Five

Five

100 days until the wedding

"Yes... of  course... yeah, I understand." My pen moves across the page until the next name on my list becomes a mess of black ink. "Okay, uh huh, bye."

I end the call and throw my phone down next to me on the bed as a sigh slumps my shoulders. I allow myself to sit there for a few seconds and soak in the defeat before I lift my shoulders back up. The list gets shoved into my nightstand and my feet get shoved into a pair of teal flip flops because I still have a beautiful summer day ahead of me.

"Mom! Are you still coming with me or—" The yell dies on my lips, and my steps falter at the sight of Nathaniel Graham standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Hi?" I don't bother trying to hide the question from my voice, and he doesn't try to hide the amusement in his smile in return.

"Hello to you too."

We stand there staring at each other for a few seconds before my mom rushes behind Nate to get to the door.

"Avery! Your dad and I—"

"Mom," I quickly cut into her yell before clopping down the rest of the stairs to meet her by the door, and she finally glances up from her incessant purse digging to meet my gaze.

"Dad is insisting that we need a new weedwacker, so even though I wish I could come with you, he says I need to go with him because supposedly the Home Depot guys are nicer to me."

I open my mouth to protest, but she quickly plants a kiss to the side of my head.

"Have fun!" she calls over her shoulder.

"Wait! I can still have"—I open the door back up only to find my parents zooming away in my dad's car and my mom's car nowhere to be found—"the car." The words barely leave my lips before I find my shoulders slumping again.

"I think that's where I come in."

I slowly turn on my heel to face a sheepish looking Nathaniel Graham as he gives his car keys a quick jiggle in his hand.

"Let me guess..." I close the door with my back before leaning against it. "Aubrey needed the car because her car isn't good enough—for some reason—and paid you to take me to the beach."

"You're close." A laugh leaks through his lips despite the slight hesitation on his face. "But I think it was your grandma and I wish there was payment."

"Unbelieveable!" I throw my hands up and aggressively flip flop my way past Nate and into the kitchen. "For three days—three days! I've consistently reminded everyone that I needed the car because it's summer and all I want to do is go to the beach." I stop my pacing and whip back around to look at Nate through the doorway. "Is that too much to ask? I mean"—my pacing ensues—"I know it's a solid hour and a half away and I know I should have gotten a new car by now, but it's not my fault some sleepy guy plowed into the car I've had since I was eighteen when it was parked in its rightful place on the street! Thankfully, no one was hurt, well, except for my car and apparently my freedom!" I stop and grab the bridge of my nose not only realizing that I'm out of breath, but also that I really hate being so agitated over something so stupid.

Nate clears his throat and the sound of it tells me he dared to venture into the kitchen.  "I can take you. It's not a big deal."

"No." I sigh. "I'm not in the mood anymore."

"Well, I am." Although my gaze is on the floor, I see Nate's posture straighten as he puffs out his chest. "I even brought Gatorade."

"Gatorade," I repeat, glancing up to meet his gaze, and he grins at the fact that he peaked my interest. I tilt my head to the side in mock inquiry. "What kind of Gatorade?"

Nate rubs his jaw, mock contemplating his answer for a few seconds, before dropping his hand. "Yellow." I immediately scrunch my face up in disgust, but he immediately retracts his in defense. "It's the best one!"

"I know." I flash him with a cheeky smile. "I just wanted you to know how it feels to have your chops busted." I send a quick glance down into my beach bag before zooming past him. "I just need to grab a towel."

As I flip flop down the stairs again I find Nate standing where I found him the first time, and I once again find myself stopping in my tracks. "Thank you." I can only hope he sees the sincerity in my gaze.

"You're welcome, Avery James."

I find myself smiling at his declaration of my full name that in our few encounters he's transformed into a nickname. I make my way down the stairs and hold the door open for him so I can lock it behind us.

"Plus, your sister gave me gas money." Nate shrugs as he steps out, and I gasp.

"So she is paying you!" The whine leaks from my voice, but Nate just continues to walk backwards across the lawn to get to the army green jeep I didn't even realize was parked along the curb.

"Come' on, Avery James." He waves me over with an amused smile and I comply only because the sun is shining and it'd be a shame not to spend the day basking in it.

****

"You're under an umbrella and you're still putting on over twenty layers of sunblock?"

"Excuse me for not wanting to get burned, or even, I don't know, skin cancer!"

"I'm wearing sunblock because I'm sitting in the sun. All you're doing is blocking out the shade."

"Why do you even care? It's not like I'm bothering anyone."

"Actually, you're bothering me because you look like Larry the Lobster from Spongebob."

I quickly swipe a hand across my nose and feeling a layer of sunblock there, I rub my hands over my whole face. "There, are you happy now?" I send Nate a glare as he stares up at me through his fingers in his attempt to block the sun with his hand.

"Yes, thank you." He then lays back down, resuming his shirtless, sun tanning position.

"And I thought Aubrey was annoying at the beach," I mumble, harshly rubbing the last bit of sunblock on my arm.

"What was that?" He grumbles back and I spit out a quick 'nothing' before he pulls his shirt out from under his head and places it on his face. I stare at his lump of a head for a few more seconds before casting my gaze out to the water filled with other laughing beach goers. "Do you ever relax?" The question is muffled by his shirt, but that doesn't stop unfiltered frustration from leaking into mine.

"Do you ever shut up?"

"I'm serious." He laughs and peels the shirt away from his face as he sits up.

"Me too," I grumble as I wipe at the sand on my towel.

