Summer Solstice Read online

  two.

  A week passed relatively quietly. I began my job and went to the mall with Sarah. We went out to the bar for a few drinks here and there. We went to a concert. It seemed the strangeness of my first day was not to be repeated and part of me, while relieved, was immensely disappointed. I'd seen my brother at the bar, but Seth hadn't been with him.

  It was easier to be myself without his strangeness around.

  Thursday night, Sarah had to go to work, so I was alone. I also had a huge pile of laundry that I hadn't done since I'd gotten home because my parents' washing machine was acting up.

  Knowing Rich had to go to work, but that it didn't matter if I was there when he wasn't, I packed up all of my clothes and had Sarah drop me off at his apartment on her way to work. Letting myself in with the key he'd given me when he'd moved in, I wasn't all that surprised to see him lounging in the living room watching a movie with Seth as he waited to go to work.

  "Hey," Rich said, looking at me from his chair.

  Seth turned around to look at me and I felt my stomach sink to my feet. I hadn't seen him in seven days and in mere seconds, I was unsettled again. "Hey," I replied finally, picking up my laundry. "I need to wash some clothes and mom and dad's washer's busted."

  Rich nodded as if he already knew this and settled back into his chair. "You know where the washer's at."

  Seth nodded at me, then turned back to the movie. I tugged my laundry along behind me as I walked through the living room and down the hallway to the laundry room. I'd finished a load and dried them before I was disturbed. I'd just pulled a load of delicates from the dryer when the laundry door opened and closed behind me.

  I knew it wasn't Rich.

  Turning my head, I looked at Seth, who leaned against the door with a shy grin on his face. "Hey," he said simply, as if he trapped himself in laundry rooms with his best friend's sister on a daily basis.

  "Hi," I said softly, then returned to folding my clothes.

  "What're you washing?" he asked after a minute, stepping up right behind me and looking over my shoulder.

  My hands stilled instantly. Just feeling him so near me unnerved me. He'd never been this touchy before and now it seemed, he wouldn't stop. I could feel his chest rumble as he laughed.

  "Why do girls have so much underwear?"

  The comment was so entirely Seth, but when it was my underwear being addressed, it was totally different. I felt my face flare up as I did my best to fold faster and put my underwear away.

  "I don't know," I answered finally. "Why do boys adjust themselves in public?" Another laugh. More rumbling.

  A knock came at the door and Seth stepped away from me. We both turned as Rich popped his head between the crack in the door. "Everything alright?" he asked.

  I nodded as Seth said, "Yeah. I was just making sure she figured out how to use the new washer."

  Rich nodded and opened the door the rest of the way. "Well come on then," he said to Seth. "I want to finish this movie before I have to go to work."

  When I finished washing and folding my laundry, I joined the boys in the living room where they sat watching some Judd Apatow film. Rich was sitting in the recliner, which meant that I had to sit on the couch next to Seth, terrified that he wouldn't keep his hands to himself and even more terrified that I wouldn't mind too terribly if he didn't.

  We had only gotten halfway through the movie when Rich stood up and went to get ready for work. I watched Seth from the corner of my eye, but he seemed genuinely into the movie, so I felt myself relax. Maybe the way he was acting was nothing. Maybe he'd always been that touchy.

  Yeah right.

  Like I wouldn't have noticed him touching me.

  Rich left twenty minutes later and for another ten minutes we sat so far apart, you could have fit three people between us.

  Seth stood abruptly and looked at me. "I'm gonna have a beer. You want something?" he asked.

  "Screwdriver," I said, giving him a small smile and diverting my attention back to the TV. As soon as he left the room, I stretched my body along the couch. The recliner was open now that Rich had left, so I figured the couch was all mine.

  When Seth returned with my drink, I gave him a smile. "I took the couch." He rolled his eyes and took up residence where Rich had been before.

  We sat in silence and finished the movie. I thought the silence would be strange, but it was relaxed…comfortable. Which was weird for me. Normally with guys, silence would make me nervous and crave to fill to the gap with usually stupid chatter. As the credits rolled, I stood up and went to the bathroom.

  When I returned to the living room, I found that I'd lost my seat on the couch. Seth had stretched his tall form across the cushions and was watching music videos on the TV.

  "Hey," I said, walking over to the couch. "That's my seat."

  He barely gave me a glance. "I bought it," he said simply, then his gaze returned to the old Britney Spears video on the screen.

  I rolled my eyes. I love Britney, don't get me wrong. Her faults have only made me love her more as I realized that her flaws made her just as human as me, but I did not need to see him reliving some teenage fantasy over a much younger, much saner Brit.

  "Move," I said, stepping in front of where his head rested, thus blocking his view.

  "No," he grinned, then moved so he could see around me, thus ignoring me again.

  "Move," I repeated, sidestepping and blocking his view again.

  "You're really starting to ruin this for me," he groaned, adjusting once more.

