Chapter Thirty-Seven
I can’t say I’m in the mood for the fundraiser today but, with a job riding on it, I climb out of my bed and start to get ready.
The invitations state that you should wear clothes you can work in, so I’ve opted for a Daisy Duke style shirt and shorts combo – yes, it shows a bit of skin, but today is apparently going to be the hottest day of the year. I plug in my straighteners – ironically to curl my hair – because I’m planning big, sexy curls for my long blonde locks. Jessica Simpson is the Daisy Duke of my generation so that’s who I’ll be channelling, the only problem is the footwear. Without any cowboy boots to hand, it’s just going to have to be trainers, but I’ll make it work. At least these ones have a platform heel.
I dash into the bathroom while my straighteners are heating up, arriving back at my room just as Adam is emerging from his bedroom.
‘Morning,’ he calls out.
‘Hi,’ I call back. ‘How are you?’
‘All good. Am I alright to have a shower?’
Even though we all had a great time last night, things are still a bit weird between us – well, Marty didn’t help, asking if we were a couple, and all the girls were all over Adam (the combination of him being well-known around here and his black eye make him irresistible, it turns out) only made me sick with jealousy.
‘Sure,’ I reply. ‘I’ve already been in.’
He doesn’t say another word, he just heads into the bathroom. I don’t know what I was expecting but, I don’t know, him declaring his love for me (or even lust, at this point) would have been nice.
I begin sectioning off my hair, curling a bit at a time before pinning each curl to cool. I’ve just finished the last one when there is a knock on my bedroom door. I’m still in my underwear at this stage, so I hurriedly wrap a towel around myself before opening it.
‘Hey-oh!’ Mel squeals excitedly. Adam, who is looking incredible in nothing but his pants, is standing next to her, and she is visibly drooling over him.
‘I found this at the front door,’ he jokes before heading back towards his bedroom.
‘See you later, sexy,’ Mel calls after him with a wiggle of her eyebrows. ‘Fuck me, he’s fit,’ she says without bothering to wait until Adam can’t hear us.
‘What are you doing here?’ I can’t help but ask immediately.
‘ Oh, hi Mel ,’ Mel babbles. ‘ How are you, Mel? – Oh, I’m fine.’
‘Sorry,’ I backtrack. ‘Hi, Mel. How are you, Mel? What are you doing here, Mel?’ I say with a chuckle.
‘Well, I thought I’d pop over and give you a tan, for your big day,’ she tells me. ‘I promise I’ve got the mixture right this time.’
‘Oh, thank you, that’s great,’ I lie.
At least now that she knows where she went wrong last time, she can do it properly this time, and what’s the worst that can happen anyway? If it starts looking a bit orangey I’ll wash it off, it wiped off like it was nothing last time.
‘So, where’s Si?’ Mel asks.
‘Erm, he had to go somewhere, we’re going to meet him at the fundraiser.’
‘Well, I drove here, so I’ll give you a ride,’ Mel offers as she slathers the lotion all over my legs. ‘I’m going to need you naked for this.’
‘Did I hear that right?’ Adam calls from the other side of the bedroom door.
‘Yeah, you did, perv,’ Mel calls back.
‘Hey, I was just getting something from outside the room, I can’t help what I overhear,’ he chuckles. ‘You two carry on.’
‘Mmm,’ Mel groans loudly. ‘Leah, let me smother this lovely lotion all over your lovely boobs.’
She’s actually still doing my legs but I can’t help but giggle, and I can hear Adam laughing on the other side of the door.
‘He’s good fun isn’t he?’ Mel whispers to me as she starts actually applying lotion to my upper half.
‘He really is,’ I reply, but the sigh and the big smile that accompany my words give Mel cause for concern.
‘You and him,’ she starts, ‘you’re not…’
‘No, no, no,’ I insist.
‘Okay, cool,’ she replies. ‘Look, I know I’m not single, but just in case I ever am, can you put in a good word for me?’
I blink at her.
‘Like, if you could just suggest it, in the car on the way to the beach,’ he continues. ‘You never know, right?’
‘You really don’t,’ I reply with a laugh.
Obviously Mel isn’t single, so I don’t have anything to worry about there, but all this does is remind me that Adam is the sort of guy who has girls lining up around the block. How can I ever compete with that?