Socks on and book in hand, I padded out of my room and down the hall, then climbed the ladder to the loft where comfy couches waited. I settled in, finding my spot in the book.
I’d only been reading for maybe half an hour when Molly interrupted me, making me jump.
“You are so predictable,” she said. “If you’re not playing the guitar, you’re reading. How can you stand to spend so much time with your nose in a book?”
“For someone with such good grades—not to mention the fact that you graduated from high school early—you sure aren’t smart about reading.”
She laughed, sitting next to me. “Yeah, we all know reading is only for people who have nothing better to do, such as find hot boyfriends. You have to admit, Matt is dang good-looking.”
I went back to reading, pretending not to hear her.
“So, what do you think?”
Closing my eyes, I leaned back against the couch, waiting a moment before answering. “About?” Of course I knew what. I wasn’t that dense. I just didn’t want to make it obvious.
“Matt, silly.”
“He seems . . . cool.”
“‘Cool’? Girl, he’s captain of the football team!”
“As you keep saying.”
“Plus, he’s way hot. You must have noticed.”
I shrugged and then nodded, holding the book back up. She’d figure out sooner or later that I thought Matt was attractive.
“I knew you’d think so!” She bounced in the couch next to me, then fell silent for a moment, obviously contemplating something. Finally, she bent closer, lowering her voice. “Listen. We’re going hiking soon, then after that, swimming at the pool.”
I nodded—I’d heard already from Grayden the night before.
“Do you remember that totally hot lifeguard who was here last year?”
“Yeah . . .” Where was she going with this? I groaned inwardly. I could guess.
“Do you think you could get his number? I mean, for you, of course, but also for me? I want to make sure I have a backup plan in case things don’t work out between Matt and me.”
I put my book down and stared at her. “Molly, how can you say that? He’s a great guy. Don’t do this—don’t cheat on him.”
“Oh, I’m not going to. Of course not. He’s different from the others. I haven’t even been tempted to look at anyone else.”
“You’ve only been dating for a week. And asking me to get the lifeguard’s number is looking at someone else.” I sighed. “Molly, you’ll never, ever figure things out if you don’t settle down and stop being a player!”
She laughed again. “And you’ll figure things out soon enough, Sam. You gotta run around a bit! Make sure you’ve gotten to know all the guys. Just so you know you’re making the right choice, you know?”
I buried my face in my book, and she laughed more.
“Besides, I was a different person before we started dating. Now I’m a week older, and I really do know a lot more about relationships and how things work. You don’t need to worry.”
I rolled my eyes. We would see how things were looking in a month. If they were still dating. “Okay, go away. I want to finish reading.”
“You and your books.”
“You should try one. They’re awesome.”
“Whatever.” She got up and left, smiling at me as she climbed down the ladder.
***
I made sure there were enough sandwiches and drinks in my backpack for me and Grayden. Mom had decided Cale wasn’t old enough to go on the hike—thank goodness—and it would only be me, Grayden, Matt, Molly, and a few cousins.
We set out, Grayden and me in the middle, a bunch of people behind us, and Molly and Matt in the front. Watching those two hike together was like watching a horror show. You’re too disgusted to want to watch more, but you can’t seem to look away. He was an awful tease—kept pretending to knock Molly over, and she’d get all dramatic and act like she was hurt. Then he’d make it up to her by hugging and tossing her in the air.
I was still fascinated by him—I hadn’t been successful in getting over the crush yet, and I had to soon. Molly would literally have a conniption if she saw me ogling her boyfriend.
But they were being so . . . so touchy! Even Grayden got annoyed, and he was usually easygoing.
Keep your eyes on the trail, I had to tell myself over and over again. Watch where you’re going, or you’ll end up facedown in the dirt.
I never listen to myself.
Matt grabbed Molly, flinging his arms around her, half picking her up, and landed a big one on her lips. She giggled around it for a moment, then finally melted in his arms.
And I tripped over a root.
