by Stacy Borel
“I figured you didn’t take it back.” A small smile played on his lips.
“You figured right. Thank you.” It was all I could say.
His eyes wandered around our small space, taking in all of our decorations, and how we lived. My over dramatic attempt to have an adult space, and Aurora’s child-like purple explosion. I was not super uncomfortable with him looking at my things, but it made me feel exposed. Honestly, my side of the room didn’t say much about who I was. It was generic and not personalized at all. Well, with the exception of a small frame of my parents on the nightstand next to my bed. It had been taken two years ago before I went to my Junior prom. I hadn’t wanted to go, but my mom had told me I needed to experience it. I didn’t go for myself, I went for her.
But it wasn’t a bad memory exactly. My mom had been overjoyed at the opportunity to style me for the prom. I had played dress-up and let her pick everything out. When I’d left for the dance that evening, I didn’t actually end up going. I drove myself to the local drive-in movie theater and watched the new X-Men movie. I’d had no one to hang out with and refused to be the girl who sat at the table alone, because nobody wanted to dance with me.
I had no clue if I should be going to get dressed, or if he was simply stopping by to prove a point that he keeps his word. The coffee was a nice gesture, but not needed. While I wasn’t particularly happy that he’d showed up unannounced, my inner girly side was relishing in it. He truly looked incredible.
There was an awkward silence, which followed after he’d handed me coffee and I couldn’t help but notice he wouldn’t take his eyes off me. I squirmed, shifting from one leg to the other and casually attempted to comb down my hair. He was picking up on my discomfort and played on it.
“Nice shirt. I don’t remember us playing Power Rangers as kids.”
I bit down on the side of my lip. “That’s ’cause we didn’t.”
“The pink girl, she was the hot one.” He was looking directly at my chest.
“I wouldn’t know,” I replied. I tried to cross my arms to divert his attention, but wasn’t doing a very good job of it while holding a hot cup of joe.
He chuckled.
“Alright Captain Pervert, now that you’ve sufficiently gotten an eye full and made Hadley all weird, what are you doing here this early in the morning?” Aurora asked, stepping up in my defense. “Your texting this morning nearly got you killed…by me…with my bare hands,” she said between sips. “The coffee is all that is saving you right now. So what gives?”
He walked over and plopped down on my bed as if he’d done it a thousand times before. “Well, I’m here to get you both into your bikinis so we can do a wet t-shirt contest and vote whose ass is the roundest.”
I coughed loudly, while Aurora busted out laughing. No freaking way. Who in the hell did he think he was?
Aurora made a loud buzzing sound. “Try again. I see you’re in swim trunks but what are you really wanting us to do?”
“Okay, okay. One of the guys can use his dad’s pontoon boat and we are towing it to the bayou to do some swimming and bridge jumping. Figured it would be a fun thing do to on a hot day and I came to drag you ladies out for a day off campus.”
I shook my head. “I don’t do bridge jumping. And do you know what lurks in bayous?”
Wrigley raised a confused brow. “Fish?”
Was he stupid? “Alligators. Freaking alligators with sharp teeth the size of my fingers.” I held up my hand and wiggled them to drive home my point.
He grinned. “Hadley, I had no clue you were such a damsel in distress.”
“I’m not in distress. I’m not going,” I stated firmly. Meantime, I saw my roommate happily going through her drawers and pulling out her bright green bikini.
He stood up and came over to me. Placing his hands on my shoulders and looking me in the eyes, I held completely still. His touch was warm, and his scent was washing over me like a blanket I could wrap myself in. I had to try to not lean forward and bury my nose in his neck.
“Bathing suit, Hadley. Now,” he demanded. “I’m not taking no for an answer.”
I jerked my head back. “You can’t boss me around.”
His head cocked slightly to the side. “Really? I’m nearly twice your size, and will muscle you over my shoulder and kidnap you.” He arms dropped. “Besides, we have that new best friend status. So let’s roll, Bestie.”
