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The Long Wait Chapter 3
The Long Wait
Chapter 3
“An innocent girl on vacation?” he suggested with a grin.
Jane looked back at him with a sly smile. “Whoa, good point,” she said. Evan gave her his innocent shrug before heading off to do whatever.
Forty minutes passed, and the table of four looked ready to go. Jane was about to head over to ask them if they wanted the check when Blair, one of the other waitresses’ yelled, “Hands off, fuck-boy!”
Blair was a bit of a bitch in general, but tips were a great motivator when it came to a sunnier disposition. If she resorted to her out-of-work persona, someone had just messed up. Evan and Mike were at Blair’s side in a flash, which only seemed to escalate the situation as the table full of young guys all stood to defend their drunk, groping friend. Voices rose fast, and while only one had started the problem, the rest were just drunk enough to finish it.
Ben, who worked in the Kitchen, began his usual act when things threatened to get out of control. He came out to the group, screaming in Spanish, waving a cleaver over his head. Jane tried to play along and not giggle at the scene, as she had seen it four times already since she started. It was always 100% effective as the troublemakers would leave peacefully, leaving a more generous tip as an apology. The situation played out as it always did. After they left, Ben would turn around and bow to everyone else in the restaurant.
He said in his genuine Boston accent, “Please, everyone, enjoy yah drinks n’ meals; nothing’ ta see her.” It always drew a few laughs and a round of applause, bringing the fun atmosphere back.
Once things calmed down, Jane looked at her table and saw it empty.
“Fuck!” she said, knowing she had just been stiffed during the distraction.
“It’s all good, I’m right here.” She turned to see Todd, who had introduced himself earlier.
“I hope with money?” she asked.
He handed her two bills, a 100 and a 20. “This is like a 50% tip?” she commented, but she didn’t return it.
“Yeah, my dad wanted to get the hell out of here, but he’s always been a generous tipper,” he explained.
“Wow, tell him I said thanks then.”
“I will. I also stayed because I wanted to talk to you,” he started.
“Oh yeah, Why’s that? Oh, and did your sister stay too, by any chance?” she asked for Evan.
“No way, my dad’s protective of her. He took her home when the fight started. Why are you more interested in her?”
“She’s hot, but no, I was asking for a friend,” Jane said.
Todd made his move when he said, “So what time do you get off?”
Jane smirked, “I’ve got like another hour and a half,” she said.
“Would you be into hanging out after?” he asked cockily.
“I guess you’re just going to have to wait around and find out,” she said, walking away.
“I guess I will.”
Jane got away earlier than close and met Todd outside. He followed her into the other lake house, straight to her room. When the door closed, Jane turned to see Todd undoing his pants. For a moment, she thought it was happening way too fast but decided to be grateful that Todd had skipped right to the point. She walked up to him, dropped to her knees, and took his cock right into her mouth when it was free.
He was maybe 8 inches long and thick enough that she knew she would at least feel him if he didn’t know how to use it. She sucked him in as deep as she could, only to pull back and repeat the process. It didn’t take him long at all to get hard, but she teased him longer because her excitement built fast.
She was surprised when, barely a minute later, he said, “If you keep it up, I’m going to cum.”
She stopped immediately as she didn’t want that. Jane stood up, taking off all of her clothes in a flash. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she waited for him to pull off his shorts before he took hold of his cock and aimed it right for her pussy. Holding back her disappointment that he hadn’t even considered going down on her, she lifted her legs open, happy to be getting any at all. Todd moved slowly until the tip of his length was in place before he shoved it inside her quite uncomfortably.
There were about 20 seconds of agony until he started to feel good inside of her. All Todd did was hump into her and hold her by the thighs. His dick did all the work which she had suspected, so she did what she could to use it like the dildo he was. She pushed her pelvis into his when he would push in, and Jane was finally getting what she needed. They went on in the position for a few more minutes, with Todd asking rhetorical questions like, “You love this dick, don’t you?”
Suddenly, he picked up speed and pulled out of her. Jane was about to move into another position when she noticed him fisting his length with his eyes closed.
“What are you doing?” she asked, praying it wasn’t what she thought.
“Cumming, what does it…oh fuck yeah,” he said before shooting multiple ropes of cum from her waist to her breasts.
Jane stared incredulously as he finished stroking himself off on her. Once completed, he turned around and sat on the edge of the bed to catch his breath.
“Can you grab that towel on the chair before you?” she asked.
