"Put her on speaker." I smiled as excitement bubbled up inside of me. I needed this summer more than any of the others. They had something to look forward to at the end of it; I had these three months and that was it.
"Hey. We're just leaving the campus." Emily put the phone on the dash.
Dedra's voice filled up the car, causing me to smile. "Good. It's been a long two weeks without you guys. Cindy is grabbing some groceries, and I was in charge of cleaning up the house. Don't look in the closets or under the beds, okay? No telling on me."
I snorted. "Have you guys been having a good time?"
"Honestly, we've been resting a lot. We have a boat as part of the rental property. Did I tell you that?"
"No, but I'm ready to get on it." I glanced over at Emily and smirked. "Who's been driving that thing? I know Cindy hasn't."
"Me and the occasional boy Cindy brings home. I swear this girl is a man-magnet."
"She looks like a model," Emily added to the conversation.
"So do you, under those clothes," Dedra chuckled as I gave Emily a knowing look.
"Whatever. You guys need us to grab anything before we get there?" Emily tugged at her seatbelt.
She hated to be the center of attention, and I was hoping like hell I could help her get over that during the next few months at the lake together. She deserved the world, and yet it would only be her own fault if she didn't get it.
"Nope. We just need you guys." Dedra's voice was filled with excitement.
"We'll be there shortly. Tell Cindy to round up some hot guys. We need something pretty to look at after the week we've had." I let out a short sigh and picked up the phone. "See you soon."
Emily glanced over at me as I dropped the call. "Thanks again for staying behind with me. I'm not sure I would have gotten through Mimi's funeral without you."
"I'll always be here for you. Now it's time to leave the past in the past and enjoy our summer. You ready?"
"Hell yes. Drive faster."
Chapter 2
Brody
"You getting tired of all of this yet?" Daniel glanced over at me as we lay on the dock just outside the house, our feet skimming across the top of the lake.
I opened my eyes and turned to look at him as I ran my hand over my chest. "Is that a joke? We have a boat, plenty of beer, and a new wave of scantily clad chicks rolling in daily. This is heaven. I'm staying forever."
He laughed and turned to look up at the sky. "Real life waits at the end of this summer. Sucks."
I sat up and grumbled under my breath at him. "Always pissing on the parade."
A boat pulled by just a few feet from us and the group of girls on it started to give us shit. I couldn't have been more thrilled. Daniel not so much, but me? I knew how to handle a woman, and they were all the same.
"Hey, good looking," a leggy blonde called out as she stood up from the passenger's side seat of the boat, pulling off her sunglasses.
"Hey there. You guys behaving yourselves?" I glanced down the lake, not giving her too much attention.
Daniel sat up beside me and growled. We'd been friends for a while, and he was a good guy. Maybe too good. He hadn't dated much. School mattered too much to divert his attention from it.
And, that's why you'll be a doctor and I'll be a pauper.
"Behaving?" The girls laughed. "Who wants to behave? That doesn't sound like fun, at all."
"Right." I pressed my hand into the dock beside me and pushed up, getting to my feet in one smooth motion. I pulled my t-shirt over my head. "Come get me. I'll drive you girls around a little."
"Brody. Come on, dude," Daniel mumbled and got up, giving me a look.