Home for the Summer (BOYXBOY)

23 | Nerds Against Jocks

I didn't feel Nicolas leave the bed, but sometime in the morning, he did. There was a note left on the TV that read, "went 2 the hotel gym, b back @ 10!". So much for taking a break.

It was 9:45 now and I decided to hop in the shower before Nico got back. Benji was sleeping on his stomach, sprawled out like a starfish and I sort of wanted to throw a pillow at him for forcing me to sleep next to Nico. Maybe this trip was a mistake because, right then, I was running on 4 hours of sleep and hating myself for it. But, the day was supposed to be a blast and I wasn't about to let last night ruin the rest of my time. Showering would help. And coffee.

Once I was dressed and ready, I stepped out of the bathroom just in time for Nico to enter the room.

"Oh, hey," he said. His entire body was shiny with sweat and his chest still rose with heavy breaths. "Benji's still asleep?"

"Yeah. Technically, he has five minutes before I wake him up, so," I shrugged. Nico nodded absently as he looked at Benji before turning to me again. My hair was still wet from the shower and I felt oddly self-conscious because of it. "I thought you were taking a break from working out while we were in LA."

This was supposed to come out as a joke, but met Nico my eyes like I was trying to break into his head.

"It was only for an hour. Not much of a workout at all."

"Okay."

"Besides, I like working out. It's soothing."

"Okay."

The conversation felt a little strained and I wondered if Nicolas was freaked out after last night. I wouldn't blame him. He smiled briefly before huffing out a breath. "I'm gonna take a shower, then." And, quickly, he passed me in the doorway and the water began to run.

***

Coffee did, in fact, cure my tiredness, but I still had a stomach ache. We were all squeezed into some coffee shop close to the hotel and I noticed that everyone else looked a lot more awake than I did. Lilli was drinking peppermint tea and eating a lemon muffin beside Benji who was smearing cream cheese onto his bagel. Izzy and Rowan split a slice of coffee cake and both got cold brews. The only person who looked slightly less conscious was Nico, who was stirring a matcha latte and looking at his phone.

"You okay?" I asked as I met his eyes. Immediately, he smiled and clicked his phone off.

"A bit tired," Nico replied. "But, excited about today."

"Speaking of today," Izzy said, mouth full of coffee cake. "I thought of a brilliant idea for the four of us to do while they surf."

I glanced at Benji and Lilli who shared a quick smile before I leaned against my hand. "What is it?"

Izzy fished through her tote bag for a moment before retrieving a box of water balloons. "We can battle."

"A water balloon fight?"

"Yeah! Rowan and I against you two."

I glanced at Nico and shrugged. "Sounds fun. What do you think?"

"You're on," he said, grinning at Izzy.

***

Izzy spent the entire duration of our art museum trip latching onto Rowan and listening to her talk. They were an odd couple. Most of the time, Izzy ran the show and Rowan stayed silent beside her but, surrounded by paintings, it was the opposite. The whole thing was a bit remarkable to watch.

We spent two hours looking around the Getty Center before heading to the beach. Benji and Lilli departed the group almost immediately, taking a surfboard out into the waves. The remaining four of us got to work on filling balloons.