“Jeez, gimme a minute, will you,” he said, still out of breath.
Jane shook her head, getting up to get herself to wipe off his cum. While she wasn’t horny anymore, being completely turned off by the whole encounter, she was pissed.
To see what he’d say, she asked, “So you can go again, right?”
Todd huffed a few more times before he stood, pulling his pants back up. “I’ll be free tomorrow sometime,” he said, not knowing he was making a mockery of himself.
“Nah, I don’t think I’ll have a minute to spare,” she joked, still amazed at his ignorance.
That was until he put on his shoes and said, “Your loss, I’m going to take off. I know my wait out.”
Jane’s jaw dropped in shock. He was either ignorant, apathetic, or both. “I should hope so. You’ve only been here a couple of minutes.”
Jane listened and waited for him to leave the house before moving to her window to watch him walk through the empty lot. Without hesitation, she took off towards the shower to wash the failed experiment off. It was quickly the most unsatisfying sexual situation she had ever been in. Wondering if she should bother attempting to do it again with anyone else, she settled on asking Maria what she thought. She finished her shower, dried off, returned to her room, and called Maria on speaker.
She didn’t answer, reminding her she was off with her boyfriend somewhere in Europe. Scanning through the rest of her contacts, she threw the phone on the bed, giving up. She stood up, walking over to her bureau to grab one of the joints she had packed. Retrieving it, she saw a flickering light through the window in the corner of her eye. Evan’s apartment was mainly dark, and it was too early for him to fall asleep; the light she had seen was coming from behind the garage.
She grabbed her phone, texting him, “Is that fire you?”
“It is; wanna join?” he responded soon after.
“Sure, are you alone?” Alone? Why did she ask him that? No, it was to make sure she wouldn’t interrupt his fun.
“Yup.”
“Down in a minute,” she replied, throwing her phone back on the bed.
She sat there for a moment, thinking about things. A case rapidly built for why it would be okay to fuck Evan just one time. She had to shake the thoughts out of her head until she had successfully cleared her mind.
“You will not fuck Evan. You need this job, and you need the money even more. It's still early July; there will be plenty of guys around. Evan is off limits,” she said aloud, trying to memorize it. She stood up and made it to her doorway before she realized the first way to ensure she didn’t have sex with him was to put some clothes on her naked body.
A few minutes later, Jane walked around the back of the garage. There was a small, downed tree you had to duck under like a hidden entrance to a clubhouse, though the fire could easily be seen from behind. Passing through, she saw a pretty nifty little spot. Surrounded by bushes, trees, and the garage was a small patch of beach. Two beach chairs were already set out facing where Jane came from, with the fire between them.
Evan watched her dip down, and when she popped back up, she seemed impressed while checking the spot out. He was impressed, too, but more with her body. For whatever reason, she wore one oversized, almost see-through white shirt and boy shorts, clearly sans bra, as he had to tear his eyes away from her nipples. Evan had seen various parts of her body over the years but never so much at once as that summer. Long legs, a great ass, firm stomach, and breasts he had always thought were on the smaller end but weren’t, plus a feeling that made him feel like he was in over his head when he talked to her, always made him nervously excited.
“Welcome to my secret spot. I have rum and beer. What’ll you have?” he welcomed her.
“Rum, thanks,” she said, sitting beside him. She could see out across the lake from there, and the sound of the water quickly relaxed her.
“So, how was it,” he asked, handing her the glass.
“How fucked up are you?”
Evan smiled, “I’m on my way,” he said.
Jane giggled at him. “Well, we haven’t been out of work long enough for me to have had an orgasm, so what does that tell you?”
“Ooh, shit, I’m sorry,” the words came out, but he still chuckled. “Vacation hookups are still sex. You never know if it will be good or bad until you do it,” he continued.
His comment made her wonder if that meant he was one of the talented ones; she pushed the thought out of her head before she could hear her friend’s voice telling her he was. “Yeah, I guess, but that was a total dud. Like he had a nice enough dick and everything, but he couldn’t last. Then he had the nerve to ignore me as I had enjoyed it completely…Fuck I just feel like a hole right now,” she ranted.
Evan pulled a joint from his pocket and offered it to her. She pulled out her own, and they laughed. Jane lit hers to start.
After exhaling her second hit, she passed it to Evan and said, “Thanks, that’s why I smoke. I get so stressed out sometimes about everything.”
She looked around again and asked, “So, is this your spot?”
