Love on the Lifts
Page 11
You see Jade sitting in the front seat of a convertible, next to her brother Dex. But before you can point it out, Jade yells “Tash!” and then stands up on the seat. “Over here!”
You and Tasha head to Jade and Dex’s car, toss your stuff in the trunk, and jump over the sides into the backseat.
“Hey,” Dex says to you. “Happy birthday!”
“You, too,” you answer. Dex’s birthday is a day before yours—a year and a day, actually— something you learned ages ago, when you and your parents came for a visit. “Do anything fun?”
He shrugs. “You know, the usual.” You don’t know what “the usual” means, but you’re too caught up in looking at Dex’s face to ask. His hair is the same curly blond it’s always been, but in the last year he seems to have grown cheekbones—and a beard. Really, it’s just light blond stubble across his cheeks and chin, but it looks very manly. You think about your plan and wonder if Dex is the guy to flirt with. Maybe even kiss. Before you can decide he says, “So, where to, ladies? Want to come to the country club with Jade and me, or should I drop you somewhere else?”
Tasha looks at you. “Your choice,” she says. “We can go with Dex, or we can head to my parents’ place and unpack. Whatever you want.”
Click here if you decide to go to the country club with Dex.
- - - - -
Click here if you’d rather head home first.
Dex looks at you through the rearview mirror with blue eyes that are so dark they’re almost navy. “So?” he asks.
Even though you’re still a little tired from the train trip and being woken up right before the station was called, you decide you might as well make the most of your birthday weekend. “To the country club!” you say.
Dex floors it, and Jade whoops as she takes the elastic out of her hair and lets it whip around her head. “I love the summer!” she shouts into the wind.
You lean back against the seat and let the sun soak into your skin. Dex is going too fast for you all to have a real conversation anyway.
He pulls up to the front of the country club, and a valet comes around to open the car door for you and Jade. There’s another one on Tasha and Dex’s side, opening their door.
“Will we have the car all afternoon?” the valet on Dex’s side asks him.
“Not sure yet,” Dex answers. “I’m at the ladies’ beck and call today.” His eyes flick over to you, and you smile. Then the four of you head inside to the dining room.
“I’m so hungry I could eat, like, six salads,” Jade says.
Dex rolls his eyes. “Jade, you wouldn’t be so starving if you actually ate breakfast.”
“A cup of coffee totally counts as a normal breakfast, right?” Jade turns to you and Tasha.
You shrug. “I usually eat cereal,” you say.
“And I usually eat yogurt,” Tasha adds. “But if that’s what you want to eat for breakfast, I think that’s totally fine, Jade.”
“See?” Jade says to Dex.
You’ve made it to the maître d’ stand, and the four of you stop.
“Would you like a table outside or inside?” the maître d’ asks.
“Absolutely outside!” Jade says, before anyone else can answer.
You can’t help but smile at her summer excitement as you follow her, Tasha, and Dex to the patio. You sit down under an umbrella, overlooking the pool and the tennis courts, and very quickly there’s a glass of iced tea sweating in your hand and Cobb salad sitting in front of you. Dex is next to you with his own iced tea, and a chicken sandwich on his plate. He’s very involved in eating. Tasha gives you a look that very clearly means: Talk to him! And so you clear your throat and you do.
“So, um, Dex, do you have any special plans for the summer?” you ask him.
He nods as he finishes swallowing. “Well, I’m going to work in my dad’s law office out here—they have a satellite office because two of the partners have summer houses nearby—and then I’m going to play as much tennis as possible.”
Tennis! You’d almost forgotten how good he was at tennis. You’re pretty good, too, actually, but he doesn’t know that. He’s never seen you play. And you’ve never talked about it, either, because you hate sounding braggy. “Oh right,” you say, “you won the junior tennis tournament for the club last summer when I was here.”
He nods, taking a sip of iced tea. “I’m hoping for a repeat, but this time with the adult tennis tournament. They won’t let me play with the kids anymore.”
You laugh. “Does that mean you’re officially a grown-up now?”
“Oh, absolutely,” he says, with mock sincerity.
You look over at Tasha, who’s listening to Jade talk about colors for their dorm room, and Tasha gives you a subtle nod. Clearly you’re on the right track with this flirting business.
“So now that you’re a grown-up,” you say, “does that mean that you, um, read the newspaper every morning?”
“And brew my own coffee, and wear a tie to work, and walk the dog,” he answers.
“You doink.” Jade stops her discussion about whether hunter green and navy blue would make their dorm room feel too dark to admonish her brother. “We don’t even have a dog!”
Dex laughs, and you do, too.
“Guess according to Jade I’m not quite a grown-up yet.”
“Oh, little brother,” Jade tells him, “even when you’re ninety-nine and I’m a hundred, I’ll still call you out on being a doink.”
“Do you see what I have to deal with?” Dex says to you.
“Well, I don’t think you’re a doink,” you answer. “You’re not at all doink-ish to me.”
Dex turns to Tasha. “Why don’t you bring her around more often?”
You try not to smile too wide, but clearly you’re not so bad at flirting. Just as you take another bite of your salad, three guys and three girls in tennis whites come over.
“Dex!” one of the guys says. “Any chance you’re free this afternoon? Jed and Cali bailed, and we need two more for mixed doubles.”
“Jade?” one of the girls says. “Any interest in playing against us with your brother?”
Jade wrinkles her nose. “The only kind of ‘serve’ I plan to think about today is the kind where the guy at the pool brings me lemonade while I read magazines and get tan.”
“Well, I can play,” Dex says, “even if my sister won’t.”
Tasha raises an eyebrow at you, then says, “I don’t know if she’s mentioned it, Dex, but that girl sitting to your right has a killer backhand.”
The tennis guy who spoke to Dex first looks at you, intrigued. “You play?” he asks.
You nod. “I’m not as good as Dex, but I’m on my school’s tennis team.”
Dex cocks his head at you. “How did I not know that?” he asks.
You shrug.
“Well, you want to play with us this afternoon? Did you bring tennis clothes?” He takes another sip of his iced tea.
You do have some tennis clothes in your bag in the car. . . .
“Or you can come hang by the pool with us,” Jade says, “if you’d rather relax. You can always play tomorrow.”
Pick up a copy of
summer love
to continue on your journey to find your perfect match!
As cute as Dex has become, you can’t stop thinking about the time he peed in his pants the summer he turned seven because he didn’t want to run to the bathroom in the middle of the Fourth of July fireworks. And how he once gave himself a hickey on his arm just to see if he could. And the way he used to tease you because you didn’t like swimming in the ocean. There was just too much history here. Kissing Dex would be like kissing your cousin. Besides, you’re feeling kind of grimy from your train ride and wouldn’t mind washing your face and unpacking for the weekend before starting on your flirt
hunt.
“I think maybe a trip back to the house would be best,” you tell Tasha, “as long as you really don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” she says. And then turns to Dex, “To the house, sir!”
Jade laughs. “Dex getting his license is the best thing that ever happened to me. Now I have a chauffeur to take me everywhere!”
“Hey, watch it, or I’ll leave you all on the side of the road,” Dex says, staring straight ahead.
“Do that, and I’m sure we’ll find some cute boys to take us where we want to go, right, girls?” Jade turns around to wink at you and Tasha.
“Absolutely!” Tasha says.
Pick up a copy of
summer love
to continue on your journey to find your perfect match!
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