Erika
The warm sun had almostlulled me to sleep when I heard someone calling our names. Sitting up, I saw April coming towards us with Jonathon and Renee in tow. Renee settled into the chair on my opposite side, leaning back with a contented sigh. Meanwhile April and Jonathon pulled off their clothes, piling them up next to us, and headed into the pool for a dip.
After a few minutes of silence Renee called across me to Reed.
“How’s everything going big brother?” she asked in a singsong tone.
Reed turned his head and gave his sister a look that was almost suspicious.
“Fine. You?”
Renee’s sharp eyes moved between us, but she didn’t say anything. I wondered if she thought it was weird that we were together.
“Your brother bought me lunch, so I didn’t have to eat alone, and then we decided to sunbathe,” I rushed to say, as if I needed to explain why we were together by the pool.
Renee’s eyes went to my thigh, where a nice bruise had formed just beneath the line of my bathing suit.
“What happened?” she asked, pointing at the bruise.
I glanced at Reed. “Umm...”
Renee laughed. “Oh, never mind, I don’t want to know.”
I looked at her in confusion. “Huh?”
“The last thing I want to hear about is my brother’s sex life.”
My face was instantly red. “Oh, no, we’re not, I mean, we never, it’s not...”
Reed interrupted, saving me from my stammering.
“It’s from when I hit her with my car yesterday.”
“What?!?!”
Renee’s voice was shocked. Just then April and Jonathon returned, catching the tail end of our conversation.
“You’re the one who almost ran her over?” April asked, toweling off her long hair as her gaze switched back and forth between us.
“I would say that was a romcom meet-cute if my poor mom hadn’t gotten banged up.”
“It was an accident,” I protested. “I’m fine.”
I don’t know why I was defending him, but I hated to see him be embarrassed in front of his family. Plus, the last thing I wanted was for April to worry about me when she should be focusing on her wedding.
“I wasn’t looking where I was going,” Reed added. “I saw a spot and swerved into it at the last minute. Fortunately, Erika thought quickly and jumped on my hood before I crushed her.”
“Way to make a good first impression, Uncle Reed.” Jonathon’s voice was teasing.
All the attention was making me uncomfortable. I didn’t want to make a spectacle of myself or add any stress to April’s wedding weekend. I sat up and rooted around for my sarong.