“That’a a horrible way to spend Spring Break. What are you, thirty?” Kelly grumbles. She rolls onto her back and throws her arm over her eyes. I hope she gets a white tan line across her face!
“Ignore her.” Hattie lays a giant blanket in front of me then rolls onto her belly.
The tattooed guy, Landon, slaps her ass. She narrows her eyes at him, then giggles. Josh has taken a seat in the furthest shaded spot away from me. I bring my gaze to the horizon, not sure what else to say. No one is asking me questions and I’m not about to voluntarily spill my guts.
“Dude.” Landon reaches into his cooler and throws a chunk of ice at Josh. “Stop staring, you'll scare her away.”
Hattie backhands Landon across the chest. He gives her a look then adds, “I’m just saying, he looks like a creeper.”
Hattie groans, then rolls into a seated position and twists the cap off her water bottle. “Ignore him.” She takes a sip then sets it in the sand beside her. “In fact, ignore all of them. They’re nothing but a bunch of idiots.” She climbs to her feet and pulls her dress off, revealing a teal cutout one piece. “Come on, let’s go swimming.”
The thought of exposing myself to the sun anymore than I already have makes my stomach twist. Adding third degree burns because I’m trying to keep up with people I don’t care about does not sound like my idea of fun.
Nevertheless, I put my best face forward and pretend to be excited that I was invited, while remorseful to decline. If they had been here an hour ago, I probably would have said yes. Hattie seems nice, so does Landon and Sam. Jury’s still out on Josh. “I think I’ll stay here.”
Hattie smiles in acknowledgment then strides towards the shore with Landon close behind. The moment Sam climbs to his feet, Kelly’s up and chasing after him, which leaves me and Josh alone and, for some reason, that makes me nervous.
“Your shoulders are red.” Josh points at my angry skin.
It’s not just my shoulders that are burnt, my arms, neck, and back are too. The spaghetti strap dress Kelly loaned me isn’t helping the situation either.
Josh shrugs his yellow short-sleeve tee off and holds it out to me. “Here, I doubt it will keep you from peeling, but it should help.”
“Thanks.” I slip the shirt over my head and fight a grimace as it touches my skin.
When my brother, Colson, gives me his shirt—or any of his friends for that matter—it’s tossed at me, like I’m a nuisance. Josh, on the other hand, acts like giving me the shirt off his back is second nature. Maybe that’s why I don’t feel weird giving it a sniff as it slips past my nose and to my shoulders.
“Listen, um, I’m sorry about last night.” He leans over the edge of the blanket and grabs a handful of sand then sifts the grains through his fingers, building a tiny collapsing castle by his feet.
“I don’t know what you’re apologizing for,” I tell him honestly. The worst thing he’s done is avoid eye contact when he first got here. If anything, it was strange, not bad.
Josh smirks, his shoulders lifting with a tiny laugh as he meets my gaze. I like his eyes. At first glance they’re nothing more than brown, but when you look closely, they’re the color of honey with gold swirls and, in the right light, some green pigmentation. “You had that many drunk guys hitting on you last night?”
I don’t know whether to be flattered that Josh thinks I garnered that much attention or offended. My jaw falls open, not sure how to respond. I mean, I did have a handful of guys flirt with me, but I think they assumed I was promiscuous, like Kelly. Once I threw it out there that I had a boyfriend and would not be indulging in their fantasies, they all backed off.
All but one.
“It’s okay,” he continues. “I don’t blame those guys, you’re beautiful, but for the record I was the babbling idiot who made a fool of himself in the church parking lot last night.”
“Oh,” I say, finally realizing how I know him and Sam. “You were there when Kelly and Sam… you know.”
Josh laughs again this time it’s a little lighter. The sound makes me grin, and his smirk stretches wider. He has a nice smile, accented by his jawline. “Yeah, Kelly and Sam have an on-again, off-again, open relationship of sorts. Sam likes to keep things open.”
“Like her legs?” I cover my hand with my mouth, not meaning to have said that out loud. “Oh. My. Gosh.”
“You’re right.” Josh guffaws. “There’s a reason why I’ve never touched Kelly like that, and never will.”
Knowing that he’s never hooked up with Kelly is oddly satisfying. We could never be a thing, I live too far away, and we just met, but still. If the sun and moon aligned and the opportunity presented itself, I’m not sure I’d take it if he had jumped on the Kelly-wagon. “So, how do you all know each other?”
Josh smiles and I’ve noticed he does that a lot. The guy generally seems happy and not weighed down by the world. All of his friends seem to have missed the we’re-going-about-to-be-grownups-get-your-life-together memo. Or if they did get it, they’re in a place where they don’t care. Either way, I’m a little jealous.
“Landon
and I have been friends since grade school. Hattie came around when they started dating a few months ago. I didn’t like the idea because she’s a junior, but her parents are cool with it, so who am I to judge?”
“Is he that much older?” I glance at the water. Hattie, Landon, Sam, and Kelly are gathered in almost a circle. They’re laughing at something Landon said, oblivious we’re talking about them. Looking at the group, I never would have guessed Hattie is a year younger than me. She carries herself with confidence, it makes her look older.
“Landon failed kindergarten and third grade. So, even though we graduated together a couple of years ago, he’s already almost twenty-three.”