I shifted and gave him my back. “You can’t seriously be considering going.” I knew the answer because Aurora gave me a look. “Gators, Aurora. And who knows what else is in there. This won’t be like swimming in a chlorinated pool.”
“Nope, it won’t. It’ll be much more fun. Have you ever jumped off a bridge?”
“Well, no.”
“Have you ever been on a boat full of hot guys?”
I blushed. Why did she always have to be so brazen? “No,” I spoke softly.
“You think I’m hot,” Wrigley teased Aurora.
“Meh. You’re alright.” She looked at me and winked.
Wrigley clutched his chest. “Ouch. Bullet straight to my heart.”
“Drama queen.”
“You think I’m hot, don’t you Hadley?” He put me on the spot.
Okay, as much as I would shout it from the rooftops that yes, I think he is the hottest guy on the planet, being asked that question by the object of my affection made me clam up. My poor palms got sweaty, and I shut my mouth. I willed my face not to turn bright red, and I wanted more than anything to not give myself away.
“You’re not her type, Romeo,” Aurora laughed as she came to my rescue.
“Damn. Tough crowd,” he said, but he was looking at me like he was still waiting for an answer. An answer I knew that he knew. He wanted me to say it, but I would rather die than give him the satisfaction of knowing that I found him attractive. He had all the females under the sun expressing their interest in him. I wouldn’t become one of the ‘Wrigley loving sheep’.
“I’m not going swimming.” I protested, pathetically attempting to change the subject back to the important one.
Wrigley narrowed his eyes at me. “Hadley, find your sun screen, get your bathing suit on, toss on some flip flops because I’m leaving in ten minutes. Nobody said you had to swim, just that you’re tagging along, now, let’s go. I’m not walking out of this door without you.”
I guess the new best friend rules state that he gets to boss me around. I could have stood there looking like a hot mess, attempting to argue with him for the rest of the day, but I knew I wasn’t going to win. I think he really meant it when he’d said he would throw me over his shoulder. I also knew my roommate would be of no help. She would likely have her phone recording the whole thing to post on Instagram.
I dropped my shoulders and my defensive mode disappeared. I guess my day was planned for me. Pontoon boating with Wrigley’s friends. Sighing, I left the room briefly to go to the bathroom, comb my hair, brush my teeth, and snag my sunscreen from under the sink. When I came out, Wrigley was still sitting on my bed. I tried not to make eye contact with him, as other ideas were lurking in my mind about him being there. Wouldn’t it be nice to lie down next to him for the entire day. The errant thought made me blush but I’d say that would be a better day spent, than getting pink under the sun with strangers.
When I pulled my suit out of my top drawer, Aurora whistled, “Ooh la la. That’s super cute.”
“Thanks,” I said, keeping my head down.
My bathing suit was a cute, black two piece with fringe across the low cut top. It wasn’t super revealing like a string bikini, but it wasn’t modest like a one piece either. One thing I’d never really felt self-conscious about was my body. While I may be short, and my thighs touched at the top, I was thin around my midsection. My boobs weren’t small, requiring me to wear a training bra or anything, but I also wasn’t so large I needed to wear a bra all the time for support. I was fit, and my body showed it.
“I have
a beach bag if you want to toss your stuff in it.” Aurora offered as she folded a towel and put it inside. I nodded and dropped my things in.
Standing up, Wrigley seemed quite proud of himself. Rubbing his hands together, he said, “Ladies… let’s go.”
Outside, I recognized Wrigley’s car parked in the lot. It was a blue, four door Jeep Wrangler. His parents had gotten it for him when he’d turned seventeen. He would have gotten one sooner, but from what my mom had said, he failed his driving test twice, and Paul wouldn’t let him take it again until he was certain he’d pass the third time. Jeeps were his family’s thing. Donna had one, and so did Turner. I’d had no clue he’d driven it here from Georgia, but I wasn’t surprised. Inside, it was very clean and still had a new car scent. How on earth did it still smell like that when it was over a year old? And as a typical eighteen-year-old, weren’t boys supposed to be gross, with soda cans lying all over, and gym bags?
