Spring Fling (15 page)

“But then you‟re going to be cold.”

“That‟s okay.”

Ten minutes later, Cooper and Ava were sitting together on a rock, staring into a blazing bonfire.

“Feeling warmer?” Cooper asked.

“Much,” Ava said. “But you still look like you‟re cold.” She lifted up one side of the jacket. “Come sit closer to me. We‟ll share.”

“You sure? I wouldn‟t want you to think I was making a move.”

“I‟m making an exception this time.”

“Okay if I put my arm around you and pull you close? Just for the body heat,” he quickly explained.

“
Just
for the body heat,” Ava stated.

Gazing into the flames as Cooper wrapped an arm around her, Ava couldn‟t help but think of another bonfire the summer before. She and Josh had gone to the beach with friends. At the end of the day, when everyone else went home, they decided to stay and watch the sunset. After the sun had disappeared, Josh suggested they stay a little longer. He built a bonfire and they sat next to each other, watching as the sky changed colors before turning dark and the stars came out.

The entire time, he‟d held her hand, his fingers entwined with hers.

Then, when the bonfire died down, he had walked her to his car, still holding her hand, and driven her home. At the front door, he‟d given her a long, slow kiss good night, holding her close.

Making her feel safe.

Making her feel special.

Making her feel loved.

With that kiss, Ava had realized, for the first time, that she was in love with Josh.

She‟d almost said those three magic words—
I love you
—but had been afraid to.

She‟d never said them to a guy before. What if he didn‟t say them back to her?

So she decided not to say anything.

And it had still been the best day of her life.

“Okay, you‟re looking sad,” Cooper said.

Ava shook her head. “Not sad. Maybe wistful.”

“Are you thinking about Josh?”

“Yes,” she admitted. “But it‟s a good memory. Not a bad one. It‟s just reminding me of what I had and lost.”

“That‟s why it‟s important to make new memories,” Cooper gently said.

“I know.” Ava gave him a smile. “And I am.”

Cooper tried not to get his hopes up.

Just because Ava said she was making new memories, it didn‟t mean she had changed the way she felt about him.

After all,
friends
shared memories.

But did friends sit this close to each other?

The setting was 100 percent romantic. A guy. A girl. A full moon. Cuddling together in front of a bonfire.

It would be so easy to kiss Ava right now.

To just lean his head down and press his lips against hers.

But he couldn‟t.

He wouldn‟t.

Even though he
so
wanted to.

If he kissed Ava, it would all be over between them. He could feel it in his gut.

Ava
trusted
him. She believed him when he said he was okay with just being friends, and he didn‟t want to destroy that trust.

So he wouldn‟t kiss her.

At least not tonight.

He didn‟t think Ava was testing him, but he could sense that she hadn‟t lowered her guard all the way.

And he wanted her to.

Because if she did, she might want to kiss him as much as he wanted to kiss her.

Danielle knew it was wrong having two guys fighting over her, but when was the last time this had ever happened?

Never!

Could she be blamed for enjoying it?

There was an unspoken competition going on between Ethan and Rory. Each was trying to outdo the other. If one of them offered to buy her something, say a pretzel or a bag of peanuts, the other instantly did the same. If she said she was cold, they both took off their jackets. If she needed change for an arcade game, they both gave her a handful of quarters.

They had both bought her some fudge, when Ethan checked his watch. “It‟s getting late. Can I give you a ride back home?”

Danielle knew Rory was staying with his friends at a beach house in the opposite direction. It didn‟t make sense for him to go out of his way when she and Ethan were staying right next door to each other.

“Okay,” she said. She gave Rory a quick hug good night. “I had a fun time.”

“Guess I‟ll see you at the Miss Spring Break contest,” he said.

It was on the tip of Danielle‟s tongue to tell Rory he could see her
before
the contest if he wanted, but she felt guilty saying the words in front of Ethan. It was exciting having two guys battling over her, but she didn‟t want to encourage their behavior. They both seemed like nice guys and she wasn‟t the kind of girl who played games. Besides, if Rory was really interested in her and wanted to see her again, well, he knew where she lived!

