Every Girl Does It (24 page)

"
Oh
,
wow
,
did you tucker out already?" He
teases
as he put
s
me down on my feet.

"I'm not
a
child
,"
I say loudly enough for a little boy and his mom to
stare, then
walk away fast.
The
mother also had her hands over the
kid’s
eyes
.
P
lease
,
like I
’
m more
indecent
than TV.

I lift
my hand in protest
,
gettin
g ready to argue my point to
the hovering mother
,
when Preston put
s
his hand over my mouth.

"No."

"But
,
"
I
argue
.

"No
.
"

"But
,
" I
say
again
.
I mean
,
come on
,
at least let me explain
myself
.

Instead
,
he
gives
me one of
Kristin’s
famous glares. I roll my eyes and
grab his hand. "Where are we off to? The hotel? The beach?
Food? OOOO
let’s
get food!" I yell rather loudly. Apparently being
locked up in a prison makes you want to yell. I wonder if this is how
people feel when they spend the night in jail, like their whole lives
have
a renwed purpose
.
Well,
actually
,
I
don’t
have
any new visions of the future
.
I just find
prison makes my stomach feel empty.

Preston, still staring at me
,
smiles
wide
ly before answering
,
"I think
it's
best we go to the hotel
to
get you cleaned up
,
and possibly have
a late
,
late
,
late dinner
,
considering
it’s
around
nine
already."

"Oh
,
wow
.
I
t is
late
. Weird.
I thought I
’
d been in there a whole
day
,
" I say dramatically shaking my head.

"Please
,
Amanda
.
I
t
was like ten minutes
,
and it was only that long
because I had to explain
to them
exactly why you were making death
threats toward me."

I nodded my head in understanding
,
but couldn't
hold back the laughter.

"Most interesting vacation ever?" I ask meeting his green eyes in
amusement
.

"Definitely
," h
e says
,
stopping in the middle of the street.

"What are you doing?" I ask
.

"Kissing you."

B
efore I know it
,
he
’
s pushing my hair behind my ear and leaning
down to my lips. I close my eyes just as he gently touches them
with his own
,
then wrap my hands around his neck. I
’
m
just getting
used to the way it fe
els
when he pushe
s
me away and continue
s
walking.
A sinking feeling
develops in the pit of
my stomach. I
ca
n’t
help it. I mean
,
most of the
kisses
we
’
ve
shared had been in
anger
, frustration, or just
plain passion. This was a good kiss
,
but it was our first
honest
kiss
,
and I fe
el
like I somehow messed it up.
We ho
ld hands all the way back to the hut. I watch him pour me some
POG juice and
take
a giant sip before
slipp
ing into my room to freshen
up. I c
o
me back from the bathroom and notice a note on my
bed.
Meet me here.
It
was the
beach;
he wanted me to meet him at the
beach?

I start sweating as I realize what this could mean. He's either
leaving me, proposing, or playing a trick on me? Which one is it? I
quickly get ready then run down to the beach
,
forgetting my room card
in the process.
I skip down to where he
’
s pointing and am stopped by P
r
eston
himself. He smiles and blindfolds me
,
then carries me
—yes
,
carries
me to
t
he sand
,
and puts me on a blanket.
Let’s
face it, he
’
s romantic. I
’
m
smiling so big
,
if there were bugs in the air
,
they
’
d
be stuck in my teeth
.
I mean
,
I
’
m elated. I wait for him to take off my
blindfold
,
but instead of taking it off
,
he leans in close. I can
tell
because
I feel his breath on my face. My heart suddenly
starts fluttering
,
as I feel his lips touch mine. Wait, how is this
fair? I
’
m blindfolded
.
Well
,
actually
it does kind of make sense
.
I mean
,
people close their
eyes
when they kiss
.
T
hen a thought hits me
.
W
hat if
I’m
the freaky girl
who
opens her eyes when she kisses
,
and he can't
stand it
, so he had to blind
fold me!
Oh my gosh
,
that’s why
! I
immediately
panic
,
making my kissing worse
,
considering I can't catch my
breath
. Only
he takes
it
as an invitation to kiss me harder
,
making
me more nervous
,
and well
,
that’s
when I make some sort of
whimpering noise as if he
’
s biti
ng me. He stops and laughs
,
then begins talking.

"I love you...
so much. I want to be the one
.
" He stops talking then
takes my hands in his. His hands feel a little clammy
like
he
’
s
nervous. M
y stom
ach do
es
somersaults
while
I wait for
him to say
more. "But
–”
He just said
but
.
T
his is it
.
I
s he already
breaking
up with me
?
I
can’t be that bad.
I
can change.

"I
won’t
open my eyes anymore
,"
I blurt out before thinking
,
and then silence.

I wait and wait some more before he asks
,
"What?"

I then proceed to explain to him my theory
until
I hear him rumbling
with laughter. "So not where I was going with that, but good to know
you have that particular insecurity
," he
answers
,
still laughing.

I
’
m most likely red,
why
can't I ever stop talking?
Why must I even speak.
It would have been bet
t
er for me to be mute.

"You were saying..." I urge him along.

"I was saying
,
" he says
,
taking my cue
.
"
T
hat I love you
.
I can't
imagine not being with you
,
even if you are bordering on insanity most days."

"And those are the good days
,
" I interrupt joking
ly
.

"Sadly,
I know
,
"
h
e says laughing
.
"
B
ut I also want you to know I
’
d never ask for forever if I
didn’t
do it the right way first, and
since your dad is no longer here
,
I thought the only way to prove to
you that I want to honor him first, was to do this."

He pulls off my blind fold. Directly in front of me is a sandcastle. I
can tell he used buckets because you can still see their indentations
on the castle tops
,
but
i
t
'
s perfect. He's perfect. I start to cry
,
a
nd
he
pulls me into his arms.

"I think he would've
like
d
me
,
" Preston says
,
smiling
,
as I continue to cry. I
nod my head in agreement
,
because
the words won't come. "Anyway, I
want to start a new tradition with you. W
e
build
sandcastles
together now. Is that okay? I want to be the missing piece.
Amanda
,,
I want you forever."

I look at him dumbstruck. Th
e guy was basically proposing
,
and he
built me a sandcastle
! I know
,
for some girls
it’s
a little
cheesy
,
but for
me
…
well
,
it's
perfect. I don't even know how to respond
. So
in pure
Amanda fashion
,
I tackle him
, knocking
him over in the process
,
and
kiss him
passionately
with my wet tears. He answers my kisses with a
few of his own before pulling me into a hug.

"Forever
,
" I say
shyly.

"Maybe
,
" he answers smugly then laughs a
nd
tries to grab my hand. I glare at him as he starts to run away. I hold out my foot and see him trip
while
I suppress
the snickering
.. Aggravating man.