Chapter 19
“We good to go?”
I was sitting in the passenger seat of Dreux’s Bronco.
It was ten in the morning, Thursday, November twenty-third, Dreux’s birthday.
We were not going to school that day, and our parents were none the wiser.
Scott had gone in to work around six thirty and I distinctly remembered setting a seven a.m. hair appointment for Angela.
Friday was the last day of school before we were off for a week for fall break.
I doubted we’d get in too much trouble if we were caught.
Dreux was sitting beside me, glancing my way for confirmation. Dressed in a T-shirt and navy swimming trunks, he was all set for swimming. He’d stowed his wallet away in a brown pouch he wore across his body so that it wouldn’t get wet while he was in the water. Smart.
I touched my tank top, thinking of the bikini I had on underneath.
For a week, I’d worried over what to wear. It wasn’t that I didn’t have a swimsuit I brought with me from LA, but that I wasn’t sure if it were cute or not.
I cared about the silliest things when it came to Dreux.
On Monday, I’d enlisted the help of Cameron and Vanity for a trip to the mall.
“Black bikini. Thong. And a mini skirt. That’ll get ’im,” Vanity declared about what I should wear.
“Okay, whoa, Vanity.” Cameron was quick to hold her hand out.
All I could think about was the fact that I couldn’t remember the last time I’d worn a skirt.
It wasn’t that I wasn’t a makeup, dress, or feminine type of girl. I just hadn’t had the opportunity because my closest friends were dudes. And it was while hanging with Cameron and Vanity that I appreciated their insight because, back home, the guys would’ve been no help in the fashion department.
“Wear something clean-ish,” I could just imagine Jack suggesting.
God, I loved those idiots.
They’d gone back to LA far too soon. But I was happy with the fact that Scott liked and approved of them.
The guys wouldn’t have been helpful, but thanks to Vanity and Cameron I’d found a cute tiny black string bikini. It wasn’t a thong, but it was cheeky. I’d even painted my toes pink for the occasion.
As I sat beside Dreux with my beach bag on my lap, I was as ready as I’d ever be.
“Yeah,” I said, giving an earnest smile. And then, being probably completely cheesy, I dug into my bag and grabbed the little gift bag I had inside. I held it out for Dreux. “Happy birthday.”
Dreux furrowed his brows, surprise covering his face as he accepted the bag and sifted inside.
He pulled out the fuzzy pair of hanging baseballs I got for his rearview mirror and grinned.
And then he reached in and took out the more personal item, and I could’ve sworn he was blushing as he fingered the pink beaded bracelet I’d made him. “You got me this?”
“Well, I made it.” Cameron had trays of beads and it felt like a nice idea at the time. I’d never done that before, for a boy, but everything about Dreux felt right.
Besides, I totally stole his bracelet weeks ago.
Dreux blinked and took to handling and examining the bracelet more carefully. “Whoa. Thank you, Saylor.” He slipped the bracelet on and started up the Bronco. He flashed me a smile and looked at the bracelet on his wrist as he gripped the wheel.
Before he backed out of the driveway, he sat back and grabbed his phone. “I made you something, too.” His fingers quickly glided across the screen before my own phone was going off with a text message.
I grabbed my phone and found he’d texted me a link to a playlist.
“The Fix,” I said as I read the title of the playlist.
Appearing proud, he said, “Aka the education of Saylor Stanley.”
“Lauryn Hill?” I guessed of the reference.
Dreux’s brows shot up in surprise. “You know her?”
I shrugged. “My mom’s best friend has the album cover hanging up in her house. That’s about it.”
“Well, you’re in luck, she’s on there, too.” Dreux leaned over and clicked on the music app on his truck’s touch screen and pulled up the playlist on his account.
“No one’s ever done this before,” I told him. “Thank you.”
Flowers and candy were sweet gestures I’d appreciate as well, but taking time to curate a lengthy playlist? There was something much more intimate and personal about it. It said he had been thinking of me.
Dreux pressed Play and started the first track, choosing to go in order instead of shuffling. And then he was backing out of his driveway and hitting the road for the Pier.
I recognized the first song instantly, the same went for the second. My eyes shot to Dreux and he was already grinning my way. These were the songs I’d heard on the radio that day we’d called a truce. The two records he refused to name because I’d been a brat before.
The track list said they were “Unforgettable” by French Montana and Swae Lee and “Redbone” by Childish Gambino. And now I had them on a playlist crafted just for me.
