My Wish for You (9 page)

Behind us, I
heard muffled laughter and I broke away unwillingly. Sean had some springy
plant in his hand, and I prayed that it wasn’t poison ivy. I looked
apologetically up at Lance.

“I’m sorry. I
really should take care of him.”

He put his
number into my phone and gave me one last quick kiss before getting on his quad
and driving away. I stared after him in a trance.

Chapter Eleven

I was brought
back to reality by the sound of Sean getting sick.

“Ugh....” I
groaned.
It was a good thing that I wasn’t squeamish. Deep down, I had
known he would start getting sick.
He couldn’t have waited until I was gone
?
Really, I did not want to deal with this. I loathed the whole bunch of them for
leaving me to deal with him.

Getting him into
the house would be the best thing for him if he was getting sick. If we got
caught, though, it would mean all of us getting in trouble. I knew it could
potentially be very dangerous, but I had to try. I thought of the threat Brian
had made. There was no doubt that he had meant it. On the other hand, he’d
gotten us in trouble plenty of times before.

I would just
have to take my chances.

“Sean?” I leaned
over him.

“Yeah, Sammy?”
He looked up at me with a sheepish grimace on his face.

“You think we
can play a game?”

“I don’t know
Sammy...I’m not feeling too good.”

“Don’t worry, it’s
an easy game. It’s called ‘Be Quiet and Don’t Wake the Parent.’ Think you can
play? All you have to do is not make any noise.”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll
try.”

“Okay. Good. I
need you to stand up.”

He stood up and
I tried to help him walk. Our destination: the downstairs bathroom near the
back of the house. I got him through the door quietly enough. Once we got the
door shut though, I tripped under his weight and we fell into the couch. He
groaned loudly before laughing hysterically.

“Sean, remember.
We need to be quiet,” I whispered. He put his hand over his mouth, stifling his
laughter, and tried to walk with me. We stumbled our way to the back of the
cabin. To my dismay, we didn’t go very quietly, but eventually, we got into the
bathroom. As much as I wanted to, I knew that I couldn’t leave him there. So,
as he got sick again, I settled down to rough it out with him.

“You know what
Sammy?” Sean was stretched across the bathroom floor, using my lap as a pillow.
I carelessly combed my fingers through his hair.

“What Sean?” I
sighed. Every statement he had made in the last hour or so had started with that
question.

“Remember when I
used to come over to the house when we were little and you would make me play
house with you?”

“Yes....” I
hesitated, wondering where this was going.

“I may have put
up a fight, but, to be honest, I actually really had a lot of fun.”

I tried not to
laugh as I looked down at him. His eyes were closed and his face was pale. The
fact that he was starting to share secrets was exciting and terrifying all at
the same time.

“Really? Why?” I
failed miserably to hide the laughter in my voice, but he didn’t notice.

“Well, I always
got to be the dad and you were the mom.”

We both grew
silent, sort of. My silence was a reaction to his getting sick again. His
statement made me silently gleeful. For what reason, I didn’t know, but it made
my emotions soar. He lay his head back down, and we shared a few quiet moments.
I really,
really
wanted to go to bed. Stupid Brian.

“Sammy?”

“Yes Sean?”

“You know what I’m
thinking?”

“No, I don’t,” I
said, a little too sharply.
I bet you’re gonna tell me though,
I
thought.

“You are really,
really pretty,” he paused. “I could just kiss you right now, just like that one
time in the shed.”

“Yeah...what
about Tasha?” I asked very hesitantly, avoiding him bringing up the shed.

“Tasha’s a
bitch. Everyone thinks I don’t know that she cheats on me, but I do.”

“That’s....” I
struggled to find the right word. I couldn’t. So instead, I just went with
sarcasm. “Lovely.”

“I mean, I am a
good looking guy that any girl would be lucky to have. Why should I stay with
her? I should be with someone like you. I like you. I always have liked you. It’s
just that that damn Tasha complicates things. You are one gorgeous girl and I
am one handsome guy. We would be great together.”

