Take My Dress Off (7 page)

“My oldest sister, Sandy, got married and lived here for a couple of years until they had the twins. Then I moved in.”

“What about your other sister?”

“Kelly?” He chuckled. “She’s too scared to live back here. She thinks it’s haunted.”

“Seriously?”

“My grandmother lived here until she died. She had a stroke and the cleaning lady found her in the bathroom.”

“Oh, that’s awful,” I cried. “I’m very sorry.”

“I never knew her. She died way before I was born.” He motioned for me to follow him into the bedroom. “Kelly swears her ghost is lurking around.” He dumped out his purchases onto the bed and began pulling off the tags with his teeth. “Kelly graduated from State two years ago and works at the store with Mom.”

“Your mom has a store?”

“The Hallmark store in Vista. Kelly has no intentions of moving out of the main house either.”

“Don’t your parents want her out?”

“Nah. The house is so big they really don’t mind.” He slipped a teal polo shirt onto a hanger. “Mom and Kelly are really close, she’d probably freak if Kelly moved out.”

“Well it’s going to happen eventually,” I handed him a pink button down oxford.

“I guess…” He studied his closet and rearranged some shirts.

“There’s a big age difference between you and your sisters.”

“I’m what you call a “surprise” baby. There are six years between me and Kelly and Sandy is two years older than her. My parents thought their family was complete after the girls. Then I came along,” he chuckled. He refolded a red sweater and tucked it into the heavy wood dresser drawer.

“You definitely don’t need any more clothes. I think you have more polo shirts than anyone I know,” I smirked and sat on his bed. I felt a little tingle shoot through me to think that this is where he slept. I imagined myself lying on his bed.

“Bite your tongue,” he hissed and swatted me with a shopping bag. “You can never have too many clothes. That’s like saying you can have too much money.”

“You probably don’t have much money now after that spending spree you went on today.”

He patted his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. “It’s pretty light now.” He smiled down to me. “Good thing I have a famous model girlfriend to keep me in the style I’ve grown accustomed to,” he grinned and leaned down to kiss me. “Want to swim?” he asked.

Chaz in a swimsuit? I couldn’t turn that down. “I thought you’d never ask. After Jen leaves for college I’ll lose my pool connection.”

“I’ll be your pool connection,” he grinned. “Get your suit on.”

I reached into my bag and grabbed my new neon pink string bikini. It was a great bargain since it was on sale and Danielle gave me her employee discount. I didn’t have Chaz’s unlimited funds for shopping.

“What do you think?” I asked, holding it up.

“I think I can’t wait for you to be in that.” He motioned to the bathroom with his hand. “What are you waiting for?”

When I returned Chaz was wearing peach board shorts in all his golden glory. My eyes raked over his muscled chest, down his well-toned abs to the cut definition that rested over his low slung shorts.

I raised my eyes up to his. The corners of his mouth turned up in a smooth smile. “Why Miss Hanson, I do believe you’re checking me out.” I grinned and tightened my beach towel around my chest. “Oh no, you don’t…” he said and tugged at the towel. “My turn, it’s only fair.” I released the towel and he nodded in approval. “Turn around,” he ordered twirling his finger. I obeyed and blushed from the intensity of his stare.

We spent the rest of the afternoon floating lazily in the pool and sipping on bottles of Corona. Every now and then the housemaid, Yoli, would come out (which made me feel a little awkward) but Chaz continued talking like she wasn’t there as she picked up empty bottles or brought over towels. Our conversation eventually turned to the models we worked with and finally the Hunter brothers.

“How long have you known Dillon?” he asked.

“I don’t know. We went to school together but I didn’t really start hanging out with him until Donny brought him to work with us,” I said into the hot inflated plastic of the float.

“Did you ever go out with him?”

“Sort of…” I carefully maneuvered myself onto my stomach to get some sun on my back.

“Is that a yes or a no?” He used his hands to paddle himself closer to me.

“It’s complicated. It’s also over, whatever it was, so you don’t need to worry.”

“I’m not worried, just curious.”

“What about you?” I asked without raising my head.

“I never went out with Dillon, he’s not my type.”

“No silly. Girlfriends?” I flipped off the float and sunk into the water.

“I’ve had a few,” he plunged in next to me.

“How many is a few?” I splashed at him.

“It’s complicated,” he mocked and splashed back.

