Summer With My Dad’s Best Friend

Annie and I have been best friends for many years. Our parents are friends. We go on vacations together all the time and they even bought cabins on the same lake. But since Annie’s parents’ divorce, things have been different.

“I’m sure they beat us there,” my dad says. “Ben drives that Corvette as if it has wings. He probably arrived hours ago.”

My mom leans over the seat and whispers just loud enough for me to hear. “I think Lorain got the Corvette in the divorce. Ben’s probably driving something else.”

The muscles in my dad’s jaw flex with tension. I know he doesn’t like talking about his best friend’s divorce. Everyone had liked Ben’s wife, Lorain (except me—I never did trust her, and she was way too strict with Annie), and when they found out she cheated on Ben, they were devastated. What do you say to someone who’s been cheated on practically his whole marriage? When the details came out, we were all shocked. I always liked Ben. He’s sweet and funny, and when I got into high school, I couldn’t help but notice how hot he was.

I feel my cheeks heat up when I think about him. That happens a lot lately. The older I get, the more I notice him. It’s so bad sometimes I have to take a cold shower just to calm down. Annie would be mortified if she knew the dirty things that go through my mind when her dad is around, and that there have been times I went to her house just to see him.

I know I shouldn’t think about him like that, but I can’t help it. And I can’t help how excited I feel getting to see him every day while we’re on vacation. Especially now that he’s single. Though, it’s probably a good thing Ben’s cabin is further down the lake from ours so I won’t be obsessing over him the entire time.

I go back to scrolling through Tinder to get him off my mind, but the Wi-Fi is spotty as hell this far out into the woods.

My dad slows the car and I look up as my dad turns down the long dirt driveway. After about a mile of bumping along and kicking up dust, our cabin comes into view. And there’s a truck parked out front.

“Isn’t that Ben’s work truck?” my mom asks.

My dad’s forehead wrinkles with confusion. “It is.”

My heart starts to thunder in my chest. I always got a little excited when I knew I’d get to see Ben, but it’s never been this bad before. Knowing he’s single again has changed everything.

Ben climbs out of his truck, and so do Annie and Tulip and their younger brother. I’m so confused why they’re at our cabin and not their own.

My dad pulls up beside them and I can’t get out of the car fast enough. Annie and I run at each other and tackle each other into a hug.

“I’m so excited to spend the next three weeks with you,” I say to her excitedly. I can’t wait to show her my new black bikini. And Annie and Tulip are the best wing-women a girl can ask for when it comes to dating. They know where all the hot guys hang out and they are eager to help me pursue my goal of losing my virginity over this vacation.

“Don’t get too excited,” Annie says. When I pull away from our hug and look at her, she’s practically in tears.

“Why, what’s wrong?” I ask.

“What’s going on?” my dad asks Ben before Annie can explain to me what she meant.

Ben sighs and looks like he’s barely masking his anger. “Well, Lorain and I share custody of the cabin, and apparently she rented it out for the next month without bothering to mention it.”

“She did it on purpose,” Tulip mumbles under her breath. “I told her we were coming up here weeks ago.” No one else but me hears her, and I have to admit I’m not the least bit surprised that Lorain would do something like that. She’s vindictive. It wasn’t enough to cheat on Ben and hurt him, but now she has to go and sabotage his vacation with his daughters. What a bitch. Of course I don’t say that because I know Annie and her mom are still close even after everything Lorain did to her dad.

“Looks like the girls and I are going to be making other vacation plans for the summer,” Ben says.

“No!” I burst out so suddenly it startles everyone. Now they’re all staring at me, but I’m not the least bit embarrassed by my outburst. I’m not going to spend the next three weeks at this cabin without my best friends.

I look at my dad, pleading to him with the biggest puppy dog eyes I can muster. But I can tell by the determined look on his face that he already came to the same conclusion that I did.