“But they’ve been great and I think we’re good together.”
Sam burst with laughter, slapped Adam on the back, and said, “Run, bro.” I think Ashley completely missed the intention or even heard what he’d said but it brought the rest of us to the brink of losing it. That was my cue. I wasn’t about to sit here and listen to her gush about Adam, about the things I already knew and knew before her. Thankfully as far as I could tell she couldn’t mention how great the sex was with him because then I’d have to throw myself in the lake until I drowned.
“Uh, I’m going to go.” I hopped up. The wedges on my feet made me a little unsteady on the lawn so I slipped those off to make better time.
“Hey,” Sam called after me, “I’m in town until Sunday. I expect to see you tomorrow.”
Throwing a wave over my shoulder was the best I could do. Turning back would’ve been a mistake and I was trying not to make any more.
Chapter Sixteen
With Sam home for the weekend, the five of us wanted to hang out as much as possible. My only worry was that Adam would bring the new girl with him. Which, ok, I knew this is what I told him I wanted and I had to live with my decisions, but he could do so much better. She seemed clingy and not overly … smart. I hate saying that because I believe women need to stick together but sometimes it’s necessary.
Since it was supposed to be beautiful, we planned a day at the beach because Flannery and I love being out in the sun and the guys can’t say no to us. Flan and I weren’t in on the particulars because we were busy packing a couple of bags. You could never be too prepared where the beach was concerned. Extra clothes, extra sunscreen, and lots and lots of snacks. If the guys went too long without eating it was likely someone would get bitten.
Sam drove up in his truck, which didn’t make a lot of sense as far as I could tell. Why wouldn’t we all ride together? But Adam was driving separate as well, giving Flannery and me the backseat of Cain’s car to ourselves to annoy the hell out of him for the forty-five minute drive. Once we got there, I found out the real reason. Sam brought his dad’s boat up with him. A day out on the water was just what the doctor ordered.
Or at least that’s what I thought until I saw Adam pull up with Ashley beside him in the front seat.
“Fuck me,” I said under my breath.
“You don’t have to ask twice.” Sam smiled widely.
“Ha ha. Did you know he was bringing her?” Sam shook his head. “I don’t want to be stuck out there all day with them being all together.”
“Then tell him, chicken shit. Fuck it if she’s here, too. Tell him you want to have a hundred babies with him.”
“People need to stop saying that. That’s the furthest thing from what I want. Kids … I’m not sure about that one.”
“You know, you’ve never really said what your parents did to fuck you up so bad. Want to elaborate now?” Before I could answer, I watched Sam’s attention go from me to over my shoulder so I knew the new couple was approaching.
“Good luck getting that out of her,” Adam teased. The muscles in my shoulders relaxed. He teased me. This friend thing was going to happen, or at least we were trying. I couldn’t mess this up.
“It’s not that great of a story.” Turning to Sam, I threw my famous bitch glare. “And there’s nothing wrong with me.”
“You keep telling yourself that, sweetheart.”
The guys worked on getting the boat in the water while us girls unloaded our bags. Then we all piled onto the boat, which immediately began to move. From the years of knowing these guys, I’d become comfortable being on the water with one of them at the wheel. It seemed everyone in Michigan knew how to drive a boat and was natural on the water. Still, Flannery and I sat safely in the seats while Sam sped up away from the dock.
There were times we’d go out that I had to fight the urge to put a lifejacket on because of my own irrational fear that the thing would sink. The first time, I did wear the jacket but now I was ok. Out in the middle of the lake might be the most tranquil place I’ve ever been. The summer before we’d spend hours out there. Those had been good times.
“Well, I’m jumping in,” Sam said the minute the boat stopped.
Ashley began to pull her shorts and shirt off just like Flannery and I were.
“God,” I whispered at my best friend, “why can’t she be chubby? Or have weird boobs or something?”
Flannery snickered quietly. “Jealous you is kind of funny.”
