Fireworks: A Holiday Bad Boy Romance (18 page)

Chapter 19

Cora

"Are you sure you don't want to talk
about it?" Emily pushed her shoulder against mine as we sat out on the
dock, watching the boats drive by. It had been three days since my date with
Brody, and where everyone else had been hanging out off and on together, I
hadn't seen him, or any of them, since our date. I was still confused over what
had happened. Did he just want to have a quick warm up round with dinner and
the movie and not sleep together?

He wanted to sleep with every girl on the
island, but I make a move and he pushes me back? What the hell? Was I not good
enough?

I
guess not. I wasn't for Brandon, either.

"Cora?" Dedra nudged me from the
other side. "Hey, tell us what happened. Did he force himself on
you?"

"What? No. No." I glanced over
at Dedra and then Emily. "No. I don't know what happened. Dinner was great,
and we skipped the movie to go walking on the beachfront, and then we danced a
little, and I don't know... I guess he thought I wanted to sleep
together."

"So he asked you to spend the night,
or what? You haven't said a word about this shit in three days. We're all a
little worried." Emily gave me a stern look.

"No. He basically turned me down. I
think. I don't know." I ran my fingers through my hair. "I guess he
really just wanted a friend to talk to, and I felt a connection that seemed
like more was happening between us. He was...I don't know. I'm done talking
about it. I hit on him, and he shut me down. End of story."

I'd cried a few times over the situation
simply due to the embarrassment of being the only woman on the island that
wasn't capable of seducing the whore who slept with everyone. It was sickening
to think that I'd tried. I'd tried, right?

"Hey, maybe you should just talk to
him. Daniel said he's not doing so great himself. Maybe it's just an odd
misunderstanding." Dedra reached over and ran her hand down the back of my
hair.

"I'm not worried about how he's
doing, Dee. He denied me and left me feeling like a two-bit whore. Whatever was
starting between us was in my head and it's over now. No biggie."

"It is a biggie," Emily barked.
"I want to spend my summer with you
and
Clay, but that's not possible."

"Well, excuse the fuck outta me for
messing up your love story." I pulled my legs up and stood as she started
to back track.

"Cora. That's not-”

"Save it. I'm not interested. I've
been cool about all this bullshit where you guys want to hang out with the same
fucking friend group of guys every day and night. Cool. Have fun with it, but
I'm not fitting into the mold of hooking up with the forth member of their
group. He doesn't want me. I'm sorry that once again, I'm not enough." My
voice broke as tears filled my eyes. I turned and jogged back toward the house,
not wanting them or anyone else to see me upset.

I busted through the door to find Cindy
and Derek on the couch dry humping.

Cindy jumped up. "I'm sorry. We
should...oh hell. What's wrong?"

I lifted my hand and let out a soft sob as
I shook my head. "I should have knocked."

She reached for me, but I moved to the
side of her and walked to the bedroom.

"Cora! What's wrong?" She followed
after me. "Hey, talk to me."

"I'm good. Just tired." I
stopped at my door and wiped at my nose and eyes. "I'm good. Really. Don't
keep Derek waiting. I just need sleep."

"You sure?" She pressed her hand
against my door as I walked into the dark.

"Yeah, I'll be out later," I
mumbled and pushed the door closed, locking it and leaving the light off as I
dropped down into my bed.

How in the hell some dude I'd met a week
ago had me wallowing in self-pity like I had with Brandon was beyond me. It was
a clear indicator of two things. One, I'd yet to truly heal from Brandon
cheating on me, and two, I didn't need a summer fling. They always ended before
they began.

Much
like this one.

*

The phone ringing just beside my head
brought me from my nap. I reached over in the darkness and patted the bed
beside me, grumbling at the idea of talking to anyone.

"Hello?" I turned onto my back
and cleared my throat.

"Hi, Cora. It's Mom." Her voice
was warm and friendly.

I jerked up. Wherever my mother was, my
father was close behind her. She was his puppet, which meant that if she was
calling... he wanted something.

"Hey, Mom. How's it going?" I
wiped my eyes and stifled the need to yawn as I moved to the edge of the bed.

"It's good. Your father and I were
talking about some upcoming casework we have that's really unprecedented. It
would be a great opportunity for you to see some of these things, but of course,
they're happening during your summer vacation that you have planned."

"Right." I got up and walked to
the door to flip on the light switch. "Can't I study the cases after
they're completed? It would be the same right?"

"Not really." She wasn't going
to force me to come back early, but that's the way my lawyer parents did
things. They slowly twisted your arm until you made the conscious decision to
do what they wanted, making it your call and leaving their hands clean of the
repercussions of your disappointment or anger.

"When are the trials, Mom?" I
let out a short sigh, wishing that I could hold myself back from letting her
know that their request was a pain in my ass.

"They're mid-July, baby. I understand
if you don't want to come back early, we just thought this would be a great
opportunity. You know your father is always watching out for what's best for
your future. You're going to make lots of money once you're a full-fledged
lawyer, and then you can take loads of trips to the lake all the time.
Right?" She chuckled as if something she said was humorous.

"How many trips have you and Dad
taken?" I dropped down on the edge of the bed and tried to clear the haze
sitting over me. I wasn't going to get out of going back early, but giving up
any of my time with my best friends before starting to work for my parents was
painful.

"We like what we do, Cora. You know
that. We don't really need vacations. Do you want to talk to your dad for a
minute?"

"No. I was headed out the door. I'll
call you guys later tonight, and we can pick back up on this conversation then.
Is that okay?" I ran my fingers through my hair as my stomach soured a
little.

"Yeah. We can do that. I love you.
Have fun, okay?"

"Okay, Mom. I love you, too." I
dropped the call and flopped back on my bed, letting out a long groan.