Neither of them noticed, but Grayden did.
“Why do you keep staring at them?” he asked after he’d pulled me to my feet. For a ten-year-old kid, he sure noticed a lot of things.
“I’m not. Be quiet.”
“Yes, you were. That’s why you tripped.”
“Okay, fine. So I was looking at them. Big deal—they’re ahead of us. It’s bound to happen.”
“But not all the time.”
I shushed him as our cousins caught up, asking if I was okay. I told them I was and let them go ahead, wanting as much distance between myself and the couple as possible.
How on earth was I going to shake this? It wasn’t getting any easier. And then there was the inevitable train wreck at the end. Molly didn’t know how to be in a successful relationship. The longest she’d ever dated anyone was four weeks—four weeks! She’d been so proud of herself. Of course, it didn’t seem to bother the guy that she flirted with all his friends. She ended up being the one to end things when she decided to date his cousin instead.
I sighed. Even if Molly did break Matt’s heart, I would still be more loyal to her than to him. I had to be—she was my only sister, and I really did love her.
***
At the pool, not much happened. Okay, that’s a lie. Tons of stuff happened.
I still can’t believe how badly Molly acted.
Back at the cabins, after the hike and before we went swimming, Molly showed me her new bikini.
“There’s barely anything there at all.”
“I know! Isn’t it great?”
“No, Molly, it isn’t.”
Matt was waiting for us at the pool and handed us our passes. I nearly tripped when I saw him, standing there without his shirt on. His abs were absolutely perfect and well defined. So were his pecs and delts, and it was obvious he didn’t ignore his legs—his calves, even, were amazing. I might’ve drooled if Molly hadn’t beaten me to it.
“Wow, baby! You look amazing!”
“Oh, these muscles?” He looked at them as if surprised they were there, then laughed. “Yeah, they’re pretty cool. I worked hard to get them like this.”
I rolled my eyes and Molly jumped into his arms, planting kisses all over his face. I pretended not to notice, waiting for them to get over their happiness at seeing each other. It had only been half an hour since the hike, for crying out loud. I sighed in exasperation.
Finally, I was able to get to the coolness of the water. I hoped it would clear my thoughts of Matt. I jumped in like a cannonball and splashed Grayden and Cale, who shrieked at me like I’d almost murdered them. Thus began the water fight. Which I won, of course.
Anyway, back to Molly’s behavior. The hot lifeguard didn’t work there anymore, but apparently, somewhere in the universe, there’s a rule that lifeguards have to be attractive, and Molly quickly zoned in on one.
“I’m going off the high dive,” Matt said. “What should I do?”
Grayden’s eyes lit up. “Oh, I know, I know! Do the can opener!”
I smiled at my little brother’s enthusiasm.
Matt nodded excitedly “It’ll be the best can opener you’ve ever seen.”
Matt and Molly both got out of the water, but instead of walking with her boyfriend to the diving board, Molly
sauntered around the pool. I rolled my eyes. I could see the smug expression on her face whenever a guy noticed her, and at least one girl smacked the boy next to her for staring at Molly. I should’ve known the swimming suit wasn’t really for Matt, but for everyone else.
Grayden pointed when it was Matt’s turn on the high dive. He flexed his muscles, making a few different body-builder poses, then finally, when it appeared everyone was watching, he jumped off, executing a perfect can opener. Grayden cheered. I rolled my eyes again. That guy was a serious showoff.
Molly finally got back in the water while Matt was swimming over, but she insisted we move our group nearer to the side of the pool. I shook my head when I realized why—we’d gotten as close as possible to the hot lifeguard, who probably hadn’t taken his eyes off her since we arrived.
Matt reached us, grinning like he was the best thing any of us had ever seen, and Grayden told him how cool he’d been. I think the guy’s head actually got bigger.
“What should I do next?”
“A cannonball!”
“Okay, but I’m not gonna do it on the high dive. I’ve done that before, and it hurts!”