"Would a Gatorade make you feel better?" He reaches into the mini cooler he brought. "I'm sorry I drank all the yellow on the way here, but the blue one is just as good."

Although he isn't wrong, I still find myself slipping my blue and green tie dyed shirt over my head. "I'm going for a walk."

"You just put on all that sunblock and now you're just going to wash it away?"

"Walk," I emphasize the word before standing up. "I'm going for a walk."

"Okay, I'll come."

"No." Is my immediate response as him and his black swim trunks jump up from his towel.

"Yes," he says, squinting his eyes as he looks down at me with his few inches in height.

"No," I say again, but this time my frustration dissipates to exhaustion with this ridiculous banter we have going.

"Yes." He laughs before strutting towards the shoreline.

I stare at his back for a couple seconds, wanting to be irritated, but as the warmth of the sun covers me I feel anything but.

Nate passes me a sideways glance when I reluctantly catch up to him, but he luckily doesn't say anything. My gaze wanders from the bright blue in the sky, to the soft waves beating against the shore, and then to the patterns our feet are leaving in the sand. As sunbathing and kid playing people nonchalantly follow our trail with their eyes I find my hands nervously wringing themselves into the end of my shirt.

"I don't understand you, Avery James."

I sigh. "What don't you understand, Nathaniel Graham?"

"Nate." He's quick to correct me and rubs a hand down his face when I glance his way. "Please, because you sound like my mother."

"Oh, I apologize, Nathaniel." I immediately regret my tone when he stops in his tracks.

"What is your problem?"

"What? You're allowed to play the name game and I'm not?"

"No." Nate rubs another hand down his face. "I mean, I brought you to the beach because you wanted to go to the beach and ever since we got here it seems a sand crab crawled up your ass."

"Are you serious?" I momentarily cringe at the shrill in my voice before throwing my hands up. "I already told you that you didn't have to take me."

"That's not the point." He huffs out before his hands find his hips. "Is this about the gas money thing? Because I was totally kidding. I mean your sister did ask, but—"

"For cryin' out loud!" I throw my hands up, yelling at no one in particular before searing him with my sudden annoyance. "Ever since Aubrey got engaged it seems everything in my life has started to revolve around her! And all my life I've been questioned and told I'm not doing things right and by right, I mean, like Aubrey, so I'm sorry if I refuse to accept the same kind of criticism from you." The rush of adrenaline the admission of those words provided me propels me back in the direction we came from.

"So, this is about the sunblock? Because if so then I'm sorry if I offended you. I just thought you were being a little excessive that's all."

Nate's words trail right behind me and I shake my head almost wanting to let out a laugh, but refrain.

"No, this is not about the sunblock." I huff out a sigh when we finally near our towels and plop back down on mine, burying  my head in my hands. "This isn't even about you."

I sit like that for a few seconds before the shock of ice cold Gatorade touches my arm and has my head snapping back up. When I meet Nate's gaze, he tilts his head to the side, proving that it's a peace offering, and I accept it.

"I am sorry, I really don't know where all that came from. I mean, it's not even my wedding and yet I feel like the only one turning into a basket case." I twist open the cap of the bottle and take a sip before continuing. "I just seem to be taking it out on you, out of all people."

Nate sends me a small smile as he leans back on his hands. "You have a right to be angry."

"With you?" I laugh. "Because I'll admit that we barely know each other and yet you really piss me off."

His smile widens as he shakes his head. "You are probably the most honest person I've ever met."

"Honestly." I grin at my own choice of words. "I think you are too, but I'd say you're more along the lines of blunt."

His laugh is warmer than the sunlight. "Well, at least we know that." He takes the opportunity to sear me with those brown eyes of his. Eyes that are just a shade darker than mine. "No matter what happens this summer, we both will always be honest with each other, which is why"—he sits back up and reaches his hand out towards my forehead—"I must tell you that you still have sunblock on your forehead."

I gasp. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Nate swipes his fingers across the supposed spot. "I'm telling you now. Isn't that all that matters?"

I slap his arm, but when that only gains me a smirk, I stand up.

"I'm going in the water."

"Okay, let's go." Nate jumps up as I pull my shirt over my head.

"Who said I wanted you to come?" My tone is more mocking than it was fifteen minutes before, but Nate's face becomes impassive.

"Fine, then I won't."

My nose scrunches. "Really?"

"Hell no!" He grins. "Last one there buys the other ice cream!"

I yelp when he lightly shoves me back down onto my towel and races off to the shore. I don't even try to catch up, but rather watch as he plunges into the blue-green waves.

"What are you five?!" I yell when he comes back up and whips around to face me.

"No! I'm Nathaniel Graham, nice to meet you!" He yells back with his hands cupped around his mouth and I lean back on my hands.

"You're mother must get a kick out of that!' I pull a mocking stern face and wag my finger. "'Nathaniel Graham get your ass over here!'"

"She does!" He wipes a hand down his face, most likely removing the water there. "But not in that British, Australian, or whatever accent you just tried pulling off."

I let my mouth drop even though he's right, and he finally stands so he's no longer a bobbing head in the water.

"Now, Avery James! Will you get your ass over here?" He slaps the water with his arms.

My lips immediately form a thin line at the fact that he repeated the 'motherly' phrase I created. Nate only continues to grin and exaggeratedly waves me over, almost splashing water on a few kids trotting by. I sputter out a laugh at his antics, but comply only because I'm sweating my ass off and desperately need to get the sand off my butt.