And then he spoke.
“You took it too far, idiot. I was about to jump in.”
He hadn’t been the one to speak before. Deep, soulful tones sashayed off his tongue. Oh, damn. Now I was thinking about his tongue. If only he had jumped in. He could’ve given me mouth-to-mouth.
I’d only kissed two boys so far. My first kiss had been another near-drowning incident—nearly drowning in spit. Jonathon White had pulled me aside after phys ed class and laid one on me for five minutes straight. I hadn’t known how to stop it. The guy had been determined to check thoroughly for cavities. I’d managed to avoid him for six months afterwards until he cornered me one day after school and I had to tell him that he was a sloppy Joe. Or sloppy Jon, in his case. My second experience had been with a peck and retreater. Even after we’d chased each other for a whole year. So disappointing.
I sized up Spew’s friend again, feeling hopeful for a passionate encounter in the near future.
“Are you here to swim, or not?” Stewart snapped.
The redhead copied my move and bomb-dived, sending up a huge splash. Hmph. I bet Spew wasn’t gonna drown his friend for spiking the Coke with chlorine.
The big guy sat on the edge a couple of feet away, sinking his legs into the water. He smiled at me before sliding into the pool and gliding to the middle. I swam to the steps so I could sit and watch. I never wanted to look away.
“Who are your friends?” I figured I’d ask, since nobody was offering introductions.
The redhead raised his hand. “I’m Bradley.” He pointed to my crush. “That’s Ben. Are you Bree or Andrea?”
Stewart butted in before I could answer. “Bree has a different dad. She doesn’t come here.”
And Bree is only nine, but whatever. I wished she was here. There was a little too much testosterone in the waters. Which normally would’ve been fine with me, but I shared chromosomes with one of them and he was pissing me off. I needed backup.
Bradley nodded. “Oh, right. Sorry. So this is Andrea.”
“The one and only.” I put my hands on my hips and gave him a toothy smile.
“I see shyness runs in the family,” he joked. “I have a younger sister. I should introduce you.”
“Yeah, you should. What’s her name and what year is she in?”
“Letitia. And she’s in year six.”
“Did she get the redhead gene?” I straightened out one leg and wiggled my toes above the surface.
“Not exactly. She’s a strawberry–blonde.”
My foot sent up a splash as I dropped it back in the pool. “Then she’s awesome!”
Ben’s eyes focused on me, a hint of laughter in the tilt of his lips. He didn’t say a word. Mm,mm, mm. He was the strong, silent type. Me likey.
Throwing my chin out in Stewart’s direction, I asked, “How did you two get mixed up with this idiot?”
“Hey!” Big bro swung his arm, sending a spray of water my way.
Ben flashed his teeth, but still kept his silence.
Bradley jumped in with the answer. “I’m playing with the under-sixteens at the North’s Knights this year. Stew and I are teammates.”
You poor bugger. I sent him a look of sympathy before turning back to Ben.
“What about you?” Delicious, scrumptious, male—please tell me you’re just tagging along because of Bradley.
“I play union with the Colts.”
Union, hey? Dad wasn’t gonna like that. That didn’t explain how he could possibly be friends with my brother.
Bradley, I understood. He was kinda like a Golden Retriever from what I could tell. Eager and friendly with just about everyone. But Ben ... he seemed more like a wolf. More discerning about who he let into his pack. “So, how do you know Spewart?”
His eyebrows popped before he choked on a laugh. “I met him through Lee.”
“Lee?” It took me a second to figure it out. “You mean Brad-Lee?”
“Yeah.”
My thoughts rewound to the moment underwater. “That’s right, Spew called him Lee Major.”
Ben dipped his chin in affirmation.
“And you were Benny-boy.”
His mouth turned down at that.
“I think I’ll call you Benji. And Bradlee shall be Lee Lee.”
“That’s what my Mum and sister call me.” Lee smiled.
I shot to my feet and clapped my palms together. “Excellent!” Putting on a British accent, I added, “I hereby declare, from this moment forward, you shall be known as Lee Lee and Benji.” I sliced my arm in the air as if I were the queen wielding a sword.
Big brother screwed his nose up at me. “You’re such a friggin’ fruit cake.”
“Fruit cake is sweet and loved globally, so I’ll take that as a compliment.” I got out of the water and backed up, ready to show Lee how it was done. “You better cover your drink, Spewart, unless you want it diluted some more. I’m about to unleash a tsunami.”
“Jesus, you’re embarrassing.”
“Not as embarrassing as your face.” Seriously, the bum fluff was so bad. And to think we used to look like twins. Ew.
I loved him. I really did.
Sometimes.
Andrea
Brisbane, Australia
24th December, 2016, 4:04 p.m.
A rumble of thunder interrupted my reverie. I blinked my eyes, disoriented as to where I was and why I was all sticky. Shivers tracked along my skin as I looked down. Why was I only wearing underwear? My gaze found the clock. 4:04 p.m. More thunder shook the house with a massive crack of lightning.
A thought constricted my throat, trapping a gasp. I peeled my legs apart and slid them off the couch,
