Chapter 16 #2
“Well, Luke should be here soon, right? He’ll cool you down.” Juniper winks, and I just shake my head.
“I am definitely going to go for a swim. I told him to bring my white bikini with the pineapples on them.”
“Really, Mia?”
“What? It’s cute.”
“Isn’t it, like, a thong bottom?”
“Well, I want Luke to see what he can’t have.”
“What do you mean, what he can’t have?” She giggles. “He can totally have it.”
“Well, maybe. Maybe not.” I wink at her.
The fact of the matter is that I want him to appreciate my body. I want to tease him, and I have no idea why.
“Hey, girls. How’s it going?” Luke strides up with a Living the Sweet Life in Coconut Beach tote bag over his shoulder. He looks over at Juniper and then at me and holds up a hand. “I’ve got some towels in here and your bikini. Are you hungry? Do you want to swim first or eat?”
“I am actually not hungry. We had fish tacos from the new Loco Moco food truck, and now I would love to swim. I’m so hot and sweaty right now. I want to get these clothes off and put on my bathing suit and submerge in the water.”
“Are you going to go for a proper swim, or are you just going to float and pretend to swim?”
“Luke, do I ever pretend anything?”
“I hope not,” he says in a soft voice as I gaze at him. “Especially when it comes to getting wet.”
I know the double entendre to his comment, and I blush a deep red.
“I didn’t fake it,” I say, and he chuckles.
“We really can read each other’s mind, can’t we?”
He moves closer to me, and I forget that there is anyone else in the world as we gaze at each other.
“I think you two should have a cold swim, Mia,” Juniper says quickly with a teasing smile. “I really do not want to be a witness to your sexual flirting.”
“Hey, we weren’t sexually flirting,” I whisper at her, jaw dropped.
“You forget that I am also one of your best friends, Mia, and I can also read your mind, and I know exactly what you were both saying just now. Like, after last night, who wouldn’t know?”
“She knows about last night?” Luke looks at me, surprised.
“She knows. All the girls know.” I make a face. “I, um, well …”
“I guess maybe you will grow up to be one of the busy Bees.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you like to gossip.”
“Hey, I was just telling my friends because—”
“Well, what? You were telling them how good I was in the sack?”
“No, I was not, and it’s not like we had sex, so I don’t know how good you are in bed.”
“But I’m good with other things, right?”
He waves his pinkie finger at me, and I just shake my head and groan. Luke needs to grow up.
“I’m gone,” Juniper whines. “Come on, Wendy, Josie, Summer, Silvie. We do not have to listen to their X-rated conversation.” She tuts at me as they all head into the bookmobile.
“See what you did, Luke?”
“What did I do?”
“You scared off Juniper and the girls.”
“I think we both scared them off.” He grins at me. “You want to change, and then we’ll go into the water?”
“That sounds great.” I beam at him, trying not to laugh. “No more wet or hard talk.”
I give him a look, and he just wiggles his eyebrows.
“Let me go and get …” My voice trails off as his phone beeps.
He hands me the tote bag. He frowns as he stares down at the screen. “Shit,” he mutters under his breath.
My heart stills. I already know what’s coming.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.” He stares at me for a couple of seconds, and I can see him doing some mental calculations in his brain. “Do you mind if I join you in the water in thirty minutes?”
“What do you mean? What are you talking about?”
“I have to take a call. It’s for work.”
“It’s—let me guess. It’s really important.”
“But I promise it will be thirty minutes, an hour at most.” He nods.
“How did you just go from thirty minutes to an hour? This is the middle of the day, Luke. I’m working as well. I can’t just take off endless amounts of time. Juniper would not be happy about that.”
“Well, I’m in the middle of a really big deal, Mia. It requires my focus.”
“You’re always in the middle of a really big deal.”
“Not big like this.”
“Whatever. Whatever you have to do. I’ll just find some cute surfer who wants to swim with me instead.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He frowns, and I watch as he puts his phone in his back pocket. He takes a couple of steps toward me. “What are you saying, Mia?”
“What am I saying? What do you think?”
“You’re going to find a really hot surfer to swim with?” His lips thin. “Really?”
“Well, maybe a hot surfer on the beach will have time for me and my itty-bitty white bikini with the pineapples on them.”
“It’s a cute bikini. I want to see you in it as well.”
“Maybe you will. Maybe you won’t. Guess it depends on how long your phone call is.”
“Mia, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go and flirt with some random surfer. I’m sorry that I have to take this call, but it will be quick.”
“Rex and Andi have gone to taste wedding cakes today,” I say, “so it’s not like they’re going to see me on the beach. You’re safe. Our cover won’t be blown.”
“I don’t give a fuck about our cover,” he says. “I think it’s highly inappropriate for you to go looking for some hot surfer to flirt with.”
“Why is it highly inappropriate? Why do you care, Luke? It’s not like any of this is real.”
He stares at me for a couple of seconds and just shakes his head. I watch as he pulls his phone out of his back pocket and walks away.
“I’m going to work. Enjoy your swim, Mia.”
“Fuck you,” I whisper under my breath as I stand there, watching him leave me.
I’m absolutely furious. I can’t believe he just walked away from me.
I can’t believe that he didn’t even respond to my concerns about him prioritizing work again.
I can’t believe he didn’t even answer when I said this wasn’t real.
He could have said last night was real, or our friendship was real, but nothing.
Not even an apology, like, I’m sorry that I have to work, but our friendship means a lot to me, and that’s really what matters.
All he could do was walk away. Just like when he’d left for New York and never come back. Luke would rather ignore something than deal with it head-on, and it is annoying as hell.
“Hey, you okay?” I see Juniper peering at me through the door at the top of the bookmobile. “We heard you arguing. No longer swimming?”
“I’m fine. He had to work.”
“That sounded like a hell of an argument,” she says softly. “It sounds like you guys are experiencing the ups and downs of a real relationship. You went from hot to cold so fast.”
“I guess it means we’re really great actors.” I shrug. “We’re pulling it off well.”
“Maybe you should go to a boutique and find a really great evening dress, Mia, because if that was an act, then maybe you’re going to win an Oscar soon.”
“Funny, Juni. Not. I’m going to go change and swim by myself. I’ll see you later.”
I know I’m being a bitch, and I know I’m taking my anger out on her, but I can’t stop myself.
I hurry to the restroom so I can change into the bikini and take a couple of deep breaths.
I don’t know why I’m so upset, why I’m so angry.
I just know I’m disappointed. I was really looking forward to swimming with Luke.
I was really looking forward to seeing how he would like my bikini on me, but yet again, I was second in his life to work.
“I’m fed up with this bullshit,” I whisper to myself. “When I get a real boyfriend, I’m going to be one hundred percent certain I’m with a man who puts me first because if I’m not first, then what’s the point of the relationship?”
This isn’t a relationship though, Mia.
Then why do I feel like I’m on a roller coaster?
Why do I feel like Luke and I are finally having to face issues that neither one of us has brought up before?
This summer romance is fast proving to be an unraveling of a friendship I know so well, and I’m not sure if faking it with Luke to get back at Rex is going to be worth the price we’ll end up paying to come out on top.