“Shit,” I said, searching frantically for it. I sank down in an attempt to keep anyone from seeing me. All I had to do was get to the shore and get my towel.
My hands covered my chest as I crawled forward. As I got closer to shore, I saw Sage come to the edge. Damn it. This wasn’t happening.
“Hey, Grace,” he called, his hands shoved in his pockets. “I wondered if you wanted to run into town with me?”
Oh. My. God. He was inviting me to do something with him. I glanced down at my boobs. If I stood up, he’d get an eyeful, not to mention, my parents would freak the hell out. Besides, I didn’t want him to know I lost my top. I’d never live it down.
It’s like the gods were cursing me. “Um, I’m trying to stay in shape so I’m kind of swimming laps right now.”
No. This sucked. Sage finally wanted to hang out and I had to lose my damn bikini top. Ugh. I never should’ve let Lyncee talk me into it. A one piece never would’ve done this—the worst that could’ve happened was a wedgie.
“Okay, I guess I’ll see you later.” His face seemed to fall.
No. No. No. He’d really wanted me to go. He probably thought I was making an excuse to get out of going.
“Wait,” I hollered before he could walk away. “Can we maybe play video games when you get home, kind of like old times?”
“Sure.” He gave me an uncertain smile, and then waved as he headed back to the house.
This was the worst possible time for this to happen. Not like there was a good time, but geesh, could I get a break already. When he disappeared inside, I launched out of the water and raced for my towel on the shore. Once I had it in hand, I wrapped it around me.
“I think you might’ve lost something.” I heard a masculine voice from behind me.
A blush crept up my body from the tips of my toes to my hair. I swallowed hard and spun to face a tall blond guy with piercing green eyes. He was maybe two or three years older than me, tall, and über-hot. He held up my bikini top by one of the strings.
Where’d he come from? Had he seen me topless? This was one of those moments where I wished the sand would open up and bury me alive. “Thanks.” I snatched my bathing suit from him and backed away.
“My name’s Logan. I live a few houses down around the bend.” He gestured in the direction I’d run the other day. “So, do you do this often?” His brows rose.
“Do what?”
“Skinny dip. If so, you might want to wait until it’s dark.” He chuckled.
“Listen, it was nice to meet you, but I’ve got to go now—you know, get dressed.” I took a few more steps then turned to go.
“Wait, what’s your name?”
“Grace.”
“I’ll see you around, Grace. Maybe next time you can invite me swimming,” he teased.
Not daring to look back, I ran into the house, where I decided I’d hide for the rest of the summer.
Chapter Twelve
Allie looked up from her romance novel when I got to our room. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Do you think you could just kill me so I can get this over with?” I rummaged through my dresser for some dry clothes. I dropped my towel, put on a bra and T-shirt then pulled on a pair of shorts.
She set her book down. “What happened?”
“I totally just blew a chance to hang out with Sage.” I went on to explain about the disappearing top, Sage’s invitation, and the hot guy who found my top on the shore. “If I didn’t have bad luck, I’d have none at all. Does this kind of stuff happen to anyone else?”
“This isn’t a total loss. I mean, you did get a guy’s attention.”
“Yeah, but not the one I wanted. This was a perfect chance to spend time with Sage and prove to him that I’ve changed—or I guess better said, that I’m the old Grace. The one he fell for in middle school.”
“This isn’t the end all. He’ll be back in a little bit and you can play video games. Or worst case scenario, you’ve got a guy for number six on our list.
“Number six?”
“Make Sage jealous. The character in the book I’m reading did that, and the guy totally fell for it and she got him back. Think positive girl.” She tossed me one of her romances to read, I plopped down next to her.
For the next few hours, I immersed myself in someone else’s relationship woes. It was like the author had written it for me. Hot guys. Check. Impossible relationships. Check. Beach house. Check. Crazy family. Double-check.
After a while, I glanced at the clock. Sage still wasn’t home. What the hell was taking him so long? Maybe I was just being paranoid. I almost regretted not jumping out of the lake to go with him today, maybe seeing me half naked would’ve gotten his attention.