“I’m not jealous.” I was but that admission would never pass my lips. I wasn’t jealous of her per se. She was with Adam which I’d come to realize was where I wanted to be.
“Sure you’re not.” Cain popped his head in between us startling the life out of me.
“Asshole.” I jumped back. “Oh man, do you think they could hear us?”
“Nah.” He shook his head. “I only heard the jealous part because I was sneaking up on you.” Then he looked to Flannery and her blue bikini. It was one of those times that I was grateful I couldn’t read thoughts. “Ok, time to go in.”
“I’m going to lay out with Kendra,” she squealed when he picked her up while moving toward the side.
“Later,” he said then tossed her in. We all laughed when she hit the surface.
“Ok, morons, come on in with me,” she called out.
One after another, they all jumped in. I hadn’t decided if I was swimming so I hung back. Didn’t realize Adam was still putting his clothes into his bag so we were the only ones left on board.
“We could take off and leave them all behind,” I said with a smile, hoping my sunglasses hid the way my eyes were checking him out. I should’ve known I wanted to keep him around. He was the only one my body reacted to so quickly.
“That would be fun.” He smiled back.
I’d been standing on the bow but hopped down to drop my own bag back by the seats.
“So, is this a permanent kind of thing?” I nodded my head toward Ashley’s laughter.
“Ah, don’t think so.” Adam eyed my reaction. When I gave none, he fell back against the side of the boat and dropped his voice. “I wasn’t going to invite her today but fucking Sam was talking about it last night and she got all excited. I didn’t want to say, “Hey, I don’t want you there” in front of everyone, you know? She kinda invited herself.”
“You’re a nice guy, Adam.”
“Not that nice. After today, she’s got to go. What the hell was that last night? When did it become normal to go out a couple of times and start planning a future together?” I tried to keep the giggles to a minimum but almost lost it right there. She was totally planning their future, which was the main reason I already hated her. That was my future she was planning. If I could still make it happen. “Anyway, rebounds and such.”
“How much of a rebound?” I said it without thinking. “Sorry. Don’t answer that.”
“Friends, right?” He eyed me cautiously. I nodded. “Not that much of a rebound.”
Inside, I did a backflip, a cartwheel, turned it into a triple round-off and stuck the landing. He hadn’t had sex with her. I knew I had no right to him anymore but man, that made me smile. Apparently on the outside, too.
“You don’t have to look so happy about that, you know.”
“Sorry.” I tried, unsuccessfully, to wipe it off my face but there are things out of my control. “Listen, Adam.” I moved in a little closer so I could speak even quieter. “I do really need to talk to you alone sometime. I know I might not deserve that from you, but I’m asking for it.”
With as long as he paused I thought he was going to tell me to go to hell. He’d have every right. Instead he said, “Yeah, ok. I’m not sure when though.”
“That’s fine. Just … whenever you’re available. I’ll make it work.”
“Hey, douche canoes,” Sam called out at us. “Are you getting in or what?”
The moment between Adam and me was over. It had been a small one but left me wit
h so much hope. Still I didn’t know if I was jumping into the water until Adam strong armed me to the side then pushed me in the way he had every time I didn’t want to get wet. In a small way, I felt bad for Ashley. She didn’t know what was headed her way later and while none of us did it on purpose, she was kind of on the outside of our little group. All our inside jokes went over her head and every story we told didn’t include her.
After playing in the water for a while, Flannery and I climbed up to lay out on the bow. Beach towels kept the fiberglass from melting the skin off our bones, but the warmth of the sun dried us quickly. It was quiet and peaceful even if we could hear other people enjoying the day in the distance.
Then Ashley joined us, killing all joy in my body. Ok, that might be an overreaction but man, this was hard. To sit and act normal with my best friend while the man I love’s new girlfriend, or date or whatever, sits just on the opposite side. I hated having to act mature. Especially when, to be honest, she wasn’t that bad. Not the sharpest pencil in the box but she was nice.