  Which meant I blocked the view once more. "That's it," he grumbled before I could demand that he vacate the couch once more. Before I could even comprehend what was happening, Seth grabbed me around the waist, and pulled me onto the couch. I don't know how it happened, but somehow I ended up tucked under his body.

  "Let me go," I muttered, fighting my hardest to move. Being this close to him did funny things to my head. Right now, I needed a clear head. Not his presence all around me fogging it up.

  "No," he said, looking down at me, a huge grin on his face. "I was trying to enjoy an old Britney video for old time's sake and you had to go and distract me."

  I groaned. "Yeah. Enjoy it for old times sake, sure." He arched an eyebrow and looked at me confused. "I can leave you alone with the video, you know," I said, "if Britney's so distracting that you can't entertain me."

  Shaking his head, Seth didn't respond, only laughed which reminded me of how close he really was to me. Struggling to get free again, he held my arms above my head with one hand.

  "What are you doing?" I asked him, fighting harder against his grip.

  "You're the one who's distracting," he said simply as I watched his free hand move closer and closer to my stomach.

  "You wouldn't dare," I said simply, my voice dead serious. "I swear to God, Seth, if you tickle me, I will kill you."

  The grin that curled his lips was devilish and innocent at the same time. "You mean, like this?"

  And as his fingers met my sides, I lost it. I don't consider myself an especially ticklish person, but the sides of my stomach have always been sensitive.

  Twisting to get away from him, my shirt rid up and the second that his fingers touched my bare skin, all laughter seeped out of the moment. Seth grew serious and his eyes met mine, darker than before. Still holding my side softly, he rearranged us on the couch so that we were lying comfortably side by side, my head on his chest, his arms around me. My body tucked into his, I felt the sparks begin to course through me again.

  "I have a confession," he whispered, breaking the silence after we had been sitting there for a few minutes quietly.

  Nerves began to course through me again. What the hell was he going to say? That he was just lonely?

  "What?" I asked back, unsure of whether I should rest one of my hands on his chest or not.

  "I stole a pair of your panties."

  I practically flew out of his arms. The commotion made me forget
how narrow a couch really is and land on the floor in a sprawled mess. Seth burst into laughter as he rolled over towards the edge of the couch and looked at me.

  "You had better be joking," I said, sitting up and wincing. Sure, it hadn't been far to fall, but it hadn't felt terrific either. Seth reached into his pocket and pulled out my red boy shorts.

  The same underwear he'd seen me in only a week ago.

  My face turned redder than that pair of underwear as I stared at them.

  "Give them back," I said, my voice serious.

  "No," he said cheekily, then put them back into his pocket, a huge grin on his face. "I think I'll keep them."

  "Why?!" I asked, genuinely confused. "It's not like they'll fit you or anything!"

  Seth burst into laughter and shook his head. I really didn't get what was so funny. Why would he steal my underwear? Was he some kind of pervert?

  When he finally settled down, he sat up on the couch and shrugged. "I'm keeping them as a souvenir."

  I stood up and launched myself at him. "Give them back!" I yelled at him, trying to reach for his pocket. Of course, my clumsiness kicked in again as I tripped, flew forward and landed on the floor again. This only caused Seth to laugh even more at me. "Stop laughing," I mumbled, rubbing my elbow.

  "Your lack of grace simply amazes me," he said, sitting up and patting the cushion next to him. I got up off the floor and sat on the couch, still pouting. "I'm not giving them back," he told me honestly.

  "But they're my favorite." We sat in silence for a few more minutes before I told him, "I'm going to tell my mother about this. She'll come over here and demand that you give them back. She's going to be really mad and horrified that you stole my favorite underwear."

  "Now I doubt that, Lex," Seth responded, putting my feet into his lap and began to rub them. I wanted to moan at the sensation of his fingers rubbing swiftly against my arches, but held back.

  "Why's that?" I asked, trying to stay focused.

  Seth grinned and leaned further into the cushions. "Because she loves me and the idea that we're going to get married." I rolled my eyes and he shook his head. "For real. Our mom's have been picking out China patterns for years together now. They probably have a whole scrapbook of wedding plans that they've compiled seriously since I was in college."

  "Yeah right," I mumbled. Sure they joked about it, but deep down, they had to have known that's all it was: a joke. Because there was no way in hell that Seth and I were going to even date, let alone get married. No way in hell would Rich ever let it get that far.

  Seth looked at me for a few minutes in silence with a strange facial expression. "She never told you, did she?" Seth asked, somewhat amazed.

  "Told me what?" Now I was irritated. All I wanted to do was enjoy this foot rub and he insisted on boasting to me about how much my mother loved him and thought that he'd make the perfect spouse.

  "The comment that I made to her and my mother when I went off to college."

  Now that certainly woke me up. If the comment he spoke of was the one that my mother refused to tell me, this could be my only chance to find out what had been said. God knew that my mother probably never would.