When it started to cool off we wrapped ourselves in towels and trotted back to the guest house. “Ooh, I’m cold,” I said feeling the cool tile beneath my feet. I gripped the towel around my dripping wet body as I padded to the bedroom.

“That damp towel isn’t helping,” he said and tugged it away from me. He tossed the towel onto the floor, along with his, and pulled me onto his bed. “I’ll warm you up,” he offered and wrapped himself around me.

“You’re not doing a very good job.” I clung to him, shivering.

“Is that so?” he said and teased my lips with his. He held me tighter against his cool skin.

Goosebumps pebbled over every inch of my flesh. I breathed in his scent as he rolled on top of me and covered his body with mine. My kisses became more passionate, more desperate, and I quickly forgot that I was freezing in a wet swimsuit.

He rolled back over and pulled me on top of him. I wrapped my arms around his neck as his hands roamed over my lower back, playing with the ties on my bikini top. My body warmed to his touch as he fingered the strings behind my neck. Rising up on my hands I inched closer to his mouth, pressing into him as I kissed up his neck. I waited for him to untie the knots, eagerly anticipating the pressure of his bare chest pressed to mine.

His fingers froze.

He rolled me to the side and sat up, his back to me as I lay frustrated and panting on the bed.

“Chaz?”

“Paige?”

“What’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer.

“Every time things start getting serious between us you pull away. Am I doing something wrong?”

He turned to me. “No. Everything is fine. Fantastic, actually.” His eyes brightened as his gaze fixated on me. “Things just move so fast with you. I don’t want to rush you into anything.”

“You’re not rushing me. In fact, you’re not rushing me so much I’m getting kind of frustrated.” I studied him, he looked nervous. His hands were grasping the navy blue plaid comforter and his foot was twitching. I sat up behind him and leaned onto his shoulder. “Chaz, are you a virgin?”

He grimaced. “Oh God, are my moves that lame?”

“No. You just seem like you get scared and pull away.”

“I do.” He turned to face me. “Paige, you scare me. What I feel for you scares me. And no,” he smiled shaking his head. “I’m not a virgin.”

I let out a sigh of relief. I didn’t want the responsibility of being “the first.”

“Since we’re revealing our pasts, what about you? Are you a virgin?” he raised his eyebrows in anticipation of my answer.

“No, I am not.”

“When? Who?”

“Hey, I didn’t ask you that.”

“Miranda Chavez,” he volunteered. “We met in high school but didn’t go out until I was a junior and she was in her first year at Palomar.

“Ooh, an older woman, huh?” I winked.

He smiled sadly, his jade eyes darkening. “We went out for almost two years.” His gaze drifted to the wall as his smile slipped away. “She got pregnant but she didn’t keep it and we broke up soon after.”

“That’s awful!”

I sat silently next to him, my feet dangling from the bed as I processed what he had said.

“Well?” he asked as he rested his cheek on his fist.

“Well, what?” I said coyly and batted my eyes. He lunged

at me and pinned me underneath him. “Spill it, Paige or I tickle.” He started pinching my sides and I squirmed in his grip.

“Okay, okay.” I caught my breath. “I was fifteen. His name was Brit. We were counselors at Lake of the Tall Pines summer camp in Big Bear.”

“Summer camp?” Chaz rolled off of me, his mood lifting. “That’s so cliché, like a bad teen movie. Was he Matt Dillon and you were Tatum O’Neal?”

“No, it was your pretty standard summer romance that turned into a year-long romance. I went kind of nuts and it ended badly.”

“How badly?” he asked, with raised eyebrows, an amused tone in his voice.

I sat up and leaned back on my hands. “Not as bad as yours, but it was bad. Not a proud moment for me.”

“Like restraining order bad?”

“Close,” I laughed.

He took my hand and brushed his thumb over the top of my knuckles. “Brit huh? Brit who?”

“Lowe.”

“Oh my God,” he gasped and covered his mouth with his hands. “Britain Lowe?” I nodded. “I was in boy scouts with him for like three years.” He wrinkled his brow and scowled. “Eew, he used to eat his boogers. We called him Booger Boy.” He leaned back on the bed as laughter rolled through him. “You lost it to Booger Boy!” he choked. He could barely get the words out.

I sat up and crossed my arms. “He wasn’t Booger Boy when I was with him.”

“Ya,” he continued to convulse with laughter. “He was Booger Man.”

