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“He hasn’t seen it.”
“Which one are you wearing?”
She doesn’t answer, seeming to busy herself with something.
“Don’t tell me it’s last year’s one-piece,” I say. She’s been wanting a bikini for a while, claiming her one-piece made her look like a stuffed sausage. I'll hurt her if she continues to wear it after buying all those beautiful bikinis.
“A bathing suit, silly. Enough about me. My life is boring. Tell me about your summer so far. Have you seen Tyler?” Madison quickly diverts the attention away from her and Asher and her many bikinis. So many secrets there. One day I’ll get them out of her.
But I expected her to ask about Tyler, so I’m not surprised she switched to that topic. I think back to last night. How I beat him to the ice cream shop, and he treated us to waffle cone sundaes. He said he wouldn’t have let me pay, so he let me win the race. I told him to just accept the loss as I happily scooped black raspberry ice cream into my mouth.
“Yep. My car decided to act up. And it turns out he’s a mechanic now. That’s what he’s been doing this past year. He offered to help out, so I took him up on it.” I leave out last night on purpose. We ended the night with a simple goodbye, but we hung out on the beach for hours after finishing our cones. Sounds more friendly than it is.
“Good. Knowing someone who fixes cars is always a bonus in my book. Ex-boyfriend or not,” Madison says.
I wince at the word boyfriend. Tyler never really was my boyfriend, was he? I mean, we never made things official, but from the outside looking in, it was pretty damn obvious.
But she’s right. It comes in handy more times than not. “I agree. Car problems are the worst.”
“How are you doing with it all? Are you okay since seeing him again?”
I shrug. “Yeah. We decided to remain friends. But you know how those things seem to go. Usually, it ends in heartache…” I trail off. Remain friends?Doubtful.
“Yes, I do. They fall madly in love and run away together. Get married and have babies. A perfect love story.”
“Ha! There are no perfect love stories. Only beautiful broken ones.”
“That sounds like some good poetry right there.”
“Doesn’t it? Beautiful broken love. I think you’ll be the one getting married and having babies first.” I make a funny face into the camera.
“Whoa, whoa. I don’t think so.”
“We’ll see about that. Oh! I did get a job finally! A small café but the pay is good. I start Monday.”
“That’s awesome, Lo. Congrats.”
“Thanks. It wasn’t easy to find. It was like dead around here as far as jobs go.”
“But you did it! I start my nanny job next week. We both are saving fools, and soon, we’ll have our own place together!”
“Sophomore year is killing it already. I can’t wait to get back.”
“I can’t wait, either.”
* * *
The red skin’s faded, a darker golden cast to his skin now. It looks good with his light hair and eyes. But that’s not even the best part.
The best part is his clothes. Low-slung jeans, covered in motor oil and grease, a tight black T-shirt, one rag hanging from his back pocket, and one thrown over his shoulder. His hands are sexy with that hardworking look to them and already stronger than I remember.
A thought rushes in of those strong, rough hands gliding over every inch of my hot skin, and my core clenches. I ignore it, and instead, I slide my hands under my legs and bite my lip.
As he walks closer to me, I let go of my lip, the bottom one popping out louder than I expected. His eyes immediately drop to them, and when he looks back up, his gaze is smoldering hot.
How the hell are we supposed to just be friends?
Tyler grabs the rag off his shoulder and wipes his hands, his eyes never leaving mine. It feels like a thousand minutes pass when he finally stops in front of me. The heat coming off him covers me like a blanket.