The scent of grilled chicken wafted upstairs. My stomach growled. “Hey, I’m going to go down. I think dinner’s about ready.”
“I’m coming too. Who knew reading could make you so hungry.” Allie followed me.
Our parents already had the table set, with dishes of food in the center. There was barbeque chicken, grilled potatoes, salad, and corn on the cob.
A minute later, Sage sauntered in, his hair windblown, a smile on his face. My heart did jumping jacks, nearly knocking my lungs out of place.
“Look who’s finally decided to join us,” Mr. Castle said after hollering for the rest of the kids to get out here for dinner.
“Sorry, I lost track of time.”
Mom laughed. “That’s easy to do up here, isn’t it?”
Sage ran a hand through his dark hair, his bicep bulging. “Dad, I wondered if I can go to the movies in town tonight? I met this local girl, Lila, and we really hit it off.”
No. Please tell me I didn’t hear him right. My gut felt as if someone had tied giant knots in it. Damn it. If my top wouldn’t have fallen off this could’ve been my moment.
“Sure,” Mr. Castle said. “But I want you back by eleven.”
“Thanks.”
My eyes welled as I stared at the checkered tablecloth. Keep it together. Don’t let him see you cry. I went around the table filling everyone’s cups with sun tea until I had myself under control again.
“So, I guess this means you’re bailing on our video games tonight?” I said, reaching for Sage’s glass.
“We can play tomorrow,” he said.
I poured his sun tea and handed it to him.
“Geesh, you really have it in for me, don’t you?”
“What?”
He tipped his cup toward me so I could see ants floating in it.
“Um, don’t anyone drink that,” Dad said.
“Benji, what’d you do to the tea?” Mom stood, grabbing the glass container.
“Nothing, I put the teabags and water in, then added sugar.”
“You weren’t supposed to put the sugar in until we brought it in,” I said.
“But you said when it was done.” He narrowed his eyes at me.
“By done, I meant when it was finished and in our cups.”
“Oops.” He shrugged.
Once I sat down, I avoided looking at Sage, instead I scarfed down my food so I could leave the table and be alone.
As I headed for the stairs, Allie caught my arm. “Okay, we need to find out who your competition is. We should go to the theater too.”
“Are you crazy?”
“I think we need to make this a tactical mission.”
Maybe she was right, I needed to know what I was up against if I was going to win him back. “Okay, let’s ask if I can borrow the truck.”
We got changed then hurried downstairs where our parents were getting ready to play a game of cribbage.
“Hey, Dad, can I use the truck to go into town? Allie and I wanted to go see a movie.”
He glanced up at us. “Sure. But I want you home right after it ends.”
“Thank you.” I bent down and gave him a peck on the cheek.
“Be careful,” Mom said.
“I will.”
Allie an
d I piled into the truck, put our seatbelts on, then pulled out onto the main highway. It didn’t take us long to get into town.
“Turn right up here,” Allie said.
“This place looks small.” My teeth grazed my bottom lip.
“Yeah, it’s only got like two screens, I think. But that’ll make it easier for us to find them.”
Nausea ate at my belly. The last thing I wanted to do was see him kiss another girl. I know we’d been broken up for a few years, but he hadn’t had a girlfriend since me, so I didn’t have to watch him with someone else. Now, I was sure I wouldn’t be able to stomach it. This was my worst nightmare. Maybe coming hadn’t been such a good idea.
“Grace, are you all right?”
I cleared my throat then shut off the engine. “Yeah.”
“Don’t panic. It’s just a date.”
“But if I would’ve gone with him to town, this probably wouldn’t have happened.”
“The Grace I know wouldn’t worry. She’d march her butt in there looking all hot and stuff and make everyone in there turn their heads.”
I chuckled. “You’re like the queen of pep talks.”
She fluffed her hair. “Yes, I am. Now, let’s go be fabulous.”
