Life in the No-Dating Zone

LIFE IN THE NO-DATING ZONE

Patricia B. Tighe

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 word marks mentioned in this work of fiction.

Copyright © 2014 by Patricia Brunhart Tighe

LIFE IN THE NO-DATING ZONE by Patricia B. Tighe

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 Media Group, LLC.

No part of this book 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.

Published by Swoon Romance

Cover designed by Paper and Sage

Cover copyright by Swoon Romance

To Steven, David, and Topher:

I love you. Thanks for all your love and support.

LIFE IN THE NO-DATING ZONE

Patricia B. Tighe

One

Claire

Nothing is worse than finding a rogue LEGO brick with your bare foot. Except maybe finding out a boy has stolen one of your best friends.

Case in point: A month ago, Rose came home from vacation attached at the hip to a guy.

And not just any guy.

No. Rose, who usually goes all red-faced and tongue-tied around boys, had to show up holding hands with a tall hotness named Sam. The kind of guy who’s sweet and funny. The kind of guy you don’t mind hanging around. Except Rose and Sam don’t hang around us much.

“Claire.” Lindsey’s voice brought me back to the present. Right. Beach towels. The middle of Lainey Garza’s backyard at her annual end-of-summer pool party.

“What?” I asked.

Lindsey propped herself up on her elbows, her pink bikini practically fluorescent in the glaring north Texas sun. “Why are you trimming the Garza’s lawn? I don’t think their yardman needs your help.”

“Ha, ha. Very funny,” I said, but flicked my fingers, scattering the mound of torn grass in front of my crossed legs. I hadn’t even realized I was ripping the grass into tiny pieces. I brushed the remnants off my hands.
Get it together, Claire.
“When is Rose supposed to be here, again?”

“Not sure. She said she’d text. It depends on Sam’s schedule.”

“Of course it does.”

“Whoa. Easy on the snark. You know he’s going back to Houston soon. She wants to spend as much time with him as possible.”

“I know, I know. It’s just that the three of us do this every year.” I swept one arm in a wide arc. “She’s breaking tradition.”

Lindsey frowned. “You’re right about that. We’ll have to give her trouble for not holding court with us.”

I laughed. “
You
hold court. The rest of us hang around like courtiers waiting for the peasants to arrive.”

She lifted her chin in a regal pose. “As well you should. Too bad so many people are at drama camp. Our court today is way too small.” Something caught her attention across the yard. “Idiots,” she said with a grin.

I followed her gaze toward the pool where her theater friends, Mike and Parker, wrestled in the shallow end. On the diving board, Seth Townsend posed like a body builder, then launched himself into the air, the sound of the shuddering board followed by a ginormous splash. People cheered.

Beside the pool, bikini-wearing girls on lawn chairs held up their fingers showing a five, a six, a four, and a seven. Seth hauled his husky body up the ladder, water streaming from his swim trunks. “No way,” he shouted. “That had to be a ten!”

I looked back at Lindsey. “I assume you mean Mike and Parker.”

“Of course.
And
here they come.”

The boys ran across the lawn, Mike’s stocky sturdiness pulling ahead of Parker’s giraffe-like movements. They arrived, grabbed up their towels, and started drying off.

Mike paused, leaning over Lindsey like he was about to shake water from his curls. He grinned. “Should I?”

She squinted up at him. “Don’t even think about it.”

And because she was queen, he obeyed. Boys always did. Parker managed to get his towel on the grass beside hers before Mike, who was too busy squeezing water from his hair. He grunted and spread his towel at her feet.

How appropriate. I wanted to chuckle, but held it in. Where was Rose? We always shared smirks and laughs over how guys acted around Lindsey. Especially her stupid boyfriend, Adam. Thank goodness he was at work this afternoon.

“Did you see us?” Parker asked. “I
so
owned Mike in that wrestling match.”

“You did not,” Mike said. “We were both drowned by the football players.”

Lindsey laughed. “That part I saw.” Her phone buzzed and she leaned over to shield it from the bright sun. “Oh good. Rose and Sam are almost here.”

Finally.

Mike murmured something to Lindsey that I couldn’t hear through the background of country music, so I let my mind wander away from the conversation. Another boy cannonballed into the pool and the judges raised their digits. Clouds skidded in front of the sun, giving us a break from the heat. I surreptitiously pulled my clinging tank top away from my chest. I needed a distraction. Something to put me in a better mood.

Too bad I hadn’t brought the new LEGO catalogue—it made me smile just to think about paging through it, examining all the new building sets. But even
I
had to admit that a pool party was definitely the wrong venue. Hmm. Maybe I could just imagine everybody as LEGO figures.

