15. Aida
I somehow ropeAmanda into helping me plan my epic Fourth of July party even though it’s still a couple of weeks away. I really need to up my game if I’m going to win this showdown against Ben. He has the upper hand when it comes to parties, but I’m determined to win this. He doesn’t even know what the plan is, so I’ll be able to catch him off guard when all these people start showing up at my party and not his.
My bigger plan is to have Miriam help me since she knows everyone. Hopefully she doesn’t have any qualms about working against her grandson. I’m sure she won’t, and if she does, I have my ways to convince her to help me over Ben. Ben doesn’t need her help anyway.
“If you want to get his attention, you should just take your bikini top off on the deck,” Amanda suggests. “He’s watching, I’m sure of it.”
“I’m not a stripper, Amanda,” I quip back, rolling my eyes as I add a few finishing touches to the flyer I’m making about the party.
“He’s not paying you, Aida,” she bites back, laughing. “When was the last time you had sex?” she now questions, her hands on her hips, looking over at Ben’s house through the window.
“That is none of your business.” I let out a huff at her complete lack of subtlety, not that I should be surprised. She’s been like this all our life. Sometimes I find her honesty refreshing, but that’s only when it doesn’t involve me or my life.
“What?” Amanda quips, sounding insulted. “It’s totally my business. I need to know if I need to really encourage you to hook up with Ben before I leave tomorrow or if you’ve already filled your yearly quota of sex.”
“What are you even talking about?” I ask, starting to feel a little self-conscious. It’s been a long time, and I do mean a bit since I’ve had sex and if Amanda finds out how long, she’s going to be onboard with Miriam to get me laid. Something tells me that Amanda’s yearly sex quota is at least ten, and Miriam’s is probably even higher.
Although I hope that isn’t Miriam’s top motive for getting Ben and me together. Thinking about someone’s grandma being concerned with her grandson’s sex life is quite weird. I like to think that Miriam is more concerned with finding a wife for Ben than anything.
“You just answered my question,” Amanda says, laughing. “So how long has it been? Two months?”
When she says two months, there’s a scoff that falls from my lips without me even realizing it. Two months would be acceptable. It’s been double that because despite not having a faithful boyfriend for a year or so, I did hook up with a guy I knew from class around two months before we graduated. Both of us knew what it was when we went into it, and we had a great time. We mutually decided this would become a regular thing, but then a week later, he found himself a girlfriend.
“What’s it been?” Amanda presses, narrowing her eyes at me like she’s trying to read my mind. She doesn’t have to. It’s written all over my face as my cheeks warm up, flushing pink right before both our eyes.
“Five months-ish,” I reply, scrunching my eyes shut with mild embarrassment. “If that douche from my pre-law class wouldn’t have gotten a girlfriend, it wouldn’t have been so long.” I find the need to blame him, because otherwise I look like a loser.
“Five months!” Amanda squeals with both shock and hilarity in her words. “That’s a long fucking time, Aida. You’re twenty-one, not seventy-one.”
“I know a seventy-one-year-old who is getting more action than me,” I mutter.
“What?”
“Nothing,” I reply back, hitting print on the party invites. “Let’s go get these passed out so I can get a jump on Ben.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I regret them. Here we go with some pervy comment from my sister.
“You should get a jump on Ben, like a literal jump on him, like?—”
I cut her off, shaking my head as I say, “No need to elaborate, Amanda. I know exactly what you planned to say.” I tap the side of my head. “It’s right here.”
She drops it there, but not without an eye roll and a huff that could rival our mother’s. We head out, party invites in hand as we make our way toward the little downtown area.
“I know the perfect place,” I tell Amanda, feeling pretty excited about being able to reach a lot of people at this place.
But as soon as we get there, I can tell by the look on Amanda’s face, she’s thinking this is the stupidest idea I’ve ever had.
“I know you’re smart. You got into law school, but what the fuck, Aida?” Amanda says, not holding back at all.
“What?”
“It’s a damn fruit stand. Are you planning to invite anyone who is under sixty-five? Hope the thing starts before five because they all need to be home for The Golden Girls reruns by six.”
“It’s not a fruit stand,” I shoot back, ignoring her other comments. “It’s a grocery store and everyone here is very friendly. This is where…” I trail off, instantly seeing the error of my ways. This is where I met Miriam, so Amanda does have a point. I don’t need to drive that point home though.
I haven’t been out to any bars or anything since I got here, and my date with Ben at the shrimp place on the water doesn’t count.
“It’s a beach town. There has to be a bar around here that is hopping even during the day,” Amanda suggests, and I nod, pointing toward the water.
“There’s a bunch over near the beach,” I tell her, and she doesn’t even wait for me to say anything more. She heads that way, snatching the invites from my hand as she walks by.
“Come on, here’s your big chance to meet people who don’t regularly incorporate prunes into their diet.”
“I’m not here to meet another guy,” I shout, jogging a little to catch up with her. “I thought you were on board for me to hook up with Ben?”
“I am, but if you want to out-party him, then you’re going to need to meet people.” Amanda stops, turning around to look at me. “I know you spent a lot of time studying and making sure you got into law school, but are you really this clueless?”
