Chapter 6
Elli
Ishould be unpacking a little before we go to the party, but instead, I find myself scrolling through Wes’s Instagram. His profile has mostly pictures of his guitar, some of which he’s in. He’s also got a few pictures of him and Luke.
He looks very good holding a guitar. Who knew arms could be so sexy?
There are a lot of reels of him playing songs, covers and originals. He’s incredible. Better than I had even imagined. There are a few pictures of him and Luke with a bunch of other teenagers and people our age. In his tagged photos, he’s tagged a lot with a pretty redheaded girl.
He wouldn’t have come yesterday if he had a girlfriend, right?
Before I get too deep into a spiral, I decide to put my phone down and start unpacking the kitchen. Izzy comes out of the bathroom and stands across from me at the other side of the counter with her “spill the beans” look.
“Are you excited to meet Luke’s friends today?” I know the best way to avoid talking about myself is to distract her. Luckily, it works.
“I’m so excited! I’ve talked with some of them over FaceTime, but it will be nice to actually talk to them in person.” Her usual bright smile falters to a half frown. “Do you think they’ll like me?”
Izzy is one of the most social people I’ve ever met.
Her bubbly personality and ability to talk to anyone about anything makes it easy for people to fall in love with her, and her generous heart helps keep people close.
She has friends all the way in Rhode Island that she met at summer camp, that she still talks to on a weekly basis.
The fact that she doubts herself makes my heart hurt.
“Iz, they’re going to love you.” I circle the counter to wrap her in a hug and stroke her hair. “If you want to leave at any point, you just say the word and I’ll fake period cramps or something and we can go, okay?”
“Yeah, okay. Thanks, Els. I’m going to go get ready. We have to leave in half an hour.” She gives me a quick squeeze before she skips off.
Forty-five minutes later we pull up to a house - no - a mansion and I have half a mind to call Luke and make sure he’s not playing a prank on us. Izzy wastes no time getting out and bouncing up the front steps, knocking on the door before I can even catch up to her.
Wowza.
The shirtless man who opens the door looks like he belongs on the cover of GQ or some other magazine that features hot men. Shaggy light brown hair effortlessly falls across his forehead, golden brown eyes, tan skin, muscles for days.
He’s not even flexing and you can see the definition in his biceps.
He’s probably around six feet tall, a bit taller than Wes, and his smile is bright and warm. Bulging arms and shoulders, washboard abs right above a V that dips down into his swim trunks.
“I’d recognize Luke’s girl anywhere. Nice to finally meet you, Izzy. I’m Matt.” He says with a slight southern drawl, extending his hand to Izzy.
Izzy, uncharacteristically speechless, takes his hand like she’s in a trance. “Hi. That’s Elli.” She motions towards me, and I give an awkward half wave.
Luke pulls Izzy inside, leaving me alone on the porch with Matt. He motions for me to follow him inside, and once we’re through the door, he turns to me and I see his eyes do a quick once-over before clearing his throat.
“Elli, I’m sorry about last night. I hope Luke didn’t give you too much trouble. I know how he can be.”
I wave my hand dismissively. “No worries. Wes came along to keep me company. Besides, Izzy’s the troublemaker in that duo.”
He looks a little surprised when I mention Wes, but he quickly covers whatever emotion flashed across his face with a megawatt smile and a charming chuckle.
“Luke needs someone to keep him on his toes. C’mon, let me introduce you to the rest of the group.
” He places his hand gingerly on the small of my back and leads me through the entryway, through a pristine living room and huge kitchen, and to the back yard.
As Matt leads us outside, I immediately recognize the redheaded girl, Robin, from Wes’s many tagged pictures on Instagram.
She’s sitting with a Latin girl with darker skin and curly black hair that goes just past her shoulders, and a white guy with cropped black hair.
A man with short brown hair comes and wraps his arms around the curly haired girl’s waist and gives her a quick peck on the cheek before settling in behind her.
Apparently, having the ability to be on the cover of a magazine is a requirement in this friend group.
“Hey guys, this is Elli. Elli, this is Robin, Sean, Savannah, and Drew.” They give a small wave when he says their name.
“And over there,” he points over to the pool where Izzy and Luke are, “Jack, Samantha-but don’t call her that, call her Sam or she’ll probably punch you, Ethan, Lexi, and Dallin.
Sav is Jack’s sister, Drew is Ethan’s brother, and Sean is Sam’s. ”
Izzy is, of course, already in a giggly discussion with Sam and Lexi, and it warms my heart at the same time it makes me jealous.
I’ve never been great at making friends-I’m not confident, or outgoing.
Growing up, most of my friendships came from being forced into closeness by church or school.
Almost like she can sense me watching her, she turns to look at me and gives me a sassy, twinkly fingered wave.
I mimic the wave and dramatically blow her a kiss, which she pretends to catch and throw in the pool.
The little sisterly interaction helps ease my nerves a little bit, but they quickly come back when my attention is drawn back to the group.
“So, Elli, how was your date with Wes?” Drew asks with a teasing tone and a wiggle of his eyebrows. Savannah slaps his leg and gives him a look that seems to mean shut up.
“It-it wasn’t a date. Not really. He was just keeping me company while I played chaperone.
” I raise one shoulder, trying to hide the way my belly flutters thinking about Wes.
I can tell that answer isn’t going to be enough for this nosy group of friends.
Especially when Matt sits on an empty bench and motions for me to come sit by him.
