and frowned. “Why are you smiling?”
I snuggled into him once more. “You just
sound so different talking about houses, so excited and light. It’s different.
I like it.”
He placed a finger under my jaw, tilting
up my head to look at him. “Is that the only thing about me that you like?” he
teased.
I pushed him away. “I’m not going to
stroke your ego. Anyway, get to work. You’ve got a property empire to build.”
We held hands as we walked back to our
cars before we parted with another lingering kiss and made plans to meet up
that night.
I arrived home, disheveled from my night
on the beach, but no one was home to care and the mess of dinner from the night
before still sat where I had left it. It totally killed the high that I had
from being with Joseph. Begrudgingly, I cleaned it up. The fancy dishes that
were coated with baked on cheese, I just threw away. I wasn’t going to spend
hours trying to get the stuff off.
The rest of the day I spent with Eve,
lying beside her pool and flicking through magazines. I filled her in on the
situation with Joseph.
She raised an eyebrow. “I thought he was
screwing Katrin Porter?”
I pressed my lips firmly together before
saying, “Can’t you just be happy for me?”
“I am, but what’s happening with him and
Katrin?”
“Well, obviously he’s not having sex
with her now ,” I huffed.
She blinked. “Don’t get mad. I was just
asking.” I could practically see her thinking. “You know Ewan was asking after
you last night–”
“I like Joseph,” I cut in.
She gave a sigh. “Fine. Enjoy your
romantic summer fling.” Then she winked at me. “I’m just jealous. Joseph Fray
has a killer bod.”
“Yeah." I smiled smugly. “He does.”
Joseph and I met up for something to eat
before going to the lake. He ordered some greasy, fat concoction while I
ordered the only low-fat thing on the menu.
He eyed my salad, unimpressed. “I don’t
know how you can eat only that. Don’t you get hungry?”
I swallowed my mouthful. “Eternally. But
I have to watch what I eat. We have fat genes in my family. You should see my
Mom’s Mother. Last time we saw her, she was practically crippled from all the
stress the extra weight put on her joints. Her arthritis was so bad she
couldn’t even clean her house.”
Joseph made a face. “I think I’d rather
die happy than stress out about what I ate all the time.”
“That’s because you’re a boy. It’s
different for men and women. Men need to be wealthy; women need to be
attractive.” I took another mouthful of my salad.
“Really?” He looked surprised. “Who
wrote those rules?”
“Society.”
“Well, I’d still like you if you were
fat.”
I nearly spat out my food in a fit of
laughter. “Liar.”
He watched me for a moment, before
relaxing into a grin. “Yeah. You’re probably right.”
We spent much of the night touching in
some way‒either by holding hands as we stood around talking to our friends,
or later when we sat in front of the fire. I was nestled in between his legs,
leaning against his hard chest as I drank my beer. He had an arm resting on my
stomach. It had worked its way up under my t-shirt to rest on my bare skin. He
absentmindedly rubbed his hand over my stomach as he chatted to his friend
sitting next to us.
That’s when I really noticed Katrin for
the first time that night. She was sitting by herself, drinking a beer. It was
unmistakable that her gaze was on us. I caught her eye and stared back at her
for a few seconds. She was jealous, or at the very least unhappy, but I didn’t
care about that. All I could think of was that I was staring at the girl who
had been with Joseph in a way that I hadn’t and had an intimacy with him that
was foreign to me.
So I twisted around to kiss him, knowing
full well that she was watching. I didn’t do it to be bitchy, but I felt like at
that moment I needed to put my mark on him. He smiled into my mouth and kissed
me back
I snuggled into him once more. “You just
sound so different talking about houses, so excited and light. It’s different.
I like it.”
He placed a finger under my jaw, tilting
up my head to look at him. “Is that the only thing about me that you like?” he
teased.
I pushed him away. “I’m not going to
stroke your ego. Anyway, get to work. You’ve got a property empire to build.”
We held hands as we walked back to our
cars before we parted with another lingering kiss and made plans to meet up
that night.
I arrived home, disheveled from my night
on the beach, but no one was home to care and the mess of dinner from the night
before still sat where I had left it. It totally killed the high that I had
from being with Joseph. Begrudgingly, I cleaned it up. The fancy dishes that
were coated with baked on cheese, I just threw away. I wasn’t going to spend
hours trying to get the stuff off.
The rest of the day I spent with Eve,
lying beside her pool and flicking through magazines. I filled her in on the
situation with Joseph.
She raised an eyebrow. “I thought he was
screwing Katrin Porter?”
I pressed my lips firmly together before
saying, “Can’t you just be happy for me?”
“I am, but what’s happening with him and
Katrin?”
“Well, obviously he’s not having sex
with her now ,” I huffed.
She blinked. “Don’t get mad. I was just
asking.” I could practically see her thinking. “You know Ewan was asking after
you last night–”
“I like Joseph,” I cut in.
She gave a sigh. “Fine. Enjoy your
romantic summer fling.” Then she winked at me. “I’m just jealous. Joseph Fray
has a killer bod.”
“Yeah." I smiled smugly. “He does.”
Joseph and I met up for something to eat
before going to the lake. He ordered some greasy, fat concoction while I
ordered the only low-fat thing on the menu.
He eyed my salad, unimpressed. “I don’t
know how you can eat only that. Don’t you get hungry?”
I swallowed my mouthful. “Eternally. But
I have to watch what I eat. We have fat genes in my family. You should see my
Mom’s Mother. Last time we saw her, she was practically crippled from all the
stress the extra weight put on her joints. Her arthritis was so bad she
couldn’t even clean her house.”
Joseph made a face. “I think I’d rather
die happy than stress out about what I ate all the time.”
“That’s because you’re a boy. It’s
different for men and women. Men need to be wealthy; women need to be
attractive.” I took another mouthful of my salad.
“Really?” He looked surprised. “Who
wrote those rules?”
“Society.”
“Well, I’d still like you if you were
fat.”
I nearly spat out my food in a fit of
laughter. “Liar.”
He watched me for a moment, before
relaxing into a grin. “Yeah. You’re probably right.”
We spent much of the night touching in
some way‒either by holding hands as we stood around talking to our friends,
or later when we sat in front of the fire. I was nestled in between his legs,
leaning against his hard chest as I drank my beer. He had an arm resting on my
stomach. It had worked its way up under my t-shirt to rest on my bare skin. He
absentmindedly rubbed his hand over my stomach as he chatted to his friend
sitting next to us.
That’s when I really noticed Katrin for
the first time that night. She was sitting by herself, drinking a beer. It was
unmistakable that her gaze was on us. I caught her eye and stared back at her
for a few seconds. She was jealous, or at the very least unhappy, but I didn’t
care about that. All I could think of was that I was staring at the girl who
had been with Joseph in a way that I hadn’t and had an intimacy with him that
was foreign to me.
So I twisted around to kiss him, knowing
full well that she was watching. I didn’t do it to be bitchy, but I felt like at
that moment I needed to put my mark on him. He smiled into my mouth and kissed
me back
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