He looked down. "Maybe. I don't know. I just want… I'm rambling again."
She touched her free hand to his lips. "You're cute when you ramble."
If she hadn't heard his voicemail, she might not have thought to take him to the lookout point. She was glad she had. She wanted to make the most of her week.
*~*~*
Diego checked Patrick's apartment number and got out of the car. The parking lot was surrounded on three sides by five-story buildings. Lavender looked around. "These are pretty nice."
Diego's apartment was much nicer, even with only one income, while Patrick and Jessica had two. Rent money didn't go as far in California as it did in Oregon; maybe because of all the extra people.
Their apartment was on the fourth floor. Patrick opened the door before Diego got all the way up the stairs. He pulled Diego into a hug. "Long time no see, man."
Diego hugged him, back then stepped away and put his arm around Lavender's waist. "Look what I found hidden among the smog."
Patrick grinned. "I told you coming down here would be good for you."
He wouldn't be as happy once he discovered Diego was stuck on her. Patrick thought Diego's dating life was crazy, and that dating the same girl since they were both fourteen was normal.
Patrick invited them inside. The place was well-decorated with new-looking furniture. Diego got most of his stuff from his parents and Goodwill. He hadn't paid more than twenty dollars for anything. Not everything matched, but he was debt-free with two months' salary to spend on this week's vacation. He couldn't imagine Patrick and Jessica could say the same.
That was their problem to deal with.
Patrick handed him a beer, while Jessica looked Lavender over. Diego stepped closer to Jessica. "Be nice."
She smiled. "I'm always nice."
Lavender shook her head. "No, thank you."
"Come on, you have to take it." Patrick touched the beer bottle to the back of her hand.
"Why?" She looked up through her eyelashes. She was beautiful.
Diego stepped forward. Jessica grabbed his arm. "She doesn't need your help."
"Because," Patrick frowned, "when you come in my door, you accept my hospitality."
"Really? So, if I invited you to my house I could make you drink… prune seltzer?"
Patrick wrinkled his nose. "Sure."
"And this hospitality includes forcing alcohol on underage girls?"
Patrick turned to Diego. "That's right, you're robbing the cradle."
"She's nineteen."
Patrick looked Lavender up and down. "Nineteen."
"And mine." Diego stepped between them. Patrick had looked at all Diego's girlfriend’s that way at least once, but with Lavender, it felt like a punch to the gut.
Patrick laughed. Diego rolled his eyes. He put his hand on Lavender's back and steered her to Jessica. "Do you have pop or juice?"
She set several cold cans of sparking juice on the counter. Diego traded his own beer for the can of orange. Lavender took the grape. Because she liked grape or because she liked purple?
Jessica offered Lavender the menu from a pizza place. "I prefer chicken, but since the caveman here only eats beef and pork, half of it always goes to waste."
The menu had several chicken pizzas. Diego left them to discuss their selection. He'd eat any pizza without anchovies.
Patrick plopped onto the couch and gestured Diego to join him. "What should we start with? An oldie-but-goodie like
Die Hard
or the
Hunt for Red October
, or something newer like
Mission Impossible III
or
Pan's Labyrinth
?"
Diego looked at the pile of DVDs. Would Lavender like any of them? "Which are your favorites?"
"All of them."
"Then let's watch the oldest movie first."
Patrick frowned. "That would be Jessica's choice."
He opened a cabinet door and pointed at
Casablanca
. Diego looked toward the kitchen. Jessica was on the phone. He pointed at Patrick's pile. "The oldest of yours."
Patrick grinned and slapped his arm. "Great idea."
He started the movie and handed Diego back his beer. This time, Diego opened it. Patrick had spent extra on quality beer, and wasting it would be a shame.
*~*~*
Lavender carried her plate into the living room. Diego moved closer to Patrick on the couch and made space for her. Jessica was nice enough in that veiled I'm-judging-you way some women had, but they would never be friends. Diego was much more comfortable to be with. The movie was old. She could tell by the casual smoking indoors and the actor playing the lead. He looked much younger than he had in the last trailer she'd seen him in. She hardly recognized him.
