Effortless With You

Effortless With You

Lizzy Charles

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author makes no claims to, but instead acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction including brands or products such as: Nikon, MTV, Hallmark, Earl Grey, Coach,
Elle
, Skippy, BMW, Prosche, Pixy Stix, NPR, Post-it, Daytona 500, Cadillac Crossover, Jeep.

Copyright © 2013 by Lizzy Charles.

EFFORTLESS WITH YOU by Lizzy Charles

Summary: The story of a girl who desperately needs an attitude adjustment, and the boy who gives it to her.

All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America by Swoon Romance. Swoon Romance and its related logo are registered trademarks of Georgia McBride Books, LLC.

No part of this eBook may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Editor: Mandy Schoen

Publisher: Swoon Romance YA

Cover designer: Victoria Faye

HOW TO DATE A NERD sample copyright©: Cassie Mae

THE FUNERAL SINGER sample copyright©: Linda Budzinski

Praise for EFFORTLESS WITH YOU

A definite MUST READ! EFFORTLESS WITH YOU left me smiling like a doofus and hugging my Kindle
. – Cassie Mae, bestselling author of REASONS I FELL FOR THE FUNNY FAT FRIEND

To my mother and daughters.

Effortless With You

Lizzy Charles

CHAPTER ONE

I can’t resist the water’s temptation after a sticky hour of tanning under the scorching sun. I slip into the empty pool and sink to its bottom. The water’s cool thrill rolls through my hair. Misshaped forms blur along the pool’s edge, feet dangling in the pool. Large bubbles escape my lips. I watch them float to the surface before I follow.

It’s surreal to be here, hanging out without fear of attack.

I dunk my head in the water one last time, pulling my towel around my shoulders. I’m almost comfortable in a bikini, but don’t want people thinking I’m trying to put myself out there. Snatching a magazine from my bag, I stretch out on my lounger. Fitting in with Marissa’s pool routine is easy.

Marissa stretches out next to me, one leg long, the other bent up. This is her new tanning pose that makes her belly look flatter. I can’t really tell the difference, and she’s a size two anyway. She flips her blond hair and casually adjusts her top. A hot guy must be approaching.

I peer over
Cosmo
. Correction. It is
the
guy.

Justin Marshall.

Justin pulls his hands through his dark hair with a smile. He laughs, rubbing his chiseled jawline with its always-there, five o’clock shadow. He’s every girl’s dream. Well, every girl but me.

Everyone stops Justin on his way around the pool. Guys hold up high fives and girls offer giggling waves. It takes him over five minutes to walk forty feet. It looks like a nightmare to me, but he certainly seems to enjoy it. He deals with everyone like a prince, flashing his white smile and chuckling. He pulls his hands through his hair again, an obvious maneuver to make his shoulder muscles pop.

He’s totally into himself. That much is clear.

I try to hide my sour expression as Justin nears. Marissa will kill me if I scare him away. I duck behind my magazine. Although I hate his ego, I’m not immune to his washboard abs. I refuse to let my lingering eyes betray me.

“Justin, hey!” Marissa calls as she tosses her bangs out of her eyes. “How’s your dad’s campaign going? It’s going to be such a gift to Minnesota when he’s our governor.”

Eww. A little too much sugar on that, Marissa.

“Yeah, that’s the hope.” Justin’s signature chuckle rolls from his lips.

Marissa giggles. “So, are you going to Watson’s party tonight?”

His hand returns to his head, fingers tracing through his hair, creating the perfect tousle of curls. God, he just can’t get enough. He leans in, placing his foot onto her lounger. “Hmm, well, it’s the place to be tonight, right?” He offers a crooked smile, pouring charm all over her.

“Of course it is. I’ll be there,” Marissa says in a low, sultry voice. She sucks in her stomach, leaning toward him with perfectly batted eyelashes. She’s skipped to stage three of flirting. We developed the stages this year over winter break while I crashed at her place. There’s no way I could spend that much time at home.

“Well then, you can count me in.” Justin nods at me and I return it slightly as I focus on the magazine’s wrinkled water stains. Move on, dude.

A laugh escapes him as he pulls his leg off of Marissa’s lounger, strutting to his next group of admirers.

Good. Be gone.

Marissa squeals to herself and I hold in my sigh. I feel a bit sorry for her. Justin going to the party has nothing to do with her being there. He’s already dating the most perfect girl in school. Not that that matters to Marissa. If anything, it encourages her.