I’d have a green base for the grass and maybe build the wall of the Garza’s house. I could pick out minifigures for Lindsey, Mike, and Parker. A couple of random male figures would work for the boys. I didn’t know of any bikini-wearing minifigures, but there was a female lifeguard. And a mermaid! I pressed my lips together to keep from snickering. Lindsey would probably love being a mermaid.

“Claire!” Lindsey said, jerking me out of LEGO world.

“What?” I sounded half asleep.

“What were you smiling about?”

Uh, no.
Not admitting that in front of Mike and Parker
. “Nothing.”

She lifted an eyebrow like she was deciding whether to push the issue or not. “Really?”

“Yeah, really.” I gave her a tiny shake of the head so she’d drop it.

Lindsey grinned and sat up.

Oh, crap.
What was she going to say?

She laced her fingers together and stretched her arms straight ahead, making Mike and Parker look like two puppies drooling over their next treat. “
I
,” she said with a dramatic pause, “am absolutely parched.” The deep Southern accent had strolled on stage.

Whew. Thank you, Lindsey.

Mike sat up. “I know, Scarlett O’Hara, right?”

“You want me to get you something?” Parker said, climbing to his feet, all skinny sweet eagerness.

“Why yes,” Lindsey said, “a libation would be delightful.”

“Libation?” Parker asked.

I laughed. “There are only Cokes, tea, and water. No libations to be had.”

“Do libations have to be alcohol?” Mike asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“In that case,” Lindsey said, “I’ll have tea.”

“’Kay, be right back.”

“Thanks, Parker, you’re a peach.”

“No problem.” He trotted away.

Mike pulled his knees toward his chest, draped his arms over them, and let his hands dangle. “I’m right, aren’t I? It’s Scarlett?”

Lindsey cocked her head toward him, but I spoke first. “I think it’s just a random Southern belle.”

Lindsey stuck her tongue out at me. “Claire’s right. As usual.”

I stuck my tongue out in return, then smiled. “Yup, I’m always right.”

“I was close, though,” Mike said, clearly proud of himself.

But Lindsey ignored him. “Yay, they’re here.”

Over by the gate stood Sam and Rose. Sam was looking around like he wished he were somewhere else while Rose scanned the yard. When she spotted us, she waved and headed over. And since Sam was attached to her hand, he came too.

“You’re not gonna believe it,” Rose said, dropping onto Parker’s unoccupied towel and tugging Sam down next to her. “Ew, this is wet.” She jerked the towel out from under her. “We have the best news. Sam is—” She turned to him. “You should tell them.”

He fingered the end of her side braid of dark blond hair. “No, you.”

“Are you sure?” Rose asked.

Lindsey flapped a hand near their faces. “One of you spit it out.”

“Sam is staying!” Rose said, her face glowing. “He’s gonna live with his mom in Dallas. He’ll only be forty-five minutes away!”

“That’s so great!” Lindsey said.

Mike leaned over her to fist-bump Sam. “Sweet.”

My LEGO-induced happiness fell away. “What about your school in Houston?” I blurted before I could stop myself. “Isn’t it your senior year?”

“Yeah,” Sam said, “but I never cared about that school. I’ll just do homeschool, you know, take some classes online to finish up.”

“Cool,” I said, forcing enthusiasm into my voice. I mean, I was happy for Rose, I really was. Wasn’t I?

Parker showed up with Lindsey’s iced tea, and the area exploded with more fist-bumps and high-fives. It was like someone had won the lottery and was sharing the cash with everyone but me. Okay, maybe that was over the top, but as I sat there watching everybody, I couldn’t shake the feeling that they were all on the stage together and I was in the audience. In the back row.

A particularly loud shriek rang out from the pool. Some boy had cannonballed close enough to the pool’s edge to spray the girls. Maybe a really good shriek was what I needed. But unless I joined the girls around the pool, I should probably go home. Random shrieking is generally frowned upon.

Besides, I could actually spend time with the new LEGO catalogue. That would take my mind off things. For a while, anyway. I stretched out my legs, then stood. “I’d better go, y’all. Have to babysit.”

“I thought that was later,” Rose said.

“It is, but my mom wants me to help with Baby Jack before then.” Just a partial lie, since my mom only said she wanted help sometime this week.

Both Lindsey and Rose looked at me like they knew I was lying and they wanted answers. That made three of us. I wanted answers, too. I said a quick goodbye and headed for the patio to grab a bottle of water for my walk home.