Evan exhaled before saying, “It’s one of my favorites and easiest to get to, but I have many spots all over the lake. In these 15 square feet, I have the highest chance of getting trashed.”
Jane laughed but also realized she had always thought he had a stick up his ass; this Evan was extremely laid back. “You know, this summer has already shattered the person I thought you were,” she admitted.
“Judgmental bitch,” Evan said, straight-faced.
She laughed despite his seriousness, and he joined in soon after. “Yeah, so what? I bet you think I’m someone else, too,” she teased.
“Maybe, how about we tell each other? It’ll probably be hilarious,” he dared.
Jane narrowed her eyes at him and said, “You’re on. I always thought you were a suck-up at work and school. It always made people like me look bad; granted, back then, I didn’t care as much.”
“First of all, I kicked ass at work because the old manager let me take three months off during the summer to come up here. As for school, I’m a nerd.”
Jane laughed, “That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” she told him. “I also never really saw you let loose like you do up here, like at all those parties we were at together or at the same time.”
Evan considered her comment before responding, “Well, I love my friends back home…”
“But?” she pushed.
“But they’re always the ones getting trashed, and I’m not interested in doing that all weekend, every weekend, you know? Besides, I’m too busy stopping them from killing themselves, jumping off something, or getting arrested for vandalism.”
Jane sighed, “Yeah, I feel the same about my brothers at my house or my dad’s garage. I’m like the mom around there,” she revealed. It wasn’t a huge secret, but she was often picky about who she invited to her house, as only her closest friends knew the situation.
“Wait, what do you do at the garage?” he asked. He knew about her dad’s garage but had assumed she had nothing to do with it.
“Work the desk, order parts, and dumb it down for customers; occasionally, I work on the cars if we’re swamped.”
Evan held up the rum, offering her more, and she accepted. “I always thought you were taking off because you had better things to do,” he said.
Jane was pleased she had proved him wrong. “Those were usually the things I had to do; that and trying to keep the family and the business from drowning.”
Evan held his glass up, and after a moment, their glasses clashed together roughly. “I’m delighted you told me all that because I like you so much more as a person now; swear it’s not just the rum and bud.”
Jane laughed. Looking back at the lake, she remembered a question she had wanted to ask him since they arrived. “Evan, what about the lake makes you seem so different?” she asked, hoping he wasn’t about to say he would turn into a pumpkin at the end of summer. She genuinely enjoyed his company.
It didn’t take him long to answer, “Everyone up here is like family. I’ve passed out right in this spot before. Instead of waking up floating in the middle of the lake with dicks drawn on me, someone had thrown a blanket at me, or they would bring me in. I’m not as sloppy as I make it sound, either.”
“No, you’re not. I’ve seen you, and not only are you a happy drunk, but sometimes you can be just delightful to watch,” she joked.
“Well, thanks. My point is that people here have my back, no matter what. It’s like my real home, not that I don’t love my parents.”
“Sounds like you’re planning on moving up here someday.”
Evan firmly stated, “Maybe in a couple of years. I’m going to school to study business management. After I get a job or jobs and have at least 10 K, I’m moving up here permanently and becoming a partner in the Lake House.”
His plan impressed Jane; he became more attractive then, so she looked away. “You have it all planned out. I’m seriously jealous. I always thought that someday, when I settled down, it would be on a beach, a lake, or anywhere near water. I’m going to school to help the family business, too.”
“Really, what’s your plan?” he asked, equally impressed.
Jane became just the tiniest bit shy. She didn’t talk about how most of her plans for her life revolved around her dad and brothers. Evan had the same things in common, and talking to him was pretty easy.
“I’m going to school for accounting to help out the garage. I’ve even taken some classes in marketing for ideas on how to expand the business so we can service more people and maybe hire some help. My dad sleeps in the garage a lot. I want to get us to a place where he doesn’t have to ever again,” Jane revealed.
“That’s cool, Jane. I’m glad I know that about you, too.”
Jane smiled at him. “So, what’s something else you used to think about me?”
His mind wandered back to roughly seven years earlier. “When we were 14, I was super nervous at first-year orientation. Yeah, everyone was, but I was panicking and looking around the gym for someone I knew. When I saw you, I didn’t even think it was you. I think you got a lot taller or something. But I thought you were the most beautiful girl in the room.”
Jane called him out, “Okay, now I know you’re either drunk or fucking with me because I was such a little nothing back then.”