Justin climbs up the back of the lifeguard stand, planting a kiss on the cheek of a beautiful blond. She laughs as she pretends to shove him off before she climbs down. He steps aside as her replacement climbs up, wrapping his hand around the blond's before finding a table in the shade. “Ugh. What does he see in Jennifer?” Marissa turns over to her stomach, pulling her sunglasses down, watching Justin and Jennifer. Jennifer rises as he tilts his head down. Their foreheads touch and then they exchange a brief kiss.

“Well, she’s the student body president. And there’s that whole head-cheerleader thing …” Sarcasm is safer than honesty.

“But that’s not enough to keep a guy going for a whole year. They just don’t seem right together, you know?”

Jennifer tilts her head back as Justin launches a grape into her mouth. Marissa’s right. They don’t seem right. They’re perfect.

“Gag me now.” Marissa pinches my leg, demanding my attention. “She acts like she owns him. He needs someone less controlling, less high maintenance.”

“Like?” I tease. Marissa claims they kissed once, back in middle school. But I can’t picture them in a dark closet together. Doesn’t compute.

“Me, of course.” She answers too seriously. “This summer, I’m going to show Justin just how much he’s missing. Come August, he’s mine.”

I cringe. Marissa always gets what she wants.

Justin wraps his arms around Jennifer in a bear hug.

My heart twists. Whatever plan Marissa has concocted is sure to ruin them. But really, should I care?

I plaster a smile on my face. “You two would be great together.” Exactly what she wants to hear. I owe her at least that much.

Marissa saved me from social suicide. She fixed everything for me, from teaching me how to make a ponytail fancy with an extra bump to strict instruction on eyebrow shaping.

“Lucy, Lucy!” Marissa pulls the magazine out from under my nose. “I’m gonna wear my new capris with that cute canary tunic. You wear that green sundress I picked out for you. That way we can coordinate in all the photos.” She opens her hobo bag and pulls out her Nikon, taking a quick shot of me before I can protest. Then she hands the camera over. I click away as she pushes out her lips for the shot.

The green sundress? I wasn’t totally in love with the puke color but Marissa insisted it settled perfectly over my hips and butt. Marissa’s a fashion expert. She pulled me out of the janitor’s closet last year. It was easier to eat lunch there than have food thrown at me in the cafeteria. And safer. The seniors never found me there. But Marissa did. She turned my life around. I trusted her. I still do. With Marissa, people actually talk to me. They have no idea I was
that freshman girl
the seniors hated. I could breathe again.

“You know that green dress will drive Zach totally wild. It makes your butt look hot!”

My stomach flutters and my lips curl into a goofy grin. Zach. My new boyfriend. Okay, true. I’ll totally wear the dress.

Zach’s
an outgoing, uncomplicated jock who’s an amazing kisser
. My stomach’s still doing flips after my first kiss and however many more we fit in during the last forty-three minutes of the new
Scarn
movie. The smell of his cologne clings to my shirt at home. I can’t bring myself to wash it.

Marissa pokes me, “Oh, sweet. His name makes you blush.”

A super girly giggle escapes my lips. “Did I tell you we’re going to dinner before the party?” I try to sound mature as I check my phone. Almost time to get ready.

Marissa squeals. “No! Oh my God. How could you keep this from me? Where are you going? What will you talk about?”

“Romano’s.” Zach loves Italian.

“Oh, perfect. Sit in the back corner. That’s where the most romantic lighting is.”

I nod, imagining Zach and me in the
Lady and the Tramp
spaghetti scene as I grab my bag from under my lounger.

“Where’re ya going?” she asks, rechecking the time on her phone.

“He’s picking me up here. I’m getting ready in the locker room.”

Marissa nods, picking up on my subtext. “Good plan. Avoid your mom. God that must be so tough …”

I bite the inside of my cheek. The day Mom met Zach she took him on a tour of her therapy garden where she educated him in the art of compost. She actually put garbage and worms in his hands. When we left, he didn’t waste any time saying “Your mom’s a freak.” I can’t argue with that.

“Hold on a sec.” Marissa opens her bag, digging around and pulling out her new Coach clutch. She empties the contents and tosses me the clutch. “You’ve got to use this. It needs to go on a hot date.”

“Thanks. This will be awesome.” I lean down and give her a hug. Sweet!

“No problem. This is actually great. Now I have time to set my hair in curlers before the party. Tonight’s going to be amazing.” She stands and glances at Justin, lifting her eyebrows mischievously. “Watch out, Justin Marshall. Here I come.”

I say nothing. She waves her hands while pushing me forward. “Get moving, woman. We’ve got men to impress. See you tonight,” she says in a cute voice that carries well over water. She walks with a precise sway, a light bounce which sets every part of her bikini into hypnotic motion. Guys’ heads follow her the entire way.