The Final Choice

38

Colby caught my eye and grinned. I smiled back, but the nerves were already clogging my throat. I didn't think this through. Why was it that, sometimes, I was perfectly fine being around him and other times, I was so nervous that I thought I might faint?

I clenched my teeth, willing the nerves to go away. I was beginning to annoy myself. 

"Looks like its just us for a while. What do you want to do?" he asked, as he stood up from his stool. "Um, I don't know," I laughed. "It's your house. What is there to do?" He held his hand out to me, so I took it and stood up. "Why, whatever your little heart desires," he replied, in a weird Disney Godmother kind of voice. 

"Never do that again," I laughed, shaking my head at him. He chuckled and pulled me along with him, towards the living room...or the den? I lost track of what they called it, but it was the one with all the couches that they stayed in the most, when other people were here. 

"Do you wanna watch a movie, or Youtube, or something? Or, do you want to jump in the pool? Or enjoy the hot tub? OR, we could play a game, or put together a puzzle. Literally, anything you want to do, but YOU have to choose," he said, as he grabbed my other hand and grinned at me. 

"You're bossy," I grumbled, jokingly. "Um, they all sound great though! What would you pick?" "Nope," he said, cocking his eyebrow at me. "Not gonna do it for you. YOU CHOOSE." "Damn it," I groaned, when he saw through my ploy. 

"Well, I would say the pool or hot tub, because I love the water, BUT I don't have a swimsuit," I sighed, like it really bothered me. I did actually have a swimsuit, a tankini, in my bag. Denise had stuck the one I had left at her house, in my bag, when I wasn't looking. I didn't even see it until this morning. Either way, I didn't want Colby to see me in a swimsuit, so that wasn't gonna happen. 

"Oh, that's fine. We can go buy you one really quick!" he exclaimed, with excitement. His blue eyes actually sparkled, drawing me in like a moth to a flame. "What?" I asked, when he looked at me expectantly. "I see you still zone out a lot," he laughed. "Do you want to go to town really quick and buy one?" 

I shook my head, quickly. "No. No! I'm not letting you buy me a swimsuit! You already bought me dinner last night AND breakfast this morning! I'm not here for you to spend money on me!" He rolled his eyes and pursed his lips. "Cal, it's a swimsuit. We can just go to Target or something, if that's what you want. Come on, you want to go in the pool, so let's make that happen." 

I held his gaze, making my own stern, until he caved and shrugged his shoulders. "Fine. I'm sure Kat has one here that you wear. Let me just give her a quick call to-" he started, taking his hand from mine. "NO!" I yelled, grabbing his hand back. "I'm sorry, I really like Katrina, but I know for a FACT, that I'm NOT confident enough to wear any swimsuit that belongs to her. Besides, it's kind of...icky to wear another girl's bottoms. To me anyway. I might be weird.""

"Then let me buy you one, Cal! Pleeeeaaaseeee," he begged, pulling me close to his body. Shit. I was gonna cave. I already knew it. "Fine," I groaned. "Whatever. Let's go buy a damn swimsuit. But, its not gonna be expensive and I'm going to pay you back, as soon as I get home. It's also NOT going to be a two piece. I get to pick it. Got it?"

I watched the corners of his lips turn up slowly, as he brought his bottom one into his mouth and bit down gently. "Got it" he replied, gruffly. "Damn it," I muttered, under my breath. What the actual fuck was wrong with me?? Why did I even mention the stupid pool?

I didn't fight him this time, when he pulled his hand from mine, to retrieve his phone from his pocket. I pulled out my own to scroll through while he did whatever it was he was doing. I was still itching to open Will's texts, but I managed to resist again. Progress. I was proud of me. 

"Alright, go slide some shoes on and we'll get going," he said, as he stuffed his phone back in his pocket. "Wait, just like that?" I asked, taken aback. "I need to at least brush my damn hair. Probably my teeth too. I can't just go! Not all of us can roll out of bed looking," I motioned my hand up and down his body. "Like that." 

A huge smile formed on his face, lifting his cheeks, as he met my gaze. "What?" I asked. For the love of all that is holy, stop looking at me with those eyes! "You think I'm cuuuuute," he said, as he started doing some stupid little dance, swinging my hand in his. "Stop it. I didn't say that," I giggled, pulling away from him. 

"You did though. You think I'm sexxxxaaaayyyy," he sang out. "Oh my God," I laughed, letting my mouth fall open, when he started thrusting his hips in the air, in a really goofy way. "That's definitely NOT sexy!" I exclaimed, backing away from him. "The longer you stand here, not getting ready, the longer I'll do this," he replied, keeping up with his raunchy antics. "I'm going!" I squealed, when he lunged for me. 

I darted up the stairs and back to the room that I was staying in, still giggling at how ridiculous he was acting. I went straight to my bag and just dumped the contents on the bed. That way, I'd have no choice but to hang them up, before I got to lay down.

Of course, they were so wrinkled now, what was even the point?

I grabbed a pair of socks from the pile, when the yellow tankini caught my eye. Should I just grab it and tell him that I forgot that I packed one? No, because I wasn't good at lying and he would start in on me about why I did it. So, I really had no choice but to hide the damn suit and let him buy me another one. 

"Whatever," I muttered, throwing the suit back into the bag. "I'll pay him back as soon as I get home to my savings. I knew that a suit, top and bottom, would cost me around 50 bucks back home, so there was no telling what it would cost here. Probably a good bit more, even at Target. 

50 dollars was a lot of money to me, so this suit was really going to cut into my savings, but it is what it is. I wasn't going to worry about it today. No, today, I was determined to have fun.

Even if Colby had to see me in a fucking bathing suit. Damn it. 

I sighed and finished putting on my shoes. I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, then dragged my brush through my hair. I really didn't feel like bothering with makeup, so I didn't. No sense in trying to be someone that I'm not, just because of who I was around. Colby knew that I rarely wore makeup. 

Once I was reasonably satisfied with the way I looked, I grabbed my wallet out of the clutch that Katrina had let me borrow, and slid it into the only purse that I had brought with me. My beat up, black shoulder bag that went with everything, and held all that I needed. I added my cigarettes, marveling over the fact that I hadn't smoked one yet today, then headed back downstairs. 

Colby was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, looking as handsome as ever. He was wearing a pair of gray sweats, with a white cut off that had his initials stamped on the front. I stopped on the next to last step and inspected that shirt. 

"Um, that looks like it's supposed to be a Calvin Klein, but instead, it's a Colby Brock," I giggled, pointing at his chest. He looked down, then back up at me with one of those heart stopping grins. Crap.

Just breathe.

"I had it specially made," he shrugged, looking a little embarrassed, as he bit the corner of his bottom lip. "I like it," I croaked out. My throat had went completely dry. "Yeah?" he asked. "I usually just wear it around the house, or if I'm running to the store really quick. It's just a comfort thing now. I wore it to Coachella once, though. Before I cut it, I mean." 

"Coachella?" I asked, wonder filling my voice. He had such a completely different life than I did. It must be amazing to be able to live like this. "What was that like?" He held his hand out to me, so I slid my palm into his and followed him to the front door. 

"It was fun. I'll tell you more about it in the car, cuz it's time to go get that suit!" he exclaimed.