The Boys of Summer (15 page)

He slowly let me go, and I calmly placed my
hands by my sides. He seemed to relax, thinking it was over. I
moved to brush past him and, with his back to me, slowly picked up
the sunscreen. I silently pointed and squirted a stream right
across his shoulders. He froze and slowly half turned towards me. I
covered my mouth trying to contain my laughter.

He gaped at me, like he couldn’t believe what
I had done.

“Oops!” I said. “My dainty hands
slipped.”

He nodded as if all was fair in love and war.
He went to reach for a towel but he faked out and instead lunged
for
me
. I screamed, darting over the side benches and trying
to escape him. I jumped behind Sean.

“Save me, Sean!”

Sean stood firm like a fortress protecting
his people, until of course I realised his people was Toby. And I
learned a very valuable lesson as Sean shrugged, as if to say
‘What’s a fella to do?’

Toby stepped by him and grabbed me.

“How could you?” I cried at Sean in
over-exaggerated horror.

Sean held up his hands. “Sorry, my sweet,
brothers in arms.”

Toby flipped me over his shoulder, my legs
flailed and screams echoed across the ranges.

“Toby, put me down!”

“It’s been nice knowing you, Tess.” He walked
me over to the edge of the boat.

I couldn’t catch my breath for my own
hysteria, it was like getting tickled to the point of madness; he
eventually propped me down on the boat ledge. I was leaning
precariously backwards, Toby the only thing keeping me from
tumbling over the edge: his stomach pressed up against my legs,
holding my upper arms.

“Don’t you dare!”

His smile was wide and wicked, exposing all
his bright white teeth.

He slowly pulled me towards him and leaned
his head to the side. My ear tickled, his lips brushing against
them as he whispered.

“Tess?” His voice was low and seductive. I
was hypnotised by his proximity, his deep brown eyes. I couldn’t
form words, I just held my breath.

The corners of his lips lifted into a curve.
“I’m sorry.” And with that, he let go and I plunged backwards into
the ice cold lake water.

I resurfaced, coughing and spluttering,
completely sobered and most definitely no longer drunk on Toby.

Just as I gained my breath a huge explosion
catapulted next to me, and I flinched against the force as rivulets
of water and waves toppled over my head. All of a sudden, Toby
appeared from the depths, flicking the excess water from his head
in that famous head flick boys do when they swim. He beamed at
me.

I retaliated with a splash of water to his
face. “You’re such a child.” I glowered at him.

“Aw, don’t be like that,” he laughed.

Laughter rang from the boat as Ellie and Sean
leaned over the rail, observing us.

“He had little choice, Tess, mutiny means
walking the plank.”

“Traitor!” I threw back at him.

Sean clenched his heart and looked hurt.

Toby caught my eye, and he didn’t even need
to say what he was thinking. We were on the same page. On the count
of a silent three, we let Ellie and Sean have it. With a unified
sweep of water, we saturated them with a giant splash.

Before we knew it, we were set upon by a
six-foot-three-inch sized human bomb.

And it was ON!

I decided to escape the caveman display of
who could outdrown the other and made a wide berth for the
boat.

While Toby and Sean continued to wrestle like
rolling crocodiles in the murky lake water, Ellie was waiting for
me with a towel and a knowing smile as I hauled myself up the side
of the boat.

Toby followed thereafter, causing the boat to
dip slightly as he effortlessly hoisted himself in.

Glistening droplets fell off his shoulders
and down his flat stomach. I eyed the beads with a slow, lingering
look that made me want to reach out and touch them.

Sean was next. He scurried over to Ellie and
captured her in a huge, soppy, saturated bear hug.

“Ugh,
don’t
!” she grimaced.

“At least you didn’t get thrown overboard,” I
said, as I threw an accusatory glare at Toby. He shrugged as if he
had no idea what I was referring to.

“It can be arranged,” said Sean as he grabbed
for his towel.

Boys
.

“Don’t even think about it,” Ellie
threatened.

I realised we could be hoisted overboard at
any time if they suddenly felt like it. Although I had secretly
loved every single minute of it, there was a part of me that wanted
some form of revenge, for the sisterhood. Something to wipe those
smug smiles right off their smoking-hot faces. And then I had a
cunning plan, it was a risk, but I thought it was my best possible
chance.