“Alright, that’s it,” I said and took my bag into the bathroom. “When I come out I expect you to be over this.” I shut the door and changed. Chaz was not going to let this go. I wished I hadn’t told him.

When I came out of the bathroom Chaz was dressed and leaning over a photo album scanning pictures. I peered over his shoulder.

“There he is,” he pointed to the second row of kids. “Booger Boy,” he proudly announced.

“Yes, that’s him,” I replied, glancing at the picture. “There you are,” I giggled and pointed. He was in the last row on the right. He looked just as he did now, only younger and smaller.

“He went to Fallbrook too. I had a math class with him,” Chaz added. “He was pretty much a conceited jerk.”

I winced and grabbed my bag. “Uh, ya. I know.”

“Ouch, sorry.” He dug in his pockets for his keys.

“Booger Boy,” I grumbled as we left the house.

“What time
do we have to be there?” I asked Danielle as we fought for space in the small bathroom mirror. She smeared purple cream eye shadow across her lids.

“I think it starts at seven. Too much?” asked Danielle as she batted her eyes at me.

“For you? Never.” I extended the liner out from my top lids and made cat eyes. I loved make-up. You could transform yourself into anyone.

“Sexy, meow,” said Danielle as she swept sharp reddish lines of blush across her cheeks. I leaned into the mirror and lined my lips with a hot pink pencil as Culture Club’s
Time
blared from my clock radio.

Piper Agar always threw the last party of the summer (the weekend before Labor Day) because if always fell on the weekend of her birthday. Piper was an extremely spirited cheerleader with bright green eyes and straight, glossy, cinnamon hair that danced at her shoulders. She was always happy and never had an unkind word to say about anyone. Piper was a gracious hostess and her parties were legendary. Anyone who was anyone would be there.

Which meant Dillon would be there too.

After the best summer of my life, (which was mainly due to the affections of one adorable golden Adonis), I really couldn’t care less about running into the dark and brooding Dillon Hunter. Ok, I had to admit I was still pissed about how we left things after the whole
Almost Paradise
fiasco.

I wriggled into a white jean mini-skirt and tucked in a silk, emerald green, sleeveless blouse. I piled on costume jewelry and slipped on white rhinestone-studded ankle boots. Danielle twisted down her black mini-dress, crammed her Sasquatch size eight feet into my size seven metallic purple pumps and then tugged on a denim jean jacket.

“You two look dressed to kill.” Maddie leaned in the bathroom doorway. “Is Chaz picking you up?”

“No, he had to help his father move cattle today so he’s coming later and we’re meeting him there. C’mon, Danielle, we gotta go.”

“Okay, okay.” She clipped on purple feather earrings and I finished teasing and spraying my hair. We both began to cough and fled the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later I slowed the car as we turned onto Piper’s street. “Wow, look at this!” cried Danielle. The street was lined with cars on both sides. “Looks like the word got out.”

I scanned the cars for Chaz’s Mustang but didn’t see it. I was hoping he would already be here and I wouldn’t have to make an entrance by myself. The thought of having to face Dillon alone without Chaz made me sick. We walked into Piper’s house or what I thought was Piper’s house. It was now a sea of teenagers.

The kitchen and dining room were on the left, a sunken entertainment room on the right. In the back of the house, floor to ceiling glass doors opened to a sun deck and pool complete with slide and diving board. Party-goers in various stages of undress were splashing in the pool as
Magic
by The Cars blasted from the speakers. Piper’s parents had one of those huge satellite dishes in the backyard that could pick up channels from around the world and some kind of weird Japanese porno was on the big screen TV. The boys in the sunken living room cheered at the screen while the girls begged them to change the channel. A group of kids were in the kitchen playing quarters at a long marble island and Piper walked around proudly with pitchers of jungle juice that she had made herself in her bathtub. Danielle and I each grabbed a red plastic cup and sampled Piper’s concoction.

“It tastes like… soap.” I grimaced and swallowed.

“Jesus, Piper! Did you rinse the tub first?” shouted Danielle. We abandoned our cocktails on the counter and continued out to the pool to see who was there.

And of course there he was.

Dillon was reclining in a wicker lawn chair and casually holding a can of beer. He was wearing white linen pants, (rolled at the ankles), a black t-shirt, a white Miami Vice style linen blazer, a black fedora, and Ray Bans. He was sitting with Marissa and a few other people I didn’t know but he didn’t seem particularly interested in their conversation.

