Jerry had found it highly hilarious how Jessie and Kay managed to fool Jimmy and Kyle by pretending the other had agreed with their little shopping escapade. It took his two brothers a few hours to figure it out, but they ended up admitting defeat. As they should. Jessie and Kay were not to be messed with when they wanted something.
But as the evening rolled over them and they got ready for the little party, Jerry wasn't so sure anymore. Kay's blue dress was gorgeous and looked very well on her. It wasn't too short or too plunging, but the way she looked, her hair pinned up, her posture confident an alluring, made him realize he'd have a lot of work to do tonight.
"What's wrong, Jerry?" she asked innocently. "Does it look bad?"
"Of course it doesn't," Jimmy answered for him. "It looks great. Kyle will love it."
And that was what Jerry was afraid of. That and what Jessie would be wearing.
Kay just smiled in delight and bounced to the door and out in the hall. Jerry and Jimmy followed to meet the others. Jessie wore a plaid white skirt with pockets, a red blouse with a plunging neckline and platform sandals, looking more beautiful than she should.
Jerry elbowed his twin in the ribs before he could react, but his eyes were on Kyle. And even if his older brother just smiled at his girlfriend and reached out his hand for her to take it, Jerry caught it. He saw the momentarily glint in Kyle's eyes, the brief spell of lust. He had a lot of work to do tonight.
As they boarded the bus and headed for this aqua club, Jerry kept pondering on how to approach the problem. He couldn't just start lecturing them out of the blue, and he had a feeling words wouldn't do it this time. He had to be subtle, create an atmosphere of comfortable companionship rather than romance. It shouldn't be too hard to do. Most summer school students were groups of friends.
Once they reached the club, he relaxed even more. It was nothing but a simple, rather small two story building with a spacey terrace, placed on the edge a rocky beach. The party was in full swing, but there were no dim lights, no raving music or sweaty bodies mashing together in hypnotic dancing.
They took a table at the edge of the terrace with a view of the sea and the full moon. The breeze was pleasant and Jerry actually found he was enjoying himself. Kyle and Jimmy disappeared in the crowd to get some food while the rest of them leaned against the banister and admired the view.
"What a lovely night," Jessie said. "Thanks for agreeing with this, Sam."
Sam only grumbled as an answer and Jerry turned to him, confused.
"What's going on?" he asked warily.
Sam sighed, shook his head and turned away from the sea. "I miss Christine," he mumbled.
"Really?" Kay asked in disbelief.
"Didn't until right this minute," Sam said. "Stupid moon."
Jerry laughed and the girls joined in. Even Sam grinned weakly. But a tight knot formed in Jerry's stomach at the thought of Tina. She'd been away for the past day so he hadn't gotten to talk to her today. Because unbeknown to the rest of the group, whenever he called home, he called her right after. They only discussed simple things, like what they'd done that day, how horrible the heat in Malta was, how Chicago had been rainy for the past days. But one lone day without hearing her voice, and he felt strangely hollow.
Fortunately, Kyle and Jimmy's return pulled him from his pool of melancholy. The smell of roast beef almost turned his stomach over.
"What is that?"
"Burgers and fries that don't seem as greasy as the ones from campus," Jimmy declared victoriously.
"Seem is right," Sam muttered and Jerry had to agree.
YOU ARE READING
Lost Stars (The Jewel Project #3)
Adventure"You youngsters are stupidly adorable with your stubborn obsession with love. Love doesn't lift you. It destroys you." For Sam Grant, his family has become his sanctuary and the team that joins him on death defying adventures. But after everythi...
