Hanging Loose by Lou Harper

Author:Lou Harper
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: LGBT Contemporary
Publisher: Loose Id LLC
Published: 2011-06-01T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

The next day, the four of us “youngsters” headed down to the beach. I wore Jez’s spare wet suit. It didn’t bode well. Sweeping my objections aside, he’d taken into his head to teach me to surf. After considerable coaching, I was able to stand up on the board and even glide a short distance. The proud enthusiasm Jez showed was greatly out of proportion to my achievements, yet he looked so sincerely pleased that I had to believe he wasn’t just humoring me. Still, I think Jasper was the more accurate one when he joked that I looked like Donald Duck on the board.

“Don’t listen to him, Ducky,” Jez teased. “You were magnificent.”

I snorted at both the nickname and the outrageousness of that statement and pushed him underwater. Eventually I made my escape to the shore, where I could watch and draw them riding the waves. We didn’t get back to the house till midafternoon.

It was a quiet, lazy time. I took a cold shower to cool down. Upon returning to our room, I found it empty, but through the window I spotted two figures—Jez and Jasper—stroll off into the trees. My heart did a panicky little somersault. I chided myself for it; two guys could take a completely innocent walk into the woods. Jasper had a girlfriend—not that this necessarily meant anything. No, this was getting silly. I told myself to chill.

The house was too quiet. I wandered around till I found Ginny on the back deck. She was sitting cross-legged in a wicker chair with my sketchbook in her lap. It was open at one of the Venice Beach Promenade pages.

“These are really good,” she said before I could complain about privacy and personal property.

“Thanks,” I muttered.

Ginny fast-forwarded to a page her index finger had bookmarked. It was one of my favorites of Jez.

“I really like this one. Can I scan it in?”

She hopped off the chair and bounced into the house without waiting for my reply. I remembered that I had some more revealing sketches of Jez there.

“Don’t worry. I already saw the nudie ones!” she shouted back. Great.

I lowered myself into a chair and gave myself to the moment, the leaves rustling and crickets chirping. I might have nodded off for a second. Steps thudding on the deck and the scrape of a chair stirred me back to wakefulness. It was Jasper stretching out in a rickety deck chair.

“Where’s Jez?” I asked.

“Went with Dad for a drive. They’ll be back soon.”

Ginny waltzed back and thrust my sketchbook in my hands.

“Thanks,” she said unexpectedly. I think she might have even smiled.

“Be a good sis and get us a couple of beers,” Jasper spoke up. “Please,” he added, seeing her grimace. She trotted away with the minimum amount of enthusiasm.

“I think she likes you,” Jasper said once Ginny was out of earshot. He sounded nonplussed. “What did you do to her?”

“I’ve been told I’m likable. But I really don’t think she’s overly fond of me.”

“No, she definitely likes you.

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