I Shouldn’t Love Him (Book 2) – Chapter 56
LAKE
This is what summer was.
At ten thirty on the Thursday morning following our night at the fair, I lay on a beach towel on the south side of Huntington Pier with my friends. It was early, but beach real estate in August was valuable.
nning was an art I had yet to perfect. Tiffany had the same complexion as me and she had it down to a science. She wanted to be tanned three hundred and sixty-five days a year. Tonight,
e, only used tanning oil.
he was finished.
back.
urday night.”
I said.
sunglasses. “You weren’t.”
r the elastic leg of my one-piece to even it out. “That didn’t look like much fun.”
veryone, I want to say. Corbin Swenson came to mind. I scanned the surfers dancing on their boards in the water, but they were too far away for me to recognize the faces. “I went to Balboa Park,” I said. Since they admired my sister for some reason
id. “She’s not in high school.”
they’re lame.”
ed excitedly. “Kim left the party with Jack Firestone, and I guess they’ve been sittin
with virgins.
n the middle of the night and masturbated. I had never done it while thinking of anyone I knew. All morning, the thought of Manning had come to me with a pang in my stomach. And it wasn’t weird or bad or shameful. The opposite, in fact. I liked it.
ter fell on my shins, I put down my book. Someone was sta
ls.” I recognized Corbi
nt. I doubted any of them had ever spoken to a Swenson. I lowered my sunglasses. Corbin held a surfboard under one arm. “Hi,” I said.
sked.
. I didn’t know which one
ike his hair. “What are you guys
.
as a late surf today. Summer vacation and
f a frog smoking weed and 420 in graffiti. He shook his hair, showering me with ocean droplets.
sked.
” When he glanced at my chest, I realized my nipples were hard from the cold water. Turning to the other girls, he s
kie said.
ie and Mona.”
t to take out my board?”
hid my blush. “I’m working on my tan.
?” ” He asked.
,” I said, a
o you want one
to me to Corbin and back again.
next to me. ” Come tonig
shady. Despite the fact that Corbin looked strong and healthy, Manning still overshadowed him , maybe because Manning’s presence was even bigger than his body. But even if Corbin was dark and tall and sexy like Manning, I would still say no. I wouldn’t miss dinner tonight for anyone. I didn’t know never when I would have time with Manning.
n’t,” I said. “Sorry.”
time then.”
to meet you girls. Lake . . I’ll see you at camp, if not before.
d away, Vickie pinched m
What was that for?
d.
er night at the Fun Zone.”
e party.”
“He must have done both,” I said. “Not so stupid now, are
o to a date with a Swenson!
y’re just people, not gods.”
u see him with his shirt on?” Mon
worker.
t you didn’
single, Mona. Lake is hard to get.
ing to do with looking sexy. Until ‘By now I had had little interest and even less knowledge in attracting boys to school. They tried to get away with stupid things like looking at our skirts or chewing gum in class . Most of them cared more about video games or sports than learning anything of value. “What does that have to do with it?” “Just that you don’t
e bloomer.”
uns in his family.
didn’t doubt it. My mother was Miss Orange County when she was younger and competed to be Miss California. I saw the way men looked at her in the supermarket, the way my male teachers paid attention when she came to parents’ evening. Mom attracted almost as much attention from men as Tiffany. If there was a gene for it, Tiffany definitely had it – and she got it from my mother. Maybe I had it too, although maybe it was dormant. It was late in the afternoon when I got home from the beach. I dropped my towel and bag at the foot of the stairs. “Mom?” I called.
en.”
re you?”
ds later, though.”
take a shower.”
he asked. “You have a tan.”
at the end of the pier afterward.
or pie.”
it to see Manning’s reaction. “I’ll come help when I’m ready,” I said. I went up to the bathroom and turned on the shower.
ot to use them, and I never did. . until today.
I washed my hair twice. Then I saturated it with conditioner and shaved my legs slowly, carefully, from the ankle to upper thigh. After rinsing and drying, I used one of Tiffany’s lotions. I had never felt so soft and silky. I chose a summer dress to show off my smooth skin. Tiffany said that having a tan makes you look slimmer, and she was right.
makeup drawer. I had burned. Not bad, but my face and shoulders were pink. The sun had also
iffany.
e would go to Manning, I took special care to drizzle the olive oil and balsamic vinegar evenly.
re’s Tiffany?” » Mom asked
anged her mind about him. She does that.
wise, we’re going to have an uncomfortable dinner.
uncomfortable.
he house with paper bags on each arm. “Manning will be here any minute. Is dinner ready?”
a white handkerchief and held up a short leopard-print tube dress. “This is like what Drew Barrymore wears in the Guess? a d.”
at’s sweet.” Mom always said stuff like that when Tiffany went shopping. Th
put everything back in the bag. “We’ll probably go som
.
ateur,” she said.
w, honey,” Mom said as she went to the sink to
bags. “Mom, I have exactly five minutes to tra
u wait until the las
it with dinner.”
tonight? If so, where would they go? It would be late by the time dinner ended. Too late for me to accompany them, even if I was invited. Tiffany and her friends hung out until after midnight on the weekends. They had ways of obtaining alcohol. It was Thursday, but life was a big weekend for Tiffany. She didn’t have work to do in the morning, but Manning did. Didn’t that mean anything?
ning my tomatoes when the doo
s straightening my tomatoes when the doorbell rang. My heart stopped.
r furry hands. “Can you get this, honey?”
e with him before it was stolen.
d the door to Manning standing on the top step in jeans and a black button-down shirt that he wore open over a white t-shirt. He had shaved and put gel on his hair. I half expected him to show u
eat. Manning’s dark eyes stayed mostly on my face, except for the second they flickered, down to my ankles. Maybe men had some kind of radar for freshly shaved legs. “Hi,” I said. Silly, I wanted to tell him how handsome he was.
different.”
shoulders a little and tried not to smile. “You too.”
eup ? »
ittle.” I pointed my foot, showing him my l
was almost at eye level with the flowers. It was a good guess – my mother loved tulips.
have checked with you first.
w each other. “
nning said, getting my attention. Just about dinner and timing and stuff
kitchen.
round, smiled widely, and came towards us. “It’s so nice to meet you, Manning.”
w strands fell forward. “My favorite. Thank you.”
g me. Dinner smells goo
his food, but she said that a lot. “Lake helped,” she said, and as an afterthought she added, “So did Tiffany. She’s great in the kitchen. “She’s not,”
ven set the table.”
our guest something to drink.”
at I had done my share of the cooking with him in mind. But when he nodded at me and patted his stomach, I understood – he knew.
bar,” Mom said. “You like wine, don’t you, Man
dy has beer too,” I said.
The wine is excellen
worked, though.
m asked.
bottle of wine. The pointy part went into the top, but the top was surrounded by packaging
ing snatched the thing from me – a corkscrew, that’s what it is! – from my hand and removed the foil
h.
d.
he pushed the pointed, curled end into the cork. Exactly what I would ha
ed and the cork slipped out with a pop.
She fluttered her eyebrows and mouthed, So handsome.
d two wine glasses, he glanced at me. ” Ho
.”
uh?” He winked. “Were you outside?”
nt to th
p to her shoulder. Mom wore heels. I was the only one without shoes.
he kissed her forehead. “They entertained me.”
“Have you met my mother?” »
inging him some wine.
, but he only poured two glasses. He gave one to my mother and kept the other for himself.
nd on her hip. “And me?”
u’re not twenty-one. The other is for your father.
n’t We’re not stupid; we know Tiffany drinks.