We walked up the sidewalk and entered the small building. From across the way, I caught sight of Sage standing with a beautiful, dark-haired girl. She had perfect curls, perfect dimples, and a perfect tinkling laugh.
In other words, I was royally screwed.
“I can’t compete with that,” I whispered, gripping tight to Allie’s arm.
“Yes you can. She’s probably superficial and as fake as a Barbie doll. Besides, I bet she doesn’t even know what the Force is.”
“You’re right. I bet she’s never wielded a lightsaber in her life,” I said.
“See, now you’re getting it.” She led me toward the counter to get tickets.
Just then, the girl laughed at something Sage said. My confidence fizzled away like the Empire’s shield generators in a Star Wars movie. “You know, maybe she doesn’t need to wield a weapon. I bet all the guys like her better as a damsel.”
As if sensing our watchful gazes, Sage glanced up at us. He gave us a wave and we waved back. Then he placed his hand at the small of her back and led her into the theater
We got tickets to see Moonrise Surfers, which looked about as lame as it sounded. Definitely wouldn’t be any space battles in this flick. With a sigh, I grabbed popcorn and a pop. When we got inside the screening room, Allie and I scoured the aisles.
“Looks like they’re in the middle. We should try to get behind them a couple rows to keep an eye on things,” Allie said.
I followed her until we found seats partway up. We managed to get two rows behind them. “I have a feeling I’m going to hate this movie.”
“Yeah, me too. I think it’s about some surfer who’s torn between riding the big wave and his girl.” She shoved a handful of popcorn in her mouth. “You know, I could always throw some gum in her hair. She doesn’t seem like the type who’d sit through something like that. Then we could get out of here and not waste our night.”
I giggled. “You’re evil.”
“Hello, sometimes you gotta be.”
We spent most of the movie watching Sage. Luckily, he didn’t try to kiss her or anything. I wasn’t so sure how I’d have survived that. Instead, we got to see some of the worst acting in the world. And don’t get me started on the special effects; I could’ve made better waves in my bathtub.
When we got out into the lobby, it was crowded. Mainly with teens. “Hey, Grace,” someone called my name.
I turned to see Logan walking out with Sage and the dark haired girl. He waved.
“Oh. My. God. Is that the guy you were talking about?” Allie whispered.
“Yes.”
“He’s flipping hot.”
He ambled over to us. “Nice to bump into you again—although you’re wearing a few more clothes than the last time I saw you.” He winked.
My face blazed.
Allie smirked next to me, her eyebrows raised.
“Ignore my brother,” the girl said, clutching hold of Sage’s arm. “I’m Lila, by the way.”
Sage glanced at Logan then back to me. “Lila, this is my little sister Allie and my friend Grace.”
Not gonna lie, the whole enunciation of the word “friend” pissed me off. He was about one second away from having popcorn shoved where the sun didn’t shine.
Lila gave a small wave. “Nice to meet you. Sage has told me a ton about you.”
Sure he has. In the whole six to eight hours that you’ve known one another, I’m sure he’s droned on and on about me and Allie. But instead of being a douche and voicing this out loud, I smiled.
But Allie wasn’t one to keep quiet. “Geesh, Sage, I thought you’d have better things to talk about than your hot best friend and little sis.”
He chuckled but gave Allie a strange look. “We talked about other stuff—like things to do around here.”
“And the party I’m throwing for my eighteenth birthday in a couple of weeks. Which you guys can come to if you want.” She smiled then turned to Sage. “So, are we still on for tomorrow?”
Tomorrow? What the hell? Was she going to compromise the rest of our summer? I was two seconds from going Darth Vader on her ass.
“Yeah, definitely.” Sage put his thumb through his belt loop.
“Great, meet me at the marina at eight AM. The boat will sail out around eight fifteen.”
No. This was so not fair. I couldn’t watch another girl snuggle up to him. As if sensing my despair and need to bawl my head off, Allie grabbed my arm. “Grace, we better go. You promised to stop for ice cream on our way home.”
