"What's your name, sweetheart?" he asked, folding his arms on the side of the pool.

"Riley."

"Riley, come into the pool." He gave me a knowing look. I knew the game he wanted to play. And I really wanted to play it too. Just once, just once I wanted to make Lacy not be the center of the world. And right now, well, right now I knew everyone was looking at me.

"I...can't..." I said softly.

"Riley," said Gabe. He placed his palms on the edge of the pool and pushed himself up out of the water. He couldn't have been hotter if he'd done it in slow motion. He came over, dripping w the next kidcater on me. His trousers clung to his body, like they'd been painted on.

"Can't be comfortable swimming in jeans like that," I said quietly.

"Want me to take them off?" He made to reach for his fly.

Amber gasped.

"G.o.d no!" I said it quickly, and he laughed.

"Riley," he extended his hand toward me. "Come into the water."

I looked over at Amber who was staring at me wide-eyed. I knew she wouldn't have hesitated like this. But she didn't know him like I did. She didn't know his tricks. d.a.m.n it, stupid Gabe. Why couldn't I ever feel as comfortable with him as he was with me? Why was I such a baby? I knew deep down what my problem was. He scared the s.h.i.+t out of me with this stupid s.e.x appeal thing he had going on.

I could see Lacy start to make her way over to us. No. No way, she wasn't ruining this for me. I took his hand, and he helped me stand.

"Okay," I said. He smiled. I waited for him to escort me over to the pool, but he didn't. "Are we going or not?"

"Aren't we forgetting something?" he asked glancing down at me.

"What?"

"The dress code?"

Oh no. No. No no no.

"Hey, Riley, what's wrong?" asked Lacy coming up beside Gabe.

"Nothing."

"Cool. Oh one thing."

"Yeah?"

"I should have mentioned this before, but I really don't want my T-s.h.i.+rts getting covered in chlorine. I'm sure y'all understand." She smiled sweetly. Gabe glanced at her then looked at me. His expression got serious.

"You know what," he said, "I'm pretty cooled off now. Never mind."

s.h.i.+t.

"Well, I'm pretty hot," I said trying to sound confident. And then I reached down and pulled the T-s.h.i.+rt over my head, and dropped it on the ground. "But you can stay here if you'd like." I put my hands on my hips and looked at him.

"No way in h.e.l.l," he said with a broad smile. He grabbed my hand again and marched me over to the side of the pool. "Ready?"

"Ready." I was able to process the expressions on the faces watching me for just a moment before Gabe and I jumped into the water together. The cold felt awesome, and the silence was even better. But Gabe's tight grip on my hand, even under water, was the best part.

We broke the surface at the same time, and he grinned at me. I grinned back. And then I realized it probably was a bit strange that we were holding hands like that, so I let go quick pretending I needed to use both hands to tread water.

"Look at you, all showing off," said Gabe in that lowered voice he seemed to save just for me.

"I was hot."

"That's for d.a.m.n sure."

"Shut up."

"You don't like a compliment, sweetheart?"

"No."

"Everybody likes a compliment."

"Not me."

Gabe shook his head and glanced around. My arms were getting a bit tired, but I was facing a bit of a conundrum. A few seconds in Lacy's bathing suit in public before jumping under water was one thing. Climbing out, grabbing a towel, trying to do it slow to act like I didn't care, that w son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h, felt as another. And swimming to the side of the pool was not much of a plan either. Not when everyone was right there, waiting.

"Gots to say, bathing suits have changed a bit in fifty years," said Gabe turning back to me. "Not that I'm complaining."

"Don't talk about the time thing," I said quickly.

"No one can hear me."

I looked around. Lacy was chatting wi of nith Charlotte, but I knew shece finally get

"So, Lacy," I said looking up at her.

"Looks like someone likes you." She broke eye contact, and I followed her gaze as Gabe climbed out of the pool with Brett and made his way to the far end again.

"Is that such a shock?" I asked.

Neither of us actually looked at the other as Gabe and Brett ran and then jumped, dangerously close to each other, into the pool. Their splashes were pretty equal and got both of us wet. Of course, seeing as I was in the pool I didn't mind. Lacy seemed a little annoyed by it. Still when the boys were back from under water she giggled and applauded their efforts.

"That was awesome!" she said. Then she sat down and dangled her feet in the water right by my head. They were perfectly manicured. "It's probably because you lost your virginity. Boys can tell that kind of thing."

"Maybe."

"You have to be careful, Riley," said Lacy finally looking at me again. "Once boys know you've done it, they'll do anything to get you to do it with them. They'll make you feel like they think you're special. And you're not."

I should have been offended by that last statement, but as I examined Lacy's expression, I wondered how much of it had really been directed toward me.