He leaned
forward and got sick again. So much for being handsome. Idiot. I rolled my
eyes.

I wish he
would change the subject
.
I prayed that he would change the
conversation.

Instead my phone
vibrated, saving me from this horrendous conversation.

Where the
hell are you, and what did you do with him?

It was from
Brian.
That must mean that he is home. Thank goodness
. Sean would
finally be out of my hair. I could finally get some sleep.

The
downstairs bathroom. I couldn’t carry him upstairs.

I looked down at
Sean. His eyes were closed and his breathing was even. He was out cold. He
looked so much like a child in this sleeping form. I felt tenderness in my
heart and I smiled to myself. Even if he was drunk enough to not remember this
in the morning, I would remember. I didn’t know whether it would hurt me or help
me in the long run, but I felt like I had a secret weapon on my side now. I
just needed to figure out how to use it.

The door flew
open and Brian stood in the doorway.

“What the hell,
Sam?” he whispered.

“I can’t carry
him up those stairs. Are you insane? I barely got him in here without any
commotion. If everyone hadn’t just dumped him on me then we wouldn’t be in this
situation!” I quickly retorted, my temper flaring. Whatever happened to
gratitude?

“Help me get him
upstairs,” he demanded.

We got Sean up,
his weight completely supported by the two of us. He didn’t even stir as we
picked him up. Brian was doing most of the work, so I wasn’t that upset. I knew
I would be able to go to sleep soon. I could already tell I was going to have a
hangover. I was really looking forward to crawling into bed, pulling the sheets
over my head, and sleeping. I’d deal with the rest of it when I woke up
tomorrow.

We tugged Sean
up the stairs quietly enough and avoided hitting the squeaky floorboard. When
we got to the door of their bedroom, I pushed open the door and let Brian take
it from there. He put Sean on a bed then quickly grabbed my arm as I was
walking away. He pulled me into the room.

“What do you
think you’re doing?”

“What? I’m going
to bed. I did my civic duty for the night.” What was his problem?

“You’re not
gonna get him like this, by being his best friend. You gotta put yourself out
there, but don’t be a tramp about it.”

Seriously?

“Don’t give me
that look. What I mean is that you have to show that you are not just a friend,
but a female who is attractively available. We already know you have his eye.
Now keep a hold of it. That little display with that boy this evening…very
nice.”

Okay...Sean wasn’t
the only one to get drunk this evening.
As I turned away from Brian and
walked down to my room, I cringed slightly at the way he talked about Lance. I
knew it wasn’t right to lead him on. On the other hand, I did like him. Would
it be enough though?

When I opened
the door to my room, Cassie’s light on her nightstand was still on. She looked
up at me from the magazine she was reading.

“Rough night?”
she sneered at me. I was sure that I looked like I had had a rough night. My
hair was probably looking psycho and my makeup was probably ruined. Seriously
though, what was her problem with me? I had never done anything horrible to
her. Why was she being such a bitch to me?

“Your brother
had worse,” I remarked, making my way to my bed.

Her sneer turned
into a full on glare and I wondered if I shouldn’t have said anything.
Uncaringly, I shrugged to myself. Quickly, I changed and crawled into bed. I
pulled my phone off my nightstand and sent one last text before I went to bed.

Thanks for
everything tonight. I really had a great time!! =] -Samantha

Chapter Twelve

I didn’t wake up
until about eleven o’clock. Everything was quiet, peaceful. I stretched as I
got out of bed and made my way into the shower. The water was soothing and it
released the tension in my muscles as it glided over my skin.

When I got out
of the shower, I sprayed my damp, towel-dried hair with some hairspray, put on
a light layer of makeup, and pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. When I
opened the door to head downstairs to get some breakfast, I could hear distant
yelling from somewhere in the house. It sounded like my mom and Charles were
fighting about work or something again.

Sean and I both
stepped out of our rooms at the same time. I saw him rubbing his forehead
before he looked up at me. I smiled at him. He smiled back and waited for me to
reach him.

“Thanks for last
night Sammy,” he said when I reached him, “I really appreciate it.”

“You remember?”

