Roll the Dice

twenty-two. brother abernathy

[Dedicated to Caitlin, a fantastically cheerful friend I've made here on Wattpad. Maintaining a conversation with her never fails to cheer me up, and simply put--she's the best.]

"So, we're back at the beach. Should this mean anything?" I mused to Dacey, who didn't seem to be listening to me as she lounged on the beach towel, daintily sipping out of a glass of lemonade. I scoffed and rolled my eyes at her even though I was fully aware that she probably couldn't see me. "Dacey. Come on."

"Hm." Dacey finished her lemonade and picked it up, holding it up to me like I was her maid or something. I let out an extra long sigh and took it from her, stuffing it back in my beach bag. Sometimes, she was just so annoying, like the completely dependent younger sister that I never had. But again, other times, she was the comforting older sister that I wished I had.

Dacey really needed to make up her mind about her role as my "sister".

"All right, come on." I pushed my beach bag away from me, placing it behind the two of us on the sand. "Stop ignoring me. It's not nice."

When Dacey didn't respond, her eyes glued on someone in the distance, I slapped her shoulder, earning a hiss from her. "Hey!" she protested, lifting her sunglasses off the bridge of her nose. "Stop annoying me. I'm trying to watch Carter in peace."

I had long gotten over the fact that Dacey had the hots for my idiot brother. (That was a good thing. I was overly sensitive to a lot of things, and this didn't have to be one of them.) "Dacey, just please. You're not helping yourself by turning into me."

Since when did I refer to myself as an undesirable person? Maybe Cara's sarcastic comments had finally gotten to me. I winced. Damn, I'd vowed that would never happen to me. What was happening to my life? Or maybe I finally decided to see the truth-I was an undeniable sap who totally had a thing for Dominic Amaro. Also, I liked his abs just a little too much.

At least one plus I got out of being a sap was understanding Dacey's point of view a little better-but not that much better. My brother didn't really have that great of a set of abs. I mean, Dom had fantastic ones because he actually worked out along with playing a sport, but I couldn't really say the same for my brother. The most physical activity I'd ever witnessed him partaking in happened at night...in his bed...with another person. (But I didn't have to tell Dacey that. Maybe she'd be able to reform him. That would be great.)

"Well, that was rather candid," said Dacey, completely startling me as I settled myself down on my stomach on the beach towel next to her. Goodness gracious, her timing was impeccable. I really did hope that I wasn't speaking my thoughts out loud... "You finally admitted that being Lottie Ingham isn't as fantabulous as you make it out to be."

I scoffed loudly. "Of course it is as fantabulous as I make it out to be. Everyone wants to be me. Have you seen the freshman girls just wish they could be me?"

Dacey shook her head.

I sighed. "Oh, whatever. But I can read their thoughts, and they all want to be me. Just saying."

"But anyway," Dacey said abruptly, sliding her sunglasses back down on her nose, "you asked Dom, right? Will he help? I mean, he is my last hope at this point in time."

"He is not your last hope," I retorted sharply. "You still have me as your secret weapon, and I would really prefer it if you stopped referring to me in such a derogatory way. I mean, I might even refuse to help you." I topped off my speech with the best pout I could summon.

Dacey took one look at my face and let her lips twitch upward. "Oh, Lottie," she said, throwing an arm over my shoulders, "you know I love you, right?"