“I guess not to me,” he said, very matter of fact.
Jane’s expression turned severe; she shut up and let him continue.
“There were many other pretty girls in our school, yeah. But you never looked like you had to try as hard as they did,” he admitted.
“What ended the crush?” Jane asked, hooked.
“I realized I wasn’t your type. By the end of the year, you were always getting picked up by older guys. I just dropped it.”
“Yeah, those were sadly mostly my brother’s friends; it was a thing for a while.”
They were quiet for a minute before Evan asked, “It’s not weird now, is it?”
“Which part?” Jane joked.
“The crush part, you’re not worried that I’m harboring feelings or some shit?” he asked, feeling like he may have said too much.
Jane laughed yet again. “Some shit? No, not after that. I’m honestly flattered. I’ve been thinking more and more that maybe you and I weren’t supposed to be friends until now. Like maybe we would’ve hated each other back then.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Evan said, looking back towards the lake.
After that, a comfortable silence picked up. They’d joke about something or tell a story occasionally, but it was just regular old good times. They stayed together for another 40 minutes before retiring to their rooms.
The next afternoon, the craziness of the 4th appeared to be dying down, even though it was Saturday. Rachel, Todd’s twin sister, entered the Lake House by herself, heading straight for the bar. Scarlett was the bartender; after checking the girl’s ID, she was extremely welcoming to her. Jane noticed her on her way back to the kitchen. She was about to avoid her when she instead thought about Evan.
Rachel spotted her before she reached her and said, “Oh good, I was looking for you.”
Jane was confused, “For me?” she asked.
“Yeah, um, no offense, but did you hang out with my brother last night, Todd.”
Jane cringed a bit but managed a laugh. “First of all, thanks for putting it that way. But yeah, I hung out with him very briefly.”
Rachel rolled her eyes and said, “I’m sorry. He has a reputation with the girls back home for being a ‘No-hit Non-Wonder.’ That’s his actual nickname, too. I just thought I should come by and apologize.”
“Wow, you didn’t have to do that, but thank you. He was just another in a long line of disappointing hangouts,” Jane said; both girls laughed. Rachel sipped her drink as if she were trying to draw it out. “Is there anything else I can help you with?” she pried.
To be continued
Chapter 3
“An innocent girl on vacation?” he suggested with a grin.
Jane looked back at him with a sly smile. “Whoa, good point,” she said. Evan gave her his innocent shrug before heading off to do whatever.
Forty minutes passed, and the table of four looked ready to go. Jane was about to head over to ask them if they wanted the check when Blair, one of the other waitresses’ yelled, “Hands off, fuck-boy!”
Blair was a bit of a bitch in general, but tips were a great motivator when it came to a sunnier disposition. If she resorted to her out-of-work persona, someone had just messed up. Evan and Mike were at Blair’s side in a flash, which only seemed to escalate the situation as the table full of young guys all stood to defend their drunk, groping friend. Voices rose fast, and while only one had started the problem, the rest were just drunk enough to finish it.
Ben, who worked in the Kitchen, began his usual act when things threatened to get out of control. He came out to the group, screaming in Spanish, waving a cleaver over his head. Jane tried to play along and not giggle at the scene, as she had seen it four times already since she started. It was always 100% effective as the troublemakers would leave peacefully, leaving a more generous tip as an apology. The situation played out as it always did. After they left, Ben would turn around and bow to everyone else in the restaurant.
He said in his genuine Boston accent, “Please, everyone, enjoy yah drinks n’ meals; nothing’ ta see her.” It always drew a few laughs and a round of applause, bringing the fun atmosphere back.
Once things calmed down, Jane looked at her table and saw it empty.
“Fuck!” she said, knowing she had just been stiffed during the distraction.
“It’s all good, I’m right here.” She turned to see Todd, who had introduced himself earlier.
“I hope with money?” she asked.
He handed her two bills, a 100 and a 20. “This is like a 50% tip?” she commented, but she didn’t return it.
“Yeah, my dad wanted to get the hell out of here, but he’s always been a generous tipper,” he explained.
“Wow, tell him I said thanks then.”
“I will. I also stayed because I wanted to talk to you,” he started.
“Oh yeah, Why’s that? Oh, and did your sister stay too, by any chance?” she asked for Evan.
“No way, my dad’s protective of her. He took her home when the fight started. Why are you more interested in her?”
“She’s hot, but no, I was asking for a friend,” Jane said.
