Every Girl Does It (19 page)

I roll my
eyes
.
“I
think you should stop trying to kiss me. It sends me mixed signals
,”
I say breathily as his lips barely touch mine
.
“
You
should probably stop proposing marriage
,
to
o. It’s
getting weird.”

He lets me down and sits across from me in the hot tub
.
“
There,
is that better?” He lifts an eyebrow in question. “Tell me
,
Amanda, why do you think I’m sending you mixed signals?” He doesn’t wait for my answer
,
instead
,
he keeps talking, “I feel like I
’
ve been more than upfront about my intentions to marry you
.
Have
I not?
Just
say yes
.”
His tone sounds teasing but I can’t be sure, not when his eyes are piercing through me like they are at this moment.

“
P
lease, it’s a smoke screen.” I say
,
challenging him. His look is altogether too cute. I know I’m going to regret this later
,
but what happens in Hawaii stays in Hawaii
,
right? Or wait
,
that’s Vegas
.
Still,
I find myself saying
,
“Sure
,
I’ll marry you, happy now?”

“Yes
.
”
He
beams
.
“Speaking of desert
,
” he begins totally confusing me with his inability to stay on subject
.
“
How
about you and I have some ice cream out here in the hot tub? You know
,
to
celebrate
our upcoming nuptials?”

“Deal
.
”
What
can I say
,
I’m a sucker for junk food
.
“I’ll go back to the roo
m and get the ice cream if you—“

“—get the chocolate sauce
,” he
finishes
,
winking.

I don’t know why
,
but I
get embarassed
at this remark
. Geez
it
'
s not like it
'
s going on
me instead of
the ice cream. The
ice cream, Amanda,
I yell at myself in my head. “Um sure,
yeah,
good idea
,”
I say
,
blushing.

I grab my towel and run back to the room. I begin searching for the ice cream in the freezer when I hear an odd buzzing noise, similar to the one on the boardwalk earlier. I turn to face the counter and see Preston
’
s cell phone. It continues to buzz awhile longer before stopping. I shrug and grab the ice cream and a fresh towel. Then the buzzing starts again.

And okay
,
I know it
'
s none of my business
,
but maybe it
'
s important
.
Like
someone is
actually
hurt or something
.
I mean
,
he is a fireman
.

Right? And wouldn’t it be so cool if I
’m
the one
who
discovers
what
’s
going on back home and then
helps
him solve it. It would be like we were saving people together. I mean
,
what if he would have never known had I not brought him his cell phone
at
this
precise
moment
. I mean
,
lives are hanging in the balance here!

Okay
,
I’ve convinced myself. I put the ice cream carton down on the counter and care
fully picked up his cell phone.

Wow
,
two
missed calls and
Twelve
missed text messages. T
his guy doesn’t kid around with technology. I pick it up to stuff it in my pocket when it
goes
off again. Why is Bobby calling him? Well
,
actually
,
I guess it makes sense
;
they do work together. The phone goes off again as I near the pool.

Okay
,
maybe it wouldn’t hurt if I just look at a few texts
.
I mean
,
how is he gonna know anyway? I can always delete them
,
or actually
,
I can see them if I just look at the heading.

I step into the shadow and take out the phone that
’
s burning a hole in my pocket. I don’t do well with secrecy, this much is obvious. I click on the last text
.
It
says
,
“Congrats
,
you win!” Oh yay
.
Maybe
he won a whole bunch of money or something! I get to be the first to say congrats! How exciting! I click on the next text
.
It’s
from Bobby
,
just like the first one. “Time is up.”

What? What does that mean? The next few texts had similar cryptic messages. “Did you do it? You have one more day. Ashlyn says hi. I’ll back out if you back off. You always were a sucker for a challenge.
”

And then the one text to ruin them all
.
“Deal, if you can get her to fall for you, not only will I back off with Ashlyn
,
I’ll move departments. You have
five
days. If you lose, well
,
you’ve been losing this whole time. It won’t be any different for you.”

I quickly check his outbox, please tell me this is all some huge joke and he
’
s talking about someone else. The text to Bobby from Preston read
,
“
It’s
done
,
now leave my wife alone.”

I
feel
numb as I walk back to the hot tub.

“Wow
,
seriously
,
Amanda
,
did you make the ice cream?” Preston asks as I sit on a nearby chair.

“Here,” I say
,
my voice thick with emotion as I hand him his phone.

He takes it from my hands and looks down at all the missed messages.

