Maine Squeeze (27 page)

“Uh-huh. I hope not,” Sam said.

“Look, we already know you guys like each other,” I said. “Everyone knows that, including you and him. So just relax.”

“Right. No problem.” Sam gave a nervous smile, then went into the house.

Meanwhile, I went over to the black kettle barbecue to check on the coals. They were almost ready, so I went inside to get a plate of burgers and a package of hot dogs. People started wandering up as I was cooking, and Erica helped everyone to lemonade and iced tea and soda. After a while, Haley showed up. It was good to see her, even though she was still angry with me.

“This is going to be a lot nicer—and quieter—than the last party here,” I predicted as she and Erica came to check on the food and see if I needed help.

“I wonder where she is now,” Haley said. That was typical, that she'd talk to me when someone else was around.

“Blair?” Erica said.

Haley nodded. “Yeah.”

“Probably moved into someone else's beach house, working at some other summer place,” I said.

“She
was
good to work with,” Erica said.

“Yeah, it was her best quality. Too bad we met her there, so we didn't realize she wasn't like that at home.” I laughed.

“I'm sorry. It's my fault,” Erica said.

“Shut up, it's not your fault,” Haley said.

Erica nodded as she set her cup of lemonade on the porch railing. “Yes, it is! You said we didn't know her at all, that we shouldn't have asked her—remember, the first time she came over?”

“Yeah. But she seemed all right,” Haley said. “Except when we realized she wouldn't do a thing around the house but use things up and not pay us back. She's just lucky she didn't steal anything from us. I mean, I would have tracked her down, you know?” Haley's face suddenly lit up, and she smiled.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Ben walking up. Haley went over to say hello to him, and the two of them headed into the house together.

“What's he doing here? Who invited him?” I asked.

“I did,” Erica said. “I thought maybe you guys wanted to make up.”

“No, we don't,” I snapped. When I saw the hurt look on Erica's face as she turned to leave, I reached out and grabbed her arm with my hand, which was covered with a potholder. “I'm sorry,” I said. “I shouldn't have said that.”

She shrugged. “It's okay.”

“No, it's not. I'm sorry,” I said. “I just—I got really stressed when I saw him. But I appreciate what you were trying to do.”

I looked up at the porch as Ben walked back outside by himself. He headed to the table and started helping himself to some chips and dip. He looked really cute in his black T-shirt, long khaki shorts, and unlaced tennis sneakers.
Go talk to him,
I told myself. But I couldn't.

“Coll? I think something's burning.” Erica waved her hand in front of my face and pointed down.

I looked down at the grill, where a hot dog had just fallen victim to a raging inferno of hamburger drippings. “Why am I doing this? I'm horrible at this!” I said as Erica and I laughed at the charred food.

“We've got salad,” she said, taking the tongs and potholder from me. “Don't worry.”

A couple of hours later everyone had eaten, and they were either sitting on the porch and talking, roasting marshmallows for S'mores over the dying glowing coals, or playing croquet in the backyard. Troy and Samantha seemed to be getting along great. They'd been together ever since he arrived.

And me? I was sitting next to Ben, chatting about things. Nothing serious, mind you. I'd mingled with everyone else and it was just time for me to talk to him. We discussed this and that—what his little brothers were up to, what country my parents were in, and, you know, the weather. When all else fails, you can talk about the water temperature and the tide.

We weren't about to have a reunion or anything, but it was nice to just be civil, even if it felt awkward. But then, just before dark, Evan showed up.

Ben's eyes narrowed as he watched Evan stop and talk to some friends from Bobb's at the grill. “What's
he
doing here?” he asked. He sounded exactly like I had when Evan had shown up at Bobb's that first day.

“I didn't invite him,” I said to Ben. “Honest.”

“That's what you said at your last party,” Ben complained.

“I didn't invite him then, either! Blair did,” I reminded him. “And come to think of it, I didn't even invite you to that party—it was Blair who invited the entire town.”

“Yeah, but that was different. This is private,” Ben said.

I could tell it was hurting him, seeing Evan here. But I had nothing to do with it, not really.

“So. He's just the type of guy to crash parties?” Ben asked. From the tone in his voice, I could tell that he hated Evan. And I could understand why. But it made me not like Ben, because he wasn't giving Evan a chance.

“Yes. That's the kind of person he is,” I said.

“And Haley said he made you hitch a ride back to Bobb's the other day. Is that true?”

“He didn't
make
me,” I said. “It was his idea. Spontaneous, you know.” Actually, Ben wouldn't know.

“Colleen, he could have put you in a dangerous situation,” Ben said.

“Maybe,” I said.

“And you went out with him for
how
long?”

I stared at Ben. I didn't like the way he was acting. I knew he had every right to be that way, but it still made me mad because (a) he didn't know Evan, and (b) he wasn't like Evan.

That was what had drawn me to Ben in the first place—the fact that he was the opposite of Evan. Now, I didn't find that quality all that attractive.

