Come Back to Me

10 Years Ago: Maleko

One of the perks of working at the waterpark all summer was that I could usually get a pretty decent tan. For whatever reason this summer had been particularly rainy. People kept talking about hitting a new rainfall record. Today was no exception. Dark clouds were drifting in off the coast and a storm advisory was already in effect. The park wasn't going to close until the guys tracking the weather saw some lightning so I was still stuck on top of my platform for one of the tube slides. If nothing else, it gave me plenty of time to read and I hadn't had to deal with any obnoxious kids yet that morning. The young kids were usually fine, just excited to be here. The older tweens were the ones I wish I could just shove down the slide sometimes. I hadn't had anyone show up for the ride yet and it was two hours into my shift.

A squeal followed by some laughter carried across the park and I turned in my chair to see who was making the scene. Riley was still at his platform, a few rides over and at about the same height as mine. He had company. Marissa, one of the older girls back from college to help out over the summer, was with him and she was shrieking as he lifted her, acting like he'd drop her down the water slide.

Rolling my eyes, I turned back around, not wanting to see him groping her. He had been talking to Mal about her the other week, announcing that he'd score with her before summer was over. It didn't matter that she was two years older than him, she was a done deal. When I heard him make the declaration, I promptly smacked him on the back of his head and called him a few choice names reserved for that kind of assholery. Based on what I just saw, he was still set on his conquest.

Did all the guys talk like that about girls? The thought made me uneasy and a little angry because I knew they probably did. Were Joshua, Noah, and Mal together right now comparing how far they'd gotten with me? Mal wouldn't have much to say since I hadn't been alone with him since this whole thing started three days ago.

Noah and I had only made out with the promise to continue it later.

But Joshua - I swallowed and tried to keep from blushing at the thought of what we'd done. His hands all over me, my mouth on his skin. The way he looked down at me, on my knees in front of him, while he whispered wonderfully naughty words of encouragement -

Nope. Stop it.

I pushed it from my mind, forcing myself to focus back on my book. Abby and Derek's affair was just starting to heat up again after being forced apart for months due to supernatural disasters. Along the way, she had been rescued by a dark and mysterious stranger who agreed to help her get back to Derek. The sexual tension between Abby and the nameless stranger was scintillating but so was the reunion of her and Derek. I had initially started to read it to get some ideas on what I'd eventually like to try with Noah. Except I kept picturing myself doing them with Mal.

"Regan? You up there?"

I jumped at the sound of Mal's voice from below my tower.

"Oh my God! Mal, is that you?" a girl called out to him.

I stiffened in my chair at the sound, gripping the armrest so hard it creaked. She sounded like she knew him, like really knew him. Queue my throwing up over the railing in 3,2 –

"Oh, hey, Rachel." To Mal's credit, he didn't sound that happy to be running into her, but his voice was still friendly.

Rachel Harpe. Tall, blonde, and built like a freaking Barbie doll. She was one of the reasons all the boys loved coming to the water park. She always lifeguarded the lazy river and wave pools which caused some serious overcrowding sometimes. And it wasn't just the horny teenage boys causing the congestion. A lot of the dads stuck at the park with their kids tended to gravitate to that area, too. It was kind of gross.