“Well,” Bri laughed. “We don’t want that now do we?”
Shaking his head, Cole walked back over to the easel. “So,” he held up the drawing he’d done, “what do you think?”
She was momentarily taken aback by what she saw. Bri’s auburn hair wasn’t that vibrant, her eyes weren’t that deep and soulful. And she knew for a fact that her lips weren’t that full and pouty. Nope, the girl in the drawing was far too beautiful to be her. She noticed that Cole had captured Carly well, too, but without as much embellishment. Bri gave him a searching look, wondering how he saw all of this in her. But he just smiled.
“Do you like it?”
“Yes.”
“Good, I’m glad.” He stood there awkwardly for a moment. Bri’s mind snapped back into action and she realized that this was probably the part where she paid him.
“How much do I owe you?”
“Um, how about twenty?”
“How about I give you thirty, “ Bri pulled the cash out of her purse. “A little extra for having to endure Carly’s, um… advances.”
“Advances?” Cole looked at her incredulously. “You mean that was her flirting with me?”
Bri laughed. “Sadly, yes! She was throwing you all her best material, and you kept shutting her down. She was going crazy trying to figure out why it wasn’t working!”
“Wow!” He laughed too. “Someone really needs to give that girl some pointers! Heck, even just some basic people skills would help!”
“Maybe that’s what she’s doing on the phone right now.”
“Yea, getting advice from her stuck up friends on how to demean a guy enough to get him to finally go out with her!”
They both burst out laughing. They were laughing so loud, they drew Carly’s attention from down the beach. She quickly ended her call and rushed back, not looking at all pleased.
“Hey guys!” She gave Bri a malicious smile. “What are you two laughing about?”
“Oh, nothing, I was just telling Cole a joke.” Bri tried to calm herself down, but the look on Carly’s face threatened to crack her up again.
“Well, next time don’t leave me out. You know how much I love a good joke.” She gave Bri the evil eye before turning to Cole.
“Is that it?” Carly bent over the drawing Cole had laid out on the table in front of him. “Wow, Cole, this is amazing! You captured me perfectly,” she beamed at him. “And look, he even managed to make you look somewhat decent, Bri,” Carly smirked. “It seems you’re better that you let on,” she smiled at him.
Ignoring that jab, Bri decided they’d tortured poor Cole long enough. “Well, we should probably get going,” She ignored Carly’s outraged glare.
“Okay, let me tie this up for you.” Cole rolled up the portrait and tied a piece of black ribbon around it. He handed it to Bri, but Carly snatched it out of his hands.
“Thank you so much! You know, we might head back this way sometime next week. Are you going to be around?”
“Um, I’ll probably be here Monday and Wednesday.”
“Well then,” Carly gave him a sly smile. “Maybe we’ll see you next week, then.”
“Sure, maybe next week,” Cole smiled, even though Bri was certain he wanted nothing more to do with Carly. “Bye, ladies,” he looked at Bri. “It was nice to meet you.”
Bri smiled and nodded.
“Bye, Cole!” Carly sang, and the two girls headed back up the beach.
As she was walking away, Bri felt eyes on her. She turned her head and found Cole watching her walk away. A slightly cocky, definitely amused grin broke out on his face, and Bri couldn’t help the smile that answered his. Carly, noticing her distracted cousin, turned around also.
“OMG! Did you just see that?” Carly asked giddily. “Cole was like, totally checking me out! Oh, I’ve so got this one in the bag!”
Chapter 2
The rest of the weekend passed tortuously slowly. Carly dragged Bri to all of the typical L.A. tourist traps, which wasn’t so bad in and of itself. It was Carly’s constant gabbing that drove Bri crazy. Carly went on and on about how Cole was totally into her, and how she couldn’t wait for her summer fling to pan out. If Bri had to endure another detail laden rundown of how Carly was going to seduce Cole and have her way with him, she was going to strangle the girl. Literally.
And Bri wasn’t the only one struggling with Carly. Bri’s dad, Connor, was a patient man, but his niece sometimes pushed him to his limits. He could only take so much girl talk and gossip before he broke. Summer, Bri’s stepmom, didn’t even try to pretend that she could stand Carly, and avoided her as much as possible. Carly, of course, didn’t even notice. Bri’s twin brothers, Liam and Logan, were only three years old, and didn’t know any better. Luckily for them, Carly pretty much ignored them, except when they would sneak into her suitcase and play sling shots with her bras.