I couldn’t agree more.
oOoOoOo + O+O+O+O
We end up at the wave pool.
As you will remember, the wave pool is where I kiss Brad The Bod God, a.k.a Mr. Miracle, and find out he’s my stepbrother. But as of now, I still don’t know it. All I know is that he’s shaping up to be the most incredible man known to woman.
The wave pool has fake rock walls on three sides and a fake beach on the fourth. Rox and I wade into the water. Brad climbs up on one of the fake rock walls and hops from stone to stone. The stones are uneven and the tops of them are about ten feet above the water. Brad keeps his balance without even trying. I doubt I could make it look so easy.
A shirtless lifeguard wearing red shorts and holding a red Baywatch-style torpedo float spots him and blows a whistle. “Sir! Get off the rocks! Sir!”
Brad isn’t paying attention. He continues toward the back wall of the wave pool where the deep water is.
The whistle blows again. “Sir!” the lifeguard shouts.
Right at that moment, Brad leaps into the air and does a forward flip in a perfect pike position before extending his long body into a precise dive. He cuts a clean line into the deep water with grace and style. He must’ve had diving training to be able to do a move like that. When he surfaces, he whips his golden hair out of his face with a toss of his head like it’s all no big deal.
“Such a bad boy,” Rox jokes as we wade into waist deep water.
“I know, right?” I’m not complaining. A little bad is always good.
The lifeguard jams his hands on his hips and barks at Brad, “Sir, you can’t jump off the rocks. Don’t do that again, or you’ll be ejected from the park.”
“Sure buddy,” Brad says casually.
“I’m serious,” the guard says with obvious irritation. He motions with his red Baywatch float for effect.
“I heard ya. But tell me, what would you rate my front flip?” Brad grins big.
“What?”
“You know, if you were judging it at the Olympics? That was a pretty sweet one-and-a-half pike I pulled off.” Brad The Bod grins with overwhelming charm.
The lifeguard’s irritation melts into amusement. “If I give you a perfect ten, promise me you won’t do any more dives to impress the ladies?”
Brad chuckles with good humor. “All right, all right. No more diving.”
“Have fun,” the lifeguard smiles at Brad. “Oh, and I’d give it a nine.”
“Whaaaaat?!” Brad sings.
“Your knees were bent,” the lifeguard laughs.
Brad shakes his head and rolls his eyes while swimming toward us, still grinning.
Rox mutters, “Such a charmer.”
He sure is. Swoon.
Once we start riding the waves, it doesn’t take long for the three of us to get separated. Each time the wave machine thunks, a huge swell travels the length of the pool, scattering the body surfers in every direction.
After a particularly fun ride, Rox insists we try to get as close to the wave machine as the lifeguards will let us, to get the maximum ride time.
The water this far out is up to my neck, so I tread casually instead of trying to keep my toes on the ground.
“You ready?” Rox asks, excited.
“Totes,” I grin.
“How about you, Laird Hamilton?” she says to The Bod God.
“Yup.”
Now that Rox mentions it, he does bear a passing resemblance to good old Laird, who is still hunky gorgeous at 50. Not only was Laird a champion surfer in his prime, he was also a model. It’s a good comparison.
The Bod God grins at me, “What’re you thinking about?”
“Nothing,” I blush. Yeah, he could totally pass for a young Laird.
CLUNK!
That’s the sound of the wave coming.
“Start swimming!” Rox hollers as she glances back at the wave. She’s facing forward, poised to ride it.
A bunch of people are swept up by the huge swell. Some of them slide over it as it passes, others paddle and try to catch it. As it nears us, Rox starts to freestyle, kicking white water up behind her as her arms dig in.
I dip forward and throw my shoulder out in front of me.
A hand wraps around my waist.
The Bod God.
“Wait,” he mutters.
Okay, that was officially a move.
I melt into his arm.
I’m pressed against him as the huge wave lifts us up. Kids barrel past on both sides, shouting gleefully.