“Did you just get this detailed?” I asked curiously.
I’d chosen to sit in the back, feeling entirely too uncomfortable being in the front next to him. He looked at me through the rearview mirror. His brows drew together. “No, why?”
I glanced around. “It’s awfully clean in here.”
“I’m a clean guy.”
I scoffed, “No guy is this clean.”
We had already started off down the road, and Aurora was staying quiet in the front seat as she flipped through texts on her phone.
Stopping at a light, he twisted to look at me. “Hadley, I’ve never been a messy person. You’ve been in my room dozens of times. Have you ever seen it dirty?”
I thought about it. “No, I just assumed your mom made you clean it before you had company or she did it herself.”
The side of his mouth tipped up. “Nah. She got after my brothers all the time for their messes, but never me. I just prefer it this way.”
Hmmm, yet another thing I didn’t know about him that I felt I should have. Not that it was a big deal, but I used to feel like I knew him better than most. Now he’d admitted two new things about him in as many days and I wondered how much I didn’t know about him. We drove a couple of miles and I wondered where we were going. I wasn’t familiar with the area since I had yet to really wander off campus. But were we going to his place, his friends, or straight to the boat dock? My question was quickly answered as we pulled up to a park that had a parking lot meant for boat trailers. The water in this area of the Gulf was dark, and deep. The park had kids running around playing, and boats were being trailered into the water. I looked around for a bathroom that I could change into my swimsuit. There was a public one up on a small hill.
When we parked, Wrigley said, “I’m going to go help the guys get everything ready. Make sure you have everything and we will load up and head out.”
There was a Ford truck with a large pontoon party boat attached and four guys mingling around it. Wrigley headed straight for it, and I looked to Aurora to see what she’d wanted to do. She was staring at the group of guys and smiling.
“Oh good, he’s here,” she said, pleased.
I assumed she meant surfer guy who was play boxing another guy. We both had the same thing in mind to go change into our bathing suits and walk over to the group. I carried the bag just to have something to do with my hands so I didn’t feel useless standing there. And heaven forbid I start clicking my nails. So there were six of us. I didn’t feel too weird since we were the only girls. It was females I felt the most uncomfortable around because they were the ones who judged me more than most.
“Hadley, Aurora, these are some of the guys I play with every day. Austin, Bishop, Matt, and Christian, but we call him Chris.”
They all politely smiled and nodded as each one’s name was said. While they were all attractive, Wrigley was still the best looking of the five. They were all pretty typical looking baseball players, with tanned skin, and brown messy hair. The only exception being Bishop. He was the blond with longer hair. I could understand why he’d gained Aurora’s attention. I found it funny that these boys had probably spent every waking minute together and they’d already picked up each other’s behaviors.
“Hey, everything is set, I’m going to back it into the water.” Matt said to the guys. “Wrigley, can you stay in and unhook it?”
“Yep!” He hollered as he climbed into the boat.
They all did their thing as the boat got put in the water, Matt went and parked the truck, and Wrigley pulled up to the dock so we all could get in. Austin gave Aurora and me a helping hand, and I found a seat just behind the driver’s side.
Aurora came and sat next to me, but she was focused on Bishop. I knew at some point, probably soon, I’d be sitting alone. I think Wrigley planned on being the driver. Which was fine. I’d rather be back here by myself, than stuck sitting next to him, attempting conversation that was forced.
“We ready to go?” Matt asked.
“No, we are waiting on two more.” Austin said.
“Who else is coming?”
“Livi and Abby.”
Wrigley glanced back at me. He knew I hadn’t had the greatest first meeting with her at the field. “Whose genius idea was it to invite them?” he asked.
“Dude, who doesn’t want to see them in their bikinis? The way I see it, right now there’s two chicks on the boat and five guys. Don’t you think the amount of dicks should be at least somewhat equal to the tits?” Matt tried to point out, like it was the most obvious thing ever.
