“You were going to give it all up, your family’s legacy, and ignore your talent and become… a lifeguard?” I am trying so hard not to laugh that tears blur my vision.
He laughs for me. “I may have gotten the idea after watching Zac Efron in theBaywatchmovie.”
Now there’s no holding back my laughter. “Oh my God, that movie was so cheesy!”
"It was, but Efron was hot and made the job look sexy," Crew explains. I like the way he can admit another guy is hot. Some guys are too full of homophobia to do that. "Also my dad spent our whole lives telling Nash and me we didn't have to play hockey. That he wouldn't be disappointed and I guess I just wanted to test that.”
“And…”
“My dad didn’t complain or say a word,” Crew replies with a whimsical smile that says he’s thinking back fondly on the memory. “He would even come to the beach to watch me work. My brother on the other hand was furious and didn’t talk to me the entire summer, but joke’s on Nash, that just made me happier that I did it.”
"So what happened? Why are you now a Stanley Cup-winning hockey player and not a beach god?"
“I missed it. It felt like I was missing a limb all summer long,” Crew confesses. “And I was the worst at remembering sunblock, I spent the entire summer various shades of pink with screaming sore skin.”
I laugh, plucking the last of the petals and flicking it off my finger into the water. He nudges the outside of my hip with one of his feet. “Sorry to interrupt, let’s get back to you and your hymen.”
I laugh. “I broke that years ago with a vibrator. On purpose. I didn’t want to ruin my first time with a guy with pain and blood.”
He looks shocked. “Wow.”
“But to answer your other questions, no I wasn’t just trying to be the opposite of my mom, or contrary, or whatever. I was… Iama romantic. I wanted some big, epic romance with someone I was madly in love with," I explain and feel so silly opening up like this, naked in a bathtub with a one-night stand. "I wanted it to be with someone I trusted and loved and thought of as my best friend but also couldn't keep my hands off of."
“And you never found that?” He sounds shocked.
“No. I didn’t.” I sigh and focus on a sprig of lavender as it floats towards Crew’s chest. “I guess maybe I had all of that, to varying degrees, with my last boyfriend but I just didn’t want to pull the trigger. Because at this point, it had become a thing. Like this entity unto itself. A member of the family. There was Liv and Liv’s Virginity. Everyone knew about it and made a big deal about it so I felt like everyone would know about losing it and make a big deal about that. And I liked my last boyfriend. I even kind of loved him but I didn’t feel like he was worthy of being the big deal.”
He's watching me serenely, but I so badly want to know what he's thinking. I feel ridiculously self-conscious having divulged that. I've never explained myself to anyone. Not even Tenley or Harlow or my sister who, unlike me, is not a virgin. Oh wait… I'm not either. "Anyway, I realized right before the Vegas thing, that holding onto it made it an even bigger thing and that a one-night stand was the perfect way to just be done with it. That way it was all on my terms, and no one would have to know. The guy wouldn't stick around and so if it went badly or whatever, I would never have to see him again.”
“And yet here we are,” Crew says with a wink.
"Well, it didn't go badly."
“I’d say it went great.” Crew ventures his hands up my calves. “I delivered on my promise in there.”
He tips his head back toward the bedroom. I bite my lip and stifle a nervous giggle. “You did. Thank you.”
“It was truly my pleasure, Fireball.” He grips my calves and starts pulling me toward him. He leans in and our lips meet. The kiss is lazy but turns up the temperature in this bathtub.
“Have you ever had sex in a bathtub?” I ask him.
“Yeah. It can be a logistical nightmare. As a lifeguard I don’t recommend it,” he says and it makes me laugh. His eyes slide left toward the freestanding Italian-style shower against the far wall. “Now shower sex… that is something I would give a five-star rating.”
“I’ve never…” He smiles. I blush. “Wanna be my first at that too?”
“I will never say no to being your first at anything, Olivia.” Crew leans in and captures my mouth in a searing kiss. “Lucky for you I brought more than one condom.”
And then he stands up and pulls me out of the tub and into the shower.
Chapter13
Crew
Iwake up to the sound of Olivia hitting the door frame and cursing. I open my eyes and the room is bathed in sunlight. There's a gentle murmur outside the open window like people are on the patio below. Olivia is clinging to the doorframe trying to shove her foot in one of her shoes. She’s got that red dress on again and her hair is all over the place. It got soaked in the shower and dried wavy while she slept.
“What time is it?” I ask. “Why are you panicked?”
“Tenley texted me. She knows I didn’t come home last night!” she explains, finally getting her foot in her shoe and righting herself. “She’s freaking out. She messaged me but my phone was on silent so when I didn’t answer she put it in the family chat. My mother has called three times in the last ten minutes and I can’t answer. Tate is asking if he should skip practice his afternoon and look for me. I have to be… not here when I answer my mom. She’s FaceTiming. She can’t see the hotel.”