Todd made his move when he said, “So what time do you get off?”
Jane smirked, “I’ve got like another hour and a half,” she said.
“Would you be into hanging out after?” he asked cockily.
“I guess you’re just going to have to wait around and find out,” she said, walking away.
“I guess I will.”
Jane got away earlier than close and met Todd outside. He followed her into the other lake house, straight to her room. When the door closed, Jane turned to see Todd undoing his pants. For a moment, she thought it was happening way too fast but decided to be grateful that Todd had skipped right to the point. She walked up to him, dropped to her knees, and took his cock right into her mouth when it was free.
He was maybe 8 inches long and thick enough that she knew she would at least feel him if he didn’t know how to use it. She sucked him in as deep as she could, only to pull back and repeat the process. It didn’t take him long at all to get hard, but she teased him longer because her excitement built fast.
She was surprised when, barely a minute later, he said, “If you keep it up, I’m going to cum.”
She stopped immediately as she didn’t want that. Jane stood up, taking off all of her clothes in a flash. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she waited for him to pull off his shorts before he took hold of his cock and aimed it right for her pussy. Holding back her disappointment that he hadn’t even considered going down on her, she lifted her legs open, happy to be getting any at all. Todd moved slowly until the tip of his length was in place before he shoved it inside her quite uncomfortably.
There were about 20 seconds of agony until he started to feel good inside of her. All Todd did was hump into her and hold her by the thighs. His dick did all the work which she had suspected, so she did what she could to use it like the dildo he was. She pushed her pelvis into his when he would push in, and Jane was finally getting what she needed. They went on in the position for a few more minutes, with Todd asking rhetorical questions like, “You love this dick, don’t you?”
Suddenly, he picked up speed and pulled out of her. Jane was about to move into another position when she noticed him fisting his length with his eyes closed.
“What are you doing?” she asked, praying it wasn’t what she thought.
“Cumming, what does it…oh fuck yeah,” he said before shooting multiple ropes of cum from her waist to her breasts.
Jane stared incredulously as he finished stroking himself off on her. Once completed, he turned around and sat on the edge of the bed to catch his breath.
“Can you grab that towel on the chair before you?” she asked.
“Jeez, gimme a minute, will you,” he said, still out of breath.
Jane shook her head, getting up to get herself to wipe off his cum. While she wasn’t horny anymore, being completely turned off by the whole encounter, she was pissed.
To see what he’d say, she asked, “So you can go again, right?”
Todd huffed a few more times before he stood, pulling his pants back up. “I’ll be free tomorrow sometime,” he said, not knowing he was making a mockery of himself.
“Nah, I don’t think I’ll have a minute to spare,” she joked, still amazed at his ignorance.
That was until he put on his shoes and said, “Your loss, I’m going to take off. I know my wait out.”
Jane’s jaw dropped in shock. He was either ignorant, apathetic, or both. “I should hope so. You’ve only been here a couple of minutes.”
Jane listened and waited for him to leave the house before moving to her window to watch him walk through the empty lot. Without hesitation, she took off towards the shower to wash the failed experiment off. It was quickly the most unsatisfying sexual situation she had ever been in. Wondering if she should bother attempting to do it again with anyone else, she settled on asking Maria what she thought. She finished her shower, dried off, returned to her room, and called Maria on speaker.
She didn’t answer, reminding her she was off with her boyfriend somewhere in Europe. Scanning through the rest of her contacts, she threw the phone on the bed, giving up. She stood up, walking over to her bureau to grab one of the joints she had packed. Retrieving it, she saw a flickering light through the window in the corner of her eye. Evan’s apartment was mainly dark, and it was too early for him to fall asleep; the light she had seen was coming from behind the garage.
She grabbed her phone, texting him, “Is that fire you?”
“It is; wanna join?” he responded soon after.
“Sure, are you alone?” Alone? Why did she ask him that? No, it was to make sure she wouldn’t interrupt his fun.
“Yup.”
“Down in a minute,” she replied, throwing her phone back on the bed.
She sat there for a moment, thinking about things. A case rapidly built for why it would be okay to fuck Evan just one time. She had to shake the thoughts out of her head until she had successfully cleared her mind.
“You will not fuck Evan. You need this job, and you need the money even more. It's still early July; there will be plenty of guys around. Evan is off limits,” she said aloud, trying to memorize it. She stood up and made it to her doorway before she realized the first way to ensure she didn’t have sex with him was to put some clothes on her naked body.
