The sound of banging on the door awakens me, and I groan as I wake up. My eyes fly open as I remember where I am and what went down the evening before. I turn to see if Mia is upset with me, but she’s no longer in the bed. Another knock on the door makes me sit up, and I slowly clamber out of the bed. I have no idea who could be at the door, unless it’s Mia and she forgot her key, but then I hear the sound of water running in the bathroom, and I realize that Mia is in the shower.
“I’m coming,” I yell as I head toward the door.
I look down at my watch. It’s nine a.m. I can’t believe I slept so late, and for once, I’m grateful that Rex and Andi scheduled a late breakfast at ten a.m.
“Hello?” I open the door suspiciously, expecting to see Rex, but it’s Juniper’s smiling face I see standing there.
“Morning, Luke.” She beams at me as she steps into the room and looks around. “I brought a bag of clothes for Mia.” She holds up a black duffel bag and whistles as she looks around the room. “Wow, this is amazing.” She looks around, exploring the room. “Rex really sprang for the expensive rooms.”
“My parents did, you mean,” I say dryly and study her face to see if she’s looking at me awkwardly.
Did Mia tell her what had gone down between us the night before?
“Well, that was very nice of you to drop by, Juniper. I’m sure Mia will be thrilled to have some real clothes. I don’t think she wanted to sleep in her dress last night …” My voice trails off, and I casually observe her face for a reaction to see if Mia mentioned anything.
Juniper places the bag on the ground and continues exploring the hotel room.
“She ended up taking off her dress and sleeping in my shirt,” I add to see if she’s going to respond scandalously or give me a knowing wink. I pause to see if she’s going to react.
I’m curious what Mia thinks about our actions from the previous evening. We definitely crossed a line. And I know Mia well enough to know that she’d want to talk about it with someone.
“That’s cool. I was wondering what she was going to sleep in.” She walks over to the window and looks outside at the view. “Wow, you’ve got an amazing view of the ocean here. I wish I lived in a condo right next to the beach.” She then turns back to look at me with a wry smile. “But, wait, I forgot; you’re a Haverbrook. You have multiple houses at the beach.”
“I wouldn’t say that I have multiple houses, Juniper.” I laugh slightly. “My grandparents live at the beach.”
“And your parents have an enormous mansion on the beach. I’ve been there multiple times, remember?”
“I know. Those were the good old days.”
I think back to barbeques in my backyard with Mia, Juniper, Josie, and some of our other friends. Mia was the glue of our group, always bringing people together to hang out on the weekends. We’d swim, have bonfires, go stargazing, play board games all night. She’d sing and dance and cheer me up whenever she thought I was working too hard.
It was hard, growing up as a Haverbrook, especially as the youngest son. My parents funneled every dream into Rex. He was the golden boy, the jock my father boasted about to all of Coconut Beach. Sometimes, I thought my dad lived vicariously through Rex. He was proud of every move Rex made. From the cheerleaders he dated to the business classes he took at the University of Florida. Rex was a Gator, a star football player, a handsome all-American son to be proud of.
I was the geek, too skinny when I was younger, always studying, getting ready to take over the family business and grow it. I had my eye on an Ivy League university and then an MBA, and I achieved mydreams, but they were never enough. I was always overlooked, and that was why I stayed away from Coconut Beach. I didn’t want to be in Rex’s shadow any longer.
“I mean, you could always move back and buy your own mansion on the beach, and then Mia and I could come over every weekend, and we could have epic parties.” Her eyes glaze over as she thinks about that possibility. “That would be so cool. Then Mia and I could meet hot guys who aren’t in town for a week. Oops.” She quickly covers her mouth with her hand, her eyes widening as she stares at me. “I guess we would meet hot guys after the summer’s over and you guys break up though.”
I don’t respond to her comment. It’s only day two. I’m not ready to think about Mia and me breaking up, even though this entire situation is fake anyway.
“So, how’s it going? Is it totally weird, pretending that you guys are in love and in a relationship?”
“I don’t know that I would say it was weird. It’s definitely different though.”
Like the fact that I was on top of her last night, touching her in ways that I shouldn’t have been touching her. Listening to her moan in ways my ears should never be privy to. I can still taste her on my lips.
I need to speak to Mia. I need to make sure she’s okay. That she’s not obsessing over what happened.
Juniper heads to the couch and takes a seat. “Did you and Mia figure out the treasure hunt map that she got in the mail?”
“No, we were both caught up with trying to convince our families that we’re together. I bet she’ll show me today.”
“Makes sense. Did you have a good night last night? You must have been exhausted, getting off the plane and then having to party.”
“It was a lot, but I managed. Thank you for asking. Did you have fun?”
I wonder what she’s thinking as she looks down and then back up at me. Her brown eyes are open, and I think about how I was first jealous when she became good friends with Mia. I was nervous Mia would drop me, but she navigated being friends with us perfectly.
“I did have fun. The girls and I enjoyed all the free food and drinks and, of course, dancing.” She leans back into the couch. “It was a magical night. Almost surreal, you know?”