When Diego finished his food, he took Lavender's plate into the kitchen. Patrick leaned over. "Isn't this a great movie?"
Action movies weren't her thing, but they were easy to follow, even if you missed most of the first hour like she had. The good guys were white, the bad guys spoke in a foreign language, and the comic relief was black or Hispanic.
Diego passed Patrick another beer before he sat down, so Lavender didn't have to answer. Jessica rose from the recliner. "Once they've had their adrenaline kick, you might find something better in my movie selection."
Jessica had good taste in pizza and in decorating, so her movie choices might be good, too.
Patrick sat up. "Nothing's better than my movies."
Jessica shrugged. "To each his own."
"Beer?" Diego lifted his bottle. "Sex?"
"Hey! Nothing's better than sex."
"I thought you said nothing was better than your movies."
"No movies are better than my movies. Let's watch this one next." He held up a case for a movie Lavender knew she wouldn't like. She hadn't been able to sit through the commercials for it last year.
Jessica gestured her toward the hallway. "I hate that one. It gives me nightmares. Maybe we can have a girl party in the bedroom until the alcohol, plus the lack of proper sleep for the past week, puts him under. We can do our nails and maybe give each other facials and listen to music."
Jessica must have something else in mind, but an awkward time with someone she'd probably never like trumped a horror movie any day.
Diego opened the door to Patrick and Jessica's room. He hadn't seen Lavender in a while. She sat on the carpet with her hands on her knees as Jessica applied makeup to her eyes. Her fingernails and toenails gleamed a wet, opalescent purple. He grinned. "Is everything going all right in here?"
Jessica looked up. "Has he fallen asleep yet?"
"He keeps nodding off, but when his chin hits his chest, he wakes up again."
"Keep him company until he's good and out. Then I'm going to introduce Lavender to Katherine Hepburn. Can you believe she's never seen
The Philadelphia Story
?"
He could believe a lot more than that. He blew Lavender a kiss. She looked like she was enduring Jessica's ministrations more than enjoying them. He would rescue her as soon as he had the chance.
In the living room, Patrick had taken over the couch. "What took you so long?"
"Checking on the girls."
Patrick sang a line from a totally inappropriate song.
Diego sat on the floor with his back against the couch. "You might think of your girl that way, but mine is a lady."
"Meaning you haven't had sex with her yet."
"That depends on how you define sex." Coming while holding her was sex in Diego's book.
"If you have to say that, it means you aren't getting any."
Diego picked up a potato chip from the bowl on the coffee table, but decided not to eat it. "We haven't had our third date yet."
Patrick propped himself up on his elbow. "You have just a week to seduce a girl and you picked one who won't put out? What's wrong with you?"
Diego didn't want a girl for just one night or one week. He'd been looking for his perfect person all his life, taking chances on any girl or guy who was interested in him, taking risks that his heart might break. It had come close once or twice, but Lavender was different. If they broke up, he'd be devastated.
"You think you're in love with her?"
He nodded. What was the point of denying it? That's what these feelings meant.
"You do realize that you've never been in a relationship that lasted longer than a few months?"
"This one will be different." He couldn't imagine being happy to see Lavender happy with anyone else or anywhere else but at his side.
Patrick patted Diego's shoulder. "I'm here for you, man."
Patrick always had been, no matter what he thought of Diego's newest ex, or new boy- or girlfriend. A friend, indeed.
Which made Diego feel slightly guilty for wanting Patrick to just fall asleep already, so he could put on a movie the girls would like, and return Lavender to his arms.
Maybe another beer would help.
*~*~*
Lavender looked at herself in Jessica's well-lit mirror. How could Jessica's application of makeup, using the exact same kinds as Lavender, have such a different result? Her eyes looked bigger and darker, her cheekbones higher and more defined, her lips the perfect shape. This was what she always hoped to look like when she put on makeup, but never quite managed.
"Like I said," Jessica fluffed Lavender's hair. "I took community college classes as a teenager. My dad wouldn't let me wear makeup until I could put it on correctly."