Aurora laughed. “Well, considering the way you’re running your mouth, I’m thinking that there’s actually only four dicks on this boat, since yours seems small enough to try and come up with something so brilliant.” She winked at him while he scowled.
The guys all busted out laughing. Chris said, “Dude, I think she’s got you there.”
“Man, you know what I’m packing. We’re all shower in the same locker room.”
Wrigley jumped in on the easy joke. “You saying you’ve been checking out my junk?”
Matt stuttered. “No. I’m saying my dick isn’t little. Every girl I’ve been with has loved it and said it was huge.”
The four other guys all busted his chops for bragging about something that wasn’t true. While they heckled each other, I sat in my seat wondering how today was going to go and my apprehension about seeing a girl who clearly wasn’t fond of me. I mean, maybe I could change her mind if she just hung out with me for a little bit. She could see that I’m a nice person, who can be fun. I won’t be fun swimming because gators might be lying beneath the surface. But maybe she could get to know me on the boat.
Seemed just as I thought of her, she appeared out of nowhere. “What are we laughing at boys?”
Livi walked up, hips swaying, and a picture of seduction. She was wearing a deep blue string bikini and cut off shorts that were so short her cheeks were hanging out of the back with each step she made. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun on top of her head, and even without make-up she was a sight to see. She had yet to see meek little me sitting in the back of the boat as she was helped on board by Austin. One of her little triplets from the other day followed behind wearing something similar. I wasn’t surprised. These two reminded me of Rachel McAdams and her friends on Mean Girls. They were their own little bitch squad.
Regardless of how I felt or what I’d conjured up in my mind about her, I was going to make the most of an uncomfortable situation. That resolve vanished the moment Livi’s eyes locked on Wrigley and she smiled as sweetly as she could manage. Maybe I was being too hopeful.
“Hey Wrigley. Looking awfully good over there behind that driver’s seat.” She batted her lashes.
“Thanks,” he mumbled.
She went to his side and set her bag down. Her sidekick followed but quickly saw there wasn’t room for her to put her things. Wrigley didn’t appear to be thrilled by this, and neither was her friend. She glanced around and saw an empty seat next to Aurora. Her eyes grew round
and she bumped Livi with her elbow.
“What?” She twisted to look at her friend. Her tone irritated.
She glanced in the direction her friend was looking and spotted Aurora. My roommate sat, watching the whole exchange and grinned, giving her fingers a wiggle in the air as a playful, teasing hello. I knew better. There was nothing friendly about it. She didn’t care for Livi but she was never going to be one to let her get the best of the situation. Aurora could spend this entire boat trip pretending Livi wasn’t here and it wouldn’t affect her in the least. Her roll it off the shoulder attitude was something I admired greatly.
“I think you’ve met Aurora and Hadley.” Wrigley stated, a smirk on his face.
Livi twisted and finally spotted me sitting in a ball in a corner seat of the boat. I gave a curt head nod. I could’ve said hi, but considering the state of her face, she definitely was pissed I was breathing the same air as her. How did people even get like that in the first place? She hated me before she even knew me. I couldn’t comprehend it stemming from jealousy. Girls weren’t jealous of me. So what if Wrigley gave me a little attention. He was interested in a friendship, nothing more. I wasn’t a threat to her in any way. Females were strange when it came to picking and choosing who they wanted to be friendly toward.
“Hi,” she said snidely—it was clear she wanted nothing more than to drop me off at the dock and leave me there.
“Hi,” I repeated but much more timidly.
Matt stepped back to where we were and said, “This is Olivia, and Faith.” As if we needed intros.
“It’s Livi,” she stated coolly. Matt was clearly not her favorite person.
He chuckled. “I know, Kitten. Thought a formal introduction needed formal names.”
“You’re annoying.” She curled her lip.
“You’re gorgeous,” he deflected.
“Can we get moving now that we’re all here?” Wrigley asked impatiently.
Austin untied the ropes from the dock and waved his hand in the air. “Ready to roll. You driving?”
“Dude, I have no fucking clue where I’m going. I think I’m going to sit with Hadley back here and enjoy the ride.”