The Girl Who Wanted Everything

A houseful of hotties

Curious, I thought, looking back at my magazine as if my focus was there.  

"Adam this is my mom's bestie, Mandy, and her daughter Nadine.'' Jamie moved across to Adam and put her arm around him possessively. They were almost the same height. 

"Look at us,'' her motion seemed to say, "aren't we just the most adorable couple?"

"Aren't you two just the most adorable couple?" my mum gushed. Touché Jamie.

Yeah, they were cute together, but they were also strangely... mismatched. Jamie was tall, glowing and overt, whereas Adam was darker and more subdued. They rather reminded me of the sun and the moon.  

The clattering of platform sandals in the doorway behind them heralded the arrival of Ronnie. She was wearing slightly smeared, hot pink lipstick and a loud tropical print sundress. In one hand was the neck of a gin bottle, in the other a cosmetic bag and her dark glasses were gripped between her teeth. I hoped she wasn't drunk already.

With Ronnie's entry the mums were off... chattering about what food they had packed and what changes they had spotted in the neighborhood this year. Jamie was showing Adam around with as much touching as she could manage. And I? I had been forgotten.   

I got up from the couch and walked through to the parking area. Maybe Ronnie and Adam had left some more luggage out there that needed fetching. It was a great excuse just to get out of the house which was feeling pretty uncomfortable right now. I stood in the driveway, stretching and enjoying some sunshine and silence. A train of ants was making their way along a crack between the fence and the paving and I stared at it for a while until a taxi pulled up and out of it climbed the most attractive boy I had ever laid eyes on.

Over the years I had spent a lot of time thinking about what it would be like to meet Sam again. In these daydreams, the focus was always on how he would look at me, feel about me. I would have changed, and for the first time he would really see me. But in my head, Sam himself was always the same. He had been beautiful when he was five, and even more beautiful when he left at age thirteen. Of course he would still be beautiful, I didn't doubt it. 

I was not prepared for the utter hotness of the boy who got out of that taxi.

He was tall and rangy now, his hair a dark-blonde swathe across his forehead. His eyes were piercing blue, his lashes long and he managed the wistful expression of a model – that sort of far-off gaze that implied deep thought. His white deep-v shirt was thin and hugged the outline of lean abdominal muscles. His wrist was wrapped over and over with a thin leather strap.

"Nadine?" he said, with a slight grin. A questioning arch formed in his dark brows. I may have made an odd choking sound. I am not sure. I didn't quite know where to look, my eyes skittering about till they spotted Giselle at the roadside behind him. She was leaning in to pay the taxi driver. 

"Sa... umm, Gi... Hi!" I managed. Smooth.

"Nadine!" called Giselle. "Are you waiting out here just for us dear one?" Oh no! Now Sam would think I was just hanging around waiting for him to arrive! 

"Nuh... oh, no, no. I was just watching the ants,'' I blurted. What? Watching the ants? Duhhh.  What is wrong with you Nadine? Sam laughed a little but not unkindly. It was a quiet, sexy chuckle.  

"You always did love bugs and things.'' He threw his duffel bag over his shoulder and went inside.

Tongue liberated by distance, I turned to Giselle.   

"It's lovely to see you Giselle,'' I said. It really was. She looked just as I remembered her. She put down her bags to wrap me in a warm embrace and I could feel that the same connection we had always shared was still intact. "Let me give you a hand with your bag". I popped the handle of her luggage and rolled after Sam.

The front door of the house opened into the lounge area, which was empty, but through the sliding doors we could hear voices on the deck. It was Jamie and Adam, lying together on a circular recliner, their backs towards us. All we could see of them were their legs twisted together and Adam's palm making firm circles on Jamie's upper thigh as she giggled pathetically.   

I was about to suggest we come back later, but Sam seemed oblivious to the intrusion. He strode out onto the deck and dropped his bag just behind the recliner.

"Oh wow. Look at this,'' he said, gesturing towards the beach. "I forgot how amazing this place is.''

On hearing our voices Jamie hopped prettily off the recliner while Adam stayed right where he was, head propped up on one hand. She was clearly a bit embarrassed, and it took her a moment to orient herself.  

"Giselle! Sam! It's so wonderful to have you both back here.'' She had recovered quickly, her customary confidence returning, and she quickly commandeered their bags and showed them off to their rooms.  But I had seen something flicker in her eyes when she stood up. It had been brief, and well-controlled, but I swear I saw her pupils widen and her mouth open slightly.  

Jamie had been just as affected by Sam as I had.