Hidden Gem (30 page)

“I’m happy for you,” Gemma murmured.

They held each other close, swaying to the soft ballad, kissing like they were the only two left in the room.

~

Gemma and Damian’s room in the shore house faced a back alley of an ice cream shop while Kate, Leah, Gavin and everyone else had rooms upstairs.
 
The two had missed out on the lottery that determined each couple’s room.
 
It had happened at some point on the dance floor during prom.
 
When they arrived at the location, everyone ran to their respective rooms, leaving Gemma and Damian in the common space, confused.
 
Madison and Lucas, along with Jillian and her boyfriend, decided to celebrate in the city.
 
Madison had gotten a suite in a boutique hotel that a family friend owned and decided it would be a “senior girls only” situation.
 
No one questioned her decision.
 
They knew why she did it.

And it was a relief to Gemma.
 
There would be no relaxation in her weekend if it meant being in close quarters with Madison.

However, upon seeing their
ground-floor
, nautical-themed bedroom with a window facing a restaurant dumpster, there was a fleeting thought of the luxury that Madison was likely indulging in at that moment.
 
Gemma turned to Damian who tried to shrug it off, though his crinkled nose indicated that he was holding in his thoughts about the undesirable accommodations.

“I mean, if you’re okay with it babe, then it’s okay with me,” he said, laughing at his own words.
 
Gemma shook her head.

“Do all the rooms suck this much?” she wondered as Damian took her hand and led her back into the common space.

“I’m willing to make a bet that the upstairs room facing the beach is
bangin
’,” Damian said, leaping up the stairs two at a time with his long legs.
 
“And I’m willing to bet that your brother somehow got that room.”

 
“Ugh, God,” Gemma laughed.
 
“Make sure to knock before you go in there.”

Damian and Gemma reached the door to Gavin and Leah’s room.
 
The door was open and the room was empty.
 
Gemma’s mouth dropped in awe as she walked around.
 
The sun-drenched corner room was breathtaking with picture windows lining two walls.
 
Rays of sunlight peeked through the drapes of the white, canopied bed.
 
Out the
window,
all Gemma could see was a long stretch of the powdery tan sand and the blue of the Atlantic Ocean.

“And now I see why Gavin’s always talking about this place,” Damian murmured.
 
Through the open window, they could hear two voices giggling.
 
Damian turned to Gemma with a knowing smile and the two ran to look out the window and onto the porch.
 
There they saw Gavin and Leah, setting up the grill.
 

“
Geez
,” Gemma laughed.
 
She couldn’t believe Gavin’s strange behavior – he was quieter and suddenly observant, allowing Leah to be the loud and crazy one.
 
Leah, on the other hand, had obviously relaxed enough around him to be herself.
 
Her hair was a mess and she wore a white tee shirt with 7 For All Mankind drawstring shorts.
 
She bumbled about the grill, her outfit dusted with the black coal as Gavin tried to teach her how to set it up.

“Look at that,” Damian said quietly.
 
“It only took like three years for him to notice her.”

Suddenly, Gavin and Leah looked up, shielding their eyes from the sun.
 
Damian’s raspy whispers had drawn attention to the open window.

“
Nuh
-uh!” Leah exclaimed.
 
“Is someone in our room without our permission?”

“You guys must be hungry,” Gemma yelled down.
 
“Your suitcases aren’t even unpacked.”

“What’s there to unpack? We’re only here for a weekend.
 
Now get out of our room!” Gavin yelled back.
 
Gemma laughed, flashing back to the territorial fights they had growing up in their Manhattan apartment.

“Nice job tricking your sister and me into taking the crap room, Hunter!” Damian said.
 
“Real classy.”

“Yeah, yeah, cry me a river.”

“Nah, I won’t do that,” Damian turned and grabbed Gavin’s backpack and Leah’s giant leather weekender before running out of the room.

“Oh he better not be…” Gavin sprinted from the porch back into the house.

Gemma ran out to the hallway to see Damian bounding back upstairs with their luggage.

“No! Get back here!” Gavin tore through the front door and bolted up the stairs after Damian, who laughed and panted for air.
 
With one arm holding their bags, he used the other to impressively grab Gemma by the waist and hoist her over his shoulders.
 
He ran to the corner bedroom and locked the door behind him, tossing Gemma onto the bed and jumping in after her.
 
Gemma blushed as he lay beside her, his lips grazing her bare shoulders.

“Hey!” Gavin pounded at the door.
 
Damian and Gemma shot back up to their feet.
 
“Asshole, get out of there!” Gavin yelled.

“Can’t believe you guys stuck us with the dumpster room,” Damian said.

“Well someone had to take it,” Gavin reasoned through the door.

“You’ve been to post-prom four years in a row, shouldn’t you be a good guy and let me and your sister have the nice room?” Damian asked.
 
There was silence on the other side of the door.

“Ew,” Gavin finally said.
 
“Now I definitely don’t want you to have the room.”
 
