“Your brother looks like a sparkly vampire from the book I’m reading,” Megan said, staring at Gideon.
“Oh my god, he totally does,” Ashleigh said. “He’s kind of hot.”
“He’s eleven,” Lila said, a look of disgust on her face that I completely agreed with. “So that’s just creepy.”
Not to mention he was ice, not fire.
Ashleigh just shrugged and twirled her hair around her finger and I knew she wouldn’t lift a finger to help today. She could hang out with Gideon. As predicted, Gideon threw himself into a lounge chair on the deck and played on his Nintendo while Jesse performed ‘death-defying acts’ on Lila’s trampoline.
“Watch this. I can do a double flip,” Jesse said to Ashleigh and Megan, his captive audience who kept saying how cute he was. Which meant he’d knock himself out to put on a show for them.
Reese and Tyler trailed me and Brody to my dad’s truck parked in the driveway. McCallister & Sons Construction was painted on the door. It always made me laugh. None of my dad’s sons worked for him, although he always said that one day the business would be ours.
By the time we unloaded the truck, the back yard was filled with potted plants and flowers that my mom deemed perfect for the subtropical climate. She claimed they would be low maintenance but beautiful to look at.
Lila hugged my mom and thanked her profusely, so touched by the gesture that she might have been crying. I couldn’t tell. My mom eyed me over Lila’s shoulder and gave me a sad smile. I averted my gaze and got back to work where at least it felt like I was doing some good rather than sitting around feeling helpless that I didn’t have a cure for cancer.
Unlike my mom, I didn’t believe in praying for miracles. But I’d never say those words to my mom or Lila or anyone else. I just planted a garden with my friends in the hope that it would put a smile on Lila’s face.
Lila threw herself into the job, planting the flowers like it was her sole mission in life to make this garden spectacular.
Later, when Caroline got home, she sat on the back deck with my mom and they talked quietly while we worked. Even though she looked tired, Caroline had a smile on her face, so I knew it was worth it.
Spring faded into summer and before I knew it, it was August, and only two days until my fifteenth birthday.
Yesterday, we’d started pre-season football training and Lila had shocked me by announcing that she’d tried out for the cheering squad and had gotten onto it. It was the first I’d heard that she had any interest in being a cheerleader, but I suspected it had something to do with her mom, who had been a cheerleader back in high school.
“She let me get to second base on the first night,” Reese said as we stashed our bikes behind a tree at the swimming hole. “On the last night of our vacation, she gave me a blowie. Thought I’d died and gone to Heaven.”
“No shit. Did she swallow?” Tyler asked.
“Nah. I jizzed all over her stomach though. Got to fingerbang her too.” He pointed a finger gun and swiveled his thumb. “It’s all about dat thumb.”
“What do you do with the thumb?” Tyler asked, his thumb poised over the keypad of his phone. Wouldn’t be surprised if he was taking notes.
“You stroke with it and it sets off an explosion bigger than the Fourth of July fireworks. She said she was seeing stars.” He walked toward the water with a little more swagger than usual. Tyler’s older brother had a stash of porn that he kept under his bed and one night back in June we had a porn marathon. I suspected that was the source of Reese’s information rather than actual experience.
“I call bullshit,” I said. I’d never even seen him talk to a girl, let alone find one who would let him do everything he claimed to have done. He stripped off his T-shirt, exposing his pale, freckled chest. Reese was smaller than me and Tyler but he was fast which made him a good running back.
“Call it what you want but it happened.”
“It’s kind of suspicious that shit always happens when you’re out of town and there are no witnesses to back up your story,” Tyler said, roughing his hand over his spiky black hair. “How about you show us how it’s done?”
Reese’s face visibly paled and his Adam’s apple bobbed when he swallowed.
“Sounds fair. Pick a girl. Any girl,” I said, feeling generous. Let’s face it, dude had no game. “And make your move.”
“I don’t need to prove anything.”
I shrugged. “Okay. Then my verdict stands. Your story was bullshit.”
“It only happened in your overactive imagination,” Tyler said.
“It happened, I’m telling you. Okay. Say I go along with this. When I succeed, you two boneheads need to do the same,” he said, challenging me and Tyler.
“Nah. We weren’t the ones bragging about getting a BJ.” I tossed my T-shirt on top of my towel on a flat rock and chugged the rest of the water in my bottle, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. It had to be a hundred degrees today. The cool water beckoned but now I had to see this through before I could go for a swim.
“Or using our trigger finger.” Tyler shot a finger gun and we laughed. Reese’s face turned so red it matched his hair and for a minute I felt almost bad about teasing him. That quickly changed.
“Okay. You’re on.” He smirked. “I’ve got just the girl in mind.” I followed his gaze to a group of girls at the picnic table in a grove of trees dancing to a Black Eyed Peas song. My eyes zeroed in on Lila just like they always did whenever she was in my vicinity. She was wearing a green striped bikini that showed off… well, everything. Her taut stomach, suntanned legs, and boobs that hadn’t been there last summer. I watched, mesmerized as her hips swiveled to the beat and her long, wavy hair flew out around her.
I’d never seen her dance before, and now I couldn’t drag my eyes away. Before, I’d thought of her as girl-next-door pretty. But now what I saw was something different. Girl-next-door hot.
Watching her dance like this confirmed something I’d suspected for a while now. She’d become more to me than just my childhood friend.
I grabbed Reese by the shoulder as he lurched forward, ready to make his move. “Lila is off-limits. Any other girl but her.”
“Pretty sure your words were ‘Pick a girl. Any girl.’ Are you backing down now, McCallister?” He puffed out his scrawny chest. “Scared she’ll see that I’m the guy for her?”
“You’re not the guy for her.” I widened my stance and crossed my arms over my sweaty chest, confident that I was the guy for her. Not Reese. Not Tyler. Not that douchebag Kyle who was always sniffing around like a dog.
“Guess we’ll see about that. Hey Brody,” Reese yelled as my cousin climbed out of the bed of a truck I didn’t recognize and ambled down the hill toward us. Even in boardshorts and a T-shirt, he walked, looked and acted like a cowboy. He’d gotten involved in the rodeo and this summer he’d been competing in bronc riding. Which just went to show how crazy he was.
He ran his fingers through his longish dirty-blond hair and stopped in front of us, squinting against the sun. “What’s up?”