“You better watch your backs, boys, or you’ll
be the ones hoisted overboard next.”

“That’s some serious trash talk, McGee, you
think you and your dainty self could take us?” Sean rubbed his
head, eyeing me with interest.

I shrugged. “I think I could take Toby.”

This scored me some laughing and incredulous
looks from them both. Even Ellie lifted her glasses onto her head,
her expression suggesting that I had lost my mind.

“Is that right?” Toby asked.

I tried to play it cool. “I’m just saying if
push came to

shove …”

I eyed Ellie, hoping to transport some sort
of telepathic message to her, but she just stared back at me
blankly.

“What do you think, Ellie?” I asked. “Do you
think I could outdo Toby … say to …” I looked for a landmark and
found one, “the pylon?”

The three of them followed my gaze to the
concrete pylon that served as support at the base of the bridge; it
looked like a little island. I had seen teenagers lounge and jump
off it like a colony of seals, but today it was noticeably barren.
Ellie’s penny dropped; I knew it had because she gave me a winning
smile, and if she was telepathically sending me a message, I could
tell it was something like
‘DO IT!’

“Let me get this straight, are you
challenging me?” Toby pointed to his chest, as if he could hardly
believe it.

Cocky much?

I laughed. “Well, if you’re too afraid …”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa … so what are you
suggesting, McGee? That you could beat Toby to the pylon?” Sean
said.

“Oh, I don’t think, I know.”

Trash talk was fun.

They both looked over my five-foot-nothing
stance. I stood tall and proud, my hands on my hips. Who would have
thought that a mere couple of hours before, I was hiding in the
ladies’ toilets at the hotel, threatening to go home? Now I stood,
staring down two seriously hot boys, challenging them, in my
soaking wet bikini. An element of self-consciousness came over me
as I remembered just how much of my bare flesh was in front of
them, a thought that ripped my focus back to the present.

A devilish smile formed on Toby’s lips that
silently said
‘challenge accepted’.

Ellie and I knew I wasn’t outgoing or a
go-getter. You wouldn’t find me being the life of the party. I was
more often than not a wallflower, praying not to be noticed. A
creature of habit in all things school and home life, but when it
came to the water, now that was where I shone. Naturally, like many
a local, we were born on the doorstep of the Lake District. With a
small population, there was little else to do for fun other than
water activities. Whether it was swimming, water skiing, boogie
boarding, fishing, canoeing, or something else – you name it. We
were all water bound, one way or another.

My preference was (and always would be)
swimming. No one had ever beaten me in sprints to landmarks. My
mum’s scrapbook was littered with first-place ribbons. I was small
and ‘dainty’ but I was fast …
real
fast. I looked at Toby
and knew I could take him.

Boys being boys, it was clear by the way they
looked at me that they underestimated me. And Ellie knew it,
too.

Ellie balanced on the edge of the boat,
staring out to the pylon.

Toby and I looked each other in the eyes,
like two opponents about to face off in the boxing ring.

“Okay! It’s simple, when Tess beats you,
she’ll hand your arse back to you in a hand basket, does that sound
fair?” Ellie said.

Only then did Toby’s eyes frown from me to
Ellie.

“Why don’t we make this interesting?” added
Sean. “Sort of ‘winner takes all’.”

“Oh, this sounds good,” I agreed.

Toby laughed and shook his head. “You are
something else.”

My heart threatened to leap out of my chest,
as I stared up into his eyes. His crooked smile formed on his
lips.

“What do you suggest?”

I bit my lip. Exaggerating deep thought, I
clicked my fingers in a Eureka moment.

“If I win, you fix my bike.” I was quite
pleased with this.

“And …” added Ellie, “until you do, you have
to be her personal chauffeur and take her wherever she needs to
go.”

My head nearly spun off my shoulders as I
threw a dirty look at Ellie, who seemed quite proud of herself.

Toby crossed his arms, uncertainty clouding
his eyes.

“That’s two things.”