After the water wave passes, a guilt wave hits. I’ve been having a wonderful time all day. With The Bod God and Rox. We have been a happy threesome the whole time. My fear that Rox and I would fight over him faded away at least an hour ago. But now it’s back full force. I don’t want to hurt Rox’s feelings. It’s obvious she likes The Bod God too. After the day we’ve spent together, any woman would like him. Even lesbians. Because he’s super sweet and manly. He’s everything. He’s perfect. I mean literally perfect.
I’m shaking as The Bod God pulls me into his arms.
“What?” he asks softly. His emerald eyes glow from within his dark wet lashes.
He is so frickin’ gorgeous it hurts.
I want to kiss him. But I won’t. He has to do it. But it’s not right. I keep thinking about Rox.
“It’s just that—” I stop myself, catching my words in my throat.
“Sorry.” He curls a half-hearted grin. “I kind of got the vibe you were into me.” His arm around my waist falls away. “Sorry. My bad.” His body floats slowly away from mine.
I bob in the rippling water, torn by indecision. Rox will be hurt if she finds out what just happened. But we made a deal. We would let him decide who he wanted. I think he just decided.
He’s drifting away from me.
If he drifts any further, I might never be in his arms again.
“No, wait!” I blurt and lunge toward him.
Water splashes around us as he sweeps me into his powerful arms.
With the power of a fifty foot monster wave, the kind of wave that has the power to snap surfboards in half and bash careless surfers into oblivion, our lips crash together. Our tongues fight and our passion explodes like huge breakers against craggy shoreline rocks. White water and sea foam spray high in the air, glittering in the sun.
Oblivion.
oOoOoOo + O+O+O+O
You remember what happens next.
Me.
My stepbrother.
Our intense make-out session in the middle of the wave pool at Blazing Waters.
My horrid realization that I’ve made a huge mistake.
But we’re not even related by blood, right?
And the stepbrother thing is a technicality, right?
And me and Rox pinky swore that we would let Dante, The Bod God, Mr. Miracle, decide for us. And no hating, no matter who he picked. We swore.
Trust me, none of that matters.
Things just get worse from here.
Chapter 3
AFTER THE KISS
“What happened to you guys?!” Rox yells as she swims toward where Dante and I stand on the artificial shore. “I lost you three waves ago. Where’d you guys go?”
The wave pool is huge and totally crowded. It’s not that hard to lose someone.
“Uh, we’ve been riding them,” I lie. More like riding him.
I hate lying to Rox. But I’m not ready to share news of my illicit kiss in the swoon lagoon or the drama bomb that dropped after. Or about how I let myself get sucked under water, hoping I would drown, even if only for a second, because falling for Dante is wrong in too many ways to count. Luckily, Dante was quick to save me, just like he did with that baby earlier. I guess helping people is second nature to him. It took only a second for him to grab me and swim us to the shallows, making him twenty times more awesome and desirable than he already was. Maybe it would’ve been better if he let the wave put me out of my misery.
; “Are you ready to go again?” Rox beams, her excitement shooting off of her.
“Uh, I guess?” I say uncertainly. The only thing on my mind is when to tell Rox the news. She’s gonna wanna know both that Dante picked me and he’s my stepbrother. My gut tells me that Rox might argue the stepbrother thing is grounds for him picking her by default. It’s not a bad argument. I’m already leaning in that direction myself. For Rox’s sake.
Oh, goodness, what have I done?
Judging by the confused look on Dante’s face, he’s not entirely sure what he did either. But he can’t stop sneaking glances at me.
Rox is bound to notice eventually.
I can’t tell her now.
I just can’t.
“Having fun?” Ashley Masters says from out of nowhere. She is walking out of the wave pool toward the shore, flanked by Monica and Brittany. When did they end up out here?
Rox rolls her eyes.
Ashley makes my need to barf a hundred times worse.
“Did you enjoy that last wave, Nightlight?” Ashley demands, glaring at me.
“Huh?”
“How was it? The wave?” she says pointedly. “The one that carried you away?”
