Spring Fling (10 page)

“You‟ll look like Geekerella if you put that stuff all over your skin! I have this great sunblock with a high SPF that smells like coconut. Let me go get it.”

“Hurry up!” Danielle called after her. “Ethan is going to be here soon.” Lindsey returned to the kitchen just as a car horn honked outside.

“There‟s Ethan!” Danielle exclaimed.

Lindsey tossed the sunblock into Danielle‟s tote bag. “Have a great time!” Ethan sat behind the steering wheel of Cooper‟s red Mercedes convertible, the top down, waiting for Danielle to come outside. He ran his hand over the dashboard for the umpteenth time. He couldn‟t believe he was
finally
driving Cooper‟s car!

He was busy fiddling with the radio, trying to find a pop/rock station, when Danielle slid into the passenger seat and buckled up. “Wow! I can‟t believe this car! It‟s gorgeous! Is it yours? Was it a gift from your parents?” Ethan abandoned the radio and pulled the car out onto the road, trying not to squirm. How did he answer Danielle‟s questions? He didn‟t want to lie to her. At the same time, he couldn‟t tell her the truth, because that would mean mentioning the bet, and he was sure she wouldn‟t be very happy about that!

He decided to fudge with the truth.

“The car came with the house.” Which, in a way, it had since it was Cooper‟s car and Cooper was staying at the beach house. And if Ethan hadn‟t come to the beach house, well, he wouldn‟t be driving Cooper‟s car.

“Sweet,” Danielle said. “So everyone in the house gets to drive it? Did you guys have to make up a schedule?”

Beads of sweat popped onto Ethan‟s forehead as a childhood phrase ran through his mind:
Liar, liar! Pants on fire!

He stopped at a red light and gave Danielle a smile. “We couldn‟t agree to a schedule, so we drew straws to see who would have the car for the week and I won.” He
wasn’t
lying. After all, he
had
won the car. In a way.

“That must have been your lucky day.”

“It was the same day I met you,” Ethan said. “So, yeah.”

“Sweet-talker!”

Ethan pointed to the radio. “Why don‟t you find us some music to listen to?” he suggested, wanting to divert Danielle‟s attention before she could ask him any more questions about the car.

Cooper watched from the front porch as Ethan drove off. There had been no missing the smile on Ethan‟s face when he first saw Danielle. Cooper hoped they would have a good time at the beach.

“Looks like Ethan is getting a head start on the bet,” Damian said, joining Cooper on the porch.

“I guess.”

Damian wiped a peach on the front of his tank top and took a bite. “How about you?

How are you going to impress Ava?”

“Who says I have to impress her?”

“You want her to like you, don‟t you? That means you have to impress her.”

“No, it doesn‟t.”

Damian took a bite of his peach, wiping a bit of juice off his chin. “Whatever. So how are you getting to the beach? You taking Ava by bus?”

“We‟re not taking the bus.”

“Walking? It‟ll take you at least an hour.”

“No.”

“Then how are you taking her?”

“Follow me.”

Cooper walked to the garage and lifted the door. “I found it last night.” Damian‟s mouth dropped open when he saw what was inside. “You can‟t be serious!”

“What‟s wrong?”

“You‟re really going to take Ava to the beach on
that
?”

“Why not?”

“Dude! It‟s like something from the last century! Your great-grandfather probably rode one of those things with your great-grandmother.”

“I think it‟s kind of nostalgic. And girls love nostalgia.”

“You better hope nostalgia helps you get that kiss, because that girl is still hung up on her ex.”

Cooper slammed down the garage door. “Like I didn‟t know that.”

“Just reminding you of the facts.”

Cooper didn‟t want to think of Josh. He didn‟t want to think about the bet. All he wanted to think about was his day with Ava and having a good time.

He knew she wasn‟t interested in dating and he respected that.

But a small part of him was hoping that he could get her to change her mind.

The beach was packed. Everywhere Danielle looked, there were teenagers. A sea of colorful sheets with well-oiled sunbathers went on for miles. There were guys tossing Frisbees and footballs back and forth, and guys running in the surf with their dogs. Girls who weren‟t sunbathing were keeping themselves hidden under huge umbrellas while others were playing volleyball, laughing and shrieking as they tried to hit the ball over the net.