The door to my bedroom opened, and Emily
stuck her head in. "Hey, grumpy butt, we're heading out for a ride on the
boat. Get on your suit and come with us."

"Yeah, alright." I sat back up
and let out a long sigh. I hated fighting with her. We both were good about
letting things go when we could. Now was one of those times.

"What's up?" She came in and
closed the door behind her as I stood and walked to my dresser.

"Just my parents and their plans for
me." I shrugged and pulled out a pink and black bikini. I didn't expect to
see Brody, so there was no need for wearing something too terribly sexy.

"Well, you're not supposed to be thinking
about that shit. It's the Fourth of July on Monday and we have plans to party
like it's 1999, remember?"

"Yeah, but they're wanting me to come
back into town in a couple of weeks, instead of the end of the summer like we
talked about." I tossed my swimsuit beside her and pulled off my t-shirt
and shorts.

"What? No. That's not how this
works." She handed me the suit. "I'm jealous that you're already
getting a tan."

"Well, at least it's not my boobs
making you jealous anymore." I smirked, thinking back on all the times
when we were younger when she would rant over me having boobs and her not.

"I have my own now, thanks." She
lifted her eyebrow at me and smirked. "Wait... You're getting off subject."

"I think it's better if we do. I
don't want another reason to feel like shit. Just drop it and we'll figure it
out later. I'm not sure what I'm going to do." I tugged my shorts over my
bathing suit bottoms and worked my hair into a short ponytail. "I should
grow my hair back out. This shorter cut makes me look too young."

"You look great. You always do."
She got up and stopped behind me in the mirror. "No more being bummed out,
okay? Especially not if you think you're leaving us in a few weeks. Brody isn't
worth all that. You guys didn't even date."

"Yeah, I know." I shrugged and
reached over to grab a tube of Chap Stick from the top of my dresser. "I
just wish we would have. The sexual tension between us is so delicious. I
haven't felt so aggravated over a boy in a long time."

"Aggravated? And, this is a good
thing?" She laughed and walked to the door, opening it and watching me.

"Yeah. You know," I turned to
face her, "where you want him so bad it hurts, and yet you know it would
be a horrible decision, so you act like a bitch and flirt a little here and
there?"

"No. Sorry. This one is new for me,
but it makes sense seeing how you've been acting the last week or so." She
gave me a look. "Come on. Let's go have some fun and forget all of this
shit. I didn't mean to snap at you out there. You mean the world to me."

"I'm sorry, too. Let's get out of
here. No more moping. Especially not over the town whore." I left my phone
on the bed, not interested in talking with anyone that might call or text for
the next few hours. Brody was out of the picture from what I could tell, which
was for the better. He'd made it quite obvious that he was interested in the
chase, but that was all. Once I started to give in... He pulled back. Hard.

Funny
how sweet he was at dinner, talking about the future and seeming genuinely
interested in knowing more about me. All part of the game.

"There you guys are. We thought you
were going to sleep the day away." Dedra stood up and picked up her towel.
"You're starting to worry us."

"What? You guys are being mother
hens." I grabbed my sunglasses off the table and walked outside, breathing
in deep and deciding then and there that I was good. No more being upset about
Brody. It was childish and stupid. Rejection stung like a bitch, but whatever.
Maybe he was doing it because he wanted to save me from the havoc that he
thought himself capable of reeking all over me.

"You look good in that suit."
Cindy moved up beside me and wrapped an arm around my back. "And you know
what?"

"What?" I glanced over at her
and smiled.

"We can stop hanging out with the
guys so much. There are loads of guys out here to hang out with. We're all
being a little clingy with this group. It's getting old." She winked and
released me.

"Are thinks not going well with the
cowboy?" I chuckled and followed her down the stairs.

"No, they're good, but I'm here to
meet lots of different people and have some fun. I'll settle down soon, but I'm
not ready to do that over the summer, I don't think." She slowed down as I
caught up to her.

"I agree." Dedra walked up on my
other side. "Daniel and I are going to get a bite to eat tomorrow after I
go to church, but it's just going to be a friendly date. Getting involved with
anyone right now would be stupid, you know? A fling would be fun, but I think I
need to keep it to that."

"Not me. Clay is exactly the kind of
man I've been looking for most of my adult life." Emily skipped out in
front of us in her short shorts and tank top and spinning around, which was so
far out of character for her that I stopped in the middle of the road to watch
her.

"Dear Lord...she's in love." I
glanced at my other two friends as we cracked up laughing.

She turned to face us and put her hands on
her hips. "Alright...keep it up!"

"We will." Dedra laughed and
pulled me toward the boat. "Come on. You slept through most of the
afternoon. Let's enjoy what's left of the sunlight."

I jogged down to the dock with them and
moved to the front of the boat to lay out while someone else drove us around.
The wind and waves stole my thoughts, and a few minutes later, all thoughts of
Brody's rejection or my parents' demanding personas was all but gone.

"Hey. There's the guy's red
boat." Emily sat down next to me, forcing me to sit up and scoot over.

I blinked a few times and let out a yawn
as I turned to see Brody in the boat with a pretty blonde in his lap.

"Is he..." I scrambled to my
feet to try to get a better view of him. Was he making out with the girl? No,
surely not. "Move closer."

"What? Why?" Cindy stood up and
turned toward the island. "Oh, shit."

"Move closer to their boat,” I barked
and moved to the edge of our boat, standing on railing. I had to extend my arms
to keep my balance, and though I probably looked like a dork, I could not have
cared less. I needed to see if he had already moved onto his next victim. Where
it would hurt like crazy, it would be a good thing, too. It would force me to
abandon the what-if game playing in my head.