Sucker For You | Jonas Brothers

Chapter 22

Nick gets in the car and scans my face, "I've been looking for you. What happened."

I sniffle, wiping my cheeks, "nothing."

He rests his hand on the side of my face and says "you're lying." before taking it back.

"Doesn't matter. How's your dad?" I ask.

"Good, considering." He says.

He rests his hands on the steering wheel, "What now?" He asks.

"I'd love to just go far away for a while." I say, half serious and half joking.

"Well I can't really help with that, but we could go to the beach."

"I'm not really into a public beach full of people outing." I admit.

"I know. I have a better idea." he says before starting the car and driving away.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"You'll see." he says with a grin.

After a few hour drive, we arrive at a house on the beach. I remember it as soon as drive down the private road. I haven't been here since I was a kid.

"Your grandparents lake house." I say as we pull into the garage.

"Yes. You remember." he says before hopping out of the car. I get out after him, looking at all the familiar wall hanging.

"Of course. I thought your grandma sold it after your grandfather died?"

"She was going to. But then she just couldn't bear. E thought. Plus she couldn't bring herself to get rid of grandpas things. So my parents and I have been keeping it up."

I follow him into the house and everything looks the same as it did years ago. The boys would spend every summer here and I would convince my parents to let me stay at least a week with them every year.

It's very private, with no other houses close by and their lonely dock. It's a beautiful spot I haven't even thought about in years.

I walk into the living room and scan the self full of our old board games we used to play. The edges of the box worn from being used so much.

"You used to get so pissed when I would beat you at monopoly." Nick says from behind me. I turn to him and he's grinning.

I laugh, "Yeah because you would cheat."

"I would not." He says and crosses his arms.

"How long are we staying? I didn't bring anything." I say.

"We should stay overnight. Danielle has some clothes upstairs you can wear. Her and Kevin come here often."

"Great." I say.

"What do you want to do first?" He asks.

"Let's go out to the dock." I say.

We go outside and walk all the way to the edge of the dock. I threw off my sandals on the way.

The water is calm, not a wave insight. The sun is warm on my skin as I take a seat, dangling my feet into the water.

Nick stands beside me, looking off into the distance.

"I always loved it here." He says.

"Me too."

"I remember the first summer you came and you were so afraid to get into the water and then Kevin pushed you in and you were so mad."

"I could have drowned!" I say, but laugh anyway.

"No way would any of us have let that happen." He says.

"I know."

He takes off his shoes and then takes a seat beside me, keeping his attention on the water still. The silence between us is calming and natural, with no awkwardness. It's truly nice to be in his company like this.

"Will you tell me why you were crying earlier?" He says after a while.

I sigh, "Joe supposedly broke up with Jenny last week because he wanted to be with me."

"Oh? But I thought they just postponed the wedding because of my dad?"

"Right. Well Joe says he didn't want to tell everyone about him and Jenny to put anymore stress on the family. Which I get. But instead of calling me to be there for him when everything happened with your dad, he called Jenny. And he hasn't left her side since. And today I told him I couldn't do whatever this is anymore. If he wanted to be with me, he would."

"What did he say?" He asks, scanning my face.

"Nothing really. Tried to make up more excuses but I left and well he didn't come after me."

He shakes his head and turns away, "I'm sorry Trin."

"He will never love me. It's time for me to face the facts. You were right, I deserve better."

"Are you okay?" He asks, looking at me again.

"Being here makes me feel better." I tell him with a smile.

He smiles back, "Good."

He stands up then, and removes his shirt in one swift move. I'm taken aback by his bluntness and look anywhere but at his body.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"How can I not go for a swim?" He says before jumping into the water. The front of me gets hit with water and I jump up.

"Hey!" I say.

He comes up from under the water and shakes his wet hair.

"Come in, you know you want to."

I shake my head, "I don't have a swim suit."

"You can go naked." He says with a shrug and my mouth falls open, causing him to laugh hysterically.

I cross my arms like a child.

"Your face." He says and laughs again.

I jump in right beside him, clothes and all, splashing him.

He splashed back and for a few minutes we splash each other back and forth like we are little kids again. I laugh so hard my face starts to hurt. I forgot how good it felt to be happy and stress free.

I swim circles around him as he watches me, the sun beginning to slowly set.

"You'd stay in this water all night if you could, wouldn't you?" He asks.

I nod, "well I was..."

"On the swim team. I know. You wanted to be in the olympics one day." He says.

I smile. I used to think Joe knew and remembered so much about me, but I never realized how much Nick knew, even though he was younger at the time.

"Yeah well that dream died when I broke my leg." I say.

"Right. That day was awful." He says as we swim back to the dock.

"I'm lucky that's all that broke." I say.

"That's true. Our parents never let us back on that dirt bike again after that." He says and we both laugh.