Of course there were couples. Some were holding hands, walking along the shore.

Some were snuggled up against each other, laughing and whispering into each other‟s ears.

And naturally there were kissing couples.

“Guess we should have gotten here earlier,” Ethan said.

“Now we know for tomorrow,” Danielle said as they maneuvered their way through the hot sand. “Look! There‟s a spot!” She raced over to a patch of sand and threw down her tote bag, pulling out the striped sheet she had tossed inside. “Help me spread this out.” After the sheet was positioned, Ethan plopped himself down while Danielle remained standing.

“Aren‟t you going to sit?” he asked.

“Just let me take my jacket off,” Danielle said, getting ready for her big reveal.

She unbelted her jacket and slid it off her shoulders, letting it fall to the sheet before turning around to face Ethan.

Success!

The expression on his face was what she had been hoping for. He was wowed by her bikini.

“You look amazing,” he said.

Danielle tried not to blush. She wasn‟t used to getting compliments from guys. For years, she had always been good old Danielle, the girl whom guys would come to when they wanted to borrow her notes or needed help with an assignment. She wasn‟t the girl who usually turned heads.

“This old thing?” She laughed, trying to channel her older sister. Jade knew how to flirt with guys. “I was thinking of getting rid of it.” Ethan shook his head. “Keep it!”

“Well, if you like it so much, I will.” Danielle sat next to him and reached into her tote bag. “Mind putting some suntan lotion on my back?” Ethan squeezed a few globs onto her back and began rubbing it in. Instantly, she inhaled the scent of coconut as his hands traveled over her skin. She shivered and Ethan noticed.

“You okay?”

“The lotion is a little cold,” she said.

That had to be it, right? It couldn‟t be because Ethan was touching her, could it?

Although she had heard of some people having instant chemistry.

“Want me to do you?” she asked when he had finished.

“Okay.”

Danielle rubbed some suntan lotion over Ethan‟s back and shoulders. She waited to see him shiver, but he didn‟t. So much for instant chemistry!

After they were both covered up, they lay down in the sun.

“How long to do you like to do this for?” Ethan asked.

“Not very long on the first day. I‟m always afraid of burning. I try to tan in small doses.”

Ethan looked at his watch. “What do you want to do after we finish tanning?”

“Toss a Frisbee?”

“I forgot to bring one.”

“Make a sand castle?”

“And embarrass myself? My sand castles always come out lopsided.”

“We could join a volleyball game.”

Ethan flipped onto his side and propped his head up on a hand. “I know what we could do.”

“What?”

“Go waterskiing!”

A startled Danielle sat up. “Waterskiing?” she nervously asked. “I don‟t know. I‟ve never gone before. Is it safe?”

“There‟s nothing to be scared of,” Ethan said. “I‟ve gone lots of times. You‟ll be wearing a life jacket. And I‟ll walk you through it before you get on a pair of skis. Come on! It‟ll be fun!”

Danielle wanted to say no. At the same time, she also wanted to say yes. After all, this was her week to be different. Lindsey‟s words from the night before popped into her head:
You’re Daring Dani!

Daring Dani wouldn‟t be afraid to go waterskiing.

“Okay, I‟ll do it!” she exclaimed.

“Where did you find that?” Ava laughed as she walked out of her beach house.

“Our garage,” Cooper said as he hit the kickstand on a bicycle built for two. “All I had to do was dust it off and put some air in the tires. Like it?” Ava walked around the bike. “Don‟t tell me this is how we‟re getting to the beach?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I hope you‟ve got strong legs.”

“Don‟t worry; I can do most of the pedaling.”

“I‟m going to hold you to it,” Ava said, taking the seat behind Cooper.

As they headed in the direction of the beach, Ava asked herself what she was doing with Cooper when she still wasn‟t over her ex.