  "No." He looked shocked and I shrugged my shoulders. "I really wish that I knew what you'd said to her because whenever the topic comes up, her face turns bright red and she makes some comment about how she'll tell me when I'm older."

  "Remember that red dress you wore to my high school graduation?" he asked, a huge grin spreading across his face.

  Sure I remembered the red dress. My mom and I had gone shopping and spent hours looking for something that I could wear to my brother's graduation. She'd found this simple red dress that went just past my knees that really wasn't all that scandalous or so I thought, apparently. "Yeah?" I asked, confused as to what that had to do with their conversation.

  "Well we were driving home from orientation – your brother, my mom, your mom, and me – when she brought up Stasia." I groaned before I could stop myself, and not because of the amazing foot rub.

  Stasia had been my brother's on and off girlfriend in high school. Before he'd dumped her for the last time, she'd cheated on him countless times, once with a police officer twice her age who's kids she'd been babysitting. To put it lightly, Stasia had been quite a whore.

  "Anyway, your mother was making some comment to Rich about how he better keep it wrapped when Stasia came to visit him at school that she didn't want to be a grandmother in the next few years." I followed this story rather well, but had no idea what the topic of Stasia or my red dress had to do with my supposed upcoming nuptials to Seth. I opened my mouth to ask, when he shook his head, effectively shutting me up. "She was so adamant about it, about how disappointed she'd be if he got her pregnant and I kind of sat back and listened for awhile." A huge grin spread across Seth's face. "And then I said it."

  My stomach sank to my feet as I was about to find out what he'd said that had my mother so flustered for so many years. "What?" I asked, somewhat horrified to know, but anxious nonetheless.

  "I told your mother that if you wore that red dress that you had on at graduation in front of me once more, that I couldn't guarantee that she wouldn't be a grandmother anytime soon."

  I couldn't help it. My mouth practically unhinged as I stared at him. He'd told my mother...he'd told her that…

  He'd implied that if I wore that non-scandalous dress in front of him that he'd what? Impregnate me? Knock me up? At least take me for a ride around the block, so to speak?

  From the smirk on Seth's face, I could just tell how proud he was of this story, and how proud he was that he'd managed to successfully shut me up.

  After a few moments, he quit rubbing my feet and cockily put his arms behind his head. When I finally found the words to say, I had to practically force them out. "You told my mother in so many words that you'd sleep with me?" I asked, amazed that he'd had the guts to do it.

  "Trust me, Lexi. There'd be no sleeping involved."

  I could feel my face heat up. Before I could stop them, images flooded my head of Seth and thoughts that were so uncensored and X-Rated that they made me blush even more.

  Suddenly feeling trapped, I stood from the couch rather abruptly. "I think I'd like to go home now."

  Seth simply shrugged as he stood from the couch. Leaving the room, he returned a moment later with my clean laundry (the underwear he'd 'stolen' sitting on top of the pile) and his car keys. Without saying a word, I followed him downstairs and to his car.

  The ride was silent, but I could feel the energy sparking around us. Seth had told my mother that he wanted to have sex with me when I'd been in high school. That was years ago. And now he was starting to act interested in me. What the hell was going on in his head?

  My hands twisted nervously in my lap and I looked out my window anywhere but at him. We were stopped at a red light and I was doing my best to act normally when I felt his large hand land upon my knee. Jumping in surprise at the contact, I turned to look at him.

  But his eyes were on the road ahead, a small grin on his lips. We drove a few more blocks in silence, his hand on my knee when I finally built up some nerve. At the next red light, I placed my hand on top of his and squeezed it gently before lacing my fingers through his. Seth still didn't look at me, but his grin grew wider. Turning my attention back to the scenery flashing by outside my window, I held his hand until we reached my house.

  With the one story that my mother had been refusing to tell me for years, he'd managed to do it.

  I was spiraling downwards quickly and it was all Seth's fault.

  I knew I wasn't in love with him, but I knew it wouldn't take all that much for me to throw all caution to the wind and tumble into it headfirst.

  three.

  When I'd arrived home, my parents were still out with Seth's, so I had the house all to myself. I watched some television before reading a few blogs and e-mails and then went to my bedroom. Sometime around one, my parents arrive
d home and after wishing me a good night, they went to bed.

  I decided to watch a few episodes of 'Coupling' before I passed out. I had just turned my TV off when I heard a strange noise outside my window, similar to the one that had woken me up only days before. Figuring that I was hearing things, I wrapped my sheet up around my body and rolled over, closing my eyes.

  Seconds later, Seth was in my bedroom, having climbed up the ladder and through my window. I sat up in shock. What the hell was he doing over at one thirty in the morning? And why was he climbing through my window?

  "Seth?" I whispered. My bedroom door was shut and I knew that my parent's was as well (air-conditioner and all), but I still didn't want to rouse their suspicions by screaming.