Island Girls (And Boys) Read online

  �I�m not scared,� I shot back.

  �My bad. I mistook your silence for a scream.�

  I twisted around and lightly slapped his shoulder. �Jerk.�

  I didn�t mean it, of course. I was actually having fun. Even if the movie did give me chills. Or maybe it was Dylan being so close, because the chills were kind of pleasant.

  �Your hair is tickling my nose,� he said. �Can I move it?�

  �Oh, sure.�

  He didn�t move it aside with the carelessness I would have. He looped it behind my ear first, his finger trailing down my face around my ear. Then he roped it around to the other side.

  Now I had incredibly pleasant chills, because his warm breath was skimming along my neck.

  �You smell really good,� he murmured.

  �Gardenia Lily,� I said.

  �No, chocolate chip.�

  It was hard to laugh without making a sound, but I managed, my shoulders quaking. This guy had a one-track mind. I�d eaten some cookies before we left the house. So maybe that was why I smelled like them. Or maybe my hair had absorbed the aroma while they were baking. Or maybe he was just flirting, and I didn�t really smell like anything.

  He, on the other hand, smelled really spicy, so I knew he�d showered again before he came over. I wondered how long his arrangement with Mr. P would last. Had Dylan given him a definite number of days�or was he still taking it day by day? How long was he going to stay? When would he leave?

  Because I was really starting to like him. And that really was scary.

  CHAPTER 14

  The movie was over a little after midnight, and we went straight back to the house. Some of us had to work the next day, after all. Zach decided to call it a night, got on his motorcycle, and headed to the campground. Dylan came inside to get the remaining cookies. Amy went to her room. Noah and Chelsea were on the couch, doing their thing.

  My grandma never threw anything away. A big drawer in the kitchen was filled with empty plastic butter tubs. I pulled one out and put the cookies in it. I snapped the lid into place and held it out to Dylan. I thought he�d snatch it up and leave.

  Instead he asked, �How do you get to that crow�s nest up there?�

  �There�s stairs.�

  �I bet it�s an awesome view.�

  �It is. You can see the whole island.�

  He waited, his eyes on mine�until I finally realized that he was waiting for an invitation. �Would you like to see it?�

  �Yeah.�

  �Come on.�

  I set the tub on the counter and led him up the stairs to the next floor. �Amy and I sleep in the bedrooms up here,� I said when we reached the landing, not certain why I felt this uncontrollable need to serve as a tour guide. I took him to the end of the hallway and opened a door that revealed the stairs that led to the crow�s nest.

  They were steep and narrow. I went first. At the top, I unlatched the trapdoor and pushed it up. Then I climbed out. Dylan followed and closed the door behind him.

  We moved to the edge of the crow�s nest. All the way around, the wall was about waist high. From there to the roof, it was open. The breeze blew around us.

  �I love it up here,� I confessed. �Sometimes I come up here when I can�t sleep.�

  �This is great,� he said.

  The moonlight glinted off the water of the bay. A foghorn sounded. A sheet of lightning illuminated the sky.

  �A storm�s coming in,� I said unnecessarily.

  �I can smell the rain in the air,� he said.

  �I guess if you didn�t have the arrangement with Mr. P, you�d be showering in the rain soon.�

  �Might do it anyway. Want to join me?�

  My mouth dropped open. I didn�t know what to say.

  �Just think about it,� he said finally.

  No problem there. Couldn�t stop thinking about it, actually.

  We were quiet, simply listening to the water lapping at the shore, the occasional rumble of thunder, growing nearer.

  �It�s cool that you have a guy living with you,� he said after a while.

  Here I was hoping his thoughts had turned to me�and he wanted to talk about Noah. I couldn�t seem to escape the guy.

  �Noah isn�t living with me. He�s living with Chelsea. Totally, exclusively.�

  �But it�s good that he�s around. He can take care of things for you.�

  �Right. About the only thing he takes care of is changing the channels and buying the beer.�

  �You don�t like having him around?�

  �It�s just that he wasn�t expected. Chelsea invited him to move in without asking us.�

  �You don�t like the unexpected.�

  �Not particularly.�

  �So if I want to kiss you then I should tell you first?�

  Okay. This was so not where I thought we were going with this conversation, but I could live with it. I could definitely live with it.

  �Not necessarily. I mean, some things, even though they�re unexpected, you still anticipate them.�

  I felt like I was talking in circles. Nervous, anxious, excited. �I guess what I mean is that you wouldn�t have to announce it, if you wanted to kiss me. You could just kiss me, and I wouldn�t be upset that it came without an announcement, because��

  �Jennifer?�

  �Yeah?�

  �I�m going to kiss you.�

  Simple. Quietly spoken. And then his lips were on mine.

  And his kiss wasn�t at all like his smile. It wasn�t crooked or one-sided. It was quite simply�perfect.

  CHAPTER 15

  The next morning I woke up to the patter of rain hitting the roof and its scent wafting in through the open window. I reached down and brought the covers that I�d kicked off during the night up to my chin to ward off the chill of the cool breeze ruffling the curtains. I snuggled down against the mattress, listening to the rain, ocean, and wind. Heavenly.

  I thought of Dylan and how all this might sound to him, zipped up inside his tent. Had he stripped down and taken a shower in the rain before going inside?

  I thought about his kiss. I wondered what it had meant to him, if anything. And wished it hadn�t meant so much to me.

  I wanted to be cool, carefree. A real island girl who just let life happen.

  But the truth was that I didn�t give kisses away lightly. And I�d only once given my heart. It had hurt. And I didn�t want to feel that hurt again.

  Chelsea kept saying that I didn�t know what it was to have a boyfriend. But I did. I knew what it was to plan my life around him, only to learn that he�d planned nothing around me.

  I wanted a guy around. But I didn�t want to care about him the way I was already starting to care about Dylan. Dylan who had announced that he wasn�t looking for a girlfriend, Dylan who had announced that he was going to kiss me. And then had. Long, slow, without hurry.

  With a moan, I clamped my pillow over my head. To block out the rain and the surf and the breeze. To stop the memories of his kiss from making my lips tingle.

  To stop myself from wondering if he�d kiss me again. Tonight. After work.

  After work!

  I shot straight up to a sitting position. Work! Rain! No, no, no!

  I scrambled out of bed and hurried to the window. I looked out at the drenched, dreary world. No sun. Just a steady downpour.

  In my cotton boxers and tank, I shuffled out of my bedroom and across the hallway. I knocked on Amy�s door.

  �Just a sec!� she called out.

  I heard a thud like something dropping to the floor. A grunt. A whine?

  �Amy, are you okay?�

  �I�m fine! I�ll be there in a sec.�

  I heard another thud. Then she opened the door a crack and peered out like she�d forgotten that I knew what she looked like in her underwear.

  �Are you sure you�re okay?� I asked.

  �I