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Authors: Vanessa Lockley

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BOOK: Summer Solstice
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Of course, I knew that I wouldn't be so lucky as to have the house to myself so that I could catch up on my sleep. Apparently my parents had decided that the house needed painted and Seth and Rich had been elected to do the honors. Rich worked the night shift as a guard at the local prison and Seth was a seventh grade teacher on summer vacation, so the two had their weekdays wide open.

 

Swinging my purse, I walked down the driveway to where the two boys seemed so intently focused on the paint job at hand, which allowed me to focus on the scene unfolding in front of me.

 

Painting my house without his shirt on was Seth and after not seeing him for months, the picture was a sight for very sore eyes. His brown hair was messy and his skin was coated with a fine layer of sweat. A huge black Celtic knot tattoo spread down his back from his neck to the base of his spine. Green eyes focused on perfecting the painting job, his strong arm moved the brush in slow, even strokes.

 

Seventh grade teachers should look nothing like him.

 

Suddenly I was remembering how he'd looked at me that morning, it was so unlike him. Before he'd been so teasing and friendly and all of a sudden there was fire in his eyes. Something  was seriously up with Seth.

 

Focusing on his chest, I forgot for a minute how my feet worked and tripped down the driveway, causing both of them to look at me in surprise.

 

Rich nodded in my direction and Seth gave me the same smirk that he'd given me that morning. I felt my face redden again, but knew that Rich was just as embarrassed as I had been. So I didn't have to worry about him bringing it up.

 

Seth on the other hand

 

"How was your meeting?" Rich asked me, pulling me out of my thoughts and back into the reality of the hot summer day at hand.

 

I shrugged. "Boring. Same stuff as last summer," I said, stepping forward to inspect their paint job. "I'm impressed," I said after a few moments. "I figured you two would figure out a way to fuck this up too."

 

"Please," Seth scoffed. "Give us more credit than that. We have college degrees."

 

"Doesn't mean you can color inside the lines," I teased. Rich shook his head and wiped his forehead.

 

"Want a water?" he asked Seth who nodded.

 

And then I was alone with the smirking devil himself.

 

"I hardly recognize you," Seth said, yet again looking at me from head to toe. Confused, I looked down at myself. I hadn't cut my hair or drastically changed my appearance, so how I could look that different, I had no idea. But, of course, Seth had to quickly clarify what he meant. "I mean, you have clothes on."

 

Shaking my head, I turned around to walk away, not wanting him to catch on to how affected I was by his strange looks and comments. I'd gone away to school and done so well at forgetting about him for the most part. But shit. I could catch a single, fleeting glimpse of him and all that progress flew right out the window. And now that he seemed to be sending me some serious signals?

 

I'd taken about two steps when Seth's fingers encircled my wrist and pulled me back towards him. "Let me go," I said simply, closing my eyes and breathing deeply. "I don't want to keep repeating the most embarrassing moment of my life."

 

"Lexi," Seth whispered, taking hold of my shoulders. I looked up into those green eyes and wished immediately that I hadn't. For years I'd been fighting off this attraction and here he was, acting like an entirely different person.

 

Seth was acting

well he was acting as if he wanted me.

 

I couldn't even begin to wrap my head around the thought. For years I'd had this childhood girlish crush and all of a sudden he seems to reciprocate my feelings?

 

Too lost in my thinking, I didn't even realize that he'd pushed me up against the house. I should have been trying to get away. I should have been praying this hadn't been some ploy to push me into wet paint. But I could tell by the smell that this area wasn't wet. It hadn't even been painted.

 

Sighing deeply, I shut my eyes and tried to focus on breathing and not his presence surrounding me. I'm not short by any means. I stand a good few inches above five feet, but he towered over me by at least a foot. Seth's hands moved from my shoulders to the house behind me, successfully blocking me with his body. The house against my back, his body surrounding me. Yeah. I was trapped.

 

"Lexi," he whispered. Breathe, I told myself. Breathe. "Lexi, look at me."

 

I tried to disobey, but my eyes didn't listen. Slowly, I met his green gaze and felt my knees literally give out. Seth quickly reached for me, grabbing my sides and holding me up.

 

Not letting go, slowly, his fingers began to trace patterns there as his gaze held mine.

 

Seth. This was Seth. My brother's best friend. The boy who put frogs down my shirt and spiders in my bed.

 

His face moved towards mine and before I could comprehend what was happening, I felt his lips touch just below my ear. "Lexi," he whispered and I felt my breathing quicken and my eyes shut again.

 

This was the Seth who had always seemed so indifferent towards me in a romantic way. What the hell was going on? And why the hell could I not do or say a single thing?

 

The back door of the house slammed shut and just like that it was over. Seth jumped away from me and returned to his painting as if nothing had just happened. Rich appeared moments later, two waters in his hands. Tossing one to Seth, he looked at me strangely.

 

"You alright, Lex?" he asked, taking a sip of his water. "You're looking a little pale."

 

I nodded stupidly, looking from Rich to Seth and back to Rich again. "Yeah," I said finally. "I think I'll go take a nap." Rich simply nodded and as I willed my feet to move, my head was swimming.

 

Sure, I was tired, but with these strange new developments, I knew that sleep wouldn't be coming anytime soon.