Grayden giggled, and Matt got out of the water again, heading to the line to go off the dive. He made Grayden laugh with his attention-getting antics while waiting. I couldn’t help but smile too. I envied how comfortable he was with himself. I mean, it wasn’t like I struggled with my self-esteem or anything, but this guy’s confidence was seriously impressive.
Eeek! Stop thinking about him, Samara. I acted like I was rubbing water out of my eyes just so I would have an excuse not to look at him.
“Hey, you,” the lifeguard said to Molly.
She pretended not to hear.
“Hot girl in the bikini.”
She looked up at him coyly, a slight smile on her face. “Can I help you?”
I turned away in disgust as they flirted. A lot. And what made it worse was the fact that the rest of the time we were at the pool, whenever Matt came back, Molly was all over him again, ignoring the lifeguard. I couldn’t believe it. Matt most definitely was the best guy in the pool—personality, looks, all of it—and Molly didn’t even care. She had to have every guy. She walked around the pool a couple more times, trying to get as much air time with her new bikini, and later I’m positive I saw the lifeguard get her number.
I felt so bad for Matt. Good thing he didn’t notice—at least, I didn’t think he did.
***
When we got back from swimming, I escaped to the peace of my room to practice my guitar. It was really hard work not to think about what Molly was most likely going to do to Matt. I wanted to help him see what she really was like so he wouldn’t be hurt when he found out for himself. But how? “So, uh, my sister, Molly—you know, the one you’re dating—she’s probably going to end up cheating on you. Just so you know. She does it all the time.”
I pushed those thoughts away. It wasn’t any of my business, was it? My emotions were too jumbled for me to sense my real intentions. And telling would him most certainly make home life incredibly difficult when she found out.
After twenty minutes of strumming, though, my thoughts wouldn’t leave me alone. I had to do something. I put the guitar away and went to find Matt.
The kitchen was crowded—Mom had a contingent of people helping her prepare dinner—and I nearly left when I didn’t see Matt at first. But then, there he was, sitting with Molly on the window seat in the corner of the breakfast nook.
I froze when I saw them, my mouth popping open. Molly was helping Matt learn to fold origami. A look of utter and complete love and adoration was on his face, and what surprised me more—it was on hers as well. He folded something wrong, and she giggled, taking it from him and showing him how to do it right. He put his hand over hers, staring deeply into her eyes, and she blushed slightly, looking down at the paper, then up at him again.
He said something. A twinkle appeared in Molly’s eye, and she pulled out another sheet of paper, then planted a kiss on his lips. He laughed, putting his arms around her and holding her tightly.
I backed up, feeling like I was invading a moment of privacy—I shouldn’t have been there. I couldn’t believe it! Did my sister really love him? Was this relationship going to be the turning point for her?
I fled to my room, trying to calm myself down. Man, I must’ve really liked him if seeing something like that truly bothered me.
***
“Can he see us?” Molly asked. “It looks like he can.”
I waved at her to be quiet, unwilling to lose yet again.
We’d been playing night games in the trees around the cabin for the past hour. Hide-and-seek was the current game, and Matt had won the last three rounds.
We froze as he took a silent step closer, peering through the underbrush, spots of moonlight flickering across him. He was so close, I could almost reach out and touch him. Suddenly he jumped to the side and there was a brief scuffle, then Grayden called out in disappointment.
Molly and I looked at each other, surprised. I hadn’t even known Grayden was there, he’d been so quiet.
Matt shushed him. “Help me find your sisters,” he whispered. “They’ve got to be close.”
Molly squeaked, and I glared at her. Why had we chosen to hide together? I should’ve known it wouldn’t work out. Molly wanted Matt to find her.
But either Matt was pretending he couldn’t hear us or he really hadn’t. I seriously doubted his hearing was that bad.
“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do,” Matt whispered to Grayden. “You search that way,” he pointed, “and I’ll search over here. If you see them, or even think you’ve seen them, signal to me by whistling.”
