Island Girls (And Boys) Read online

  �Or else what?�

  �We move back home.�

  It was a threat I never would have carried out. I didn�t think. I mean, I wanted to be here as much�if not more�than they did. And my parents would never agree to let me stay here all alone.

  But they didn�t know that.

  Which might be why they pitched in with such enthusiasm. All of them. Even Designated Drinker. It took us almost two hours. It didn�t help that the dogs kept trying to retrieve what we put in the trash. Noah finally took them outside, along with a bottle of Chelsea�s strawberry-scented shampoo. She started to protest, looked at me, and went back to scrubbing the counters.

  We were further slowed by the fact that we had to keep stepping around a drunken cat. It actually staggered, this way and that. And in the end was what lightened the mood and got us all to laugh again.

  Until it barfed.

  But even then, things didn�t seem quite so bad. We had the dishes cleaned and put away, the counters scrubbed, the floors swept and mopped, linens washed. The dogs smelling like Chelsea. Which I thought was funny as well.

  I waited until we were finished putting everything back to the way it was and Designated Drinker left before I confessed my plans for the day to Amy and Chelsea. After all, they needed to know so they could back up my story.

  �You gave me all that grief about taking a day off, and now you�ve called in sick?� Chelsea asked. �Have you got a lot of nerve or what?�

  I knew I deserved that, but I�d hoped she�d be a bit more mature about it.

  �It�s not the same thing, Chelsea. You have Noah every day. Dylan is going to be leaving. I�ll probably never see him again.�

  �That�s so weak, Jen. At least I was spending the day with someone I love. You�re taking a sick day to be with someone who doesn�t care enough about you to hang around. He�s using you. He�s like a sailor. A girl in every port.�

  �He�s not using me,� I said defiantly. �We have something special.�

  �Right.�

  It really ticked me off that she�d put all these doubts out there to mingle with my guilt over lying to Mrs. P. Sure, Dylan and I weren�t committed to each other, and he might have a girl in every port�or at least on every island�I didn�t want to think about it. I didn�t want to question my actions today or his actions in the future. I didn�t want to speculate about what was really happening between us�or not happening. Or why he wouldn�t stick around.

  I stood on the balcony and watched Amy and Chelsea drive away and tried not to feel the guilt settling in the pit of my stomach or the doubts weaving through my heart.

  But when Dylan arrived, the guilt and doubts fled as quickly as they�d arrived. I was so incredibly glad to see him, so glad that I�d agreed to play hooky today. Really, who would it hurt? Most of the campers had left late yesterday. It would be the weekend before we were busy again�but I didn�t want to think about that. I just wanted to think about my time with Dylan.

  I would have loved to have time alone with him in the house, cuddling on the couch, sitting on the balcony, but Noah and the shower guy�Alex�were hanging out together, watching some show about surfing. Like they�d ever surf. It would require getting off their butts. And I didn�t see that happening any time soon.

  I was decked out in my bikini. I grabbed my beach bag and jogged down the steps. I refused to let the fact that this summer wasn�t what I�d envisioned bring me down.

  I was going to spend the day with Dylan.

  I stepped out into the sunlight. He was waiting for me. He slipped his arm around me, his hand warm against my bare side.

  �Where�s your stuff?� I asked.

  �I travel light.�

  �Hold on then. I�ll be right back. I�ve got another beach towel.�

  I ran back up the stairs and into my bedroom, grabbed another beach towel, and an extra bottle of lotion. Stopped off in the kitchen and tossed some extra drinks into my bag, along with some snacks.

  Then an idea hit me. I walked into the living room. It didn�t appear that either Noah or Alex had moved a muscle.

  �Noah?�

  He was lying on the couch. He craned his neck back to look at me, somehow keeping half his gaze on the TV. �Yeah?�

  Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I took a deep breath.

  �I was wondering if you guys could make yourselves scarce around noon. I�d like some alone time with Dylan here in the house.�

  He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. �I bet you do, but relax. I hear nothing, see nothing, speak nothing.�

  I sighed. So typical of a guy to not get what I wanted. �I just want to fix him lunch, but I�d like nothing to distract us.�

  �I�m down with that. I�ll make myself scarce.�

  �Alex?�

  �I�m already gone.�

  �Will you take the animals with you as well?�

  �Sure thing,� Noah said. �That�s what roomies do, right? Help each other out.�

  �If you really wanted to help out, you could chip in on the expenses and the daily chores.�

  �Chelsea said everything was covered.�

  �Yeah. By us.� I waved my hand. �Never mind. Just be gone by noon.�

  �Not a problem.�

  The beach was paved with bodies�every shape, size, and skin tone. But since Dylan and I headed down to the sand early, we�d managed to grab some prime real estate. On the soft sand, near the water.

  We�d staked our claim with a beach umbrella and our beach towels covering the sand. We�d slathered lotion over each other, and then we�d talked. About nothing. About everything.

  He had two older brothers, both in the army. Special Forces. So he was feeling the pressure to measure up. Neither of us wanted to really dwell on the dangers�or the fact that he might be going far away.

  Instead I told him about the drunken cat that morning. He laughed. A wonderful, marvelous laugh.

  He told me about the first night that he and Zach camped out.

  �We just headed out from home, no plans at all, except to reach the northeast corner of the Texas coast. We got there just as it was getting dark. Nothing in sight. Nothing. Just sand and water. No houses, no lights, no people. So we set up our tent, right there on the beach. Cooked supper over a driftwood fire. Real adventurers. Do you have any idea how dark it gets at night when there isn�t a town nearby?�

  �Pitch black?�

  �Blacker. But the stars. They�re beautiful, Jennifer. No city lights to fade them. You feel so small.�

  We were on our sides, facing each other. He played with my hair while he talked, wrapping strands around his finger, unwrapping them.

  �Were you scared?� I asked.

  �Nah, not really. Just in awe that we could be so insignificant.�

  �You�re not insignificant.�

  �Not like I didn�t matter�it�s just that everything else seems so much greater. We hardly talked at all. Just communed with nature. The next morning nature communed with us. The tide came in and soaked us. We�d pitched our tent too close to the water.�

  I laughed. �You�re kidding!�

  �Nope. Made a mess of everything.�

  �I thought tents were waterproof.�

  �Not when you leave it unzipped so you can have a breeze blowing inside.� He tugged on my hair. �You ever slept in a tent?�

  �No. I know it�s odd for a person who works at a campground not to like camping, but I like having air-conditioning and a bathroom.�

  �I�d like you to sleep in my tent sometime.�

  �I�ve seen your tent. It�s tiny. I think three would be a crowd.�

  �Zach hooked up with an island girl at the party last night. I�m sleeping solo until we leave.�

  �Oh.�

  That one little word seemed to say nothing and everything. I swallowed hard, thinking that I should follow it with something significant.