Oh my god. Did she see me and Dante? This is not good.
Rox looks confused. She mutters to me, “What is she talking about?”
“I don’t know,” I lie. I glance at Monica and Brittany. Do they know too? If they do, word of my kiss with Dante will spread faster than a San Fernando forest fire in the height of summer, which is right now. The gossip grapevine of my high school is like a tinder box of dried out old grapevines waiting for a random spark to set it off.
I stare at Ashley. I can only imagine the look on my face is a cross between a deer in headlights and revulsion. If you don’t know what that looks like, have your friend hit you in the face with a baseball bat, then run and look in the mirror immediately afterward.
But I digress.
If Ashley saw us kiss, that’s bad. If Monica and Brittany saw, that’s way worse. One witness can be written off as snarky jealousy, but three witnesses is proof. Maybe it’s better that Rox knows now, instead of hearing it fifth hand from someone at school. Either way, I so don’t want to do this right now.
At least Ashley doesn’t know Dante is my stepbrother.
Or does she?
Was she or Monica or Brittany close enough in the wave pool to overhear me and Dante talking? Who knows? The pool is packed. She could’ve been one person over from the do-gooders telling me and Dante to get a room. I don’t know, I don’t know!
The not knowing is making me crazy.
In case of emergency, RUN!
I grab Rox by the wrist and pull her toward shore.
“Where are you going, Nightlight?” Ashley demands. “Did you inhale too much water during that last wave? Maybe you swallowed something and need mouth to mouth.”
She is completely awful.
I can’t look back. If I say anything, the truth is all going to come out like vomit.
What a mess.
oOoOoOo + O+O+O+O
“I don’t know about you two,” I groan, “but I think I’m getting sun fatigue or something. I’m totally nauseous right now. Do you guys want to go?”
Dante, Rox, and I stand on a crowded pathway near the kiddie area of Blazing Waters. A bunch of kids clamber all over the playground style equipment that is raining water everywhere. Those kids are having way more fun than I am.
Dante looks at me sympathetically. “You’re probably dehydrated.”
“How can I be dehydrated?” I say. “We’re at a water park. Surrounded by water.”
“Yeah, but you’re sweating in all this heat. We’ve been running around for hours.”
“He’s right,” Rox says. “We should get some drinks and take a break. Maybe get some shade. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had all the sun I can take.”
Although we’re all tan, we’ve been in the sun for hours.
“Sounds like a great idea,” I nod.
We get our stuff from the locker and buy huge sodas from one of the outdoor snack bars. Next to the snack bar are dozens of round cement tables with big sun umbrellas. We sit down at one.
I sip on a 7-Up with no ice, gulping it down. The water and the sugar totally hit the spot.
Rox has Mountain Dew, because it has more caffeine than Coke. Dante got a big bottle of water.
After sipping from her straw, Rox says, “Isn’t it weird?”
“What?” I ask.
“How we’re getting along so well for a bunch of strangers?” She laughs and grins at me, “Well, you and I know each other, Angelina, but Brad here is a complete stranger to both of us. But somehow I feel almost like family or something.”
I choke on my 7-Up and nearly blow it out my nose. My nostrils tingle painfully all the way to the back of my throat. I start coughing.
“You okay?” Dante asks, concerned.
“Yeah,” HACK! “I’m—” HACK! “…fine.”
“Easy girl,” Rox cautions. “You don’t want to go drowning in your 7-Up.”
“Thanks,” I wince. That sounds like a good idea. It might take some work, but it is possible to drown in a cup of 7-Up if you try really hard.
“So I’ve been thinking,” Rox says suggestively.
“About what?” I ask.
“That we should all come clean.”
I almost gag. “Clean?” Does she know too? Did she see Dante kissing me and she’s just trying to get me to spill it so she doesn’t have to pry?
“Yeah,” she smiles, giving me a pointed look. “Should we tell him?”
I try not to panic. “Tell him what?”
“You know,” she hints.
“No, I don’t know,” I frown.
“Come on, Angeliiiina.” She drawls.
