“I don’t know if he did or didn’t. He’s just dead, you know? You’re the first person I’ve met… first person my age and all… you know?”
“Yeah. Same here.”
The tailpipe didn’t sound all that terrific. And there was a low grinding noise coming from the back axle. Just her luck if the car broke down before tomorrow night.
“How much farther?” she asked.
“That’s the ski hill. Warm Springs side. Half Pipe’s on the other side. River Run. I board. Half Pipe is awesome.”
“I’ve never skied.”
“What do you do?”
“Tennis.”
“You any good?”
Summer stared Kevin down, though at no time did he take his eyes off the road.
“Yeah, okay, I get it,” he said.
“I’m thinking of going pro.”
“A friend of mine’s on the snowboarding circuit. He has endorsements and stuff like that. But I think his parents basically pay for everything. He hasn’t exactly won anything yet.” He added, “You won anything?”
“Of course I’ve won… I’m a winner… I win.”
“Anything big?”
“Big enough.”
The road narrowed, evergreens towering claustrophobically on either side. Sunset was fully an hour away, but the sky was all pink and turquoise and full of promise.
“Wow,” Summer said about it, not meaning to sound so impressed.
“Yeah, I know,” Kevin agreed.
“It’s, like, the town just disappeared.”
“That’s what happens here… the outdoors, the wilderness… it just kinda takes over. That’s what it’s all about.”
“It’s awesome.”
“L.A.?” he guessed.
“Is it that obvious?” she asked.
“I don’t mind, I’ve got a bunch of friends from there.”
“They moved up here?”
“Absolutely.”
“Whoa!”
“You and your dad could.”
“Ah… I don’t think so,” she said. “You don’t know my dad.”
She leaned out the window to see the tops of the trees. A pair of birds crossed the sky.
“Almost there,” he said. “Another couple of miles.”
“Hey, just keep driving and don’t stop, as far as I’m concerned.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
They were quiet again. But there was nothing uncomfortable about it. Silence was usually a contest for her, a weapon. With the window rolled down, the wind was in her face, her hair whipping, and it made her laugh. Her father had been hammering this same message into her for the past two years: “You’re growing up too fast. Slow down and have some fun. Don’t be in such a hurry to grow up: it’s oversold.”
“This is way cool,” she called into the wind.
“Yeah?” he called back.
Not long after that, Kevin parked the car in the beaten-down grass about thirty yards from the hot springs and well off the road. Steam rose from the springs.
He turned the key off and set the parking brake. She got out of the car. Waiting to make sure he was looking, as he climbed out from behind the wheel, she reached down and pulled her T-shirt up over her head while she walked toward the springs. Then she popped the button on her jeans and unzipped the fly. She knew his heart would be racing by now. She knew what she was doing.
Her own heart was racing too, but for a different reason. She didn’t want him decoding her embarrassment.
He wouldn’t be able to get his pants off without some major awkwardness himself. She thought that might slow him down, give her more time to make a show of her striptease. But despite all her planning, as she wiggled the jeans over her hips and down to her knees, as she sat on a rock stalling for time while kicking off her sandals, her chest felt tight.
She wasn’t sure she could go through with this. Only her father’s combativeness and certitude drove her on. If he hadn’t dragged her along on this trip, she wouldn’t be in a position of stripping naked in front of a virtual stranger.
Now Summer’s sandals sat on the grass alongside the jeans. She stood.
Kevin was looking right at her. He’d slipped out of his shirt but was taking his time with his pants. His state of arousal was apparent from across the steaming pool.
It’s now or never, thought Summer.
She unhooked her bra, taking a deep breath, hoping for courage, and let it slide down her arms. Goose bumps raced up her ribs. She squared her shoulders to make herself look even bigger than she was, hoping he was too far away to see her blush. She slid her fingers into the elastic of her bikini briefs.
I’ve gone this far…
She pulled down the briefs with both thumbs, and it was done. Dragging the liquor bag behind her, she slipped into the water, gasping at the heat.
By the time she looked up, Kevin was in the pool waist-deep.
“Oh… damn,” she said, sinking in up to her chin, hiding herself from his stare. But it was too hot to stay under for long.
“Can you believe this just comes up out of the ground all on its own?” he asked.
“Now I know what a McDonald’s French fry feels like.”
Hearing herself, she thought she sounded about seven years old. He came toward her, and their legs touched. Terrified, she pulled away and retrieved the bag.
She passed him a beer. It made her feel more in control.
“Just one beer,” he said. “A woman died out here last year, getting drunk and staying in the pool too long. So if we’re going to get serious about drinking, it has to be out of the water.”
She couldn’t stop herself from laughing.
“What?” he asked.
“You are, like, way different than most guys.”
“Because?”
“Because most guys would want to get a naked girl drunk in a hot springs. And here you are, all worried about it.”
“I’m not all worried about it,” he said defensively. “But I also know what’s stupid, and getting drunk in a hot tub is stupid.” He chuckled to himself. “I guess when your uncle’s the sheriff…” He let it hang there.
“Yeah, that can’t be perfect.”
Chin-deep, she was far too hot. She felt his eyes search her as she stood up, the waterline at her waist. To his credit, he tried to keep his eyes off her chest, but he strayed.
“You’re sweet,” she said, gulping some beer. She moved toward him, kissed him on the cheek, and made a point of rubbing her breast against his arm.
She bumped against him below water as well, just to make sure she had his attention.
Pleased with her accomplishment, she sipped some more of the beer. He was right: it went straight to her head.
He rambled on about something to do with geology, but she didn’t hear him. She’d already moved on to phase two.
She bobbed up and gave him another look at her front. “You want to take me down to the airport tomorrow night?” she said.
“There’s a shuttle every-”
“I don’t want to take the shuttle,” she cut him off.
Summer sank back down in the water. She couldn’t have some driver remembering her. She had a plan, and her fake driver’s license was part of it, her father was part of it, Enrico was part of it. And now so was a boy named Kevin.
“Yeah, okay, I guess. Why the airport?” he asked. “You going somewhere?”
“I… ah… I just wondered if you’ve ever seen the inside of a Learjet.”
“Seriously?”
“Totally. I left something in the jet and I want to pick it up, and I don’t want to take the shuttle. I hate public transportation.”
“Because?”
“Because I don’t take public transportation,” she said.
“And you’d show me around inside the jet.” Kevin made it a statement.
“I’d show you lots of stuff.” She tried to make it sound sexy but wasn’t sure Kevin caught it.
“You mean I could sit in the pilot’s seat?”
She bit back a smile. Boys. “Whatever…”
“How big is it?”