I was grinning like a fool as Dreux drove and I scrolled through the list. There were so many artists I knew by name, and some who were new to me. I liked that there were a lot of female singers included as well.
“There’s quite a few songs about flowers,” I noted as I sat back and soaked in the third song.
Dreux focused on his driving. “I’m taking Art III with Naselsky and he has us painting flowers. I got to thinking, if you were a flower, you’d be a wild one. Uninhibited, vibrant, and untamed.” He snuck a glance my way. “One of those rare ones too beautiful to pluck.”
I had to blink a few times and stare out the car window at the road. I didn’t want to do something lame and ruin the moment by crying.
But it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me.
“And here I thought I was a dandelion,” I joked, trying not to choke up.
Dreux didn’t get it. “A dandelion? Why?”
In truth, for the longest time, I didn’t think I was special enough to be loved.
Not wanting to spoil the mood, I shook my head. “Nothing.”
Dreux nudged me. “C’mon.”
“Nobody wants dandelions. For a while, I thought no one wanted me,” I confessed.
The music was playing, but I was still met with silence as Dreux caught a red light.
“No way you think that,” he said as he eyed me in disbelief.
I had. It was easy with my father leaving before I was born, my grandparents rejecting me, Richard never accepting me, Kevin ditching me, and my mother shipping me away.
Now, I got it. At least, how things truly were with my parents.
“I’ve got issues,” I said softly with a shrug.
Dreux sat watching me, his forehead creased and his brows pinched together. He opened his mouth, but an all too familiar Maroon 5 song came on.
“Perfect timing.” Dreux reached down and turned up the volume. “Just what you need to hear.”
He didn’t just start driving when the light turned green; he started belting out the lyrics to the song. For a while I could only stare. And then I was laughing and pulling my phone out to film.
“Oh my God, don’t be cringe,” I pleaded, even though I really loved every second of his terrible singing.
Dreux scrunched up his face and snorted. “It’s my birthday, I’m allowed to be cringe.”
He sang every line and I was half tempted to join in just as we made it to the parking lot to the Pier. From the outside, it was a wooded area with nothing but trees ahead. The parking lot was empty, letting me know we’d have the place to ourselves.
Dreux paused the playlist and shut off the Bronco. As we got out of the car, an opening to a trail was directly in front of where Dreux parked. A sign in the yard read Lake Nicholas with an arrow pointing north.
“We call it ‘the Pier’ because of the pier,” Dreux explained as he took my beach bag and carried it.
“So creative,” I joked.
Together we went into the woods and followed the trail until it opened up to the grounds for the lake.
It was truly a sight to see. The blue sky above and the greens of the surrounding trees blended into the water, making the idea of taking a swim refreshing.
Nothing but trees bordered the lake, as though the place was a well-kept secret.
The water expanded out before us, large and swaying with the soft breeze, and it was beautiful.
I’d never been to the beach, but something about this felt better.
As I stood taking in the scene, I reveled in the fact that we were alone.
“We can get changed over here,” Dreux instructed as he tilted his head over to the side. I followed his direction and discovered there was a modern cabana installed near the lake. Wooden with two separate entrances, giving men and women their own space to change.
Dreux handed me my bag and I went over to the door on the left.
The room was just big enough to accommodate two people.
Along a wall were hooks for towels, as well as a bench with a wicker basket beneath for storage.
There were pool noodles someone had left behind propped against the wall behind me. I doubted we’d need those.
I slipped out of my clothes, neatly folding and storing them in my bag before grabbing my towel. Scott didn’t own any beach towels, so I’d taken the thickest one I could find.
Thankfully, there was a mirror installed in the last wall. I studied my body from every angle, hoping I looked okay. The bikini was definitely tiny. Really, I felt giddy and ridiculous, questioning the hold Dreux had over me.
With a couple of deep breaths, I stepped outside and almost at once met up with Dreux as he was standing and waiting for me.
I froze and stared.
Shit.
I knew we were going swimming, but nothing could’ve prepared me for the sight of him shirtless.
Well-conditioned arms, perfect pecs, and flawless abs—I’d never cared for muscles, but I couldn’t stop myself from admiring Dreux’s.
Now that he was topless, I noticed his trunks were mid-thigh, showing off his toned legs. That, and they hung dangerously low.
Do. Not. Drool.
Dreux came closer, stopping in front of me, his eyes drifting down as he tilted his head.