“Huh?” I glance at Dante for support.
He shakes his head, totally lost.
She rolls her eyes impatiently, “Angelina? Jennifer? Brad?” she laughs.
“Oh!” I blurt. “The names.” Relief.
She nods, “Now you’re picking up what I’m putting down.”
The wave pool in my stomach slowly calms. But only for a second. Because Rox knows my mysterious stepbrother is named Dante. If we go there, she’s bound to figure it out. But if I resist and make an issue out of it, she’ll grill me later for sure. I can’t win for losing. “Sure, whatever.”
Rox smiles and reaches a hand across the table toward Dante. “My name is Roxanne. You can call me Rox. This is my friend Skye.”
Dante shakes her hand, “Nice to meet you, Rox.” He winks at me. “And Skye.”
“What’s your name?” Rox asks.
“Dante.”
She shakes his hand and smiles, “Hey, Dante.”
Please don’t figure it out, please don’t figure it out, please…
“Hey, Skye,” she smiles at me, “Isn’t your stepbrother named Dante?”
I slump. Then I fake smile. “Yeah. That’s right. My stepbrother, the one I’ve never met, is named Dante.” I give her an odd look because odd best describes my state of being at the moment. I tilt my head to the side and hope that it somehow rolls off my neck all by itself, and tumbles into the nearby bushes, and everyone forgets I exist.
“I guess there’s a lot of Dantes in the world,” she grins.
“Yeah,” I agree hastily. “Totally.” That was way too close. At least I don’t have to tell her now.
Roxanne chuckles, “Hey, you’re not Skye’s stepbrother, are you?”
Fuck me. I roll my eyes.
Dante snorts.
Rox crinkles her nose and shakes her head. “Sorry. I know, it’s dumb. It’s like when you meet someone from London or wherever, and you’re like, ‘Hey, I have a cousin who lives in Wales. Do you know her?’” She shakes her head. “I can be such an idiot sometimes.”
“Noooo,” I say with overly dramatic sincerity, “it’s an honest mistake. For a seco
nd, the same thought crossed my mind.” Why did I say that?
“Really?” Rox asks, chewing on her straw.
I hastily sip my 7-Up, needing a moment to collect myself. “Um, yeah. I guess. No, not really. Maybe?” I stop myself before I spill everything.
“So, Dante,” Rox turns to him, “You never did tell us where you’re from? Do you live around here? It kind of looked like you were just passing through on your motorcycle or whatever.”
Dante shrugs, “You could say that.”
What? I don’t want him to “just pass through”!!! I want him to stay forever! I mean, uh… I don’t know what I mean. This whole situation is tragic. Romeo and Juliet thought they had it bad. Imagine if they had been step siblings.
“So where are you going?” Rox presses.
“Actually…” he trails off.
Please don’t say anything. We made it this far without Rox figuring it out. I almost choked to death on my 7-Up and drowned in the wave pool. Don’t let all that go to waste.
Dante continues, “Actually, I’m just here to visit some, uh, friends…” He looks at me pointedly.
Phew.
“That’s cool,” Rox says. “How long are you staying?”
He shrugs. “Until I feel like leaving.”
I hope he means years from now. Why am I so anxious about this? His being my stepbrother is a huge problem! Isn’t it better for him to leave sooner rather than later? So I can get over my crush in private? Because chances are really good he’s going to be staying at my house while he’s visiting. And it’s just a crush. I don’t even know the guy.
“What do you mean ‘leaving’?” Rox asks.
“I never stay in one place too long.”
Rox turns to me, “Isn’t your stepbrother like that?”
Damn it, she’s figuring it out. I regret ever mentioning my mysterious stepbrother to her. How was I supposed to know that telling her about Dante was a bad idea? I didn’t know things were going to play out like this. Geez, I don’t know why I’m torturing myself. She’s going to find out sooner or later. I just won’t tell her about the kiss until absolutely necessary. “Rox, this is my stepbrother.”
Stepbrother Obsessed Page 5