 

two.

 

A week passed relatively quietly. I began my job and went to the mall with Sarah. We went out to the bar for a few drinks here and there. We went to a concert. It seemed the strangeness of my first day was not to be repeated and part of me, while relieved, was immensely disappointed. I'd seen my brother at the bar, but Seth hadn't been with him.

 

It was easier to be myself without his strangeness around.

 

Thursday night, Sarah had to go to work, so I was alone. I also had a huge pile of laundry that I hadn't done since I'd gotten home because my parents' washing machine was acting up.

 

Knowing Rich had to go to work, but that it didn't matter if I was there when he wasn't, I packed up all of my clothes and had Sarah drop me off at his apartment on her way to work. Letting myself in with the key he'd given me when he'd moved in, I wasn't all that surprised to see him lounging in the living room watching a movie with Seth as he waited to go to work.

 

"Hey," Rich said, looking at me from his chair.

 

Seth turned around to look at me and I felt my stomach sink to my feet. I hadn't seen him in seven days and in mere seconds, I was unsettled again. "Hey," I replied finally, picking up my laundry. "I need to wash some clothes and mom and dad's washer's busted."

 

Rich nodded as if he already knew this and settled back into his chair. "You know where the washer's at."

 

Seth nodded at me, then turned back to the movie. I tugged my laundry along behind me as I walked through the living room and down the hallway to the laundry room. I'd finished a load and dried them before I was disturbed. I'd just pulled a load of delicates from the dryer when the laundry door opened and closed behind me.

 

I knew it wasn't Rich.

 

Turning my head, I looked at Seth, who leaned against the door with a shy grin on his face. "Hey," he said simply, as if he trapped himself in laundry rooms with his best friend's sister on a daily basis.

 

"Hi," I said softly, then returned to folding my clothes.

 

"What're you washing?" he asked after a minute, stepping up right behind me and looking over my shoulder.

 

My hands stilled instantly. Just feeling him so near me unnerved me. He'd never been this touchy before and now it seemed, he wouldn't stop. I could feel his chest rumble as he laughed.

 

"Why do girls have so much underwear?"

 

The comment was so entirely Seth, but when it was my underwear being addressed, it was totally different. I felt my face flare up as I did my best to fold faster and put my underwear away.

 

"I don't know," I answered finally. "Why do boys adjust themselves in public?" Another laugh. More rumbling.

 

A knock came at the door and Seth stepped away from me. We both turned as Rich popped his head between the crack in the door. "Everything alright?" he asked.

 

I nodded as Seth said, "Yeah. I was just making sure she figured out how to use the new washer."

 

Rich nodded and opened the door the rest of the way. "Well come on then," he said to Seth. "I want to finish this movie before I have to go to work."

 

When I finished washing and folding my laundry, I joined the boys in the living room where they sat watching some Judd Apatow film. Rich was sitting in the recliner, which meant that I had to sit on the couch next to Seth, terrified that he wouldn't keep his hands to himself and even more terrified that I wouldn't mind too terribly if he didn't.

 

We had only gotten halfway through the movie when Rich stood up and went to get ready for work. I watched Seth from the corner of my eye, but he seemed genuinely into the movie, so I felt myself relax. Maybe the way he was acting was nothing. Maybe he'd always been that touchy.

 

Yeah right.

 

Like I wouldn't have noticed him touching me.

 

Rich left twenty minutes later and for another ten minutes we sat so far apart, you could have fit three people between us.

 

Seth stood abruptly and looked at me. "I'm gonna have a beer. You want something?" he asked.

 

"Screwdriver," I said, giving him a small smile and diverting my attention back to the TV. As soon as he left the room, I stretched my body along the couch. The recliner was open now that Rich had left, so I figured the couch was all mine.

 

When Seth returned with my drink, I gave him a smile. "I took the couch." He rolled his eyes and took up residence where Rich had been before.

 

We sat in silence and finished the movie. I thought the silence would be strange, but it was relaxed

comfortable. Which was weird for me. Normally with guys, silence would make me nervous and crave to fill to the gap with usually stupid chatter. As the credits rolled, I stood up and went to the bathroom.

 

When I returned to the living room, I found that I'd lost my seat on the couch. Seth had stretched his tall form across the cushions and was watching music videos on the TV.

 

"Hey," I said, walking over to the couch. "That's my seat."

 

He barely gave me a glance. "I bought it," he said simply, then his gaze returned to the old Britney Spears video on the screen.

 

I rolled my eyes. I love Britney, don't get me wrong. Her faults have only made me love her more as I realized that her flaws made her just as human as me, but I did not need to see him reliving some teenage fantasy over a much younger, much saner Brit.

 

"Move," I said, stepping in front of where his head rested, thus blocking his view.

 

"No," he grinned, then moved so he could see around me, thus ignoring me again.

 

"Move," I repeated, sidestepping and blocking his view again.

 

"You're really starting to ruin this for me," he groaned, adjusting once more.

 

Which meant I blocked the view once more. "That's it," he grumbled before I could demand that he vacate the couch once more. Before I could even comprehend what was happening, Seth grabbed me around the waist, and pulled me onto the couch. I don't know how it happened, but somehow I ended up tucked under his body.

BOOK: Summer Solstice
6.9Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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