Last night, after the barbecue, all she could think about was Josh. The incident with Mindy made her realize that she didn‟t want Josh to think she had a new boyfriend. She still had feelings for him, and a small part of herself was hoping that he was going to ask her for another chance. If Mindy had sent that photo the way she thought she would, there wouldn‟t be another chance. Josh would think she had given up on him. But why was she thinking like that?
He
had given up on
her.
On
them
!

Why did she still have these feelings? Why was she hoping to save a relationship that was over? She should be putting Josh behind her and moving forward with someone new. Someone like Cooper. He was the complete package. Any girl would want to go out with him.

But not Ava.

If she went out on a date with him, she would feel guilty.

Like she was cheating on Josh.

Which was ridiculous!

It was over between them.

Over!

Cooper seemed like a great guy. And he said he was okay with just being friends.

Why shouldn‟t she hang out with him?

Ava knew the real reason, but she didn‟t want to admit it to herself.

She was scared.

Scared of maybe falling for him and getting her heart broken again.

Cooper had been holding his breath when he showed Ava the bicycle built for two.

Would she think he was crazy for suggesting they go to the beach that way? Would she ask him why he didn‟t have a car? Or worse, would she turn into a diva princess and insist that he find some other way to get them to the beach?

But then Ava had laughed, and it had been a
happy
laugh.

Hearing Ava laugh made Cooper happy. Very happy.

Because for the first time since he‟d met her, Ava hadn‟t seemed sad.

For just a little while, it meant Ava had forgotten about Josh.

And that gave him hope.

So far, things were off to a great start.

Danielle was asking herself why she had opened her big mouth. She was on a pair of water skis, behind a motorboat, waiting for it to pull her into the ocean.

And she was petrified.

“Are you okay?” Ethan asked. “You seem a little pale.”

“There aren‟t sharks in these waters, are there?” she blurted out.

“Huh?”

“Did you ever see
Jaws 2
? There‟s a scene in it where a girl is waterskiing and the vibration from the skis gets the attention of the shark and he bites down on her ski, pulls her into the water, and eats her!”

“I don‟t think you need to worry about becoming lunch for a shark,” Ethan reassured her. “Are you sure you want to do this? If you‟re nervous or scared, it‟s no big deal. You don‟t have to if you don‟t want to.”

Danielle shook her head resolutely. “No, I want to. I‟m going to,” she vowed, even though nervous butterflies were crashing around in her stomach. “What‟s the worst thing that can happen? I get all wet!”

“That‟s the spirit!” Ethan said as he went to sit next to the guy who would be driving the motorboat.

Danielle held on tightly to the line attached to the boat as it headed out into the water. As the boat picked up speed, she tried to remember everything Ethan had told her.

She kept herself in a sitting position with her knees bent and her skis a couple of inches above the water. She didn‟t look down at her skis or up in the sky or around her. She just kept her eyes focused on the boat in front of her. As the boat drove farther out, it began to pull her onto the top of the water.

Danielle gasped.

She was doing it!

She was waterskiing!

Water splashed in her face, and the wind blew through her hair, but Danielle didn‟t care. She was loving every second of it.

But then, as the boat made a turn, she felt herself losing her balance.

Instantly, she remembered what Ethan told her to do if that happened. She let go of the rope attached to the boat so she wouldn‟t be dragged along. As soon as she did, she fell into the water, sinking under, but immediately popped back up.

“Are you okay?” Ethan asked as the boat pulled up next to her.

Danielle eagerly nodded as she pushed her wet hair out of her eyes. “Can we do it again?”

Ava watched as Cooper added another turret to the sand castle they were building along the shore of the beach. “You‟re really good at this,” she said as she started digging a moat with a piece of driftwood.

Cooper waved his fingers. “I have magic hands.”

Little kids who were building sand castles near them kept staring as Cooper added onto their castle.

“Want some help?” he asked them.

At their eager nods, he went over to offer his assistance. Ava couldn‟t help but notice how great he was with the kids, making them laugh and showing them how he molded the wet sand. He was the complete opposite of Josh, who called all little kids

“brats” and refused to have anything to do with them, especially at Halloween, which was Ava‟s favorite holiday. She loved answering the doorbell with a bowl of candy in her hands and seeing how all the little kids had dressed up. They were always so adorable!