Sure, Pal ('69 #1) Read online

  Only I didn’t seem to be irritating Ava.

  “Fuck! Rob! You just hit me in the face with that tent pole!” Sienna picked up a pinecone and chucked it at Rob.

  It bounced off his back, and he laughed out loud. “Sorry. I meant to hit you in the face with a different pole.”

  Ava squealed and burst out laughing. She turned to me and wiggled her eyebrows. She desperately wanted our best friends to start dating. But I mean, they’d had so many chances. If they hadn’t started dating by now, they weren’t going to.

  Sienna laughed and shook her head. “You perv. You better keep your other little pole in your pants tonight.”

  Ava winked at me and said, “Baby, you don’t have to keep yours in your pants.”

  “Whoa! Ava!” My eyes were wide. This was exactly what was starting to drive me crazy— Ava’s need to parade our relationship in front of everyone and her inability to empathize or care that she was making others uncomfortable. “You realize we’re going to be sharing a tent with other people, right?”

  Ava threw her head back and laughed. “They don’t care!”

  “Yeah, we do!” Rob and Sienna said at the same time. Rob abandoned the tent and turned back to the car to keep unloading our shit.

  Ava pouted at them and pulled up her camp chair. She sat down and tugged off her shirt, revealing a hot pink bikini top.

  “Oh, your highness, please work on your tan while we set up the camp.” Sienna pretended to bow to Ava. She pulled her backpack out of the back of the car and stuck it under Ava’s feet. “Would you like me to feed you grapes now? Or finish assembling your canvas palace?”

  Ava threw her head back and laughed again, swatting at Sienna. “You little asshole! I just got my nails done! And I don’t know how to do any of that anyway!”

  I grinned at Sienna. She was the only one that was allowed to call Ava on her bullshit. Ava would get mad at anyone else.

  Sienna burst out laughing. “Why the hell did you get your nails done right before a camping trip that you planned?”

  Ava shrugged and held out her hands to admire her nails. “Evan likes the long nails for back scratches.”

  Sienna rolled her eyes and walked back over to the tent. Her face looked calm, but she gripped a tent pole and angrily shoved it into the canvas slot. I reached out and caught the other end of the pole, attaching it to the tent base. “Rob and I will finish this, Sienna. You can go tan with Queen Ava.”

  Sienna raised a single eyebrow at me. “I’m good. I have no desire to take my top off next to Ava.” My eyes unintentionally drifted to Sienna’s chest. The front of her shirt gaped open as she leaned over to pick up another tent pole, and I got a clear view of her cleavage. Her breasts were smaller than Ava’s, but that didn’t matter in the slightest. The view still made my cock stir.

  Whoa. Sienna was gorgeous and sexy, and I’d had a crush on her years ago. Now though, we were just really good friends. I cleared my throat and looked away.

  Sienna blew her hair out of her eyes. “Besides that, I’ll burn.” Sienna glanced over at Ava. She was rubbing coconut oil all over her shoulders and chest.

  That should have made my cock stand straight up, but it didn’t.

  Sienna slid another tent pole into place, and Rob brought the cooler over and set it under the picnic table. “Let’s head down to the beach after we get this all set up, yeah?” he said.

  “Oh my God, yes!” Ava called over as she slid her enormous sunglasses on.

  “If you want to go to the beach faster, you could help unload the shit, Aves.” Sienna grabbed a handful of stakes from the little tan bag and then tossed it to me. “You wanna do that side, dude?”

  “Sure, pal.” I bent to stake down my side of the tent.

  Ava let out an exaggerated sigh and stood to help Rob unload the rest of the stuff.

  After we got our camp all set up, we started the short hike to the beach. I fell into step next to Rob, and we watched the girls walking slightly ahead of us. Ava walked in her bikini and sandals. Her tanned, toned body looked straight out of a magazine.

  But my eyes kept drifting over to Sienna. She wore a tank top and shorts over her bikini, and it had me dying to know what was under those clothes.

  “Did I ever tell you about the time I kissed Sienna?” Rob was watching her, too.

  Something hot and angry started to spread through my chest. They kissed? “Uh, no. I don’t think so.”

  Rob shrugged. “I thought it was all right, but she was like ‘Ew. I feel like I just kissed my brother.’ So I am definitely friend-zoned with her.”

