I’ve never been so filled.
2.
When my mother asks me to join her and Darin, her fiancé, at his beach house for the weekend, I'm not sure what to expect
That’s a lie.
I know exactly what to expect.
Darin and his stuck-up, spoiled son will prance around, trying to convince me that we’re all going to be one happy family after the wedding. As if.
While I’m happy my mother has found true love, I know it’s only a matter of time before she tosses this guy to the side, like all the rest. Since she and my father got divorced when I was 15, it’s been one guy after another, though none have lasted as long as Darin.
Maybe he is her one-and-only, after all.
Now, on my summer break from university, I’m excited to relax and unwind at the beach. I’m less excited about having to do it with Darin’s son, Ryan, who is only a year older than me, and a junior at the same college I go to.
Somehow, throughout our parents’ six-month romance, Ryan and I have managed to stay far away from each other. He’s busy with linguistics or whatever the hell he’s studying and me? I’m barely scraping by in my English Literature classes, wondering how I plan to make a living after graduation.
“The last thin
g I need is a weekend away with the fam,” I complain to Sasha. She’s been my best friend and roommate since I got to college. For two years, we’ve shared everything, including my complaints about my family.
“You should still pack the bikini,” she comments, not looking up from the book she’s reading. “You never know. There might be a hot guy or twenty, and you haven’t gotten laid in awhile.”
I feel like complaining, but I don’t. She’s right, after all. It’s been almost a month since I fucked the stripper and there hasn’t been anyone since. I even went back to the club to see Red again, but the manager said he had quit dancing rather suddenly.
Despite being asked on several dates, nothing physical has happened for me. Maybe I’m going through a dry spell, or maybe I just know that I’ve been ruined for other men.
I dream about the way Red fucked me every damn night. No one else has ever made me unravel as deeply or ask quickly as he did.
And I don’t even know the guy’s real name.
Awesome.
*
My connecting flight is late, so I text Mom and let her know I’ll take a taxi from the airport. We had been planning on meeting for dinner, but that’s not going to happen. She’ll understand, and I’m not exactly dreading the fact that I’ll have a few more hours to myself before I have to play nice around Darin.
During the short drive from the airport to the beach, I stare out the window, barely paying attention to the cab driver’s attempts at conversation. How my plain Jane mother landed a big-city businessman with a beach house in Florida, I’ll never know.
He must see something special in her.
“Here we are,” he pulls up to a large, two-story house that, as promised, is right on the beach.
“Thanks,” I say, shoving some money to him. “Keep the change.”
I trudge slowly up the walkway to the house, reminding myself to keep a good attitude about this week. After all, how many of my classmates would die to get to spend a week at the beach? All of them. Growing up in Kansas, I haven’t exactly spent a lot of time at the ocean, so this should be a dream come true.
When I reach the front door, I knock timidly, trying to push down my nerves. I know Darin. He’s a nice guy. He’s great and I should be happy for my mom, but I just really don’t feel like meeting my soon-to-be brother. He’s grown up a spoiled rich kid, so he has no idea what it’s like to be ordinary.
He doesn’t know what it’s like to be normal.
The door swings open and my mom wraps me up in a huge hug.
“Hey Mom,” I mumble.
“I’m so glad you’re here!” She practically squeals, thrusting me into Darin’s arms. He wraps me up in an equally big hug before pulling back.