“Check out Cory Hart over there,” snickered Danielle. “He-wears-his-sun-glasses-at-night,” she sang.

“Let’s go back inside.” I quickly turned around, throwing her off balance and pulling her with me as I pushed my way through the crowd.

Danielle stopped and pulled back. “You’re going to have to deal with him eventually. Get it over with.”

“Not till Chaz gets here.” I glanced at my preppy in pink Swatch watch. Eight forty-five.  It wasn’t like him to be late.

We mingled around for another hour. Avoiding Dillon was becoming increasingly difficult. Danielle eventually disappeared down the hallway with Shane Davis and I started playing quarters. The cheap whiskey was awful (along with my skill) and I chugged the bitter liquor down quickly. I couldn’t believe Chaz had stood me up!

It was now ten-thirty and my buzz was hitting a crescendo.  Some kids had passed out in the sunken living room, including Piper.  Others were throwing up in the backyard and more water was out of the pool than in it. The last bash of the year was pretty lame. I looked around for Danielle. She couldn’t possibly still be making out with Shane, could she? I walked out into the garage. Some kids had been dancing in there earlier. It was empty, only Piper’s dad’s yellow Corvette occupied the garage. When I turned around I bumped into Dillon.

“Hey stranger,” he said with a shy grin. Long time no see.” He swayed and steadied himself on the Vette.

“You’re drunk, Dillon.”

“You’re correct.” He gazed at me, his dark eyes drinking me in, his full lips parted. How I had wanted him to look at me like that, months ago, and sober. He stumbled toward me. I took a step back, afraid of being in his space. Afraid of what he might do, what I might do.

“Come here.” He tossed his bangs. “You’ve been avoiding me all night, Paige. Why?”

“Leave me alone,” I said without much feeling.

“You’re always mad,” he slurred. “Come here,” he whispered and grabbed my hip. I stepped back from him, the scent of pot revealing the purpose of his evening. “Stop, shh,” he said and stroked my hair. My body betrayed me and I melted into him. He felt familiar, comfortable, like an old pair of sweats.

Stinky alcohol-soaked sweats.

He tilted his head back and looked down at me through long dark lashes. “Where have you been?” he slurred. “I haven’t seen you all summer.” He lowered his lips to mine. “I miss you,” he murmured.

I couldn’t respond, especially when he pushed his tongue into my mouth. His tongue teased and explored. It was wet and cold and tasted faintly of alcohol. He groaned, lowering his hands to cup my butt and pulled me tighter against his groin. I had wanted this for so long and now it was just… wrong.

Chaz.

His beautiful smile flashed in front of me. I was betraying him. Our relationship was progressing slowly but it was progressing.
Why had he ditched me tonight?
I was responding to Dillon, I couldn’t help it. I didn’t know if it was the alcohol or desperation to blame but my hands stole up to his neck and he kissed me harder. One of his hands held my mouth as the other raked down my side, pausing as it brushed over my breast. I didn’t fight him off like I should have.

“I need you so bad,” he whispered. His hand crept up the back of my shirt and fingered my bra. “Can we stop fighting?” He popped the clasp on my bra and his hands caressed my bare back. “Baby,” he breathed into my forehead. “Let’s go to a room.”

I pulled away from him, feeling like an idiot. He didn’t miss me and I wasn’t his baby. He was drunk and horny and here I was like always at his beck and call. “I can’t,” I glared as I reached around and fastened my bra. “I’m going out with someone,” I said and tucked my blouse back into my skirt.

Dillon took a wobbly step back and chuckled in disbelief. “Really? Who?”

He was going to find out eventually so now was as good a time as any. “Chaz.”

His eyes widened in disbelief. “Chaz? Chaz Serna?” He ran his hands through his hair. Why did this sound so crazy to him? Like someone like me couldn’t attract the attention of someone as amazing as Chaz? He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms against his chest. I watched as the anger rolled through him, then realized it was directed at me. I stared back speechless, breathless, trying to get my hormones and buzz in check.

“You’re a pretty shitty girlfriend,” he snickered. “He’s grieving and you’re making out with me in Piper Agar’s garage?”

Grieving?
He had my attention. “What are you talking about?”

“His dad died this morning, had a stroke at the ranch.”

