A few hours after literally embarrassing myself in the bathroom, I'm lying in bed, reading 'Yuletide in a bit' with my scalp coated in ointment to help with the slight burn from my accident. I'm lucky I didn't get my mom's thick hair so it's not much of a problem to leave it hanging free during the treatment.
Heather crosses from one end of the room to the other, twisting her hair into a low ponytail as she settles in front of the mirror. "Are you sure?"
"Of course," I all but groan. "You're gorgeous."
She huffs. "You're not even looking at me."
I tear my gaze away from the page. "Heth, you know I won't lie about something as important as your looks. You're fine. Go."
She's wearing black yoga pants and a baggy shirt of mine with the words 'History? Nah, HERstory.' I got it at a feminist convention I ushered in my freshman year and have only worn it a few times. Heather's going with Stella because I'm currently indisposed, and my brother and the other guys have gone into town to invite people to the first party of this year's spring break.
"What are you gonna do all by yourself?"
"I'll think of something," I say, looking around. Remembering the glorious view of the lake, I instantly have my mind made. "Actually, I think I'll go swimming."
"I was wondering when you were going to get in that. I'm surprised you didn't jump in the minute you saw that lake." She chuckles.
"I have self control!" I laugh with her.
I decide not to return to reading after she's out the door. Instead, I head to the closet to get my bathing suit and a towel, then find my way to the back of the house because now that Heather mentioned it, I really can't wait to be submerged in water.
I realise I'm not the only one in the house as soon as I reach the dock and find Keenan and Vincent sitting on it with their legs in the water. The sight of them stops me in my tracks.
"Hey guys," I greet.
"Hi babe," Vincent says. Keenan waves. "Swimming early?"
"It's like 3pm."
"How's your head?" Keenan asks.
A sheepish smile tugs at my lips as the embarrassment of that incident replays afresh. "Still hurts, but a lot better. Safe to say I won't be using the main bathroom for a long while...or ever."
"You'll get used to it," Vincent says with a wink.
I ditch my towel and adjust my swimsuit around my body. It's not exactly the conservative kind, even though it's a one piece. It's basically the front and back bodices, laced together by several thin strings at my sides. I walk slowly till I'm subdued enough to spread my arms and take a small dive, letting my body cool off. I love water. Kevin and I learnt to swim at the beach when we were four. Mom taught us because she wanted us to be prepared to navigate life in all situations. There's a lot of things I owe to my mother, no matter how incredibly annoying she can be.
I stay under for about ten seconds, then I finally decide I've soaked enough and kick downward, boosting myself up. A look of relief crosses the boys' faces as I resurface.
"What?" I laugh, flapping my arms gently beside me to keep myself up. "I can swim."
"Yeah, lucky you." He laughs. "Almost had me worried there."
I chuckle and push my hair behind me with both hands. Man, I've missed this.
"Want me to join you?" Vincent's voice carries over to me. I mentally roll my eyes as I see him watching with his bottom lip between his teeth.
"Whatever." It's his house. I turn around and swim in the opposite direction, in case he decides to cannon ball. "You coming?"
"Actually, no. I'm gonna go get a beer because you're putting on a show and I want to watch it the right way." Vin gives me another wink and rises from the dock. "I'll be right back."
I laugh and watch as he jogs away, then turn to Keenan, who is looking off like he's carrying the weight of the world on his mind. He senses me staring and faces me, but our eyes only meet for one second before he looks away again.
Awkward.
It should probably be like this, so I guess can't blame him for avoiding me. He's still sitting there, though, so I guess he's not completely averse to my presence. I return to moving in the water, trying to act like I don't mind him subtly watching, but then I stop because I'm kidding myself at this point. He apologised.
"Hey!" I raise my voice to get his attention. When he turns, I lift a hand to wave politely. He waves back with the sleeved hand.
I still don't know what his tattoos are because I've only ever seen the up close once, on the first day we met. Speaking of which, I haven't thanked him for his help. Granted, it was his mess in the first place, but the fault isn't all his.
I turn back again and he's looking at me with a blank expression. "You okay, or should I throw a rock at you?"
He furrows his brows in confusion. I swear he almost smiles, but he eventually just shakes his head. "I'm fine, Joey. Keep swimming."
