Makenna pops her head back in the door. “Wes agreed to forty-eight hours.”
“You’re kidding.” God, I want to smack that stupid smile off her face.
“Nope. Not at all. Don’t get me wrong, Shane says he argued with him, just like you did with me, but he still agreed. Kind of telling, isn’t it?”
“No, that just tells me that he didn’t want to be the ass that said ‘no.’ That way, neither of you could say that he never gave it a chance. Neither of you could say he didn’t try to do the right thing and work it out with me.”
Makenna leans against the wall and taps a finger on her chin. “So you know you just admitted that something happened between you, right? You finally admit that it wasn’t just a one night thing and you both casually went your separate ways with no hard feelings.”
Damn it. She got me. “Okay. Yes, there’s more to that story. Happy?”
“No, I’m not. I hate seeing you unhappy. I don’t know what feelings there are, but I know they’re there. That’s the reason for the two days. Work your shit out, Callie, and move on from this. If it’s just a matter of you having the opportunity to say your piece, then do it. If it’s something more than that, talk to him and figure out this mess. I knew it was a pretty bold move, but this is what I wanted to give you for your birthday—opportunity. So take it, use it wisely, and stop being so pissed off.”
I nod once, finally allowing my eyes to meet hers. I don’t know when she grew some balls, but I’m actually kind of proud of her. “Okay.”
“Good. Shane and I are going out to the beach for a while, so you guys can join us or stay in here and start hashing it out. The choice is yours.” She walks out, leaving me standing in the middle of the room. I’m speechless. It’s about damn time I rubbed off on her, but it’s just my luck that she’s using my own tactics against me.
I wait a while after I hear Shane and Makenna leave the house, interested to see if the coward comes up to talk to me, but as suspected, he doesn’t. So I’m going to show him that I’m not scared to face him. He agreed to stay here for two days, and we’re supposed to talk all of this out, so damn it, I’m going to prove to him that I’m not the one running from it.
Twisting the knob, I tug on the door, but there’s a little more resistance than I expect. There’s also a hand on the other side of the knob that I didn’t expect to see. Hmm, he actually came up here. Probably just trying to stroke his own ego by proving me wrong.
“So you’re stuck with me for a couple of days, huh?” Wes pushes the door open enough to lean into the jamb. “Why did you agree to it?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Oh, I’m sorry. Were you counting on me saying ‘no’ so you’d get out of it, looking like the good guy?”
“No. I just figured you wouldn’t do it. You’ve made it clear exactly what you think of me, and I was surprised to find out you told Makenna you’d give them the weekend to prove they’re right.”
Turning on my heel, I walk through the open balcony doors and look out at where the horizon meets the ocean. “Wes, you made it clear what you thought of me the morning that you disappeared. We’re even.”
“You really want to jump into all of it right now?” he asks, appearing beside me. “You called me a damn coward, so I’m going to set you straight. I’m not afraid to tell you exactly what happened between us, Callie. I’ve been honest with you from the minute I met you. Not once did I think you were some prize I had to win. I have no idea what gave you that impression. Yes, I ran, but hell, I told you I was going to. I warned you that, the minute I felt something for you, I’d be gone. And for some reason, when it happens exactly like that, I’m somehow a coward for not being upfront with you. Explain to me how being honest makes me a coward.”
Every single thought that I was about to voice comes to a screeching halt when I replay his words in my mind. “Wait a minute. You felt something for me. I wasn’t imagining it?”
“Of course, I did.” He drags his fingers through his hair and turns to me, finally locking his gaze onto mine. “I told you that you’re perfect, and I meant it. I don’t say things I don’t mean, Callie, especially with you. I’ve been completely honest. I was going to tell you all of this that day at my parents’ house, but you didn’t give me the chance. I wanted to make sure that you knew I wasn’t ending things with you because I didn’t like you. I had to end things because I do like you. Way too much.”
I feel my shoulders sag. Thinking back to that day, I know I acted like a complete idiot. It wouldn’t change the fact that we aren’t together, but knowing how he felt might have changed my outlook on the whole thing. I might’ve actually been less of a bitch the last few weeks. “So where does that leave us now?”
“I don’t know,” he sighs, leaning back against the railing in front of me and making me nervous. “The same place, I guess, but I hope that you have a little more understanding of why it has to be this way. I don’t want you to hate me, Callie. In a way, I’m glad those two dorks planned all of this to give me the opportunity to clear the air.”
“Me, too. I’m sorry that I called you a coward, and I should’ve given you the chance to tell me what you had to say.”
He reaches out and drags me into him, and I don’t fight it. The feeling of his strong arms around me. The weight of his chin resting on top of my head. The smell of him surrounding me, enveloping me in a strange calm. Somehow, it’s like coming home after being away for a long time, like being in my safe place where nothing can hurt me. The
only other time I’ve felt this way in a man’s arms was the night of the banquet, when he curled up against me and held me close before falling asleep.
“We have two days, Callie,” he says softly. “For two days, we can be friends. We can show Shane and Makenna that everything is fine. If you want, we can even be friends after that, but only from afar. I won’t let myself get that close to you again. But you have to know that it’s not that I don’t want to. I just can’t.”
I take a deep breath and blow it out slowly. “I know. But just so you know, you’re just as good at keeping distance as you are at not flirting.”
“Yeah, I really suck at it.” He squeezes me one last time and lets me go. “Which is exactly why the next forty-eight hours are going to be the longest hours of my life.”
Mine, too.
WES AND I spend the next few hours hanging out with Shane and Makenna. They keep staring at us, just waiting to see if a) we’re going to jump one another and start making out, or b) start screaming and throwing things at each other. I know they’re dying to know if we’ve talked about any of our issues, but I’m not folding on this one. They forced us together without consulting either of us, so I’m not giving any clues.
We’ve spent most of our day on the beach, and aside from the strange tension between everyone, it’s been quite nice. Wes has only spoken to me when necessary, and Shane and Makenna have been all wrapped up in each other, so I’ve enjoyed the quiet. Just me, my umbrella, and a book.
Yeah, okay. Who am I kidding? I keep reading the same sentences over and over again, and I don’t know what the hell this story is about, even though I’m on chapter ten. I can feel Wes staring at me, and every time I glance in his direction, I catch him. But he doesn’t look away. It’s unnerving. And thank God for sunglasses because every time he goes out into the water, I can watch the way the water glistens on his chest and the way his muscles bunch and flex when he swims. I just have to remind myself to turn a page every now and then.