Toe the Line

Chapter Nine

"Guys, you should have seen him in casual clothes," Amanda's sunglasses are perched on the end of her nose and she's chewing her gum loudly. "I wanted to rip them right off."

"I knew I should've come with you guys," Char groans.

"I can't believe he saw you guys in just sports bras, like isn't that awkward?" Annie's wide blue eyes are mystified.

"No, I think he liked what he saw," Amanda says with a smile. Lilly rolls her eyes, and I laugh.

The sun is streaming into the car through the open windows and I close my eyes and take in the smell of the sea air. The driver slows down, and the smooth road beneath us becomes a crunch of stones and shells.

"We're here!" Annie squeals. Everyone looks out the windows of the town car.

The Ludlows' beach house sits perched on the top of a green hill, its light blue shingles and many windows gleaming in the Newport sunshine. The three stories and grand staircase cast a shadow over the beach below.

"Holy shit, you never said how big it is, Luce," Annie marvels.

I nod my head, "Ginormous." A million memories of running on the lawn playing football with Greg and Jake, getting pushed in the pool, and taking the boat out for booze cruises rush back. I can't fight it: I'm happy to be back. I feel safe here, in the familiarity of the summer, away from Abbott's and the nightmares that won't leave me alone.

We gather our bags from the car and walk up to the stoop where Mrs. Ludlow is waiting.

"Lucy!" her slim arms wrap around me affectionately. "We missed you already, so good to have you back."

"And ladies, so good to see all of you too! Please come in, make yourselves at home. There's a full spread of lunch foods in the kitchen, and the boys are out back in the pool."

"Thank you, Mrs. Ludlow," we all say, walking through the open foyer into their beautiful, bright home.

We walk around to the back, where the boys are tackling each other over a basketball in the pool.

"I'm sorry, are we interrupting something?" Amanda asks dryly, sliding her glasses onto her head.

"Just some friendly ball play," Nate responds with a smile and a wink.

Jake pops out of the pool, and I can't deny how good he looks. His tanned body is lean and strong under a sheen of water. He pushes his wet mop of hair back.

"Here, I'll take you guys to the guest house," he grabs a towel and wraps it around his waist, leading us through the thick green grass to the side of the house.

Amanda is behind him, pretending to take his towel off and making ridiculous gestures.

We all stifle laughter.

"How was the drive in? Did you guys get here okay?"

"Yeah, no problems at all! My parents sent a car, so it was easy," Lilly flaunts.

"Oh, nice."

Lilly frowns but recovers quickly, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder.

The guest house doors and windows are all open, fresh air flowing through them as Jake leads us in.

He shows us the kitchen, bathrooms, and three bedrooms we all get to ourselves this weekend.

"Geez, Jake. A little small, don't you think?" Amanda says sarcastically.

"Front lawn is wide open for the taking, if you'd prefer that," Jake quips back.

She laughs and wraps her arms around his neck, "We love it. It's perfect, you're a doll as always.