“What is with the grandma attire?” Dixie asks, interrupting my thoughts.
My white bikini is far from grandma gear. “It’s called a swimsuit. You should try one sometime.” Insult returned, I pick up my magazine and flip back to the article on jobs and personalities. I shove Vaughn out of my mind and focus on my goal for the summer: if I can figure out what I want to do and set a plan in motion, maybe I can avoid law school. The thought of three grueling years of academics for a career I don’t want makes my stomach roil. That my dad expects me to work for his firm afterward is gut-wrenching. Will more time away from my hometown make it easier to go back? Will pretending law makes me happy bleed into my cells enough for me to completely get over breaking the law and destroying the boy I loved?
“Saving the goods for Prince Charming?”
God, she never stops. I’m not saving anything for anybody, including a nonexistent Prince Charming, but the careless barb hits home anyway, because the goods have gone unused. I’m still a virgin by choice. Still feel promised to Mason, because when our lives irrevocably changed we were madly in love with each other.
“Since I’m blessed with the joy of your company this afternoon, I take it you’ve had no luck finding a bartending gig,” I say. “Hard to believe nobody’s fallen for your sparkling personality.”
She cuts me an annoyed—and dare I think impressed—glance. “Haven’t started looking yet. I put a little savings aside, so I can kick back for a minute. But don’t worry. I’m perfectly capable of standing on my own two feet. Something you’d know nothing about.”
“You have no clue what I’ve had to deal with,” I fire back, pissed that she thinks she knows what it’s like to walk in my shoes. “Stop thinking you’re the only one who knows life’s not fair.” Rather than wait for her to say anything else, I jump to my feet.
The swimming pool is freezing, but I’d rather deal with cold water than a cold sister. I’ve attempted a swim twice already and stepped down only to the fourth step, but third time’s the charm. This time, I walk over to the deep end. I stare into the tranquil blue water. Just jump, Kendall.
Just.
Jump.
Laughter—deep, masculine laughter—floats to my ears, and I look up. Beyond my aunt’s beautifully kept backyard and up to the patio next door, Vaughn and another guy have walked outside. My breath catches at the sight of him. Even from a distance he makes my skin heat, my heart stop, then start. A week without any contact has done nothing to diminish this unfamiliar tug toward him.
I watch him put his hand on the railing near their pool and turn his head in my direction. Our gazes collide. I think the guy next to him is looking at me, too, but I can’t say for sure, because I’m stuck on Vaughn. Tingles break out over my skin.
There’s something else I can feel. Or sense? It’s weird, and my heart beats faster. On three, Vaughn is silently saying without moving a muscle. Encouraging me to go for it. I quickly drop my gaze and shake off the weird sensation.
I pull in a deep breath and on the count of three, I dive into the water. I swim underneath, fanning my arms out in smooth, even strokes, using my legs in short, leisurely kicks. It’s blissfully calm, the weightless feeling, the quiet. I forget how chilly the water is and float the last few feet to the shallow end.
Breaking the surface, I take a deep breath. The sun is quick to warm my shoulders. I dip my head back to smooth my hair away from my face then step up the stairs out of the water. Dixie pays me no attention, so in an uncharacteristic move, I flip her the double bird. It feels good. And then it doesn’t. Because Vaughn claps, having caught my rude gesture, I’m guessing. I immediately drop my arms and, without looking in his direction, hurry back to my chair. I didn’t think he and his friend were still there, watching. Luckily, hedges block their view of where Dixie and I are situated. “I’m so embarrassed.” I palm my cheeks to hide the pinkness I’m sure is there.
“Why?” Dixie questions as she cranes her neck to see where the applause came from. “Because your bikini turns transparent in water?”
My bikini is fully lined. I know she’s trying to mess with me, and yet I can’t help but check myself.
She resumes scribbling in her notebook. “Who’s the hottie with Vaughn?”
“I don’t know.” I lift up the back of the lounge chair so I can sit against it, my legs straight out in front of me.
“Of course you don’t,” Dixie huffs in a tone that suggests my uselessness has reached a new benchmark. She doesn’t even bother looking up.
I contemplate going inside the house to hang out with Snowflake and Google help wanted ads, but I’m not about to let my sister run me off with her toxic attitude. As of this moment, I’m over letting her bother me. The warm SoCal sun is glowing, the air is citrus-fresh, and I’m free to be who and what I want for the rest of the summer.
Settling more comfortably into my chair, we sit in silence that lasts until I hear a heavy knock, the white picket side gate unlatching, and a guy call out, “Hey, mind if we join you?”
I don’t recognize the voice, but then I hear his. “It’s Vaughn,” he shouts, his voice deeper than the first, and a little hesitant, like it wasn’t his idea to show up here. “And my friend Dylan.”
Dixie and I look at each other. My eyes feel like they’re about to cannonball out of their sockets. She’s half naked, for God’s sake. Her eyes, on the other hand, are inscrutable behind dark glasses. I don’t hear the gate close, so I think the guys are waiting for the okay. “Do we mind?” I ask quietly.
“I don’t mind,” she says, sitting up and slinging the towel around her neck again. She’s covered. Barely.
“We come with libations,” Dylan sh
outs.
“Well come on back, then,” Dixie calls in return. I remind myself this is our backyard and I can relax. Vaughn might make me nervous, but I’m in control here.
“Sweet Jesus,” Dylan says, looking between Dixie and me. His eyes dart to Vaughn and I’m not sure what that’s about, but I don’t have time to ponder it, because then he looks back at Dixie and gives her a full-wattage smile that really is dazzling. She smiles back. It’s not the kind that says she’s impressed. More like she’s clocking his cocky game from a mile away.
“Hey,” Vaughn says to Dixie with a nod before he turns to look down at me. “Hi.”