Tag, We're It by Elizabeth Hayley

Author:Elizabeth Hayley [Hayley, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Waterhouse Press

Chapter Thirteen

R A N S O M

“Ouch! Can you be gentler?”

“I am being gentle,” Taylor said, but every time she touched my skin, it felt like it was going to fall off my body. I hadn’t been this burned since…well, probably ever. “You should’ve listened to me when I told you to put on more sunscreen after you got out of the water. The Florida sun is different.”

“How can it be different? It’s the same sun. And I lived right over the Florida border for years,” I reminded her. “It’s not like I’m not used to it.”

“You weren’t baking in the sun for almost two days straight, though, because you didn’t live near the beach.”

It was true, though I didn’t want to admit she’d been right. Taylor’s dad had rented Jet Skis in the morning, and we’d taken turns on those before eating a quick lunch and then relaxing on the beach for a few more hours. My skin had been exposed to the sun’s rays for way longer than I’d been used to.

“The aloe will help soon. Just let me put it on. It’s a few seconds of pain, and then it’ll start feeling cool.”

“Says who?” I tried not to wince when she hit the spot just above my waistline. Guess I’d missed that spot completely.

“The bottle,” she replied.

“I hope you’re right. Otherwise the company is gonna get a very angry letter once I can use my hands again.”

As much as it stung, I was glad Rita had brought it—though she’d done so in case the kids got burned, not because her stepdaughter’s twenty-five-year-old boyfriend was a dumbass. If Rita hadn’t brought any, I was sure Taylor would’ve gone to the store to get some for me. Which would’ve made me feel like a complete fucking asshole, but the thought of putting a shirt on right now and going to the store was about as appealing as pulling off my fingernails one by one with a rusty pair of long-nose pliers.

“You gonna be good to go out to dinner later?” Taylor asked after finishing my back. She hopped up on the edge of the jacuzzi tub and raised her eyes at me.

“Yeah. Yeah, totally. I’ll be fine.” I hoped anyway. There was no way I was staying home when Mr. Peterson had invited us to a nice restaurant right on the water for the last night of our visit. “I just need to stay out of the sun for a few hours.” At least the sun wouldn’t be as strong by the time we went to dinner.

“Okay,” Taylor said, not sounding completely convinced. “But honestly, if it’s too painful, you can stay home. My dad’ll understand.”

I didn’t have to know Taylor’s father well to know he definitely wouldn’t understand his daughter’s boyfriend declining a dinner he was paying for because his skin hurt him. As long as I still had it on my body, I’d be there.

T A Y L O R

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