  The tight anger in my chest relaxed. I laughed. “Too bad, man. Are you really into her?”

  “I mean, she’s hot as hell, but I’m not broken up about it. There are plenty of other hot girls in the world. Like, if she wants to hook up tonight, I’d be all over it. If she doesn’t, I’ll probably ask out Cara when we get back.”

  “Cara’s cool. You should go for it.”

  Rob nodded, and we spent the remainder of the hike talking about soccer. We’d played on the same team together since we were in Elementary school. I remembered not even wanting to play soccer as a kid, but Rob begged me to sign up with him when we were eight. A few years later, it was my favorite sport, and I couldn’t even picture my life without it.

  When we reached the beach, the girls set up their towels and laughed to each other about something. Rob and I walked down the beach a little to toss a frisbee back and forth.

  My eyes kept drifting over to the girls, but they’d always settle on Sienna, not Ava. I watched with my mouth almost watering as Sienna gripped the bottom of her tank top and pulled it off over her head.

  Her pale, smooth skin looked so soft, and as my eyes quickly scanned her body, I noticed that her black bikini top was a little twisted. Her right nipple was showing. Holy shit. I let the frisbee sail right over my head and watched, with my heart pounding, while Ava reached over and yanked Sienna’s swimsuit back into place. They both burst out laughing, and Sienna collapsed onto her towel, yelling, “Fuck!”

  Fuck was right.

  Rob laughed at me. “What the hell was that, man?” He had his back to the girls and hadn’t seen a thing.

  I shook my head to clear it. “Sorry. I was distracted.”

  “By your smoking hot girlfriend?” Rob grinned at me.

  I swallowed. “Yep.” Then I turned to jog down the beach and retrieve the frisbee, trying to forget the sight of Sienna’s pretty pink nipple.

  I was seriously attracted to Sienna. I’d always been drawn to her, but usually, Ava was enough to distract me. Now, though, it felt like my attraction to my girlfriend’s best friend was wildly out of control. I needed to reign it in. A couple of hard-ons for another girl wasn’t enough to break up with Ava, right?

  4

  Sienna

  Fuck, Evan looked hot with his shirt off. My eyes hid behind my sunglasses and devoured his sexy abs, pecs, and shoulders. He was starting to look like a man instead of a kid. I glanced over at Ava, who was propped next to me on her oversized mandala beach towel. She slid her sunglasses down and watched Evan with the same thirsty look that I did.

  Ava could quench her thirst. I never could. Goddamnit. Fucking hell.

  I turned my gaze to Rob as he tossed the frisbee back to Evan. Rob was hot, too, with his dark, wavy hair and chocolate brown eyes. We’d kissed once, a few months ago, and both agreed that it felt like kissing a sibling. Sienna + Rob wasn’t going to happen, no matter how much Ava wanted it to happen.

  “You ready to head back to camp, ladies? I’m starving!” Rob collapsed next to me on my plain white bath towel and rested his head in my lap. Evan sank down next to Ava, and she pulled him in for a kiss.

  I stood up quickly, letting Rob’s head hit the sand. “Yep. Let’s get out of here before I turn into a lobster.” Rob and I both headed up the beach toward the wooded trail we took down from our campsite.

  “Coming!” Evan called afte
r us.

  I didn’t turn around. I didn’t want to see Evan and Ava with their tongues down each other’s throats. Rob’s super long legs created an impossible stride to keep up with, so he was already way ahead of me. Suddenly, I stepped on something sharp and felt a searing, burning pain shoot through my entire foot. “FUCK!” I screamed and bent down to rip my sandal off. A little devil straight from hell still clung to my foot and had its stinger lodged in my big toe.

  Shit. Shit. Shit. I was allergic to wasps! I swiped the insect off my foot and shuddered from the waves of pain. I had to get the stinger out now. I collapsed on the ground and tried to steady my hands so I could gently pull the stinger out.

  “Whoa. Sienna, you okay?” Evan walked up behind me with Ava tucked under his arm.

  My hands shook, and tears burned the corners of my eyes. “I stepped on a wasp,” I said through clenched teeth.

  Ava gasped. “Do you have your EpiPen?” Fear filled her big blue eyes.

