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.“I like him, but I don’t know how much more I can deal with this little kid crap.”“Then ask him to do something.”She looked at me as if she’d just found out that her puppy drowned.“I can’t do that.”“Sure you can.”“Nope.” Gianna closed her eyes and shook her head.“I have never asked a guy out in my life and that’s not about to change.We don’t do it like that in Jersey.”“Suit yourself,” I replied with a shrug.“I guess you don’t like him all that much.”She narrowed her eyes.“You don’t think he’s going to ask me?”“Eventually I bet he will,” I said.“But he doesn’t get all that much attention from girls and I’d bet he has no idea you’re into him.So if you want to get this show on the road, you need to ask him.”“What if he says no?”I frowned, surprised to see the insecurity written all over her face.“What was that whole thing you said to me the other day? Great risk, great reward, losing out on something amazing because you’re too scared to try? I know you’re not a hypocrite, Gi.”A cloud masked her face as she glared at me.“Using my own words against me? I’m hurt.”I shrugged, trying to hide my smile.“Too bad.You know what you’ve got to do if you want to see Joey again.”She rolled her eyes.“Yeah.Some of us have to actually work for a guy’s attention.Must be nice to have a gorgeous lifeguard throwin’ himself at you.”I grinned.She was right.It was.***I used to laugh when I heard about girls taking more than half an hour to get ready to do something.What could they possibly do to themselves that took longer than watching an episode of Scooby Doo?But I’d been staring at myself in the bathroom mirror for well over an hour now and my hair simply wasn’t going where it was supposed to.No matter how much I tugged, sprayed, moussed, and brushed, I couldn’t get those soft beach-loving waves that always looked so easy to create.I sighed, tossing my brush to the side of the sink.I needed to meet Jeff at Steamers in twenty minutes and I was burning daylight.My hair would just have to do.After slipping into a purple flowery sundress and gold-glittered sandals, I shouted to my grandmother that I was leaving and hurried out the door before she could stop me and ask questions I didn’t want to answer.Steamers wasn’t too far to walk and I wasn’t about to ride my bike in this dress.Central Avenue looked beautiful tonight, lights shining brightly, happily, dancing down streets.People’s smiles lit up the night, the sounds of their laughter doing nothing but reminding me of how happy I was and how much I couldn’t wait to see Jeff again and make him smile.I beat him to the restaurant, but decided to sit down at our table anyway.He’d be right behind me.“Can I get you anything to drink while you wait?” A pretty brunette with a warm smile handed me a menu, which I put down on the table unopened.“No, thanks,” I said.“It should only be a minute or two.”She nodded and walked away.I glanced around the dimly lit restaurant, candles burning on each table, casting a warm glow on the diners.I locked eyes with the woman at the next table and she shot me a sympathetic smile and I frowned.Did I look sad?How was that even possible on the best night of my life?I tried not to glance at the door, but it became harder with every passing minute.Still, I sat there, waiting for him, knowing he’d be there, figuring he got caught up on the beach.Maybe a kid had gotten stuck in a rip current and Jeff had to go in after him.I smiled, thinking about the day when he’d suddenly appeared at my side in the ocean as soon as it looked as if I was in trouble.Jeff had watched me with Anthony.“Are you sure there’s nothing I can get you?” The waitress returned, staring down at me with expectant eyes.But I just shook my head.“No, I’m waiting for someone.”She raised her eyebrows ever so slightly, but nodded and walked away for the second time.I swallowed and glanced down at my phone, realizing I’d been sitting there for almost ten minutes already.Jeff was a lot later than I thought and hadn’t even bothered to send a text letting me know he was hung up somewhere.I shot him a quick message, asking him where he was, and rested my phone on the table, my hand clutching it, needing to feel the trusty vibration of a response as if it was some kind of confirmation that he hadn’t forgotten about me, that I still meant something to him like he did to me.The woman at the next table kept shooting me glances so I finally opened the menu just to have something to do with my hands, but the words swam in front of my eyes, not registering.I couldn’t stop looking up at the door.As each second ticked by and the door remained closed, my palms grew sweatier, a knot forming in my stomach.Just as I forced my eyes down to the menu, I heard the bells clang above the door and looked up eagerly.Finally, he arrived.But a man and woman walked in together, his hand resting on the small of her back.My heart sank.Not only was Jeff not here, but the couple that I wished we could be was, and now I’d have to watch them act all lovey-dovey with each other when I couldn’t even get a guy to show up to eat with me.Thirty minutes had gone by now.As I watched the couple laugh together, each pointing out different menu options, pausing every now and then to kiss sweetly, I stood, seeing enough.I couldn’t stay here and watch this.I needed to find Jeff and figure out what happened.Maybe he’d forgotten.Or maybe I’d gotten the day wrong.Maybe we were supposed to meet tomorrow.No.I wouldn’t screw something like that up.Not when it meant time with Jeff.I kept my head down as I walked out of the restaurant.I didn’t want the sympathetic smiles and stares from the woman at the next table, the waitress, the hostess.It was like they’d all known this would happen as soon as I walked in alone.The night breeze felt cool against my skin and I shivered.The lights weren’t shining nearly as bright this time and the laughter of people walking along Central Avenue did nothing but remind me of what I’d apparently lost.I walked quickly down the street, suddenly needing to get back to Gull Boulevard, needing to get back to the lifeguard stand where Jeff worked, needing to see the emergency that kept him from me.I expected to hear the scream of sirens, see the flashing lights of cop cars swirling around the street, Jeff in the middle of a heroic rescue.But the street was quiet, undisturbed, almost eerie in its night silence.I wasn’t sure what to think now, but I knew I needed to get to the beach, find the lifeguard stand, and figure out what to do next.My stomach twisted as I approached the beach bridge and I swallowed hard.My feet felt heavy, lethargic, as if someone had tied bricks to them when I wasn’t looking.I didn’t want to cross that bridge.But I did.As I walked down toward the sand, I caught sight of a couple standing where the breaking waves came into shore, their feet close enough to get wet each time a new wave rolled in.I smiled sadly and bit my lip, tears prickling at the corner of my eyes.Here was another set of people, lucky to have found each other, so happy to be together [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]