Spring Fling (12 page)

“Do you want Damian to be off-limits?” Carmela had asked. “He must be something pretty special if those three are so excited.”

“It doesn‟t matter what I want,” Mindy had said. “Not that I want Damian! All that matters is what
they
want. And my making it happen!” When they arrived at the beach, Damian had been waiting for them, sunning himself on a bench. He was wearing a tight white tank top and navy blue boxer-cut swim trunks.

He‟d slicked his dark hair back with gel, and mirrored sunglasses covered his eyes. He looked very cool and edgy.

He definitely knew how to give off a badboy vibe.

At the sight of Damian, Wanda had instantly rushed to his side and wrapped an arm around his, leading him through the crowded beach, while Vivienne and Lacey trailed behind, as always. Both Vivienne and Lacey had shot Mindy looks of distress, and she knew she had to do
something
to make sure each girl had some private time with Damian.

Once they were settled on their sheets, Mindy had managed to get Vivienne and Damian to go searching for seashells together. Later, she had brought out the kite she had packed, and Damian and Lacey had gone off to fly it. Even Wanda had gotten some alone time with Damian when Mindy convinced Vivienne and Lacey to go with her for a swim.

Now Mindy was floating on her back, trying to figure out what her next step should be, when she heard a voice whisper in her ear.

“Your friends are all over me.”

A startled Mindy turned her head to see Damian floating next to her.

“I guess they think you‟re a hottie,” she said.

“And you don‟t?” Damian asked in a hurt tone.

“You know you‟re hot,” Mindy scoffed. “You don‟t need me to tell you.”

“When am I going to get some alone time with you? You promised if I hung out with your friends, I would, remember?”

If the words had come from any other guy, Mindy might have been flattered. But this was Damian. He probably said them hundreds of times. Guys like Damian saw girls as conquests. Once they succeeded in getting what they wanted, they moved on to the next one.

“We‟re alone now,” she said.

“Damian!” Wanda called out. “Damian! Where are you?”

“You were saying?” Damian pointed out.

“I‟ll go tell her where you are,” Mindy said, swimming back to shore.

“You still owe me alone time,” Damian called after her. “This didn‟t count!” When Mindy emerged from the water, Wanda caught sight of her. But before Mindy could tell her where Damian was, Wanda started talking.

“There‟s something you need to know about me, Mindy. I
don’t
like competition.
At
all.
Damian doesn‟t need to be distracted by Lacey and Vivienne. I want a clear playing field.
All
his attention should be focused on
me.
Do something about it.” Talk about mission impossible! All three of them were interested in Damian.

Hmmm. She probably shouldn‟t mention that she had just been swimming with Damian.

That would probably be a big mistake.

Mindy‟s mind scrambled to find something to say. “But Damian will see how much hotter you are than them if they‟re still around.” Then she went straight for Wanda‟s ego and laid it on thick. “Let‟s face it, Wanda, Lacey and Vivienne are no match for you. They just don‟t measure up and they never will. You‟re the best.” Wanda nodded with satisfaction. “That‟s true. But it‟s still not good enough.”

“I‟ll work on getting you alone with him,” Mindy said, although she had no idea how she was going to do it. “I promise.”

“Good. Now, how about some lunch? I‟m starving. And I‟m sure everyone else is, too. Go get us some food.”

“Whatever you want, Wanda,” Mindy said, eager to make an escape. “Whatever you want.”

Ava couldn‟t believe how rude she‟d been to Cooper.

She was mortified!

All he‟d done was offer to put some sunblock on her. Yet she was acting like he had wanted to have a make-out session. She needed to chill out!

Ava was so lost in her thoughts, she wasn‟t paying attention to where she was going and bumped into someone as she was climbing the steps to the boardwalk. It was Mindy, who was loaded down with five bags from the concession stand.

“You seem like you‟re a million miles away,” Mindy said.

“Just thinking about something.”

“Something or someone?” Mindy asked. “Josh?”

“Actually, I wasn‟t thinking of him.”

“That‟s a sign of improvement!”

“I‟ve still got a long way to go.”

Ava stared at the bags Mindy was carrying. She could smell hamburgers and French fries. “You‟re not going to eat that all yourself, are you?”

