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from the look on his face to the tone in his voice would have made me think he was one-hundred-
percent serious. Pulling a DeNiro on me.
I started to try and match his serious delivery, but I started laughing before I even got out one single
word. Trip finally cracked, too, before I threw my arms around his shoulders and said, Maybe you d
better try harder to keep me focused on you. As if that was ever a problem.
He was still laughing as he said, Oh, yeah? and dropped his face to mine for a kiss.
I could tell it was gonna be one hell of a weekend.
Chapter 28
PRISONERS OF THE SUN
Cooper, as it turned out, had been on the beach with Becca Bradley all morning. As Trip, Lisa, Pick
and I made our way down to them, Heather Ferrante was walking up from the water. Huh. I didn t
even know they were coming.
Hey, everyone, Coop yelled in greeting. We saved you a spot.
We laughed as we set up our chairs and blankets on the nearly vacant beach. There were only a few
other people along our stretch of sand, and barely more than that walking the boards. Even though it
was a sweltering hot, sun-shiny day, the official season didn t really kick off until the first week of
July. Most kids didn t get out of school for another two weeks, so we practically had the whole town
to ourselves. One of the very few perks of a Catholic education.
Oh, hey, Coop! I yelled three people down. Pick made you guys some lunch. I twisted around to
grab the small cooler behind my chair and passed it over Trip to Heather. Trip, of course, used the
opportunity to try and steal a peek down my coverup. When he finally raised his eyes, I gave him a
look that let him know he d been busted. He grinned shamelessly, but before he could offer
commentary, I stood up, facing his chair.
Coop and the girls were busy rifling through the cooler while Lisa and Pick looked as though they
were in the middle of some sort of heated argument. I unzipped my white, terrycloth coverup and let it
fall into the sand.
Ha! Trip stopped grinning.
I was wearing a lethal turquoise bikini that was scarcely more than four triangles held together with
string. It was barely swimming season, but I d managed to get in the occasional lap over the past few
weeks. I was pretty pleased with the way my toned bod remembered to come back after a winter of
neglect. Plus, I was rockin some serious boobage in that bikini top.
Trip noticed.
I pretended to be oblivious as I sat back down on my chair, adjusted the armrests to recline and
tipped my head toward the sun.
I heard Trip s chair creak a mere second before I felt his breath near my face, but still I kept my
eyes closed.
His low whisper against my ear caused a tingle along my skin as he spat out through clenched teeth,
Jesus Christ, Lay.
I cracked one eye in his direction and saw a muscle twitching in his jaw and the wolfish look in his
greedy eyes. I started to chuckle.
I was sitting there, stifling a giggle, so thrilled to have his full attentions as he whispered, It s not
funny, Layla. Look at me! I m not going to be able to get out of this chair for an hour!
I looked down at his lap and took notice of the huge... towel folded across his legs. And then I
cracked up.
Just then, Pick stood and hauled Lisa to her feet. Hey. Anyone want to take a walk down to the
water?
Before I knew what I was doing, I yelled, Trip does!
And then I just lost it.
* * *
We d all grabbed some dinner at Midway and polished off our cheesesteaks and sausage and pepper
sandwiches on the walk back to the house. No easy accomplishment while lugging all our beach stuff
at the same time.
By the time we got back, Rymer and Sargento had wrapped up their Sega marathon and were already
hitting the beer. They were ecstatic when Cooper handed them the greasy brown paper bag from
Midway and dove right in.
I watched as Heather grabbed a roll of paper towels and brought them to the table for Sargento. I
thought she must have had the patience of a saint. The girl hardly knew any of us, yet came all the way
down to the beach on Sargento s invite. He then proceeded to spend the entirety of Day One holed up
in the disgusting house playing video games, completely ignoring his guest.
But then, I saw the way he looked over at her mid-chew and gave her a wink. Heather just lit up like
a firefly, smiling back at him.
Maybe the guy just needed to fine-tune his boyfriend skills. It d been quite a while since he had a
woman in his life. And damn. Lisa was right. They really looked so cute together.
I, on the other hand, must have looked a fright. I was sticky and sweaty from the day on the beach,
my hair was twisted into a windblown knot on the top of my head, and after a sausage and pepper
sandwich, all I could think about was brushing my teeth. Yeesh. I think I m gonna hit the showers.
Anyone else need to get in there first?
I flinched when I felt the can of ice cold beer Trip was holding to my neck. I turned as he cracked it
open and handed it over. He tapped his can against mine and said, Knock this back first.
Lisa cranked the radio and everyone grabbed a drink, and before long, the guys decided to get a
game of Quarters going. I downed the last of my beer and finally excused myself upstairs for a much-
anticipated shower.
I grabbed my bag from one of the bottom bunks of my assigned bedroom and headed into the bath.
Stripping down in front of the mirror, I took note of my new tan lines, acknowledging my overly red
nose and shoulders. I hoped a good scrubbing and some aloe would even out my skintone.
By the time I put on clean clothes and blew out my hair, I was feeling like a new woman.
Normally, we all would have headed up to the boardwalk for at least a little while, played some
wheels and hit some rides. But even though it was summer for us, the official season didn t start until
the shore towns said so. Most of the attractions on the pier were shut down during weekdays, until the
influx of tourists started trickling in sometime near the end of June. A few booths got a jump on the
season, but it was kind of depressing wandering around a veritable ghost town just to search out the
random, open stand. Come Friday, though, the place would be hopping.
I headed downstairs and resigned myself to a night in the house. Not that I was complaining,
however. Trip was at the kitchen table, laughing with the guys and looking like a bronze god. He must
have braved the downstairs shower, because he was sitting there all clean and shiny, his gorgeous
straw mane sporting new golden highlights from an afternoon in the sun.
He was busy bouncing quarters into a cup, so I grabbed myself a beer and took a seat on the counter
next to Becca to watch. I didn t really know her too well, but I figured I d better change that. If
Cooper was as smitten as I suspected he was, this girl might be around for a while.
I put my beer can on the counter next to me, crossed my legs Indian-style and plunked a nearby bowl
of chips in my lap. Want some? I offered to Becca.
Yeah, sure, thanks. She reached over and plucked a single chip out of the bowl, nibbling daintily
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