Gemma burst out in laughter.

“What’s going on?” Leah wailed from out the window.
 
Damian and Gemma laughed uncontrollably, falling into each
other
as they stood in the middle of the room, equidistant from Gavin at the door and Leah at the window.

“Game of one-on-one, winner gets the nice room,” Gavin proposed.
 
“
Gotta
get ready to play against each other at some point, right?” Gemma looked to Damian.
 
His nose wrinkled into a curious expression.
 
He opened the door and extended his hand to shake Gavin’s.

“You’re on, man,” he said.
 
Gemma watched as the two boys exchanged a sad smile.
 
She had noticed in the past few days that Gavin grew quiet at the topic of leaving for college.
 
Just the previous week, he had chosen to attend Syracuse.
 
His friends, like Damian, had all chosen different schools.
 
Gavin knew it was a matter of time before he would be playing against his former teammates.

~

Gemma lounged on the porch with Leah, drinking the white peach sangria that they had made after the boys left.
 
The girls decided to let the boys have their bonding time rather than play courtside cheerleader.
 
The rest of the house had gone off to compete in a hot-wing-eating contest at a nearby restaurant.

“I don’t really care about the room,” Leah shrugged.
 
“I’d be fine spending my weekend
in
that ice cream store dumpster, as long as I was with Gavin.”

“I know what you mean.”

“Ew, Gem.”

Gemma snorted, nearly choking on her sangria.
 
“With me and Damian,
sicko
.
 
I just want every minute with him before he leaves,” she sighed.

Leah nodded, combing her long hair with her fingers.
 
“Do you know what you guys are going to do after he leaves for school?” she asked cautiously.

Gemma pursed her lips.
 
She had been asking herself the same question for weeks but had hoped to put off the thought of it until the absolute last minute.
 
She shook her head as she sipped at her sangria.
 
“We haven’t talked about it at all,” she said as she watched the sky fade into a familiar deep purple.
 
Leah wriggled her toes, examining her pedicure.

“Do you think Gavin’s the type to start a relationship before he goes off to college?” Her lips already formed a pout in anticipation of Gemma’s answer.
 
She picked at the fruit at the bottom of her wine glass.

“I don’t know, Leah,” Gemma said.
 
“But I’ve never seen him act this way before.
 
So I guess we’ll all see?”

“It would be my luck that he notices me a week before he graduates and leaves,” Leah sighed.
 
She held her arms out dramatically.
 
“I am the unluckiest girl in the world.”

“Well, at least he’s just going to be in the next state over,” Gemma said as she looked out at the vast sparkle of the Atlantic, the salty breeze lifting her hair gently from her shoulders.
 
“Damian is switching oceans.”

In the distance, Gemma heard voices laughing and squinted to see Damian and Gavin making their way back.
 
Leah clapped her hands together, shrugging her shoulders in excitement.
 
Gavin bounded up the porch, pulling her into a tight embrace.

“Boo,” Gemma pouted.
 
“Does that mean dumpster room for us?”

“Leah, how about a nice long walk on the beach?” Gavin asked.
 
“To put off having to go back to that gross back room.”

Gemma jumped to her feet with excitement.
 
“So my guy’s the winner, huh?” She kissed Damian long and hard on the lips.
 
She felt a slight sway in her step as she steadied herself against his strong torso.

“I couldn’t let my girl spend her weekend in those conditions,” Damian winked.

“What can I say?” Gavin shrugged.
 
“He’s disgustingly good.
 
UCLA is a lucky school.”
 
He turned to Leah, pulling her in closer.
 
“I’ll make it up to you.”
 
He grabbed Damian’s towel from the porch and flung it over his shoulder.

“That’s mine,” Damian said.

“Yeah,” Gavin smiled.
 
“I need to borrow it.
 
In case, you know, Leah and I get tired and need to lie down on something.”
 
Leah’s eyebrow arched and the two exchanged a less-than-subtle glance.

“Okay then.
 
You know what, man – the towel’s yours.
 
My congratulations gift for Syracuse and all that.”
 
He held his hands in front of him as if to push Gavin away.
 
Leah giggled as she skipped off the porch with Gavin and ran towards the water.
 
Damian winced.
 
“We’re doing a favor for everyone at the house by putting them in the downstairs room.
 
No one needs to share a wall with
that
couple.”

In their beautiful corner room, the two rummaged through their luggage in search of their swimsuits.
 
Gemma had brought a rose-colored, retro bikini.
 
The top was a
longline
halter with a
ruched
bust.
 
The bottom matched in color, also with a
ruching
in the back.
 
When she looked up from her suitcase, Damian had already stripped his clothes off and put on his pale blue board shorts.
 
He smiled mischievously at her.

“Did you see anything?” he grinned.
 
Gemma blushed and shook her head, clutching her bikini to her stomach.
 
Damian laughed knelt beside her, tilting her chin up towards his face and biting his lip.
 
“Your turn.”