“So,” her too high voice chirped into the comfortable silence Flannery and I had created, “are you sure you and Sam aren’t a couple?”
“Yes,” I groaned. “Being with Sam would be like being with my brother.”
“Sorry, you two just seem so … close, comfortable.”
“That comes from years of friendship. Not to mention we had to get close to get these two losers back together in college.” My elbow shoved Flannery’s arms.
“Hey.” She pushed back.
“You broke up? What happened?”
“Yeah, in college,” Flannery said back. “And it was just some issues we had to work out.”
No way was Flannery going to tell a practical stranger about what really happened between them. You don’t just say, “Oh, I was going to sell my virginity without telling my boyfriend. No big deal, right?” Wrong. Two years later and Cain still got visibly agitated when we joked about it. Although he did his best to play along whenever it came up and if you didn’t know him, you might miss the darkness in his eyes. But it was there.
“So, the wedding is next month?”
“Yeah … oh wow … seven weeks?” Flannery looked over to see me nodding. We needed to head back to New York for a fitting soon.
“I’m sure it’ll be beautiful.”
Ashley said this in the way a person would when fishing for an invitation. And Flannery could be too nice sometimes. I grabbed her hand giving it a squeeze so she’d look over at me. This time I shook my head much harder so she’d know that whatever happened, Ashley did not get invited. I’d explain it to her later. Adam didn’t need her sniffing around after he walked away. Didn’t need that at all and I didn’t want her near him if I could help it.
As dinnertime approached, us girls wanted something more than just the snacks we’d packed. Well, Flannery and I did because I didn’t ask Ashley what she wanted. Sam got us back to shore expertly and while the guys pulled the boat from the water, we packed the cars up. For moments like that, I thought cover-ups were the best thing ever invented. Still got to be beachy without having to get naked in a communal changing room.
“Hey, do we want to go back to our place and—”
I grabbed Cain’s wrist to stop him from talking, then used my eyes to plead with Flannery to jump into action. “I thought we could—”
“Hey, Cain,” she slipped her arms around his waist, “I was thinking you could take me over by that tree and kiss me like you mean it.”
“Don’t have to ask twice.” He pulled her behind him as I silently mouthed a “thank you” her way.
Neither of us wanted to hang out with Ashley any longer than we had to but guys … they could be dense at picking up on what isn’t being said.
“God, I can’t wait to move.” I gave an exaggerated shiver making the guys laugh.
“Well, we’re going to head out.” Adam said his goodbyes except to the couple making out, thankfully, on the other side of a large tree so we couldn’t see them. It wasn’t until Adam’s car left the parking lot that Sam came up beside me.
“Didn’t want Cain to accidentally invite the new girl, huh?”
“You are so smart. No really. It was only obvious.” He gave my back a playful shove.
“But we’re grilling at their place, right?”
“Obviously.”
“Ok, I’ll call Adam to let him know in case he wants to come back.” Nodding, I let him go because he had to take the boat all the way back to his parents’ house then head back over toward Ann Arbor. It’d be weird one day when Cain and Flannery moved, I assumed, even closer to Detroit. Cain had chosen his place only because it was closer to ours, still toward Detroit but so it wouldn’t take two hours to pick Flannery up and take her to his place. But now that she wasn’t in school anymore, there really was no reason not to relocate.
I hated that we weren’t all going to be together every day anymore.
Chapter Seventeen
“Are you going to break it up or do I need to get the hose out?” I stood more than arm’s length away from the couple in heat just to be sure neither could take a swipe at me. “Come on, Flan, you’ve done your job well.”
She snickered, pulling away from his lips with her flushed cheeks and glossy eyes. I was thinking I’d be starting the grill when we got home so they could have some “alone time.” Cain gave me an annoyed glare because obviously, he didn’t like the interruption. And swim trunks weren’t exactly the best clothing option to hide exactly how he was feeling. Those two really made me want to believe that love sometimes does work out. For their sake, I hoped it would.