“It‟s for Wanda and the girls. And Damian.”

“Who‟s Damian?”

“This guy I used to go to junior high with. He was at the barbecue. He‟s staying in the beach house next to yours.”

“He must be a friend of Cooper‟s.”

“Was that the guy you were with last night?”

“I came to the beach with him today. We‟re just friends.”

“I wasn‟t asking!” Mindy exclaimed.

“But you were wondering.” Ava laughed.

“Maybe a little,” Mindy admitted. “He‟s cute.”

“So, are you dating Damian?”

“I‟d be dead if I decided to date Damian.”

“What do you mean?”

Mindy sighed. “Let me fill you in.”

Ava listened as Mindy filled her in on the Damian situation. When she was finished, Ava said, “I think you‟re going about this the wrong way.”

“If you‟ve got any advice, I‟ll take it. I‟m desperate!”

“Why don‟t you talk to Damian? Maybe he can help you out. Each one of them wants to be alone with him, right? Well, maybe he can make it happen. All you have to worry about is this week. Once we get back home, it‟s out of your hands. Damian will be back at South Ridge High and we‟ll be at North Ridge. And Wanda will be busy with Rick!”

“Why didn‟t I think of that?” Mindy gasped. “Ava, you‟re a genius! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Maybe now I‟ll get to enjoy the rest of my spring break!”
Chapter Eleven

Danielle and Ethan were leaving the beach at the end of the day when a voice called out to her.

“You‟re the girl I‟ve been waiting for!”

A guy with a brown buzz cut, wearing board shorts with a tropical pattern and a yellow T-shirt, jumped in front of her, waving a flyer. “You need to fill out one of these.” Danielle stared at the piece of paper. “Miss Spring Break?”

“You have to enter.”

Danielle laughed. “Me? In a beauty pageant?”

“Why not?”

Danielle said the first thing that popped into her head. “I wouldn‟t win.”

“All you have to do is look good in a swimsuit.” The guy slid his sunglasses down his nose, and his green eyes moved from Danielle‟s red painted toes all the way up to her face. “And you look
very
good in a swimsuit.”

Danielle blushed, glad she had tossed her cover-up jacket in her tote bag.

“I‟m Rory,” he said.

“Danielle. And this is Ethan.”

Rory glanced at Ethan but focused his attention back on Danielle.

“I‟ve got a good eye. You‟re the prettiest girl I‟ve talked to today.”

“I bet you‟ve been saying that all day.”

“Maybe I have,” Rory coyly admitted. “But this time I mean it. You‟re a knockout.” Hearing those words, a tiny thrill went up Danielle‟s spine. It wasn‟t often that a guy flirted with her. And Rory was definitely flirting with her! Over the years, she‟d been around enough guys who were interested in Jade to recognize the signs.

“Is there a Mr. Spring Break contest?” Danielle shot back. “Because if there is, you should definitely enter.”

“Would I get your vote?” Rory asked.

“You wouldn‟t need my vote. You‟d win first place.”

“So would you. But if you didn‟t win, I‟d make it up to you with a night out.” Okay, message received loud and clear! Rory wasn‟t just interested in having her enter the Miss Spring Break contest. He was interested in
her
!

Suddenly, Danielle realized that during her entire conversation with Rory, Ethan hadn‟t said anything. She turned to face him. “What do you think? Should I do it?” Rory didn‟t give Ethan a chance to answer. “Of course you should do it! What‟s stopping you?”

Where to begin? What would her friends think? What would Jade say?

She wasn‟t a beauty contest girl.

Then again…

She
wasn’t
the old Danielle.

This week she was a
new
Danielle.

And lots of guys had been checking her out today. She‟d noticed the way their eyes were following her. Just like yesterday at the mall.

Maybe Rory was telling the truth and not just trying to get a date with her.

Maybe she
did
have a chance of winning the Miss Spring Break contest.

Maybe she
should
enter.

The old Danielle would have said no, but not this week.

This was her week to do the things she wouldn‟t ordinarily do!

What did she have to lose?

She reached into her tote bag and pulled out a pen, filling out the entry form. “I‟m in!”

I’m not jealous.

I’m not jealous.