I smiled at how Matt was going out of his way to make Grayden feel important.
“I can’t whistle,” Grayden said.
“No? It’s okay—Jacob, my younger brother, couldn’t either when he was your age. I had to teach him, but it took a while. Let me think of something else.” Matt stood silent for a moment. My legs were complaining. I hadn’t moved them in five minutes. “How about you call to me like a pigeon?”
“How do I do that?
“Like this. Coo, coo.”
Grayden laughed. “You sound like an owl.”
“No way! Do I? I’ve always wanted to sound like one.”
Grayden laughed again.
“Okay. Can you do that?”
Grayden nodded emphatically.
“Great! And I’ll teach you to whistle when we’re done.”
“Yay!”
Matt put his finger to his lips and motioned for Grayden to start searching in his assigned area.
Grayden went to the left of us—the side I was on—and Matt to the right.
Molly looked at me, an evil glint in her eyes. “Let’s jump up and scare them,” she mouthed.
I nodded—that would be fun. We readied ourselves, waiting as the boys got closer. Then, when they were only a couple of feet away, we sprang out of the bushes, screaming.
Matt lunged for Molly, grabbed her, and flung her over his shoulder, yelling and laughing.
Grayden tried to do the same, but as he jumped for me, his foot landed wrong and he fell backward, using his arm to stop himself. He cried out in pain.
“What’s wrong?” Matt called, putting Molly down.
“He fell,” I said, pushing through the bushes to get to my brother.
Grayden was inspecting his arm when I reached his side. “My arm is bleeding!”
“Not good,” Matt said. “I’m coming.”
He thundered through the bushes as if they were no problem, then fell to his knees near us.
“Is he okay?” Molly said from where Matt had left her.
Matt peered at Grayden’s arm. “It’s bleeding a lot.”
“Let’s take him inside where we can see better,” I said.
Matt nodded, picked Grayden up, and started running toward the cabin with Molly and me trailing
.
“Game’s over,” I yelled to the cousins still hiding. “Grayden got hurt.”
We surprised my mom and aunt by bursting into the kitchen. Matt laid Grayden on the counter, and Mom jumped up to see what was going on.
“Grayden! What happened?”
“I’m fine, Mom. I fell.”
I smiled at my brother’s attempt at bravery. Mom shrieked when she saw her son’s cut-up arm.
Matt turned to her. “I know what to do. I’m going to need some things to clean him up.”
She nodded and ran around, getting the stuff as Matt listed it.
Mom produced hot water and towels. Everything else was in a first aid kit kept near the kitchen door.
Molly and I looked at each other, worried.
“How bad is it?” I asked.
Matt shook his head. He’d started cleaning Grayden’s arm and was concentrating. Blood was pooling on the counter under my brother, and his arm looked like a mess of torn skin and twigs. Mom was crying on the phone to Dad, asking him to hurry home, and Molly made a sound like she was going to throw up. She fled the room.
“I’ll help,” I said. “I’m first-aid certified.” Matt would need assistance, especially since the nearest hospital was an hour and a half away, at least. Grayden was bleeding too badly to wait that long.
“Soak the towels in the hot water. Keep them coming—I need to clean up this arm.”
We worked quickly. Soon, we had the rocks and dirt cleaned out of Grayden’s wound, and Matt and I inspected the damage. It didn’t look as bad as I’d thought it had, earlier. The wound was gross, of course, but not something that would kill Grayden.
“He’s going to need stitches,” Matt said. “I’ll do the best I can, but we have to get him to a doctor as soon as possible.”
I cleaned the wound with hydrogen peroxide, then Matt started Super Gluing the ragged edges together. He finished by putting several butterfly bandages over the cut as an extra precaution to keep things sealed. By that time, Dad had returned from playing pool at the nearby clubhouse.
Samara, A Kilenya Romance (Kilenya Romances Book 1) Page 3