Flannery and I made camp in the backseat again, leaving poor Cain on his own to deal with whatever perverted thoughts were running through his head.
“Oh, sorry, Cain.” I grabbed the back of the passenger’s seat to pull myself forward.
“For?”
“The blue balls.” He laughed. “Hey, if you were a little quicker on the uptake it wouldn’t have been necessary.”
“What are you talking about?” He glanced at me then back to the road.
“Adam doesn’t want that girl coming back to cook out. He didn’t want her here today but Sam has a big mouth, so … ”
“And you know this how?”
“Oh my God, dudes need to actually talk to each other once in a while.” I fell back against the seat to Flannery’s giggles.
“We do. It’s just recently he hasn’t been talking about you so I wanted to enjoy the break.” Ouch. Now logically I knew that even though they’re guys the subject of our breakup would come up. And holy crap, I just called it a breakup. I’d rubbed off on Flannery many ways in the past few years. The one major way she influenced me was that I hit more. Playful taps, really and for whatever reason the guys just went with it, so Cain got it to the back of the head.
“What?” He laughed. “I’m not supposed to enjoy non-Kendra related things because that’s gonna be tough for me.”
“Hey, how come you guys let me and Flannery abuse you?” I tapped the back of his head again for effect.
“Um, hot girls touching you is never a bad thing.”
Huh. Cain just acknowledged for the first time in two and half years that I wasn’t a troll out looking to be hunted by the villagers. That was weird but not unenjoyable. Not that he’d ever give me a second look, or like I wanted him to, but Cain and his compliments were usually only for Flannery.
Back home, I quickly changed into a pair of jean shorts and a t-shirt with my hair pulled into a messy bun because it was still hot outside and we’d be cooking. Or someone would be since grilling really was out of my scope of talents. As suspected, Cain and Flannery disappeared so I did get started on the things I could do. When Sam came through the door relief washed over me because he could grill and we’d still be able to eat it.
The apartment building Cain chose had a communal outdoor living area with a fire pit and built-in cooking area. I know
he paid a lot in rent but it was worth it.
Sam and I were already outside putting things together when Adam got there. I’d totally forgotten to ask Sam if he’d made the call like he said so it took me by surprise. Adam set a cooler full of beer and water over by the fire pit because we all knew that’s where we’d end up. Sam threw some steaks on while he and Adam argued over the best way to cook the damn things, while I brought everything down to throw a salad together and also throw together a quick side of potatoes with those packages that you can steam in the microwave.
Finally, when we were almost done, Cain and Flannery wandered down looking suspiciously showered, tired, and happy. It couldn’t be more obvious but they didn’t care and neither did we. It did us all some good to see people happy to be with each other. Which brought be me back to Adam.
I’d felt his eyes on me a few times but when I turned he looked away. It was like old times, the five of us sitting around the fire Cain started, eating the perfectly cooked steak, joking around. Sam and Cain harassed Adam about Ashley but he just groaned and said we wouldn’t be seeing her again. I sighed in relief but Flannery vocalized her happiness.
Cain and Flannery said they’d clean up since they’d been too preoccupied to help set up or cook. No one was about to argue with that. The other two and I sat comfortably around the fire all quiet. I had so much to say but wasn’t about to get into it with Sam right there. Well, I needed him to leave so I gave his leg a nudge then cocked my head toward the building hoping he’d get the picture.
He did.
“I’m going to go make sure those two haven’t gotten into any trouble.” He stood, stretching to his full height. “You two be good,” he added with a chuckle that made me want to toss a beer bottle at his head.
“I take it you made that happen?” Adam said, staring at the flames flickering in front of us. The sun wasn’t completely gone and the pink clouds over us were beautiful, giving me something to look at, something that wasn’t him, and maybe my face wouldn’t turn bright red as I confessed my feelings for him. “So,” he moved to the edge of his seat, dropping his elbows to his knees, “what’d you want to talk about?”
Up for Forever Page 11