Page 66 of Forever Then

Gretchen’s hair sits in a single braid pulled to one side. Instead of her red lifeguard suit, she’s in an emerald green two piece. The top has a thick strap over one shoulder, leaving the other bare. Matching bottoms sit low on her hips but don’t reveal too much. Sitting next to the other girls whose choice of swimwear leaves little to the imagination with the tiny straps and even tinier scraps of fabric, Gretchen shines.

One of the boys swims over and props himself up on his forearms next to Gretchen. She looks down at him and brushes hisI-don’t-know-what-scissors-arehair off his forehead. Inexplicably, I want to hurl him over the fence.

Gretchen turns. Our gazes catch and my non-existent cover is blown. She lifts her hand in a dainty wave, her smile beaming fastand wide. I wave back, but quickly turn to leave. When I make for the living room, I freeze on my feet.

Drew stands in the doorway, eyes hurling daggers at me.

“You’re up,” he says, expression unforgiving, as he stalks toward me.

“Yeah. I was really tired, I guess.”

Standing at the window now, we face each other, but Drew’s attention is cast over the pool. “Looks like Gretch has some friends over.” He stares at something beyond the glass, but I keep my eyes on him.

“Yeah, looks like it.”

Drew’s head turns. He holds my gaze and my pulse rises. “So, I guess we need to talk about it.”

“Talk about what?”

“Why you were winking at my sister last night.”

“Drew, I?—”

“And why you were staring at her through the window like some creeper.”

“It’s not what you think,” I supply.

“No?”

“No. It’s not.”

Impatience simmers under Drew’s skin as he waits for me to say more.

“I’m waiting, Vining. If it’s not what I think, then tell me what itis.I watched the two of you give eyes at each other and then you winked at her.”

“It was a joke, dude.”

“A joke?” he scoffs.

“Aninsidejoke,” I amend.

“Why doyouhave inside jokes withmylittle sister?”

I throw out my arms. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to answer that.”

“It looked like flirting,” he accuses.

While I can concede that the wink could be interpreted as flirtation, that’s not at all how it was intended. Yes, she’s gorgeous in away that has completely blindsided me. But I’dnevermake a move on a sixteen-year-old girl.

“Are you kidding me right now?”

“Answer the question.”

“No! I wasn’t flirting with her. She’s sixteen. What kind of guy do you think I am?”

His expression softens a bit, but he doesn’t back down. “And just now?”

“I came downstairs, heard commotion in the pool and I walked over to see what was going on. She waved at me, I waved back. That’s it.” He releases a pointed breath through his nose, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Look, I know she’s your sister, but I’ve looked out for her over the years, too. Every time I came over here to hang out, she was here. So, yeah, we’d talk, we’d joke around. I care about Gretchen but you don’t need to read anything into it that isn’t there.”

---