I could’ve kissed her for coming to my rescue. “Sure, let’s go.”
“Hey, Grace,” Logan said as I spun to leave.
My gaze met his. “We have room on the boat if you want to come too.”
Okay, so a hot guy was asking me out. But it wasn’t the boy I wanted to ask. And I knew I wouldn’t survive seeing Lila cozy up to Sage. No way in hell.
“Actually, I can’t tomorrow. Allie and I are going on a day trip.”
“Really? Where?” Logan asked.
My eyes widened as I caught Allie’s eyes. “To the falls,” Allie blurted out.
“Oh, Tahquamenon?”
“Those are the ones,” I said.
“It’s pretty out there.” He smiled. “I know my way around, maybe I could be your tour guide.”
“Or maybe we could all go on Friday instead,” Sage interrupted.
“Sounds good,” Logan said.
Why the heck did Sage just invite himself along on my date? Did he really want to rub Lila in my face? Ugh, I bet this was payback for everything he went through.
This time, Allie dragged me out before anyone else could stop us. “Well, that was certainly awkward and entertaining. But one thing’s for sure, Sage didn’t want Logan to be alone with you.”
“I don’t think that had anything to do with it.”
“Don’t be so sure.” She grinned. “And by the way, you’re ten times better than Lila.”
“What do you think about Logan?”
“Super cute and nice. Who knows, maybe he’ll be a nice diversion.”
My summer just got a whole lot more complicated, if that was even possible.
Chapter Thirteen
Step #3: Offer to help with his chores
Rain spattered against the living room windows, while lightning cascaded across the dismal gray sky. Six-foot waves crashed against the shore, the Great Lake’s version of a temper tantrum. Sage had left a little while ago for the marina, before the storm hit. I hoped he was okay and didn’t go out on the boat.
Allie finished painting her nails and blew on them to help the polish dry faster.
With a sigh, I dialed Lyncee’s number and turned on the speakerphone so both Allie and I could talk to her.
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“Hey, I wondered when I’d hear from you again,” Lyncee said when she picked up.
“Glad to see you’ve survived another day of babysitting,” I said.
She snorted. “Yeah, I’m thinking the Coopers might fire me.”
“Do I want to know what happened?”
“Let’s just say, the kids emptied the cat litter box into the toilet, then flooded the bathroom. They may or may not be using a kayak to get around in their house right now. And those things floating by are not logs.”
I laughed. “Oh. My. God. That’s epic.”
“Tell that to my mom. She thinks I’m letting these kids be monster douches on purpose to get out of babysitting.”
“Is she making you go back?”
“Yes, and get this, I now have to babysit those bastards for free, as a way to offset the cost of replacing the carpet in the bathroom and the one section of ceiling in the living room.”
“Sounds like your summer is off to an awesome start.”
“I wish. But hey, guess who’s spending the night tonight?”
“Brady Wilkes?” I teased.
“Funny. But wrong. Delyla and Kenadi are here.”
“Hey,” they called in unison.
“Hi. Hope you guys are cheering Lyncee up.” Delyla and Kenadi played on our soccer team and were probably the only other people in the entire school I could stand. Well, Del’s brother and his friends weren’t too bad either.
“Hell yeah we are. We even brought Del’s dog Jimbo over. So far he’s humped Lyncee’s soccer ball, her dog Cherry, her brother’s leg, and now her pillow.”
“Ew, count me glad I’m not there to see that.” I laughed.
“Trust me, I wish I wasn’t here to see it,” Del mumbled.
“So, how are things going with Sage?” Lyncee asked.
“That’s kind of why I’m calling.” My foot tapped against the side of the couch as I stared at my cuticles. “Some local girl has totally caught his attention. She asked him to the movies last night and they’re out together again today. This whole plan is hopeless.”
“Hold it right there,” Lyncee said. “You’re Grace fricken’ Evers. Don’t you dare count yourself out. So some girl is trying to get her claws into him—don’t forget you have a history with Sage. You know him better than anyone.”
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