Yes! I should have Erin spend the night so she could see him pick me up. “I guess that would be okay.” My arms felt like they were going to fall off from carrying the bag.
“Good.” He stopped to let me catch up. As soon as I reached him, he grabbed my bag, his arm brushing against my stomach as he scooped it off me. My skin tingled where he’d touched me and I sucked in my breath. Ack! What was my problem? So he accidentally touched me? I had to get over that and fast.
Private lessons with Rafe meant nothing. Nothing!
CHAPTER NINE
My mom dropped me off at Keith’s house for the pool party at a quarter past two the next day, fifteen minutes into the fashionably late zone (translation: I figured my friends would be there by then and I wouldn’t risk being stranded without them).
As soon as I got out of the car and far enough away from my mom, I took off my sweatshirt to showcase the outfit I wasn’t ready to let her inspect too closely. I was wearing my new bikini under a pair of low-ride denim shorts and a camisole that was cropped just enough to show off my belly button ring.
My heart was thudding as I stood outside the front door of Keith’s house. I tried to snag a ride from Erin so I wouldn’t have to arrive by myself, but my mom had insisted on driving me so she could see the house and make sure there were no kegs of beer sitting on the front lawn.
I glanced back at her. She waved at me from the car, waiting for a glimpse of a parental unit. Gah. How embarrassing.
I took a deep breath and then rang the doorbell.
A woman I assumed was Keith’s mom opened the door. She was wearing a bikini with a towel wrapped around her waist and sunglasses on her head. She looked pretty good in the bikini for a mom, actually. She smiled at me. “You must be here for Keith’s party.”
“Um, yeah. I’m Lily.” My mom tooted her car horn, and I felt my cheeks heat up. Could she be more embarrassing? “Can you, like, wave at my mom or something?”
Keith’s mom looked past me toward the street. “I’ll just run out there and say hello.” She pulled the door open wider. “Just head straight down the hall to the back of the house and go out the sliding glass doors to the back yard.”
“Okay.” I hugged my towel to my chest and headed back. If my friends weren’t there yet, I was going to go hide in the bathroom until they arrived. No way was I going to go out there by myself.
I walked to the back of the house toward the sound of splashing, my heart racing. What was I doing here? I didn’t know anyone. I didn’t belong. I... I needed a date for the semi.
The semi. Gah. I needed a date because my boyfriend Rafe couldn’t make it. Ugh.
I stopped in the doorway and stared out at the pool. There were four guys and three girls in the water, playing Marco Polo. It was my friends, and the guys from Inverness, including Les.
They were all laughing and shouting, and having a great time. Water was splashing everywhere. Val and Erin were getting shoulder rides from two of the guys as they raced around the pool trying to avoid Delilah, who was screaming “Marco” as she floundered around in the water with her hands outstretched. As I watched, Val tumbled off some guy’s shoulders, shrieking as they disappeared beneath the surface.
They looked like they were having so much fun. I wanted to be out there with them. I wanted to be part of the group. I wanted that to be me so badly I could feel it burning through my stomach. But how could I march out there? I didn’t know those guys. I couldn’t even remember which guy was which, or even what their names were. I felt like I didn’t even know my friends. They were having fun that didn’t include me. I couldn’t do this. I didn’t know how to be that kind of person.
I turned to go—
“Lily!”
My heart stuttered, and I spun around. Erin was waving at me from her perch. “Lily! Come on in! The water’s great!” She was wearing her new bikini, and she looked awesome. Tan and everything.
The guys were all in bathing suits too. Everyone was in bathing suits. Well, duh. It was a pool party, right? Cautiously, I stepped onto the patio, still hugging my towel to my chest. “Hey, guys.” Yikes. How shaky was my voice?
Erin shrieked suddenly and went flying straight up in the air before landing with a splash three feet away. The guy whose shoulders she’d been on grinned. “Got you!”
She spluttered to the surface. “Keith! You’re such a jerk!” But she was smiling as she checked the coverage of her top.
“Great!” Val exclaimed. “Now that Lily’s here, we have enough to do chicken fights.”
“I get Val as a partner.” A guy I assumed was Hugh disappeared under the water and then came up again with Val on his shoulders. He was the same guy who’d been carrying her before, and Val patted his head affectionately.