I cracked one eye in his direction and saw a muscle twitching in his jaw and the wolfish look in his greedy eyes. I started to chuckle.
I was sitting there, stifling a giggle, so thrilled to have his full attentions as he whispered, “It’s not funny, Layla. Look at me! I’m not going to be able to get out of this chair for an hour!”
I looked down at his lap and took notice of the huge... towel folded across his legs. And then I cracked up.
Just then, Pick stood and hauled Lisa to her feet. “Hey. Anyone want to take a walk down to the water?”
Before I knew what I was doing, I yelled, “Trip does!”
And then I just lost it.
*
We’d all grabbed some dinner at Midway and polished off our cheesesteaks and sausage and pepper sandwiches on the walk back to the house. No easy accomplishment while lugging all our beach stuff at the same time.
By the time we got back, Rymer and Sargento had wrapped up their Sega marathon and were already hitting the beer. They were ecstatic when Cooper handed them the greasy brown paper bag from Midway and dove right in.
I watched as Heather grabbed a roll of paper towels and brought them to the table for Sargento. I thought she must have had the patience of a saint. The girl hardly knew any of us, yet came all the way down to the beach on Sargento’s invite. He then proceeded to spend the entirety of Day One holed up in the disgusting house playing video games, completely ignoring his guest.
But then, I saw the way he looked over at her mid-chew and gave her a wink. Heather just lit up like a firefly, smiling back at him.
Maybe the guy just needed to fine-tune his boyfriend skills. It’d been quite a while since he had a woman in his life. And damn. Lisa was right. They really looked so cute together.
I, on the other hand, must have looked a fright. I was sticky and sweaty from the day on the beach, my hair was twisted into a windblown knot on the top of my head, and after a sausage and pepper sandwich, all I could think about was brushing my teeth. “Yeesh. I think I’m gonna hit the showers. Anyone else need to get in there first?”
I flinched when I felt the can of ice cold beer Trip was holding to my neck. I turned as he cracked it open and handed it over. He tapped his can against mine and said, “Knock this back first.”
Lisa cranked the radio and everyone grabbed a drink, and before long, the guys decided to get a game of Quarters going. I downed the last of my beer and finally excused myself upstairs for a much-anticipated shower.
I grabbed my bag from one of the bottom bunks of my assigned bedroom and headed into the bath. Stripping down in front of the mirror, I took note of my new tan lines, acknowledging my overly red nose and shoulders. I hoped a good scrubbing and some aloe would even out my skintone.
By the time I put on clean clothes and blew out my hair, I was feeling like a new woman.
Normally, we all would have headed up to the boardwalk for at least a little while, played some wheels and hit some rides. But even though it was summer for us, the official season didn’t start until the shore towns said so. Most of the attractions on the pier were shut down during weekdays, until the influx of tourists started trickling in sometime near the end of June. A few booths got a jump on the season, but it was kind of depressing wandering around a veritable ghost town just to search out the random, open stand. Come Friday, though, the place would be hopping.
I headed downstairs and resigned myself to a night in the house. Not that I was complaining, however. Trip was at the kitchen table, laughing with the guys and looking like a bronze god. He must have braved the downstairs shower, because he was sitting there all clean and shiny, his gorgeous straw mane sporting new golden highlights from an afternoon in the sun.
He was busy bouncing quarters into a cup, so I grabbed myself a beer and took a seat on the counter next to Becca to watch. I didn’t really know her too well, but I figured I’d better change that. If Cooper was as smitten as I suspected he was, this girl might be around for a while.
I put my beer can on the counter next to me, crossed my legs Indian-style and plunked a nearby bowl of chips in my lap. “Want some?” I offered to Becca.
“Yeah, sure, thanks.” She reached over and plucked a single chip out of the bowl, nibbling daintily while we watched the boys’ game. As hard as I tried, I could never pull off such a girly-girl move so naturally. Sad fact was that my inner tomboy was alive and well, especially around food.
I’d been mulling that over when Becca’s words broke my train of thought. “Um. I uh, wanted to thank you for what you said to Cooper about me.”
Wait, what? What had I said?