Free Louder Than Words (Fall For Me) by Melanie Marks

The topic just seemed
kind of taboo. Or anyway, hard to choke out.)
    I went on to explain, my face still
burning hot, “The tan stuff needs to sink into my skin. I didn’t want to get my
clothes all sticky.”
    I rambled on and on, trying to explain
why I was standing in the kitchen at seven-thirty— at night —in a bikini.
    Inwardly, I groaned. Then grimaced.
“Should I change?
    Mason didn’t look up from his magazine.
“If you don’t want me ogling you.”
    My lips parted.
    A hint of a grin played at the corners
of his gorgeous mouth, though his long-lashed eyes stayed locked on his
magazine. His brow rose. “Look, just fair warning.”
    Ugh! I was going to get all sticky.
I was not looking forward to it. “Do
you want me to change?”
    His lips twitched another adorable
grin. “Is that a trick question?” His eyes danced as he finally looked up at
me. “Look Summer, I’m a guy. I know you don’t think of me that way—usually.
But I’m not related to you … and you’re not exactly unattractive.”
    I could feel myself blush. I couldn’t
help it. And I couldn’t help being flattered—whether he was teasing me or
not. I mean , Mason was a total hottie. And dated girls older than him. Girls out
of high school. In fact, I didn’t even really think he looked at high school girls anymore. Not
as more than just little toys.
    I mean, there was a time he had
said he liked my kiss—that he wanted to kiss me back—but that was a
long time ago. And he’d changed a lot. Got all this experience with older girls,
while all I’d done was had bad experience after bad experience with stupid,
immature high school boys—players and dogs.
    So, I didn’t feel Mason and I were
on the same level. Not when it came to dating or experience or attraction.
    So, yeah, his teasing gaze had me
on fire.
    Thank goodness, my cell phone
buzzed right then.
    For once it was me that got a call
to interrupt our conversation. And it was from a boy—Justin. My date for tonight. He was having me and
some friends over to hang out in his indoor hot tub while we watched
movies (in his indoors hot
tub!!) And we were going to play pool and air-hockey and all the other fun
things he had in his family’s fancy recreation room. I was stoked.

 
    “Who was that?” Mason asked when I
got off the phone. “You look sad.”
    I sighed. “I am. Wanna go dancing?”
    A smile crept at the corners of his
mouth. “I could do that.”
    “Um …”—deep blush—“ … would
you mind pretending to be my date again?”
    His smile didn’t fall. It just sort
of twitched, like the idea was amusing. “I could do that, too.”
    I’m sure right at that moment he
was thinking of me exactly as a little kid sister—one that was forever
needing petty little nerdy fake dates. Groan.
    The thing was , Justin had called me to tell me he didn’t think I should come over. My latest ex -boyfriend, Ian, had called Justin and
told him that I didn’t really like him (Justin) that I was just using him (Justin)
to get over Ian. Which I so totally wasn’t. I was so
far “over” Ian that I never even gave him a second thought. But I didn’t want
to get into that with Justin. If he wasn’t going to trust me—that I was
over Ian, then well, I didn’t want to deal with it. There was too much drama
with ex’s and soon-to-be-ex’s in my life. It was bringing me down, big time.
    So, that might
have explained why I looked so sad—that and because I love indoor hot
tubs. But to top off my look of sadness, right after Justin called—cancelling our date (though
it was more like he just wanted me to reassure him that I was totally into him,
but I couldn’t exactly do that because, well … I couldn’t) but anyway, right
after his phone call, Ian texted me. It said, “Big plans for tonight?”
    Like he knew he got Justin to
cancel on me. And that he was able to ruin my night.
    I texted Ian back now, “Yeah.
I have big plans. Huge plans. I’m going with my DATE