“I'll see you later,” I said as I got up. I knew that I'd hurt him and maybe he felt the need to hurt me back. But I didn't have to sit there and take it any longer than I already had. I glanced around the yard, where Erica was laughing with some other friends of ours from Bobb's, then I went out back to say hi to Samantha and Troy. Samantha had just knocked her croquet ball through a hoop and Troy was congratulating her with a high-five. After they slapped hands, they held on for a while, looking at each other. Well, I definitely wasn't needed back there, I thought with a smile as I headed in the back door.

Evan was standing in the kitchen, helping himself to a cup of water. “Hey, Coll.”

“Oh. Hey,” I said.

“Nice party,” he said.

I walked over to the trash can and dropped my empty plastic cup into it. “Yeah. It is, isn't it? I should probably clean up or something.”

“Yeah, but people are still hanging out,” Evan said.

I leaned back against the counter and sighed.

“Hey, you want a S'more?” Evan offered. “I'll make one for you.”

I shook my head. “Nah. But thanks. I already had two.”

Evan smiled, walking over to me. “I think you have a little marshmallow. Right there.” He reached out his finger and dabbed at my upper lip.

I grabbed his hand. “Don't do that.”

“Why not?” he asked.

“Because,” I said. A little lame, considering I could give him a thousand reasons why not. Because the last time we really talked, we were fighting. Because you just had a girl visiting last weekend. Because of Dahlia. Because you said you didn't come back here this summer for me.

And because Ben was still out on the porch and I wouldn't throw this in his face.

“You—you know what?” I stammered, getting completely flustered by how close Evan was standing to me, how he nearly had me pressed up against the counter, how he'd just touched my mouth.

“No. What?” Evan asked.

“I think I'm going to go upstairs and get a sweater. Sam's cold,” I said. “I told her I'd get her something warm to wear.”

“Is that your second job this summer?” Evan joked as I edged away from him. “Getting sweaters and sweatshirts for other people?”

“What?” I turned around at the bottom of the stairs.

“Well, it's just that's what you were doing the last time I was over here for a party,” Evan said.

“So I'm predictable!” I called over my shoulder as I started walking up the stairs. I opened the walk-in closet door in the upstairs hallway.

“What are you really doing up here?” Evan asked as he came up the stairs behind me.

“Sweaters. I'm getting sweaters.” I reached out and petted Hutch, who was lying on top of my favorite black V-neck. He'd left a layer of golden-tan fur that was about a quarter of an inch thick.

I heard the closet door close behind me. And then Evan was behind me, his arms around my waist, kissing the back of my neck. “So, which sweaters are you going to get?” he whispered.

For a second, I panicked. I didn't know what I should do, whether to run out the door or turn around and start kissing him back.

“No, actually, I'm … hiding up here,” I said as a shiver of pleasure went down my back. “I just … I kind of couldn't take it down there.”

“Why not?” Evan asked.

“Because I just—I don't know,” I said. “I don't know what to do anymore.”

“I do,” Evan said, gently turning me to face him. “Look, about what I said the other day. When I said I didn't come back to the island because of you. I mean, not
just
because of you. But when I thought about you and us? It did make me want to come back. It was the reason I changed my plans.”

“So, why … why couldn't you just say that when you got here?” I asked.

“Are you joking? You hated me. You loathed the sight of me,” Evan said. “And I couldn't even blame you. But then you were with Ben, and …”

“I guess it was kind of complicated,” I said.

Evan traced the edge of my face. “You're even more beautiful than you were last summer. You know that, don't you? That you've been torturing me?”

I laughed. “I have? I don't think I've ever tortured anybody before. Is it a good thing? Am I good at it? Just like that, right off the bat?”

“You could practice some. Like, if you tell me you want me to leave right now, and you insist on it. That would be perfect torture.” He leaned down and kissed my neck, first on one side, and then the other, and then my shoulders.

“Yeah. I agree,” I said softly, enjoying every second that his lips were on my skin. “For both of us.”

Evan looked into my eyes. “Is this okay?”

“Very okay,” I whispered, and our lips met in a passionate kiss, our bodies were pressed together, and we were moving backward, toward the shelving where Hutch lay innocently sleeping.

“Hutch,” I murmured between kisses. “Hutch needs his privacy. We don't want to wake up Hutch.”

Evan took his hands off my hips and reached for my hand. “How about we go to your room this time?”

I nodded, unable to speak, not wanting to discuss anything anymore, just wanting to stay in the moment. As we walked into my bedroom I felt excited and scared, as if I were taking a risk I wasn't sure that I wanted to take.

And then Evan was closing the door and kissing me, and I knew that yes, I was completely sure I wanted to.

Chapter 23

When I got up the next morning, I sneaked out of the house.

Afterward, after … Evan … I hadn't gone back downstairs. I wondered if everyone knew. I wondered if anyone had seen Evan leave, and if they had, what time it was. I wasn't sure when he'd gone. I'd woken up in the middle of the night, around three
A.M.
, and I was alone. I hadn't been able to get back to sleep. I was happy, I was worried, I was excited, I was a thousand different things.

One thing I didn't feel was guilty about what I'd done. But I didn't necessarily want to talk about it, or analyze what had happened or why. Not even with Sam, and especially not with Haley.