Robin leans forward, placing her chin in her hands with a wide, expectant smile.
I continue on, trying not to sound like a kid with a crush.
“He was a gentleman, very kind. Izzy’s good at imposing things on people so he was sort of forced to help us haul a TV back to my place so we could watch a movie and he didn’t complain.
He even helped set it up.” I watch Robin’s face beam with a smile, and she exchanges a look with Sean.
“Well, we’re glad to know Wes has still got game. He hasn’t been on a date in a loooong time. Not since Shelby che- OW.” Drew is cut off by Savannah elbowing him in the ribs. She whispers something to him in Spanish that I don’t understand and he looks apologetically at me.
Robin draws my attention with a chipper “Elli! Do you want me to show you where to change into your swimsuit?”
I nod, following her as she stands and walks inside, even though the prospect of being alone with Wes’s lover, or ex-lover, or whatever she is, makes me want to jump in the pool fully clothed.
Once inside, Robin leans against the counter and just stands there, head tilted, eyes squinted like she’s trying to see through my skull.
Finally, she breaks into a smile. “I’m glad Wes went last night. I know his exterior can sometimes scare people off, and he’s not exactly the most talkative or forthcoming. But I’ll tell you a secret-” she leans in and whispers, “he’s a big ol’ softy on the inside.”
“Oh.” My shoulders relax, I didn’t even realize they were tense to begin with. “I can see how people could find him scary, but-”
“Who’s scary?” Wes’s voice cuts me off and startles Robin and me as he enters the kitchen.
“Holy shit Westley! You can’t just sneak up on people like that!” Robin yells as she swats his arm.
“Oh, toughen up Robs.” He ruffles her hair. “Sorry if I scared you Elli.” He turns and looks at me, his expression playful.
“Why didn’t you tell her to toughen up?” Robin grumbles.
“Because I actually like her.”
“You love me and you know it.” She chides.
“Yeah, I do.” He sighs as he places a dramatically loud kiss on her cheek, making Robin gag in faux disgust.
There’s definitely something more than friendship there, right?
But I’m not jealous.
I clear my throat, “I think I’m going to go change, where’s the bathroom?”
“Oh! Sorry about that, second door on the right, down that hall.” Robin says cheerfully.
I nod in thanks, and quickly find the bathroom and take some deep breaths. As I put on my plain black one piece, I can’t help but compare myself to Savannah, who is all curves for days, and Robin., who looks like a Victoria’s Secret Model.
I look…not like that.
I’ve got a ‘B’ belly that pokes out a bit in the tight polyester, cellulite all up my thighs that have never had a thigh gap. My arms jiggle, my boobs are weighed down by gravity, and my back has rolls.
“You are more than what you weigh.” I tell myself in the mirror. This day is about making new friends and letting Izzy have fun. I can’t be a downer because I’m having a bad body day.
Steeling my nerves, I walk through the now empty kitchen, out the back door, and over to where my bag is -right by Wes and Matt- to drop off my clothes.
“Izzy! Sunscreen!” I yell, holding up the yellow bottle.
“I already put it on!” She yells back, rolling her eyes.
“If you burn, I’m not going to feel sorry for you.” I chirp. I know she didn’t apply sunscreen, and I will not be listening to her complain about it later.
Izzy stomps her way over to me like a petulant child, but lets me lather it on her back where her tankini top dips low. She applies it to her arms and face while I do her back.
“Happy now?” She grumbles.
“Much.” I say with an exaggerated kiss on her cheek.
“Ewww.” She pretends to wipe it off, then leans closer to me and whispers, “Go kiss Matt or Wes on the cheek. They’re the ones who can’t stop staring at you.” Then she saunters off like she didn’t say anything.
I pretend that she didn’t say anything. I pretend I don’t feel the gazes of two of the hottest guys I’ve ever seen staring at me while I apply sunscreen on my arms. I can’t fathom why either of them would be interested in me, so it’s better to pretend they don’t. Then I don’t get my hopes up.
I feel the presence of someone at my back and look up to see Matt standing over me.
“Do you need any help putting sunscreen on?” Matt asks me, his tongue swiping his bottom lip.
“Oh, um. I can get everywhere but my back, so I would appreciate the help actually.” I say pulling the bottle from my bag.
“I’ll help you with that.” Robin plucks the bottle from my hands and waves Wes and Matt off, the two of them rolling their eyes and grumbling.
“Thank you.” I say over my shoulder as she starts to rub the sunscreen gently onto my back.
“Don’t mention it, it’s what friends are for. Besides, I don’t think Wes would let Matt do this without someone getting a right hook to the jaw.” Robin mumbles.
What does that mean? I want to ask her, but I’m momentarily distracted by Wes taking off his shirt and… ooooh boy.
Wes’s fair skin tone is deliciously contrasted by dark lines of tattoos littering his body.
I thought he just had some on his left arm, but he has some type of script over his left peck, some type of potion looking bottle that I can’t make out on his right side, and something else that’s peeking up right above his swim trunks on his right hip next to a dark happy trail.
He’s all lean muscle, trim waist, and strong thighs.
When he turns around to say something to the kids, I take in his perky butt that looks so squeezable.
I avert my gaze, embarrassed, as soon as Wes’s eyes lock on mine.
Just because I think he’s probably the most attractive man I’ve ever talked to in my life, and he makes my belly flutter, doesn’t mean he reciprocates the feelings.