I decide I'm in the mood to talk to him a little bit, so I change direction and swim towards him, stopping when I get to the dock. I grab on to the edge and boost my wet self until I'm successfully resting both elbows on it. I tilt my head to match his. "Hey."
"What are you doing?"
"Talking to you," I say, my strong resolve weakening as I realise how close I am to him. He's again, in blue sweatpants that are folded up to his calves and a white T-shirt, similar to the one he was wearing when he sprung his apology on me. It's my turn now. "I just want to say thank you."
"For what?"
"That night," I answer with a shrug. "If it helps, I don't usually drink, so I had no idea I was getting drugged."
"Yeah, well never leave your drink unattended in public. You heard of that?"
I smile and roll my eyes. "I don't think I'll have that problem ever again." With the amount of painkillers I've been taking for my back, and now head, it's unlikely I'll be caught drinking at a party for a long time. I don't usually spend time at them, but this might just stop me from going altogether.
"Is your head okay?" Keenan asks, bringing me back to present day.
"Why does everyone keep asking that? I'm fine, want to see for yourself?" I joke. He doesn't say yes, but I notice that he also doesn't say no.
I shift myself in the water, using the edge of the dock as support so I don't float away. I come to rest in front of him and then bend my head so that he can see the top of it. According to Heather, it looks normal. "See?"
He gently places a hand on the back of my neck with one hand and spreads out my hair with the tips of his fingers on his other hand. He hums so I look up. "Looks okay."
"Gee thanks. When did you become my personal doctor?" I chide, remembering that he also doctored me on the morning we met.
He shakes his head. "Not a doctor."
I can't help but laugh at myself before arguing back, "You sell drugs though."
For the first time today, he smiles back.
"What's going on here?" Vincent's voice snaps me out of my thoughts and I look up with see him holding two beer cans by their rings. He looks from Keenan to me, a hard expression on his face at the sight of our position. Keenan drops his hands from me, gets up and walks inside without a word. Vincent turns back to me. "You serious, Joey?"
I groan and let myself back in the water.
"Joey, come on," he says.
I am well aware that Vincent may have feelings for me and that he thinks I'm stupid to want anything to do with Keenan, but I honestly am not in the mood to watch him act like any of this is his business, so I'm going to leave too.
"I was just showing him my head," I say and turn around in the water so I can swim to the shore and get my towel.
~~~~
In a few hours, the house is bubbling with a party and Heather and I are in our room, battling over what to wear—for her, not me.
I'm going to be reading the entire time because she and Stella have finished book two I'm not okay with being left behind, so I'm going to make sure I catch up with Heather so we can start 'After Yuletide' tomorrow.
"Hey, girls!" Stella knocks and comes in, eyes wide at Heather, who is wearing a cute white sweater and a pair of black skinny jeans. "That is such a cute top!"
"That's what I said," I agree.
Heather gestures to herself. "Really I should wear this?"
"Of course! I have the exact same kind," Stella says with a smile. "I should've worn mine."
"You still can!"
"You won't be upset?"
"I'm not Joey," she rolls her eyes at me, referencing my hatred of what she terms as 'twinning', which is when two grownups deliberately dress up to look alike. Barf.
"After wearing matching clothes with someone your entire childhood, you'll want your own style sometimes. Sue me."
They both laugh at my comment and start talking about other things, while I scan around for my headphones. I eventually find them and return to the girls. They're talking in hushed tones but I can hear what they're saying.
"We should read the other one! The one with the ex boyfriend's Dad," Stella says. I cock my head.
"Wait what?"
"Right, Joey." Heather says, guilt written all over her face. "I was gonna tell you. Stella's new to this, so I thought I'd introduce her to a few standalones before we move back to reading series. You don't mind, do you?"
I sigh. We were supposed to buddy read the Silent books after this because we always buddy read every series. I guess not this time, though. It's fine, anyway, I'm a mood reader sometimes so I probably wasn't going to stick to the TBR anyway. I mean, I was gonna try for Heather, but we all know I would've failed anyway so, "Yeah, no, it's fine. I'll just finish it on my own."
Heather gives me an apologetic look, while Stella claps her hands and sings, "Okay, perfect."
Yeah. Perfect.