A few minutes later, Jane walked around the back of the garage. There was a small, downed tree you had to duck under like a hidden entrance to a clubhouse, though the fire could easily be seen from behind. Passing through, she saw a pretty nifty little spot. Surrounded by bushes, trees, and the garage was a small patch of beach. Two beach chairs were already set out facing where Jane came from, with the fire between them.
Evan watched her dip down, and when she popped back up, she seemed impressed while checking the spot out. He was impressed, too, but more with her body. For whatever reason, she wore one oversized, almost see-through white shirt and boy shorts, clearly sans bra, as he had to tear his eyes away from her nipples. Evan had seen various parts of her body over the years but never so much at once as that summer. Long legs, a great ass, firm stomach, and breasts he had always thought were on the smaller end but weren’t, plus a feeling that made him feel like he was in over his head when he talked to her, always made him nervously excited.
“Welcome to my secret spot. I have rum and beer. What’ll you have?” he welcomed her.
“Rum, thanks,” she said, sitting beside him. She could see out across the lake from there, and the sound of the water quickly relaxed her.
“So, how was it,” he asked, handing her the glass.
“How fucked up are you?”
Evan smiled, “I’m on my way,” he said.
Jane giggled at him. “Well, we haven’t been out of work long enough for me to have had an orgasm, so what does that tell you?”
“Ooh, shit, I’m sorry,” the words came out, but he still chuckled. “Vacation hookups are still sex. You never know if it will be good or bad until you do it,” he continued.
His comment made her wonder if that meant he was one of the talented ones; she pushed the thought out of her head before she could hear her friend’s voice telling her he was. “Yeah, I guess, but that was a total dud. Like he had a nice enough dick and everything, but he couldn’t last. Then he had the nerve to ignore me as I had enjoyed it completely…Fuck I just feel like a hole right now,” she ranted.
Evan pulled a joint from his pocket and offered it to her. She pulled out her own, and they laughed. Jane lit hers to start.
After exhaling her second hit, she passed it to Evan and said, “Thanks, that’s why I smoke. I get so stressed out sometimes about everything.”
She looked around again and asked, “So, is this your spot?”
Evan exhaled before saying, “It’s one of my favorites and easiest to get to, but I have many spots all over the lake. In these 15 square feet, I have the highest chance of getting trashed.”
Jane laughed but also realized she had always thought he had a stick up his ass; this Evan was extremely laid back. “You know, this summer has already shattered the person I thought you were,” she admitted.
“Judgmental bitch,” Evan said, straight-faced.
She laughed despite his seriousness, and he joined in soon after. “Yeah, so what? I bet you think I’m someone else, too,” she teased.
“Maybe, how about we tell each other? It’ll probably be hilarious,” he dared.
Jane narrowed her eyes at him and said, “You’re on. I always thought you were a suck-up at work and school. It always made people like me look bad; granted, back then, I didn’t care as much.”
“First of all, I kicked ass at work because the old manager let me take three months off during the summer to come up here. As for school, I’m a nerd.”
Jane laughed, “That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” she told him. “I also never really saw you let loose like you do up here, like at all those parties we were at together or at the same time.”
Evan considered her comment before responding, “Well, I love my friends back home…”
“But?” she pushed.
“But they’re always the ones getting trashed, and I’m not interested in doing that all weekend, every weekend, you know? Besides, I’m too busy stopping them from killing themselves, jumping off something, or getting arrested for vandalism.”
Jane sighed, “Yeah, I feel the same about my brothers at my house or my dad’s garage. I’m like the mom around there,” she revealed. It wasn’t a huge secret, but she was often picky about who she invited to her house, as only her closest friends knew the situation.
“Wait, what do you do at the garage?” he asked. He knew about her dad’s garage but had assumed she had nothing to do with it.
“Work the desk, order parts, and dumb it down for customers; occasionally, I work on the cars if we’re swamped.”
Evan held up the rum, offering her more, and she accepted. “I always thought you were taking off because you had better things to do,” he said.
Jane was pleased she had proved him wrong. “Those were usually the things I had to do; that and trying to keep the family and the business from drowning.”
Evan held his glass up, and after a moment, their glasses clashed together roughly. “I’m delighted you told me all that because I like you so much more as a person now; swear it’s not just the rum and bud.”