I’m not jealous.

Ethan kept repeating the words to himself, but they weren‟t sinking in.

Because he WAS jealous!!!

Ethan had eyes. He could tell that Rory liked Danielle, and he wanted to tell him to back off. But he couldn‟t. So far, Rory hadn‟t done anything wrong.

But in his gut, Ethan knew Rory wanted to make a move on Danielle.

And he probably would.

The only question was how and when.

Ethan sighed. How could he measure up to a guy like Rory? Even after a day at the beach, Rory was all shiny and polished, looking like a cover model. It was still a hot day and there wasn‟t a drop of sweat anywhere on him. And he smelled good, too!

Ethan, meanwhile, was a sticky, sandy, wrinkly mess who smelled like the ocean.

After Danielle finished filling out the entry form, Ethan put a possessive arm around her shoulders. “It‟s getting late. We better get going.”

“Bye, Rory!”

“Bye, Danielle.”

Ethan noticed that he didn‟t get a good-bye. That was fine. Let Rory underestimate him.

Ethan was a fighter.

The Miss Spring Break contest wasn‟t until the end of the week.

All he had to do was keep Danielle out of Rory‟s way until then.

As soon as Ava got home from the beach and jumped into the shower, she felt it.

Her shoulders were burning. When she got out of the shower and checked them in the bathroom mirror, she could see they were red.

Well, she had no one to blame but herself. It served her right. Cooper had warned her, but she wouldn‟t let him put any sunblock on her.

After slipping on a peach halter top and a pair of white shorts, Ava headed downstairs. Everyone was still out except Sharla, who was in the laundry room, doing a load of wash. Ava had just settled on the couch and was aiming the remote control at the TV when the doorbell rang. She waited for Sharla to answer it, since it was her house, but when the bell rang again and Sharla didn‟t emerge from the laundry room, Ava got off the couch. When she opened the front door, she found Cooper on the other side, holding out a jar of aloe vera.

“I‟m not the kind of guy that says, „I told you so,‟” he said, handing her the aloe vera. “But I thought you could use this.”

Ava gave Cooper a smile. “Did I ever tell you that
stubborn
is my middle name?”

“I never would have guessed.”

“Why don‟t you come in?”

Ava went back into the living room, with Cooper following after her. She sat down on the couch, turning her back to Cooper and tossing her red curls forward over one shoulder. “Mind putting some on my shoulders?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said, taking the jar back from her and opening it up.

The aloe vera instantly cooled her stinging shoulders. “That feels
much
better.”

“Maybe next time you‟ll listen to me.”

“Sorry for being so weird today.”

“You weren‟t that weird.”

That was true. After they‟d eaten lunch, they‟d gone back to making sand castles.

Then they‟d walked along the beach, collecting colorful stones and pebbles, done some swimming, and laid out in the sun until they finally decided to call it a day.

Ava turned her head to look over her shoulder. “How about if you let me make it up to you? Maybe we can do something tomorrow? I‟ll plan everything.”

“I‟d like that,” Cooper said with a smile. “I‟d like it a lot.” Baby steps, Cooper reminded himself. Baby steps.

He couldn‟t move too fast with Ava because if he did, he‟d scare her off.

He was hoping that she would see him as boyfriend material, but if he pushed too hard, she might not even want him as a friend.

After lunch, he‟d gone back to keeping things very low-key. Just two friends hanging out at the beach. He‟d noticed Ava‟s shoulders getting red. As much as he‟d wanted to say something, he didn‟t, biting his tongue because he didn‟t want Ava to think he was trying to make a move on her. Instead, he‟d waited until they‟d gotten home and then had come over with a jar of aloe vera. Just a concerned friend helping out another friend. There was nothing wrong with that.

And he
did
want to be friends with Ava, even though he was hoping for something more.

Maybe tomorrow would be a new beginning. They could start over. This time he wouldn‟t do anything that would scare Ava off.

Just friends.

Just
friends.

But maybe, just maybe, more than friends…

“Where‟s Cooper?” Ethan asked.

Damian tore his eyes away from the big-screen TV showing
Family Guy
as Ethan walked into the living room. “He went next door to see Ava. Hey! How‟d your day with Danielle go?”