“What?” I cried. “Who told you that?”

“Donny. He went over to Chaz’s house this afternoon. He’s taking it pretty hard.” He stepped forward, towering over me. “If you’re his girlfriend, how come you don’t know? I think that’s something pretty damn important that you would share with your girlfriend. Don’t you think?”

“Eat shit, Dillon!” I screamed as tears streamed down my cheeks. Why hadn’t Chaz called me? Why did Donny know and I didn’t? I wanted to be the one to comfort him, the one for him to lean on.

“Wait, I’m sorry.” Dillon’s eyes softened and he reached for me. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

I pushed him away. “Don’t fucking touch me! Don’t ever touch me again!”

“You don’t mean that. You know you don’t know what you’re saying right now.” He grabbed my hand. “You know we’re good together.”

The garage side door flew open. “Jesus, Paige! There you are.” Danielle looked from me to Dillon, her eyes widening.  “We gotta go.” She tore my hand out of Dillon’s. “Excuse me,” she said and jerked me toward her. “Some serious shit’s going down. Chaz’s father passed away.”

“I know, Dillon just told me.”

She scowled at Dillon and he gave it right back to her. “Let’s go,” she hissed.

“I’ll take her,” said Dillon, reaching for me.

“You can’t even stand, let alone drive, asswipe,” hissed Danielle.

“Shane brought me, he can drive.”

“Shane?” Danielle snickered. “He’s passed out in Piper’s bedroom. Good luck with that.” She turned to me and started to cry. “He’s an asswipe too!” she sniffed, her eye makeup streaking black stripes down her cheeks. “I finally decided to do it with him and he pulled out after like thirty seconds and came on my thigh. I fucking hate him!” She threw her arms around me and sobbed.

“Jesus!” exclaimed Dillon.

“That information doesn’t fucking leave this room, Dillon!” she yelled into my shoulder.

“Can we just go?” I pleaded.

“Fine.” She wiped her mascara-streaked eyes. “You’re trashed. Give me your keys.”

We hurried down the dimly lit street to my car, Dillon dragging behind us. Danielle sat in the driver’s seat, I climbed in the passenger seat, and Dillon collapsed in the back. We tore through the streets and merged onto the highway.

I turned and looked over the seat. “I swear, Dillon…if you puke in my car I’ll kill you.”

He was already passed out.

“Asswipe,” Danielle hissed under her breath, glancing in the rearview mirror.

It took forever to get to Chaz’s. Finally, we turned down the long circular driveway to the house. Donny’s white Karmann Ghia was in the driveway next to the Mustang. With the exception of the glaring porch light the house was dark. Danielle parked behind the Mustang, Dillon stayed in the car, and we ran up to the house.

“What do we do?” asked Danielle as we caught our breath. “Ring the doorbell?”

“Chaz lives in the guest house in the back, c’mon.”

We navigated through the damp grass to the backyard. Donny was walking alongside the dimly lit pool, the amber glow of a joint lighting up his face.

“Hey, what are you two doing here?” he slurred. He looked like a regular guy and wasn’t all glammed up. He had on a Vista High baseball hat, t-shirt and sweats.

“We just heard about…you know…his dad,” I mumbled. “Is Chaz still up?”

“The family crashed a little while ago. But go in, he’ll want to see you.” He exhaled and stomped his joint out on the tile coping.

I nodded and walked over to the door. I peered through the paned glass of the French door but it was dark except for the red glow from the stereo. I pushed the door open slowly and padded onto the tile. Chaz was lying on his stomach and sprawled on his bed diagonally, the covers barely concealing his naked backside, one arm over his head, the other dangling off the side of the bed. The Thompson Twins sang softly from the speakers as I lowered next to him and squeezed his shoulder. “Chaz,” I whispered.

He slowly opened his eyes and squinted.

“I’m so sorry, Chaz. I wish I could have been here earlier but I was at Piper’s party.”

“Party,” Chaz nodded and closed his eyes. He was out of it.

“Get some sleep.” I leaned down and kissed his temple. I didn’t know what to say. What are you supposed to say when someone’s world comes crashing down around them? I was so bad at this.

He grabbed my thigh. “Don’t go,” he whispered. “Stay with me.”

“What about your mom?”

Chaz forced his eyes to open and stared into mine. “Doesn’t matter.” He tightened his grip on my thigh. “Please, Paige. I need you.”