Lavender frowned. "Could you teach me to do this?"
Jessica grinned. "Sure."
That's what she'd been after all evening. She hadn't liked Lavender's makeup, and she wanted to show Lavender the 'correct' way. But Lavender didn't have to like Jessica to learn from her.
*~*~*
Diego pulled Lavender closer against him. She'd fallen asleep half an hour ago, but he hated to move her. She was so beautiful. He rubbed his lips across her hair.
Jessica nodded at them. "You seem quite taken with her."
"I am. You still think she's too perfect?"
Jessica sighed. "I think she's a girl trying to be a woman, but without proper role models."
"Did you have proper role models?"
"I did. But too few girls do." The tinge of judgment edged her voice, but Jessica wasn't the one dating Lavender. What she thought didn't matter.
"So what do you and Patrick have planned for us this week?"
They spoke for a while about places that Patrick wanted Diego to see and people he wanted him to meet. It sounded more like a month's holiday than a week's. Jessica nodded at Lavender. "Make sure she knows that she's invited."
"I will." He hugged Lavender close one last time, then woke her. Every minute he stayed this close to her, the more he craved waking beside her. If Patrick and Jessica had a spare room, he would've put her in there, but this was for the best. He'd have a hard time not crawling in with her.
Lavender pulled her blanket over her head. Vish's phone was playing some horrible song. Morning was here, and with it, time to wake from the delicious dream of Diego's tongue on her skin.
The door slammed, forcing away the last of the dream. Lavender sat up. Her phone had several texts. She deleted the ones her friends had sent her yesterday, and read the ones from Diego. He was awake and ready to get her whenever she wanted. Patrick had a hangover this morning, so they'd meet him in the afternoon and have a late lunch at a terraced restaurant. Unless she had better plans.
Did she?
Vish came in and threw her phone on her bed. "I'm going shopping."
"Any reason?"
"I'm going to buy the sweetest bikini known to man and parade myself in front of him and his wife as they wear their stuffy clothes and make small talk with their ilk."
Lavender didn't want to know. "I don't have a swimsuit."
"Flower," Vish sat on her bed. "You don't wear a swimsuit."
"But Diego's never been to a beach with warm water, and if I had a swimsuit, I could take him this morning."
Vish grinned. "Get dressed. I'll wake the others and see if they want to come."
As Lavender left the bathroom, Alana leaned against the wall. "Miss Magnolia's mad at you."
"All the more reason to leave before she wakes up." Vish stripped and stepped into the shower.
"I'm not going."
"I am." Ariel set her makeup bag beside the sink and opened it. "Whoever stays has to explain to Miss Magnolia where we went. Besides, she can't punish all of us."
"It's not like she's our mother or anything." Caiside claimed a space at the other side of the sink.
"But without her…" Alana looked at the floor.
"I love her, I do." Vish stuck her head out of the shower. "But sometimes she tries to keep us in our place. My place is Queen of Heaven."
"Hush!" said Ariel. "Don't wake her. Lavender, have him meet us at the beach."
"No." Caiside closed her compact. "I don't want to waste time on the bus. He can pick us up outside a mall or something. Then he won't know where we got our swimsuits."
Lavender went back to her room and counted out the money she had left. She opened her notebook and noted the mood swing two nights ago and how elated she felt yesterday when he'd come for her. If the hormone patches evened out the lows, would they even out the highs, too? Were these good moods even about the estrogen?
Maybe they were because of Diego. She could live in his highs forever.
*~*~*
Diego pulled into the parking lot between a realtor and a doughnut shop. What was around here that the girls didn't want him to know about? Mysterious.
Lavender had her old purse over her arm and her smaller one in her hand. Hopefully, one was an overnight bag.
He got out and opened the trunk, so the girls could put their bags inside. He pulled Lavender against him. "I missed you."
"It's only been," she looked at her phone, "ten hours."
"Ten hours is eternity without you." He opened the front door for her. The other four managed to cram into the backseat. Renting this expensive car had been a good idea.