|photo by Tim Mossholder from Pexels|
My descent to the sand is ungainly but Chase doesn't notice. He's watching the party now.
"Okay, I'm ready," I say, but I'm not and Megan knows it. I can tell by her sigh, all air this time, no vibrating lips.
"Glenn showed up at my door tonight. He took my sister out to a movie."
Nope. Definitely wasn't ready for that. I breathe in through my nose and breathe out a curse.
"I know," she says. "It's a message, right?"
"What, that he's sorry he didn't go out with her the first time?"
"The first time he didn't know I was her little sister. Did he even know we were friends?"
"I doubt it," I say.
"I'll never, ever forget the look on his face when you walked into that room."
Me neither. I was fourteen. Glenn was sixteen. We were right smack in the middle of our temporary separation. He showed up at Megan's front door to pick up Jenny and her mom made him come inside to meet their dad. I was in Megan's bedroom at the time, but I recognized Glenn's voice. When I walked into the family room his whole body jolted—kind of like someone hit him with a two-by-four. I was pissed at him, but also a little worried that he was going to pass out.
He didn't. His eyes dropped to the floor and he said, "I'm sorry, Jenny, Mr. and Mrs. Montes. I just remembered I have to..." He pointed to the door. "I uh, have to go." He turned and walked out, and Jenny never heard from him again.
Until now.
"This isn't real," Megan says. "He doesn't give a crap about my sister and she's an idiot for giving him another chance."
"It's a calculated move." Like Paige inviting me to dinner with her and Conner. "But I just...I can't believe...Jenny?"
"I know," Megan says.
"Things will never be the same."
"No, but maybe different won't be so bad. You know, like my mom says, sometimes you just have to go forward."
Megan's dad had an affair two years ago. We all hated him for a while but we all got over it—well, everyone but Megan. Her parents still sleep in separate rooms but Megan says lately, she's been waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of them giggling.
I don't know if I can forgive Glenn for this. Not this time.
A soft touch on my shoulder reminds me where I am, who I'm with. I mouth, "I'm sorry."
Chase shakes his head and sits beside me. Our shadows are almost touching the shoreline and the waves have picked up momentum.
"Megan, I have to go."
"Okay."
I know that tone. And I'm dying to know what it is she's not saying, but I can't ask. "I'll call you tomorrow," I say.
"Or later tonight if you need to."
"Obviously," I agree and she ends the call.
Chase leans closer, so his shoulder touches mine. "You okay?" he asks.
I don't know. I don't feel much of anything.
Well, yeah. There is something: disbelief. I can't believe Glenn would do this to me.
Someone from the party wolf-whistles and then there's a crowd of laughter. "Our walk didn't take us far," Chase says, laying his empty bottle beside mine. "Do you want to go back?"
"No. Let's walk some more."
He stands, offers me his hand. I take it and he pulls me up. We walk in silence: me, kind of wishing for that protective arm around my waist. Him, casting worried glances my way.
I truly cannot figure this boy out.
"So, the thrill is verifiable," I say. "Does that mean you have references?"
He laughs out loud. It's a good, clean, genuine laugh and it makes him look a tiny bit like his father. If I bought a picture frame with this photo, I would never remove the beautiful laughing boy.
"I like that I have no idea how or when—or even if you will react to me," he says, finally.
"So you're entertaining yourself at my expense?"
"Yes and no," he says. "I enjoy a good challenge and these days they're few and far between."
"That statement makes you sound like the Chase Tinsley all the girls warned me about."
He nods at this. "They told you I was cold hearted."
"Heartless, actually."
"Mm," he says, unsurprised.
"I'm starting to think they're wrong."
I bump my shoulder against his. He gets the message and wraps his arm around my waist. Then after a few minutes, he stops us and turns so we're facing each other. I'm the one who takes that step forward, the one who instigates the kiss.
Chase is accommodating but he follows my lead. When I part my lips, he parts his. I offer my tongue, he meets me halfway. I wrap my arms around his neck, sift my fingers through his thick hair and he pulls me closer. One of his hands finds bare skin at my lower back, but I don't think it's intentional because it doesn't stay there.
"I feel like a life science experiment," he says when I pull away.
My face goes hot. I didn't plan it, but an experiment is exactly what this is.
"I'm sorry, Chase."
"Don't be. I like science. Want to try again?"
I smile, relax a little and nod.
He takes the lead and it's so much better this time—good, even. But as hard as I try, I can't stop wondering what it might be like to be here in this moment with a different boy.
* * *
We leave the beach party when Chase's sister runs out of steam, which is just about the time my head starts pounding. I ask for ibuprofen, excuse myself to my room and type a message for Glenn: I kissed Chase Tinsley. Are you happy now?
I am painfully sober and very much in touch with my anger. I toss the phone to the foot of the bed and reach behind my neck to find the clasp of my necklace. My heart-shaped pendant came with a promise from Glenn. Tonight, he broke it. I drop it in my suitcase, lay my head back on the pillow and try not to think about boys and kissing.
Impossible.
When the phone vibrates, my muscles tense. Glenn sent a text message?
Or, maybe it's Conner.
I groan as I sit up, staring at the phone, trying to summon my courage. Anything less than a profusely apologetic and possibly even self-deprecating phone call from Glenn would be intolerable. Unacceptable. And a text from Conner—good news or bad...
Do I really want to know either way?
A knock startles me. I jump up to open the door because company equals distraction.