Jane laughed. Looking back at the lake, she remembered a question she had wanted to ask him since they arrived. “Evan, what about the lake makes you seem so different?” she asked, hoping he wasn’t about to say he would turn into a pumpkin at the end of summer. She genuinely enjoyed his company.
It didn’t take him long to answer, “Everyone up here is like family. I’ve passed out right in this spot before. Instead of waking up floating in the middle of the lake with dicks drawn on me, someone had thrown a blanket at me, or they would bring me in. I’m not as sloppy as I make it sound, either.”
“No, you’re not. I’ve seen you, and not only are you a happy drunk, but sometimes you can be just delightful to watch,” she joked.
“Well, thanks. My point is that people here have my back, no matter what. It’s like my real home, not that I don’t love my parents.”
“Sounds like you’re planning on moving up here someday.”
Evan firmly stated, “Maybe in a couple of years. I’m going to school to study business management. After I get a job or jobs and have at least 10 K, I’m moving up here permanently and becoming a partner in the Lake House.”
His plan impressed Jane; he became more attractive then, so she looked away. “You have it all planned out. I’m seriously jealous. I always thought that someday, when I settled down, it would be on a beach, a lake, or anywhere near water. I’m going to school to help the family business, too.”
“Really, what’s your plan?” he asked, equally impressed.
Jane became just the tiniest bit shy. She didn’t talk about how most of her plans for her life revolved around her dad and brothers. Evan had the same things in common, and talking to him was pretty easy.
“I’m going to school for accounting to help out the garage. I’ve even taken some classes in marketing for ideas on how to expand the business so we can service more people and maybe hire some help. My dad sleeps in the garage a lot. I want to get us to a place where he doesn’t have to ever again,” Jane revealed.
“That’s cool, Jane. I’m glad I know that about you, too.”
Jane smiled at him. “So, what’s something else you used to think about me?”
His mind wandered back to roughly seven years earlier. “When we were 14, I was super nervous at first-year orientation. Yeah, everyone was, but I was panicking and looking around the gym for someone I knew. When I saw you, I didn’t even think it was you. I think you got a lot taller or something. But I thought you were the most beautiful girl in the room.”
Jane called him out, “Okay, now I know you’re either drunk or fucking with me because I was such a little nothing back then.”
“I guess not to me,” he said, very matter of fact.
Jane’s expression turned severe; she shut up and let him continue.
“There were many other pretty girls in our school, yeah. But you never looked like you had to try as hard as they did,” he admitted.
“What ended the crush?” Jane asked, hooked.
“I realized I wasn’t your type. By the end of the year, you were always getting picked up by older guys. I just dropped it.”
“Yeah, those were sadly mostly my brother’s friends; it was a thing for a while.”
They were quiet for a minute before Evan asked, “It’s not weird now, is it?”
“Which part?” Jane joked.
“The crush part, you’re not worried that I’m harboring feelings or some shit?” he asked, feeling like he may have said too much.
Jane laughed yet again. “Some shit? No, not after that. I’m honestly flattered. I’ve been thinking more and more that maybe you and I weren’t supposed to be friends until now. Like maybe we would’ve hated each other back then.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Evan said, looking back towards the lake.
After that, a comfortable silence picked up. They’d joke about something or tell a story occasionally, but it was just regular old good times. They stayed together for another 40 minutes before retiring to their rooms.
The next afternoon, the craziness of the 4th appeared to be dying down, even though it was Saturday. Rachel, Todd’s twin sister, entered the Lake House by herself, heading straight for the bar. Scarlett was the bartender; after checking the girl’s ID, she was extremely welcoming to her. Jane noticed her on her way back to the kitchen. She was about to avoid her when she instead thought about Evan.
Rachel spotted her before she reached her and said, “Oh good, I was looking for you.”
Jane was confused, “For me?” she asked.
“Yeah, um, no offense, but did you hang out with my brother last night, Todd.”
Jane cringed a bit but managed a laugh. “First of all, thanks for putting it that way. But yeah, I hung out with him very briefly.”
Rachel rolled her eyes and said, “I’m sorry. He has a reputation with the girls back home for being a ‘No-hit Non-Wonder.’ That’s his actual nickname, too. I just thought I should come by and apologize.”
“Wow, you didn’t have to do that, but thank you. He was just another in a long line of disappointing hangouts,” Jane said; both girls laughed. Rachel sipped her drink as if she were trying to draw it out. “Is there anything else I can help you with?” she pried.
To be continued
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