  I shook my head and bit my lip. “It’s back at the camp.” We were about a mile and a half away.

  Rob had stopped walking when he heard me scream. He jogged back over and asked, “Where is it?”

  “In the front pocket of my green bag.” Tears streamed down my cheeks now.

  “I’m on it!” Rob took off running.

  “Can you walk?” Ava looked close to tears, too.

  I glanced down at my foot. It was already starting to swell. Evan scooped me up in his arms and said, “I’ve got you. Let’s go meet Rob as fast as we can.” He hurried up the path, leaving Ava to try to jog after us. Her short legs were no match, and she quickly fell behind.

  My heart was racing out of control. Was that an anaphylactic shock symptom, or just my reaction to being so close to Evan? I wasn’t getting dizzy yet, and I could still breathe. So far, this reaction wasn’t as severe as the one I’d had as a seven-year-old. I glanced at Evan’s face. It was so close — close enough to kiss.

  Was delusion a new symptom of anaphylaxis?

  Evan met my gaze for a second. I was hyper-aware of his arms and bare chest pressing against my body. “How are you holding up, pal?” He looked worried, but he kept his voice steady.

  “I’m… okay.” I was starting to feel winded.

  Evan glanced at my foot and winced. “Shit. Your foot is huge now.”

  I let out a nervous laugh. “Thank you for noticing. It’s sexy, right?”

  Evan grinned and then shook his head. “You’re making jokes right now? You’re crazy.” He shifted me in his arms, and I tried to ignore the way his muscles flexed when he did it. Okay, now I was feeling dizzy. Evan glanced at me again. “I bet Rob’s already on his way back. He’s the fastest one on the team. You’re going to be okay.” Evan quickened his pace, and I noticed a few drops of sweat beading on his forehead.

  I slumped against him, knowing that I was making myself dead-weight in his arms, but feeling too dizzy and light-headed to do anything about it. “Ugh. I don’t feel good.” I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes against the dizziness. My throat felt tight as I swallowed. “Oh, shit,” I mumbled.

  “Sienna?” All of the calm that was in Evan’s voice a few minutes ago was gone. “Sienna, can you breathe?”

  “Yeah.” It was getting harder with each breath, though.

  Evan let out a sigh of relief. “There’s Rob! Thank fucking God!” He ran the last few yards, with me in his arms.

  Rob held out my EpiPen and asked, “Where do I put it?”

  “In my leg.” My breathing was ragged. “You have to do it hard.”

  Rob hesitated, and Evan set me on the ground and ripped the EpiPen from Rob’s hand. Without waiting for another second, Evan jammed the EpiPen into the side of my thigh. I groaned and lay on my back in the dirt. “I need to go to a hospital.”

  Evan pulled out his phone and yelled, “Shit! I don’t have a signal!” He turned to Rob. “Help me get her back to the cars.”

  ◆◆◆

  My dad paced back and forth in front of my hospital bed, with his dark eyebrows knit together in anger. “You need to be more careful, Sienna! You could have died!” He stopped to glower at me like it was my fault I was deathly allergic to wasps and like I’d stepped on it on purpose. “And those EpiPens are expensive! And this hospital stay! We haven’t met our deductible yet, so this is all out of pocket!”

  He continued pacing, and I shrugged and said, “Well, the next time I almost die, it should be on the house.”

  “What is wrong with you?” he snapped. “This isn’t funny, Sienna! You get this from your mother, you know — making jokes at inappropriate times.”

  I sighed and picked at a loose thread on my hospital blanket. “Where is she?”

  “I haven’t called her yet.” His voice was flat. “There’s a reason that I’m your emergency contact.” It was no secret that my dad was getting increasingly frustrated with my mom’s “free-sprit” vibe. I could hear them fighting almost every night after they thought I’d gone to bed.

  I rolled my eyes. “Where’s my phone? I’ll call her.”

  “It’s at your campsite.” My dad folded his arms across his broad chest. He let out a long agitated sigh. “Look, I have to get back to work if I want to keep a roof over our heads.” He worked long hours as a scheduler for a home building company, but he hadn’t seen a raise in years. And my mom hadn’t sold any sculptures recently, either. Money was tight, per usual, and despite my sarcasm, I did feel insanely guilty for costing my parents so much money.