Chase struts in and looks around the room like he's never seen it before—which isn't that weird, I guess, considering how big the house is. "Are you meeting Paige early, or do we have time to stop for lunch?" he asks.
"Uh...actually, I never heard back from her."
"Does that mean you'll be accepting Conner's offer?"
I shrug. Not if the two of them are making out right now.
Chase's eyebrows lower. He sits on the bed and picks up my phone, frowning as he turns it over in his hands. "You have a message," he says.
"Yeah, I know. I'm afraid to look."
"Do you want me to read it?"
"No." If it's from Glenn, Chase will be able to see the text Glenn is replying to. And I already feel bad enough for using him. "Will you just tell me who it's from," I ask.
He nods and says, "Glenn Nash."
I mouth a curse and Chase stands up. "If you talk to Conner, tell him I'm taking you to lunch at the restaurant in Montauk. He'll know the one. Or...tell him I could have you back to the city by 2:00."
Lunch in Montauk sounds a little suspect, but I don't ask or argue. Mostly because it's hard to focus on anything but the intense pressure building at my temples. Chase holds out my phone and says, "Get it over with." I take it, nodding, and he leaves my room.
The text message from Glenn says: No.
One. Freaking. Word.
No, he's not happy I kissed Chase.
I smash the reply button and type: I'm seriously thinking I might have sex with Chase Tinsley. Are you okay with that? But I don't press send. I erase the entire conversation. Then I erase every text message Glenn has ever sent me.
* * *
I wait until 11:15 p.m. to call Megan. Glenn should have brought Jenny home by now. I don't want to think about what it means if he hasn't.
"They're back already," Megan says and I exhale my relief. "Yeah, I think that's a good sign."
"Not necessarily. Glenn rarely stays up past 11:00 p.m. because he usually wakes before 5:00 a.m."
"Oh."
"Did you see anything when he brought her home?"
"They sat in the driveway for awhile—fifteen, twenty minutes—but it's really dark tonight, cloudy. I couldn't see what was going on inside the truck."
I get out of bed and walk to the window. There are no clouds here. I can see the pale glow of the path leading to the dock, the outline of the million-dollar speedboat, dark against the shimmer of the moonlit ocean.
"How'd it go with Chase?" Megan asks.
It's like a knife wound, that question. Guilt is a surprisingly sharp emotion. "I kissed him," I say.
"Good for you."
"No, I don't think it was. I mean, it was a nice kiss, but I shouldn't have done it. I used him."
"So no spark then?"
"None."
"That's because you love Glenn," she says—like she's just proven String Theory.
I shake my head. "That's over. I accept his resignation."
"I don't think it's going to be that easy, Thea."
"He made it easy for me tonight," I say, climbing back into bed. "I texted him, told him about kissing Chase and he texted me back. Not a phone call. He sent me a freaking text message."
"Wow. What a dumbass. What did it say?"
"He doesn't give a shit."
"Glenn Nash did not say that."
"True. You know him well. He would never use that many words. He let me go with one."
* * *
My heart vibrates, stops, then vibrates again. I rub my eyes, open them. The next vibration brings my hand to my chest and I find my phone.
Oh.
The screen is too blurry to read. I feel for the button, press it and say, "Hello?"
"Thea, it's me."
Me equals Conner.
"I was planning to call earlier," he says. "But Paige and I were watching a movie and I fell asleep."
I fell asleep waiting for Glenn to call. "What time is it?" I ask.
"1:00 a.m. I'm sorry. I just got home and I couldn't go back to sleep."
I sit up, rub my eyes again and clear my throat. "How was your date?"
"Very un-date-like. How do you like Water Mill?"
"It's nice."
He laughs. "That's a weak adjective for the—"
"I kissed Chase," I blurt.
Conner doesn't finish his sentence. He doesn't make a sound. I twist the hem of my tank top around my finger until the silence becomes a dull ache in my chest. "It was my idea, not his," I say. "We were walking on the beach and Megan called with bad news about Glenn and I was hurt and angry and I kissed Chase and he didn't stop me."
"Did you—" Conner stops, sighs. "Does this mean you're not coming back to the city tomorrow?"
"Didn't you get my text about rescheduling the tour?"
"I did. Along with the one about the Tin Man being an ass," he adds with a hint of exasperation. "But then Paige told me you reached out to her."
"Yeah, almost two days ago. Did she tell you she didn't reach back?"
"No. I'm sorry, Thea. She made it sound like you agreed to her plan."
Oh dear Lord. "What plan?"
"She asked me to take you somewhere—don't ask where. She swore me to secrecy. But...it's a place she would take you herself if she could."
There's not an ounce of skepticism in Conner's tone. So now I'm questioning mine.
"Okay. Fine," I say.
"Meaning you'll come? With me?"
"Of course."
"Great."
There's so much smile in that tiny word that I break out in full-body goose bumps.
"What time are you leaving?" he asks.
"Oh, um, Chase has another message for you. He's taking me to lunch at a restaurant in... I can't remember the name of the town. I think it starts with an M?"
"Montauk," Conner says. "But that's not going to happen. I'll call Chase in the morning and get it straightened out."
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|Author's Note: Hello, dear reader!!! Welcome the mid-point! =) Thank you so much for sticking with Thea's story. I can't tell you how much it means to me! (But there's a pretty good chance I will make an attempt in my last author note. lol) The next chapter is one of my top five favorites. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I did writing it. ❤️❤️❤️|