I wasn’t expecting him to turn his broken eyes to mine, skim a hand up my arm and whisper, “Yes.”
Before I knew what was happening, his palm was gliding up the side of my neck, slowly pulling my face to his. I was sure he could hear my heart beating out of my chest as he lowered his beautiful, full lips to mine and holy shit I was kissing Trip Wilmington.
My panic instantly gave way to the rush of pure heat his kiss instilled in me; all my wishful thinking, all my months of yearning, finally culminating in a moment I thought would never come. His lips were soft and insistent, his breath sugary and warm against my skin. I felt the pressure of his hand pulling my face tighter to his as he opened his mouth against mine, gently, allowing his tongue to make a brief exploration between my lips. He tasted so good, the heat of his sweet breath mingling with mine, my heart threatening to pound its way out of my chest.
I briefly considered the mortifying thought that it was only a pity kiss, but that idea was banished when Trip pulled back enough to whisper against my lips, “Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to do that?”
Not nearly as long as me, pal.
I slid my hands into the hair at his nape and his mouth opened fully over mine and the next thing I became aware of was his arms wrapping tightly around me as he lowered me onto the grass.
*
Lisa just about had a flipping heart attack on the phone when I told her about hooking up with Trip. I couldn’t bear to get into the events leading up to said hookup, however, and just relayed the highlights. “Oh my God, Layla! So, you guys are like, dating now, right?”
“Lis-The truth is, I don’t know and I don’t care.”
“Yeah, right.”
“No, seriously. Whatever this is, I’m totally fine with it. I swear.”
“Don’t you think you’re selling yourself a little short?”
“Actually, no. I’m happy enough just to have him back in my life. The hooking up is just a bonus. Seriously.”
“Well, if you’re happy, I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks. Hey-How’s Pick?”
“He’s great. I’m just trying to savor every day right now. I don’t know what I’m going to do when it’s time for him to leave!”
“He’s dead set on going, huh.”
“Yeah. I mean, it’s a really great opportunity for him. How can he turn down a full scholarship? Plus, he’ll get to play basketball.”
I felt like Lisa was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince me. But I simply said, “That’s great!”
When she didn’t elaborate, I knew her head had gone off in a daze just thinking about it. So, I tried to keep things cheery. “Hey, look on the bright side. We could maybe fly out there and visit him next winter! I’ve always wanted to go to L.A. and it would be nice to escape the freezing cold for a little while, don’t you think? Maybe he can hook me up with Johnny Depp or something. I’m sure they’ll be like best friends by then!”
Not like that was my best material or anything, but Lisa barely gave a chuckle. I figured she wasn’t in a cheering-up mood.
“Hey, so I’ll pick you up at nine-thirty tomorrow, right?”
She still had that far-off tone in her voice when she answered, “Yeah... Sure. See you then.”
I hung up and started packing some stuff into my duffel bag. The whole crew had rented a house down in Seaside for a post-grad celebration. It sucked that we had to pay for a whole week even though we were only going to be there for half of it, but the houses down the shore don’t rent by the day. Even the seediest places rented on a Saturday to Saturday basis. Since the rental arrangements had been made by Rymer and Sargento, I was pretty sure that our place was going to be the seediest of all.
Chapter 27
ANOTHER 48 HOURS
Lisa and I pulled up to the front curb of the rental house and almost died laughing. The place was a perfect, two-storied rectangle of brown. The roof and the siding were both covered in dark cedar shingles; the front door, the window frames and even the shutters were painted to match. The only bright spots on the entire fa?ade were a ten foot, light blue smiling plastic whale over the front door and the row of pinwheels across the railing of the small brown balcony on the second floor.
Lisa got out of the car and stood on the sidewalk, nearly doubled over with laughter. “Holy Jesus, I can’t even imagine what’s waiting for us inside!”
But I had already decided I didn’t care about that, because I had just seen what was waiting for me outside.
Sprinting up the driveway, wearing nothing but his swim trunks and looking as delicious as ever, was Trip.