“Come on, Danielle,” Ethan said, taking her by the hand and leading her away.

“Hey, Danielle!” Rory called out.

She turned around.

“I‟ll bring some cotton candy to the contest,” he promised, giving her a wink.

Hearing those words, a chill shot up Danielle‟s spine.

He still wanted to kiss her!

Ethan was silent during the drive back home. Danielle tried making conversation, but she was doing all the talking. Finally, she gave up.

“Aren‟t you going to say anything?” she asked.

“What do you want me to say?”

“If you‟re angry, say it.”

“I‟m not angry.”

“You‟re acting like you‟re angry.”

“How am I doing that?”

“By giving me the silent treatment.”

“What would I have to be angry about?”

“My going out with Rory. I could see it hurt you. I‟m not blind.” Ethan shrugged. “We‟re not a couple. You can go out with anybody you want.”

“It wasn‟t like it was a date,” Danielle clarified. “I told you what happened.”

“It looked like a date to me,” Ethan said. “In fact, it looked like he was getting ready to kiss you!”

Danielle didn‟t want to hurt Ethan any more than he already was. Which meant a little white lie. “He wasn‟t going to kiss me!” Okay,
maybe
he was, but there had been no lip action. And unless there was lip action, she was innocent! “You‟re imagining things.” Ethan pulled the Mercedes into the driveway of his beach house and put it into park.

“Well, I wouldn‟t blame him for wanting to kiss you,” he admitted. “You‟re very kissable.”

“That‟s so sweet!” Danielle exclaimed. “Look, you and I spent one day together, Ethan. And we had a really nice time. If I hurt your feelings, I‟m sorry. I think you‟re a great guy and I enjoyed spending time with you. Both at the beach and on the boardwalk.”

“I‟ve never been good with sharing,” Ethan confessed as they got out of the car and he walked with Danielle to her front door. “It goes all the way back to my days in kindergarten, when Billy Barton ate his cookie before snack time and then wanted half of mine. Mrs. Winehauser said I should share, but that meant Billy would have eaten a whole cookie and half of mine! I didn‟t think that was very fair. I guess I wanted to have you all to myself tonight.”

“If you want me all to yourself, we could go out tomorrow. We discussed the beach, remember?”

“What about Rory?”

“I don‟t have any plans with him,” she said, as she reached into her shoulder bag for her house keys. “So do you still want to go out?”

Ethan‟s face lit up. “Absolutely!”

Danielle then waited for Ethan to take her into his arms.

She waited for his face to descend toward hers.

For his lips to touch her lips.

But none of that happened.

Instead, he gave her a quick hug and then pulled away, almost as if he had been scalded by touching her! What was up with that?!

“So we‟ll head to the beach tomorrow?” he asked.

“Okay,” Danielle slowly answered, still feeling a bit confused.

“Same time as today?”

“Sure.”

“Great!” Ethan headed back in the direction of the house next door. “See you in the morning.”

A puzzled Danielle watched as he walked away. Okay, something weird was going on.

Why hadn‟t he kissed her?

She thought he liked her.

So why no kiss?

Why hadn’t he kissed her?

Why?

Why?

Why?

He knew why.

Rory.

His instincts about that snake had been
so
right.

Rory was interested in Danielle and he had come
thisclose
to kissing her tonight.

Luckily, Ethan had prevented it from happening.

If anyone was going to kiss Danielle, it was going to be him! And when he kissed Danielle for the first time, he wanted the kiss to be perfect. He didn‟t want it to be because he was competing with another guy to get the first kiss. That was why he‟d had to stop himself from kissing Danielle only seconds ago.

And speaking of competing…

There was still the bet with Cooper.

If he‟d kissed Danielle, he would have won the bet.

But he wanted no strings attached to his first kiss with Danielle.

He wanted to kiss her because he liked her.

Not because of the bet.

And not because he was jealous of Rory and competing with him.

Ethan took a deep breath. Okay, tomorrow was another day. He was going to have Danielle all to himself and everything was going to be perfect. It already was, since there was no Rory.

But first he was going to find Cooper and tell him the bet was off.