“Only bits and
pieces.” He looked down. “Your brother filled me in on the rest.”

The look on his
face made me laugh. It was slightly mortified and confused as he looked up at
me. I just shook my head at him.

“You hungry?” I
asked. He nodded at me and we made our way down to the kitchen.

Once in the
kitchen, I told him to sit down and I would fix breakfast. Turned out, there
wasn’t much to do. Leftovers from that morning were wrapped up and sitting on
the counter. I took out the pancakes and stuck them in the microwave. While
they cooked, I glanced up from underneath my hair at Sean. He was rubbing his
forehead again. I got some aspirin out of the cupboard and filled two glasses
of water.

I walked over to
the table and sat the glasses and aspirin down. I tapped Sean’s shoulder and he
lifted his head off the table, then thanked me as he tossed them back. As the
rest of our breakfast heated up, I took mine. When it was finished, I put the
fruit on the plates and took them to the table. We sat and ate in silence for a
little while.

Sean glanced up
at me sheepishly from his plate. “So....” Sean cleared his throat, breaking the
silence. “Uh...what happened last night?”

“I thought Brian
already told you what happened.” I looked down, avoiding his gaze. I felt heat
rush to my face and prayed that he wouldn’t notice.

“Yeah, well, he
only knows what he was there for. Besides that, he’s completely useless.”

“Isn’t he
always?” I joked lightly.

“You’re not that
good at distracting me, Sam,” he chuckled.

I sighed and
thought of a way to water down last night’s events.

“Uh, well, we
just, uh, hung out really.” My hesitation was obvious and Sean could tell.

“That’s exactly
why I woke up with a killer hangover this morning. You can do better than that,
Sammy.” When he looked up at me, it felt like he could see right through me.
There was a smile in his warm hazel eyes, and I felt my heart go into overdrive
as I stared back into them. “I’m waiting.”

“Oh, well, we
ended up spending most of the night in the downstairs bathroom.” I grimaced up
at him. I had to admit, he took it well. He kept a cool facade.

“What dirty
little secrets did I spout out?” he joked, smiling at me. When I didn’t return
the smile, his face grew worried.

“
Was
I
spilling secrets?”

“No....” Despite
my resolve to keep last night’s events from him, my “no” sounded more like a
question than a statement.

“Shit, what did
I say?”

“Nothing….”

“I can tell by that
look on your face. Tell me, Samantha.”

“How about this?
If you can guess right, I’ll tell you,” I smirked at him.

“Now, that I
remember.”

“Bologna sauce,
you were hammered already,” I said, deflating the situation.

“You’re not
gonna tell me, are you?” he sighed.

“Nope.” He
rolled his eyes at me, and I picked up our now empty plates and washed them in
the sink. Quietly, he came and stood by me, picking up a towel and drying the
plates.

“So, do you have
any plans today?”

“Nope, none at
all. Depressing, huh?”

“Just a little,”
he teased, bumping my hip.

“Don’t be mean,”
I chided, bumping him back.

“I’ll try,” he
grinned.

We heard some
more screaming from upstairs.

“You want to get
out of here?”

“Where?” I asked
him.

“I was thinking
about going on a hike up near the creek, maybe up to the waterfall. Are you
interested?”

I thought about
it for a minute, considering the things that were said last night and the
repercussions that could result in going with him. It was just to the lake. How
much trouble could we get into?

“Yeah, sure, why
not? Just let me grab some shoes.”

I got my shoes
and we headed out the door. It was a beautiful day outside. The sun was
shining, the sky was blue. The air was refreshing and cleared my head up a
little bit. While we walked, we were silent, both of us soaking in the fresh
outdoors. For about a half hour, the only sound was the crunching of leaves and
branches.

“God, I haven’t
been up here in ages.” I broke the silence. Sean looked at me, slightly
startled.

“Yeah, it’s been
a while for me too. The last time I came up here was that time we came up for
that family picnic.”

“Oh, my
goodness! What a disaster that was.”

“Seriously,” he
agreed. “Your mom was freaking out about your dad’s mistress being there.”