“No,” I reply, sounding insulted. “Okay, maybe a little.” Amanda hits me with a hard stare. “Fine, a lot, but I’m going to change that now. I got into law school, and this is supposed to be my summer of fun.”
“Then let’s do it! But not super hard because my flight’s at like six tomorrow morning,” Amanda adds, and I can’t help but laugh.
The place is absolutely packed with people drinking and laughing and having a good time. And honestly, how could they not be? It’s right on the water, the sand filling in the outdoor space as if it’s part of the beach. There’s an adorable handwritten chalkboard with all the drink specials, and everyone is walking around or standing at tables with cute beachy drinks, all decorated with fruit and tiny umbrellas and brightly colored straws. I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve been in here, but it won’t be the last.
“Okay, we can do a little mini bar crawl back to your place,” Amanda says, making a plan. “There’s this place, and four more within walking distance. It’s perfect. Now go up to the bar and order us some drinks, I’ll scope the place out.”
I head up to the bar, squeezing into a small space, I toss a hand up, getting the bartender’s attention.
“What can I get you?” he asks, not really paying much attention to me, not that I care. I don’t plan to invite him. He looks older than me, probably in his late thirties, and I’m sure Amanda would chastise me. Although, she did tell me to think about money and find some old dude. I don’t think this bartender fits the bill.
“I’ll have the Spiked Sparkling Lemonade and the Pink Senorita, please,” I say, pulling a couple of tens from my purse and resting them on the bar.
“You got it,” the bartender replies, disappearing to make the drinks.
I look around, my back turned to the guy standing next to me, but I hear him ask, “No Sex on the Beach?”
“Excuse me?” I reply, whipping around, and coming face to face with the guy who organized the beach clean-up that Ben and I went to.
“Hey, you were at the beach clean-up,” he now says, smiling. He has these two perfect rows of white teeth and these deep green eyes. I know Ben said he was a dick, but he seems okay.
“I was, and I’m having a party on the Fourth. You wanna come?” I ask, just putting it out there right away. “It’s Weston, right?”
“It is, and you are?”
“Aida. I’m staying at the Hendersons’ place for the summer, and I’m throwing a Fourth of July party. I think you’d be a great addition,” I try, flirting just a little. I need to pull out all the stops if I’m going to beat Ben.
“You know Ben Kincaid always has a Fourth of July party. You think it’s such a good idea to compete with that dick?” Weston says, and now I see what’s happening. Ben and Weston are clearly in some kind of pissing contest.
“You could help me out and come to mine,” I reply sweetly as the bartender returns with my drinks. “It’s gonna be really fun. I promise.”
“You’re going to be there, so I’m in,” Weston says, winking at me. I reach into the back pocket of my cutoffs, pulling out one of the invites, I hand it to him.
“I’ll see you then.”
“Really, Aida,” a deep voice says, the sound vibrating against my side as I feel someone brush up against me.
Before I know it, Ben’s mouth is next to my ear, and Weston is long gone. Turning, our bodies are now nearly flush against each other in this crowded bar.
“I thought I said to stay away from that dick,” Ben growls, this interesting possessiveness to his tone. He’s normally so carefree and fun.
“I’m just working on something,” I admit, smiling at Ben, his blue eyes watching me with an intensity that makes my insides turn to mush. I swallow hard, thinking back to our kiss at the beach, and here we are, once again, out in public, a very public place that won’t allow for making out.
“And what’s that?” Ben questions, that possessive growl still present. “It better not have anything to do with hooking up with Weston because…”
Ben doesn’t finish his thought, stopping as his eyes fall to my lips. I let the tip of my tongue drag across them, and Ben reaches out, his hand gripping my hip.
“Because what?” I press, wondering what he was going to say. Wondering if he’s trying to stake his claim to me. That sounds very alpha male, caveman, weird bullshit, but it’s also quite funny. Ben doesn’t seem like the type of guy to get jealous, but that’s exactly what’s happening here.
“Because he’s a dick,” Ben says, and I laugh. This is what he keeps saying, but I know there’s more to it than that.
“It couldn’t happen to be because you’re interested in me, could it?” I say, pursing my lips as I wait for him to respond.
Ben leans in close, his intoxicating smell filling my nose and once again reminding me of our kiss on the beach, and that stupid kid who interrupted us. Who knows where that kiss would have gone, but I’m still fully up for it.
“Oh, I’m definitely interested, Aida. Just like you’re definitely interested in me. But rumor has it, you’re trying to win the war with a party on the Fourth,” Ben says, his mouth leaving a trail of soft kisses along my jaw that make me want to moan out loud.
“I am,” I admit, swallowing hard, needing to put some distance between us before I cave and have sex with him in this bar’s bathroom. “And I’m going to win.”
“Think again, beautiful,” Ben replies, his hand grabbing the hem of my cutoffs, his fingertips grazing my ass. “Try all you want. You’re going to end up at my house that night, and I can’t wait.”
My head falls back, letting out a laugh because if I don’t, I’m going to let out a sex-style moan in this bar that will have the whole damn place talking.
“Go have some drinks with your sister,” Ben tells me. “I’ll see you later.”