“I need to buy lip gloss,” Wanda announced the following morning as she walked into the dining room for breakfast.

“I thought you bought one right before we left,” Lacey said as she filled a plate from the buffet on a sideboard and returned to her seat.

“I did.”

“So why do you need another one?” Vivienne asked as she sprinkled some blueberries over her cornflakes.

Mindy watched as Wanda sat at the head of the table. The chair had been purposely left empty for her by Vivienne and Lacey. After all, where else would a queen sit but at the head of the table?

“I had to keep using it last night,” Wanda said.

Mindy waited for Lacey or Vivienne to ask why Wanda had to keep using her lip gloss, but neither one did. Lacey was too busy spreading strawberry jam on a piece of toast, and Vivienne was eating her cereal. Mindy knew it was killing them that Damian had taken Wanda out on a date. Both had gone to bed early so they wouldn‟t be awake when Wanda returned. Mindy had hidden herself in her bedroom, too, but heard Wanda come in at midnight. Now it looked like there was no escaping the details of last night.

Mindy asked the question that Lacey and Vivienne didn‟t want to hear the answer to. “Why did you have to keep reapplying your lip gloss?”

“Damian couldn‟t keep his lips to himself!” Wanda exclaimed. “He was kissing me nonstop. Every time I‟d apply a fresh coat, he‟d start kissing me again. It became like a game. Kiss. Reapply. Kiss. Reapply. I used up the whole tube!”

“That‟s not unusual for you, Wanda,” Lacey said before taking a bite of her toast and loudly chewing.

Meow! Mindy couldn‟t believe what she‟d just heard! Was Lacey dissing Wanda?!

She whipped her head in Wanda‟s direction to see her reaction. There was no mistaking the anger on her face.

“Rick can‟t stop kissing you either,” Lacey added. “Guys find you irresistible.”
Phew!
Mindy thought as she watched Wanda‟s anger quickly disappear. Crisis averted!

“Rick
is
a pretty good kisser,” Wanda said.

Mindy wondered how Wanda could kiss another guy when she had Rick waiting for her at home. It just wasn‟t right! Didn‟t Wanda have feelings for Rick? How could she cheat on him? When you were with someone, you were supposed to be true to that person.

If you weren‟t, then why stay in the relationship? Wanda hardly knew Damian, yet she‟d had a kiss fest with him last night! Mindy couldn‟t even remember the last time she‟d gotten a kiss. A real kiss. Moose Novak had kissed her under the mistletoe at the Secret Santa dance in December, but that didn‟t count. The kiss had been a freebie. And she also wasn‟t into Moose.

Sure, she‟d gone out on dates and been kissed good night. Sometimes there was a second and third date, but then things fizzled out. She still hadn‟t found the guy that was right for her. Deep down, Mindy wanted a boyfriend. She wanted her own special someone.

To spend time with. To laugh with. To kiss.

When she saw couples at school, like Noelle Kramer and Ryan Grant or Celia Armstrong and Froggy Keenan, she always found herself wishing she could have what they had.

Mindy sighed. Maybe someday she would.

Until then, she‟d be watching Wanda juggle two guys.

At that moment, Carmela came out of the kitchen with a pitcher of orange juice and poured Wanda a glass.

“Is this OJ fresh-squeezed or from a container?” Wanda asked as Carmela handed her the glass.

“From a container.”

Wanda shook her head and gave the glass back. “I only drink fresh-squeezed, Carmen.”

“It‟s Carmela.”

Wanda didn‟t apologize for calling Carmela by the wrong name. “And no pulp!” Mindy jumped up from her seat and took Carmela by the arm—the arm that looked like it was getting ready to toss a glass of orange juice into Wanda‟s face. “Let me help you squeeze some oranges.”

When they were alone in the kitchen, Carmela exploded. “That girl is a brat! I‟d like to smash
her
to a pulp!”

Mindy began slicing some oranges. “Remember, she‟s a guest.”

“A
rude
guest!” Carmela exclaimed.

“I know. And I‟m sorry. Wanda says and does whatever she wants.”

“That‟s because no one stands up to her,” Carmela said.