"Thanks for the warning."

Lacy shrugged. "Take it or don't, I'm just saying." She kicked her feet slowly back and forth. "Are you even going to say who it was?" everything that I was ready.

"I could, but it wouldn't matter to you. A guy I've known for a while up in Rochester. One of my cousin's friends."

"Oh." Lacy gnawed at her lower lip for a bit. It was a pretty believable story. Not many people at school knew all that much about me and my family. The biggest thing was that my Daddy was from the north and wasn't rich. Mostly they knew my mother, and that was enough for us to get by without too much scrutiny. So the Rochester thing made sense.

"Well, Riley," said Lacy, "I should probably be a good hostess and talk to other people too. Don't hog him all evening." Gabe was on his third cannonball now.

"I don't think I could. He seems to find jumping into the pool far more amusing."

Lacy shook her head. "Boys."

Were we bonding all of a sudden?

She stood up. "We'll talk later. I still want the details." She gave me one of her trademark smiles, and I thought maybe actually it could have been sincere. But I didn't want to go down that road. Best to never wholly trust a person like that.

"Hey, sweetheart!"

"Who me?" I turned and raised my eyebrows as Gabe came swimming over.

"Who else?"

"Thought you might have been talking about Brett."

Gabe laughed. "We having a lovers' tiff?"

I felt a little embarra.s.sed then that I'd made the joke. I thought it would be funny, I hadn't thought how it might have come across to him.

However, if I showed that I was embarra.s.sed, it might make things worse.

"Absolutely, I mean you didn't even bring me flowers when you came to the party. Some gentleman."

"That was horrible of me." He grinned and floated closer, placing a hand on the edge of the pool on either side of me. Oh dear. Was I flirting? I never knew when I was flirting. I decided to just keep going despite the b.u.t.terflies in my stomach and his extremely close proximity.

"And you wore a s.h.i.+rt?" I said. "I mean, what's up with that?"

Gabe gave me a look of mock anger. "Excuse me?"

"Who told you you should wear a s.h.i.+rt? Especially to a pool party. That's just wrong."

"Why you little..." And before I could dive for cover he'd pushed himself off the wall and was splas.h.i.+ng water at me, over and over again.

"Stop, stop..." I sputtered. I started to splash him back and felt ridiculous and also kind of amazing.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said stop!" I let go with both hands and sent a ma.s.sive wave in his direction. Gabe stopped and started to cough. More than cough, it was like he was choking or something.

I swam over to him. "You okay?"

He nodded but kept coughing.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure I'm sure." He finally stopped and looked up at me. "You've got good aim."

"Hey you were splas.h.i.+ng me too!"

"Got me right in the nose, in the ears, down the throat. That might have been the perfect splash, sweetheart."

"I'm sorry."

He waved off the apology and swam over to the ladder. As he climbed out of the water and took the towel o really upset, felt ffered him by the waiting Lacy, I felt bad. I didn't think it was fair that I was feeling this terrible about just splas.h.i.+ng him back, but I think I actually really annoyed him. He was shaking his head to the side now, trying to get the water out of his ears.

Jeez, it wasn't like I'd done it on purpose.

Fortunately everyone was now so totally focused on Gabe in his clinging wet jeans, that I could pull myself out of the pool, dry off, and put on the T-s.h.i.+rt again without so much as a snicker.

I sat next to Amber again.

"Oh my G.o.d, he's totally into you."

"No he isn't," I said. He wasn't. It was his game, and I'd almost drowned him. He was safer out of the water and in the hands of a cheerleader.

"He was paying so much attention to you."

"A bit, but look at him now."

"Well, at least he paid some attention to you." She sounded bitter.

I remembered then, the whole reason for us being here in the first place.

"Hey, look, Brett's been distracted by the pool, not by girls. You're okay."

"I guess."

Mindless boy conversation was actually really helpful at making me feel less lousy watching Gabe and Lacy and the rest of the squad, so we talked a bit more about Brett and whether his hanging out with Hannah was because he liked her or he was trying to make Amber jealous. 'Course we concluded it just had to be the latter.

Lacy's mom brought out some burgers at around seven, and that was a good distraction too. I wondered how late I'd have to stay at this party. I also wondered if there was any way I could leave without Lacy interrogating me about "losing it." I'd thought about not even trying to get up for a burger, I'd stayed in my corner so long I'd pretty much become invisible again. But I was pretty hungry, and I was never the kind of person who could skip a meal.

Amber and I got up and went together. Everyone must have been getting used to us, because they didn't say much as we pa.s.sed. Then again everyone was already a little tipsy, and I don't think they were paying too much attention to anything other than getting drunker.