Maybe I'm just falling back into my usual pattern of co-dependency and mothering her. She's a grown woman, I can’t control what she does and I’m not responsible for her decisions…not to mention, I am hugely relieved to not have to carry around student loans for the rest of my life.
I kick my sandals off and sink back down onto the window seat. The Potomac is a dark green sliver barely visible through the bushy trees that line the back of the estate and continue down to the shoreline. I startle as a figure breaks the stillness. I recognize Nate's head as he walks up from the lower lawn to the pool, a lacrosse stick tucked over his shoulder. Sheesh—is he training already? School just ended!
I bite my lip as I watch him toss the stick on the deck and peel off his shirt. He uses it to wipe the sweat off his face, then tosses it on a chair and kicks off his sneakers. His body is just…impossible. I mean, I guess it makes sense. Two varsity sports are probably enough to give anyone a body like a Greek god, but he also has the face to match.
He jumps in the pool and I watch him swim a lap, the cool blue water cascading over his muscular back and shoulders. I need to get used to seeing him like this—and stop acting like a total freak every time we’re in the same room. This is my new normal.
“Your food's ready!” my mom calls upstairs, her voice echoing a bit in the multi-level foyer. I jump up and head downstairs. I turn into a formal dining room before finding my way to the kitchen. I stop as I realize the kitchen windows look directly out onto the pool. Great. “I can't believe Nate's already in the pool. The water's still freezing,” my mom comments.
“Yeah, he’s crazy…” I reply, before I really hear what she said. I'm too distracted by Nate’s backstroke, his arms cutting cleanly through the water.
“So you two never once ran into each other on campus in the three years you’ve been at UVA?” she asks, sliding a BLT onto the glass table in the breakfast nook. We sit down across from each other and I start eating.
“No, well…we hadn't ever met.”
“But?” my mom digs, hearing a slight hesitation in my voice.
“Well, Nate's really well known around campus. He starts on the lacrosse and crew teams, he's smart, good—” I catch myself and pretend to clear my throat.
“Good-looking?” My mom asks with a smile.
“Mom…” I groan.
“Well, he is. I'm not blind. Actually, Pierce looked just like him when he was his age.” I see Nate get out of the pool over my mom's shoulder and shake himself off. I force myself to look down at my sandwich as he walks across to a lawn chair and lies down.
“What happened to Nate's mom?”
My mom winces. “Pierce doesn't really like to talk about it—too painful. Apparently, she cheated on him and then abandoned him and Nate. They never see her.”
“Oh, that's awful,” I murmur, trying to shove down the twinge of pity I feel for my new stepbrother.
“I think it's one of the things that brought us together—raising a child by ourselves.”
My eyes flick to the door as Nate slides it open. He's put his shirt back on but it clings to his still damp torso, emphasizing his muscular pecs and shoulders. He drops his sneakers on the mat as he shuts the door behind him.
“Hey Nate,” my mom greets him. “Would you like a sandwich?”
“You don't have to do that,” he says, a little gruffly.
“I don't mind at all,” she replies, standing to move back to the counter. He pauses, then sits in her abandoned chair a bit reluctantly. “It's so funny that you and Brynn never met at school!”
“I think there might have been one time—” he says, glancing at me, that same devilish look back in his eyes. I feel his knee come to rest against mine under the table, and I quickly cross my legs.
“In class. We have been in a few of the same classes together,” I clarify, narrowing my eyes at him.
“We have?” he asks looking genuinely surprised. My mom quietly spreads mayo on a slice of bread at the marble island.
“Yes,” I whisper, embarrassed. Of course he wouldn't remember all of the times we've sat in the same classroom—only the time when I ogled him in the doorway of his bedroom and completely embarrassed myself. I blush. I want to sink into this seat cushion and disappear. He frowns at me then turns his palm over and begins to pick at a callous.
“So honey, Pierce says you'll start your internship on Monday, OK? That'll give you a few days to settle in,” my mom says as she slides the sandwich in front of Nate.
“Sounds good,” I reply, glancing at Nate out of the corner of my eye.
“I'm having someone over for dinner tomorrow night,” he announces rather abruptly.
“Oh, wonderful. A friend from around here?”
“Not a friend, really. A girl I dated in high school,” Nate clarifies. I keep my eyes trained carefully forward.
“Do you know if she has any dietary restrictions?” my mom asks, excitedly flying into hostess mode. “I could make this chicken dish my mom passed down, or…”
I tune out as she offers more ideas, and polish off my sandwich as quickly as possible so I can excuse myself and go upstairs. I sigh as I close my bedroom door behind me. So now I have to have dinner with Nate's ex-girlfriend. Is this what the rest of the summer is going to be like? Nate punishing me for his father's favor by exploiting my attraction to him? I'd rather be back in the library, buried in a book.
CHAPTER SIX
I push the sautéed chicken around my plate as I try not to watch Nate drape his arm around the back of Dana's chair. She's pretty. Very pretty. And sweet. I wish she weren't so sweet so I could hate her for a good reason.
“So how long did you two date?” my mom asks.
“Well, it was on and off, so…hard to say. He actually went to prom with one of my friends,” she replies, jokingly nudging Nate, who at least has the grace to blush.
“Nate…” his dad says, shaking his head admonishingly.
“Oh, it's OK. I went with one of his friends,” Dana says with a smile. “I think we both knew it wasn't meant to be.”
“A couple of my friends met their husbands in high school,” my mom says, resting her fork on her plate. “Though I read an article recently that said that twenty-eight percent of women meet their husbands in college.” She looks pointedly at me and I jump up.