I left my fav
orite one open for him to read.

“Amanda!” He says as he quickly gets out of the water, but I
’
m already running back to the room. You better believe I
’
m taking the ice cream with me.

I slam my bedroom door in Preston
’
s face as I lean against it and dig into the soggy ice cream.

“Amanda, seriously
,
it’s not what you think
.
Actually
,
I don’t even know what you
're
thinking right now
. Just
talk to me
.”

“
No
!” I yell
,
my
mouth full of ice cream.

I hear Preston get on the phone
,
hoping he
’
s calling the airline so he
’
ll leave my presence. I mean come on, playing me just to prove to my
ex-
boyfriend that he could “get me” and all so
he could get his wife back? Who does that?
How childish is it to make a bet that you
can
get a girl to date you or agree to marry you
? And
why do I have to be that girl?

“Just talk some sense into her!” I hear him yell, and then everything goes quiet. “Man, I
’
m so sorry, okay y
e
a
h,
we’ll be waiting.”

“Amanda,” he calls me again. “It
'
s Brad and Kristin
.
T
heir parents got in a car accident, the kids were with them. Everyone
’
s okay
,
but they need to fly back tonight.”

“I’m going
,”
I say as tears stream down my face. I still haven’t gotten up enough nerve to open the door.

“You can’t
.
”

“Why?” I ask angrily.

“Because there are only two seats left on the plane. We can
’t
leave for two more days. They
,
however
,
are getting out tonight.” His voice sounds raspy as if he
’
s just as upset as I am. But what does he have to be upset about?

I hear a knock on the main door and bolt out of my room and into Kristin
’
s arms. She thinks I
’
m crying because of the accident
,
when
actua
lly my tears are selfishly more for myself
. But
I can’t tell her that now, not when her
whole
family is in the hospital, even if they are okay.

“We just wanted to drop by and say we love you guys.” Kristin says
,
her eyes watery
.
“We’ll see you back in Boise
,
okay?”

I nod my head and tell her I
’
ll be praying for her while the boys talk about the condition of the kids. Everyone seems to be doing okay just a little shaken.
Apparently
the roads had black ice. They
’
re just lucky the car didn’t roll.

I say goodbye then tearfully lay
on the couch with my ice cream.

“Give me that
,”
Preston says trying to pry it away from my cold hands.

“Mine
,”
I say
,
using my death grip on the box.

“Easy
,” he
says
,
backing away. He grabs his phone and throws it against the fluffy chair before sitting down in a huff. “Can you at least let me explain?”

“Explain what?” I say
,
mouth
ful
l
of ice cream
.
“That you made a bet that I would marry you in five days and if you
win
that you
’
d be free to pursue your
ex-
wife again in the comfort of your own firehouse without having Bobby breathing down you
r neck. He
’
s the best friend
,
i
s
n
’t he?”

Preston doesn’t say anything
,
and for some reason I can’t help myself.

I just keep talking, “Furthermore, I think it
'
s
totally
offensive that you would assume I
’
m that easy of a girl to get. I mean
,
seriously
.
I only said yes to you because you kept asking
.
A
nd so what if I th
ink
about wearing a pretty wedding dress
sometimes
when I look at you
.
I mean
,
that’s completely normal
.”

And even though that little red
warning
light is
flashing
in my head
,
I continue to speak. “I mean, y
eah,
you
'
r
e
attractive and funny and a good Christian guy
.
Y
ou
'
r
e
probably too normal for me.
But
honestly
,
if you h
ave to use a bet to get your ex-
wife to pay attention to you again
,
I feel sorry for you.
Sorry for you
!” I yell the last words even though my voice is already loud. “She
'
s an idiot if she thinks Bobby is better than you
.
An
absolute idiot and if she was here I’d…I don’t know
,
punch her in the face
.”

Preston is now smiling so big that I think his face is going to explode
,
which just fans my flame hotter. “And you know what? I don’t care that you want to build me a castle and that
you’re
the only guy I’ve ever told that story to, It doesn’t matter
,
because when I get home
,
I
’
m cutting you out of my life. I
’
m never falling for an attractive man again, they can’t be trusted they
’
re too slippery
,
they are.” Another tear escapes my face as I get up off the couch and point my finger at him. “Guess you win.”

I run into my room and lock the door. I’ve never been one to cry myself to sleep
,
but tonight I can’t seem to help it
. Because
if I
’
m being
totally
honest with myself I have to admit I love him
.
A
nd he doesn’t love me back.