  My dad ran his hands through his dark thinning hair and continued, “I’ll call your mom on my drive home, but who knows if she’ll answer.” He turned to leave and then said, almost as an afterthought, “You’ll be all right here by yourself until you get released in the morning?”

  “Yup,” I almost whispered.

  My dad nodded and walked out of the door.

  I rolled my eyes and swallowed the lump in my throat. Then, when I was sure he was gone, I deepened my voice, pretending to speak for my father. “Sienna, I’m so glad you’re okay! I love you, and I’ll stay with you as long as you want. Can I get you anything?” In my regular voice, I said, “Aw, thanks, dad! I’d love some Dr. Pepper and a big juicy cheeseburger!”

  I closed my eyes against the tears that threatened to fall and leaned against my pillows.

  “Hey, girl.” Ava stood in the doorway of my hospital room, holding up a bag of gummy bears — my favorite.

  I grinned at her. “Hey, girl. Sorry I ruined our trip.”

  Ava rolled her blue eyes and laughed. Then she crossed the room and climbed into bed with me. “Scoot your giant swollen foot over and let me love you, Si!” Ava wrapped her arms around me, and tears rolled down her cheeks. “You scared me so bad! Like, shit! What would I do without you?”

  I tore open the package of gummy bears and popped a red one in my mouth. I threw a green one at Ava’s face and laughed. “You’d probably be driven to the streets by your grief and then spend your life as an escort.”

  Ava rolled her eyes.

  “You’d be a high-class escort, no doubt. I think you’d make pretty good money, honestly. Aves, with that ass and those tits…” I tapped my chin with my finger. “Whoa, wait a minute. Maybe you should do this anyway! You’d be so fucking rich! Why haven’t we thought of this yet?”

  Ava shoved a handful of gummy bears into my mouth and said, laughing, “Shh, you crazy bitch.” Then she leaned her head on my shoulder and said, “Please don’t die. You’re the only real friend I’ve ever had.”

  “Okay. I promise I won’t die.” I wrapped my arms around Ava. “Can I be your pimp, though?”

  Ava snorted. “You could make just as much money as me. Why the hell don’t you know you’re hot?”

  Maybe I was pretty, but not like Ava. Ava got the guy. I tried not to choke on my jealousy. “Where are Rob and Evan?” I asked.

  “They went back to clean up the campsite. Evan said he’d drop your stu
ff off at your house later tonight.”

  I sighed. “Evan saved my life today. Rob was too freaked out to stab me with the EpiPen, so Evan took over.”

  “Aw!” Ava gushed. “That’s my boy. I’ll have to make sure I thank him properly tonight for saving my best friend.”

  Suddenly the smell of Ava’s Black Opium perfume was making me feel nauseated.

  “Let’s do a selfie.” Ava pulled her phone from her back pocket and held it out in front of our faces.

  “Aves, seriously? I literally almost died today! I do not want to be featured on your Instagram page!”

  “I’ll use a filter, Si! Just smile because we’re so happy that you’re still alive!” Ava snapped the picture before I was ready. “One more. Smile, Sienna!” I knew I wouldn’t sway Ava, so I sighed and gave her a tiny, fake smile. “Aw, so cute!” Ava typed a quick caption and posted the photo.

  Great.

  Ava wrapped her arms around me again and asked, “How long do you have to stay here?”

  “Um, I’d normally be able to go home in a few hours, but the swelling spread up my leg, and it hasn’t gone down yet, so they want to watch me overnight to be safe.”

  “Did your parents come yet?”

  “My dad just left.” My voice sounded as flat as I felt.

  Ava pursed her lips. “You know my parents will adopt you, right?”

  I laughed and nodded. I spent more time at Ava’s house lately than my own. “Love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  5

  Evan

  My hands were still shaking three hours after we’d taken Sienna to the hospital. Seeing her turning pale like that and struggling to breathe scared the shit out of me.

  Sienna was okay now. Ava called and told me she just left the hospital, and Sienna was back to making dumb jokes and breathing like a champ.

  Even after all of Ava’s assurances, I still wanted to see Sienna. Would she think it was weird if I showed up at the hospital? We were friends, but we’d never hung out without Ava.