“What’s wrong, Toby? You afraid?” Ellie
teased.

He squared his shoulders. “Fine. Done. But if
I win …” He thought for a moment, flicking a quick look to Sean.
“If I win, you have to supply me and the boys with a stash of pies
from your mum’s shop. Freshly baked and delivered.”

Like taking candy from a baby, I thought. And
then my heart did a little flip at the realisation that he must
have held my mum’s pies in really high esteem.

“Shall I put my order in now?” Toby said.
“The apple and rhubarb is a particular favourite of mine.”

I held up my hand. “Best not to build up your
hopes, save the disappointment.”

Toby and Sean were enjoying this. In their
minds, there was no contest. True, Toby could hurl me around like a
ragdoll, but once he entered the water, I was lighter, faster and
younger, something I would rub in after I won.

We stood on the edge of the boat, poised for
the command. My heart raced as my adrenalin spiked. We gave each
other a final long, lingering ‘psyche out’ look. When you chose to
hang with the big boys, you had to prove your metal, earn your
respect.

Sean shouted, “On your marks … get set …
GO!”

I smashed into the concrete pillar with such
force, waves of water carried me forward, and I had to place my
hands up to stop myself from slamming into it. I knew I had won. It
wasn’t by much, but it was enough. Ellie screamed and jumped for
joy, dancing around Sean on the boat, who stood with his hands on
his head.

“Dude!” he yelled.

Toby and I clutched the concreted ledge, our
breaths ragged and our senses blurry as everything slowly caught up
to us. He was a mere inches away, looking at me. I managed to smile
and once I gulped in enough air, I spoke.

“Hello, slave!”

The boys were surprisingly good losers, and
Ellie and I weren’t thrown overboard. Instead, after more cruising
around the lake, we headed back inland and back to the Onslow Hotel
for a drink.

I felt so giddy and fresh from the day in the
sun with the boys. With Toby. And he hadn’t laughed at me in my
barely there bikini; instead, he had looked me over with a
lingering male appreciation that I was happy to get used to.

I tied the sheer, matching sarong around my
hips so that the split ran along my leg. We arrived as we had left,
Ellie and I trailing the boys across the grassy embankment with
Sean carrying our beach bag over his shoulder.

“Aren’t you glad you wore the bikini?” Ellie
whispered.

I just shrugged and played it down. I didn’t
want to have to admit I was wrong,
again
.

“Oh come on.” She shouldered me. “Did you see
the look on their faces when you took off your dress?
Priceless
!”

I wanted to press further; in fact, I wanted
to stop her dead in her tracks and break out in song: “Tell me
more, tell me more.” But her thoughts had quickly moved on.

I was interrupted by her high-pitched,
ear-tingling squeal. I followed her manic gaze just as she
screamed.

“Adam!”

Adam stood at the top of the embankment
under the sweeping verandas of the Onslow Hotel.

We charged forward, running as best we could
in our flip flops and wet bathers as we passed Sean and Toby.
Sprinting in a direct line, we smashed into Adam, giving him a
dual, fierce, bear hug.

“So I guess you’re pleased to see me, then,”
he laughed.

It seemed like an eternity since I had seen
him, but really it had only been a few weeks. We were finally all
together, where it all began. Even if the circumstances had
changed, it mattered little; it was the perfect ending to a pretty
freakin’ perfect day.

The look Adam gave me as he stood back from
our hug made me glance down to check I didn’t have anything hanging
out that shouldn’t have been.

Nope, all in place.

Adam took a subtle step back and chose to
strike up a conversation with Ellie. My excitement ebbed. Was that
a look of disapproval? All of a sudden I wanted to run and grab my
clothes. I felt naked, exposed; Adam had made me feel stupid just
by one look.

We sat down on one of the picnic tables. I
was across from him and glad of the barrier it provided between
us.

I had gone quiet, I couldn’t help it. It
wasn’t like Adam to judge; it was the only way you could survive a
friendship that involved Ellie. We had agreed the three of us would
always be a judgment-free circle, and it had always been so … until
now. He had put a damper on our reunion.

Toby and Sean brought out a tray of drinks
and then remembered Adam’s presence.