I was fuming. It wasn’t even my turn to be putting the jet skis away but I’d been stuck with the job because San Antonio and Seth were playing hide the sausage in the treehouse again. And seriously. They were taking the piss. Everyone was on board with their romance these days. They really didn’t need to sneak off for a quicky all of the goddamn time… Mum was quite accepting of Seth staying over these days. How things changed…
I’d just taken the last one in when I noticed a couple of guys hanging around on the boardwalk at the side of the houseboats. I frowned and ducked inside the sheds that housed the jet skis and motorboats so I could watch them. No one was supposed to be here after hours, so what the hell were they doing?
A moment later, one of the houseboat owners, Nicholas, appeared. He’d arrived here a few years ago and was a pretty friendly, if private sort of a guy. Put it this way – Mum hadn’t been able to find anything out about him. He approached the two guys and then they all headed back towards his boat. Well, that was fine, then. He must know the guys. I guessed they were just friends, then…
Hang on a minute, though… That was a bit weird. They were handing over a briefcase in exchange for something that Nicholas had brought out of his boat. What was that all about? Was Nicholas some sort of dealer? I wouldn’t be half surprised. Private was one thing – but between you and me, he’d always come across as a bit shady as far as I could tell – and a bit creepy, even if he was good looking… Yes, I had a bit of a penchant for dramatizing absolutely everything. Lyle, my once-upon-a-time best friend, was always laughing at me about it…
I stayed where I was, afraid that they might see me. What would they do? If they were bad guys, they might kidnap me or something equally as terrifying. What should I do? My brother, San Antonio had always had a bit of a thing for Nicholas before he and Seth fell in love with each other. I bit my lip, wondering if I should text him.
No.
He and Seth would be far too busy to even notice the message ping, anyway… I sighed. A few months back and I’d have instantly sent one to Lyle, asking him if he’d ever noticed anything strange about Nicholas. He was around here almost as much as he wasn’t back then – but like I said, things change...
I bit my lip as I stood there, warring with myself over what I should do?
I’d always texted Lyle when something interesting was going on. It made me feel less like a snoop and more of an investigator when I had someone to tell.
I’d told Lyle everything over the years. All about Houston and Kem falling for each other and Houston coming out in style to my parents off the back of Austin and Amy’s shock pregnancy… And then I’d confided in him all about Seth and San Antonio shagging right outside my bedroom window in the treehouse…
I sighed. What should I do? This was actually kind of like, real…
I pulled out my phone and my fingers hovered over the keys. Should I text him? Would he reply? Chances were that he’d have blocked me after that very embarrassing, very confusing but very enjoyable (at least for me) kiss the last time we ever saw each other. Screw it. In for a penny and all that shit. With my heart in my mouth that he’d tell me to get lost and leave him alone, I started typing…
