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Chapter Eleven
Tricia aged sixteen
“Where have you been all summer?” he asked, loud enough for others close by to hear him but leaned in and snickered into my ear. I blushed, embarrassed, knowing we’d spend much of it together.
I shook my fuzzy thoughts from my head, not wanting to play his game. “I’ve been home.”
“Home? I haven’t seen you out once with the girls,” he goaded, tightening his arms around me and smirking wickedly. His groin brushed against mine and my heart skipped a beat when I felt a bulge in his pants.
Knowing I was turning him on made my heart beat faster, and I felt confused by how turned on I was by him making a play for me. Donnie had flirted with me many times, but this felt different because it was totally direct and there was no humor in his tone or expressions.
“Stop it,” I blurted. Pivoting on my tiptoes, I craned my neck, looking for the girls again as he held me firmly in his arms. Being tipsy I lost my footing and he pulled me closer to his chest. My head landed on his shoulder and his hand splayed wide between my shoulder blades, our bodies completely flush with one another. It felt nice—protective—secure. I felt confused by the conflicted feelings I had inside.
“Bradley was a fool leaving you here all summer. Had you been mine, I’d have told my grandpa to go to hell,” he mumbled, his beer breath and deodorant mingling with my woozy head and making me inhale the scent of him.
“But I’m not yours,” I mumbled, shuffling around on the poolside patio to “Careless Whispers” by George Michael.
“Not yet, but you’re not Bradley’s either,” he muttered, his low rumbly voice sounding seductive to my ears as my head rested against his chest. My body stiffened and I leaned back to look up at him.
“What are you doing?” I asked, suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable in his arms, and mostly guilty as hell about such a conversation when Bradley was across state lines in Illinois.
“Waiting for my second chance with you again. I knew nothing at thirteen,” he said, with a wicked grin on his face. I liked Donnie, I really did, but I was with Brad and I didn’t appreciate his tone.
“Is that what you think?” I challenged.
“It is. I know you’re attracted to me, I can feel it, Tricia. I’m the one you’ve chosen to spend your summer with—”
“We’ve been doing math,” I protested.
“Mostly, but we’ve talked music, books, movies … baseball—”
“Only because I had extra time to waste because Brad isn’t here,” I objected.
“Yeah, you’re with Brad, in here,” he said, tapping my temple, as he pulled me closer, “but I’d bet any money if he’d been here in Ohio, you’d have broken up with him by now because I’d have tried harder to win you over.”
His comment made me stop to wonder for a moment if he would have. I loved Brad, but I’d missed all those summer nights where I could have been hanging out at White Acre Park with groups of friends or listening to music in someone’s backyard.
“You can’t deny all those smiles you bit back when I’ve flirted with you up in the barn. I think you’re only still with him because he isn’t here. I also think the minute he comes back you’ll realize your feelings toward him have changed.”
I gazed up at him with a seed of doubt in my heart because there had been a grain of truth in what he’d said. I’d already known how Brad could be; he was the type of boy who struck up a conversation with anyone. He was too good-looking for his own good, and funny as well, and he also had a boatload of charm, which made him a natural magnet for girls. I knew this because I’d found him completely disarming when he set his sights on me.
“You’re a beautiful girl, and him going away has ruined your summer.”
I felt myself blush from his compliment but tried to ignore it and began to defend Bradley again. “I know, but—”
“But what?” He shrugged his shoulders, which made our chests rub together. A tiny unexpected thrill ran through me, even though I had been determined to resist him. “Do you seriously believe Brad has been sitting at home in his grandpa’s den all these weeks?”
His question made me pause for thought as I stared up at his raised brow and serious engaging gaze. Donnie knew Bradley but not as well as me. However, when he pressed the point that he had made, I wondered if he was right.
That same point had been raised by the girls as well, and hearing it twice in one day gave me cause to question whether Bradley had been faithful to me. What if they were right? Could they see something about Brad I didn’t? Was I so blinded by how I felt toward him?
My body stiffened with another thought. How stupid would I look if he came back and dumped me, or confessed to have been seeing someone while he was away?
“Come on, let’s get another drink,” Donovan said, quickly changing the subject. Stepping back, he broke his embrace and slid his hand into mine. Without another word he tugged me toward the small bar set up under the balcony.
“Did you like that vodka?”
“Yes,” I replied. I glanced behind me, searching the faces of everyone. It had been a while since I’d seen the girls. I felt annoyed they had dragged me to a party where I knew very few people, and they had left me to fend for myself. We’d had a rule; safety in numbers, but obviously that hadn’t applied when their interests were distracted elsewhere.
