“Never mind. Forget it. Forget I even offered.” The words fall out of me in a rush and I clamp my mouth shut, just as he does the same. He stares at me.
I stare at him.
Then, without another word, he walks past me, through the bedroom, through the house…
And he leaves me without another word.
Chance. Blown.
My sexually adventurous summer?
Officially over.
“Being rejected sucks,” I huff out, surprised I can even speak what with how freaking exhausted I am.
Meanwhile, in other irritating news, Sydney is jogging beside me like it’s no big thing. Not breaking out in a sweat, not sounding out of breath, nothing.
I hate her.
Not really.
Sydney sends me a sideways glance. “Tell me all about it,” she mutters.
That wasn’t the reply I was expecting. I increase my pace to keep up with her. She’s tall. Not as tall as her gorgeous brother but she has legs almost as long as my entire body, which means her stride is long. “Who’s rejected you?” I pant out when I catch up with her.
Another look from Sydney, this one saying, give me a break. “Pretty much every college I applied to this year.”
I knew she was younger than me but didn’t know exactly how much. “You just graduated high school?” Oh God, I’m getting a cramp in my side. Probably from all the water I drank earlier when we took a short break. Doesn’t this girl ever tire out?
“Yeah. And my mom pressured me to apply to like, every Ivy League college there is out there. So I did, filled with the confidence that at least one of them was going to accept me. None of them did.” She shakes her head, her disappointment palpable. “Not a one.”
Ouch. That sucks. I had to stay in California. Knew I couldn’t get a full ride and without it, I can’t afford the out of state fees. “So what are you going to do?”
Sydney finally comes to a stop and I’m so relieved I almost fall over. I’m trying to be good with this brand new exercise regimen I came up with to distract me and it’s so hard. Like extremely hard.
Especially when all I want to do is wallow in bed and reenact what happened with Gabe and I last night. Talk about a mess…
“I’m going to community college for the first year and then I’ll transfer.” The look of misery on Sydney’s face is unmistakable. “One more year with my parents and then I’m free.”
“Are they that bad?” I ask gently. I glance around the mostly deserted beach, wondering where everyone is. Considering it’s barely past eight in the morning, I figure a lot of them are still in bed or already at work.
Sydney actually snorts. “They’re worse. Didn’t my brother tell you?”
I keep my face purposely blank. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Please.” She rolls her eyes. “You fell prey to his charms. You all do eventually.”
I can feel myself visibly bristle, my imaginary feathers ruffled like a pissed off bird. “I didn’t fall prey to his charms.”
“Oh no?” She raises a brow, her lips in this little smirk that reminds me of Gabe.
Ugh.
I breathe out a heavy sigh. “Fine. Can we take a break from all this running stuff and talk about it?”
“Talk about how you did my brother? Ew, no.” She shakes her head and I start to laugh.
“I didn’t do your brother. And I need to rest. Running sucks.” I plop down on the sand, wishing I had a bottle of water.
Sydney sits next to me, her knee nudging against mine. “Are you serious? So you didn’t hook up with my brother last night?”
This is mortifying. I don’t want to confess the whole truth—hello, I’m a virgin—but I don’t want her thinking I had sex with Gabe either. Or worse, I don’t want her knowing I offered myself up like some sort of strange sacrifice and he didn’t take me up on it. Instead, he walked out of the house like I announced I had an STD or something.
Talk about weird. And humiliating.
“I didn’t,” I tell her, scooping up a handful of cool sand and letting it sift through my fingers. “I think I scared him off.”
“Nothing scares my brother off. If he set his sights on you, he won’t give up until it happens,” Sydney says assuredly.
“And when you say it, what exactly are you referring to?” I brace myself, waiting for her answer.
“Listen.” I turn my head to meet Sydney’s gaze. She sounds so serious. Looks it too. “He’s a total player. So if you’re looking for someone to fool around with, he’s your man. If you want something serious, then I’d say run. I like you, Lucy. So I’d say run regardless. Gabe is kind of a jerk.”
She means well but I can’t help the prick of pain that needles my heart. He was never a jerk to me, not really. He was fun and nice. He seemed interested. Very interested. I’m the one who blew it by telling him the truth.
I should’ve never told him either. Who blurts out they’re a virgin like that? I don’t really know him that well yet I lay all the heavy stuff right out on the table. Making him run.
Literally.
Sydney must sense something in my silence, or maybe the look on my face. Who knows? But she’s realized quick that it can’t be good. “He’s already hurt you somehow, am I right? It’s only been a few days since he finally got up the courage to talk to you. Did you know he’d been watching you for almost two weeks?”